Chapter 2: Mr. Voice

She felt like she hit a wall before her body sank into the water. Her eyes darkened a little as she tried to emerge from the water.

She finally could breathe and she moved her legs and arms to keep her head off the water. The material of her backpack is impermeable, so it helped her to float.

Looking up, she saw the three men on the top of the cliff, angry and discussing with each other as they were blaming the other for not getting her before she jumped.

Apparently, they didn't notice she survived the fall, so she decided to swim following the current of the water. This way if they notice she's alive she will have more time to outrun them.

The current is getting stronger, so she looks back to check if they're following her, she looks around and doesn't see them either.

The current is too strong now, she can see rocks up ahead, so she tries to swim to the edge of the river.

She ends up hitting her side strongly on a rock, she cries with the pain and holds herself on that rock.

She pushes herself from the rock and holds herself on a tree root, pulling herself to the edge.

When she tried to breathe to take her strength back, she choked with the water. She kicks her legs strongly to finally put half of her body out of the river.

She coughs the water out of her lungs and takes her breath back laying on the grass with her chest down.

She sits down and feels a sharp pain on her side, she's breathing heavily still in a panic about everything that just happened.

"Three men, eating a deer with their bare hands, transformed into wolves and hunted me to do who knows what. And I'm not dreaming." She let her anxiety dominate her.

"And not dead. Thankfully." She hears and she jumps startled, looking around scared that more monsters appeared.

She holds her side trying to soothe the pain, but either way, she stands up to be ready to run.

"Are you hurt?" She hears.

She looks around frantically, trying to find who's talking to her.

"If you want to eat me, show your face, you bastard!" She says, trying to show she's not scared, but inside of her, she's in panic.

She only needs to know where he is so she knows where to run.

"I'm talking to you through your mind. And, definitely, I don't want to eat you." She hears.

"My mind?" Then she starts crying and laughing. "I'm crazy! I'm hearing voices now. I knew I was much weirder than usual. All these are hallucinations." She cries while pointing around.

"You're not having hallucinations. This is real. I'm talking to you through your mind because I'm far away from where you are." The voice speaks to her.

"And where are you Mr. Voice?" She asks, cleaning her tears.

"Very far from you. At least 2 months by foot."

"And why are you talking to me? Where am I? This doesn't look like Damascus."

"Because you're not in Damascus anymore. You're in a different world now."

"Different… world? What do you mean? You said I'm not crazy and that you actually exist, but why are you saying things that don't make sense?" She says leaning on a tree and sitting down slowly.

"It doesn't? In Damascus were there men shifting into wolves?" He asks. She bites her lips.

"No.."

"I know it looks crazy like you say, but you're not in Damascus anymore. You need to calm down if you want to survive. There are more than just wolves in this world. This is a Beastmen's World."

"Beastmen..?" She asks, confused.

"Yes. People that shift into a beast. Not all beasts are like the wolves you saw. They were feral and they would kill for anything and mate with every female they found." He explains, making her even more confused.

"All right.. Why am I here? Why are you talking to me? Is this a cruel game?" She asks, trying to don't cry, but failing since her side is hurting too.

"...You have too many questions. But I understand."

"Why are you not answering?" She asks, getting angry now.

"You will find your answers soon. For now, you have to stay alive. Are you hurt?" He asks. She could sense through his voice that he was worried.

"My ribs.. I think I broke one or two when I fell on the river or when I hit the rock inside of it." She answers and lifts up her shirt to see that the skin on her side is dark red. "It's red and looks swollen."

"Tsc.. Try to stay in the sun so your clothes dry and you don't catch a cold. Try to find a dark purple fruit with red stripes, it has a round shape and has pointy leaves on its top. It has a sour taste, but it will help you heal faster." He explains to her.

"All right.." She could only agree and follow what that voice is telling her to do.

"I'm Astri. Thank you for helping me, Mr. Voice." She says softly.

The voice stopped for a few seconds.

"My name is Claud. Claud Yue. Don't tell anyone you know me or that you talk to me through your mind. It is not normal talking to yourself and with voices. I can't talk to you all the time, but I'll talk to you whenever possible to know how are you and if you found a village. Find somewhere safe to rest and find the fruit I told you, then when it's morning again you go against the sun."

"Against the sun? Do you mean West?" She asks.

"I'm not familiar with the words from the other world. But if you follow that direction in 3 to 4 days you should find a village where you can ask for help." Claud speaks.

"4 days?! What if I find those ferals again? Or other ones?!" She asks scared.

"Keep quiet, avoid common paths, and make sure where you will rest there's no sign of people there. Ferals are fierce but they're stupid, you can avoid them if you avoid where they normally walk." He answers. His voice sounded less clear. "I need to go now. I'm tired and I can't keep our connection any longer. Please be careful.. I'll get in contact with you when I get my energy back." His voice got less and less clear.

She's scared to be alone. Even if it was just a voice and also she was always alone all her life. It was always like that, she always had to face things by herself.

"All right.."

Claud didn't answer anymore.

She stands up and looks up to the sky, she's sure it's afternoon because she walked for hours before finding those ferals, so she's sure the sun's direction is West now.

She will try to find the fruit Claud said, and also a cave or something to rest on her way.

After walking a few hours, she finds the fruit Claud said.

She tastes a tiny piece of it and she feels she's safe after confirming it has the sour taste Claud told her about. She picked a lot more and stuffed them in her backpack.

Her backpack has a material that doesn't wet what is inside, it's impermeable. Since she would always have to walk in rain or snow, she had lost many books and art supplies in the past, so she saved a lot of money to buy that backpack that was made for camping and enduring anything.

She finally finds a place to put some leaves and trunks on it so she can hide under them.

She takes a protein bar from her backpack and eats it slowly, revisiting her memories of everything that happened that day.

Will she wake up back in Damascus the next morning?