Unknown Ch. 01

I start to run, cut deeper into my arm with my fingernails. I push myself hard, push myself past—past it all. Gray darkens to black, Lexiss's voice fades. I close my eyes as tears stream down. I'm not going to die. I'm not going to die.

I don't notice when the ice gives way to fire, when the cold fives way to heat, until light pierces my eyelids. I blink my eyes open, trip, and fall as I gape at the world around me. And it is a world, so unlike Sharica and Earth and anything I've seen.

Lexiss's voice is gone, replaced by a thundering in my veins that overwhelms me. I block out the pain, block out every sensation, and absorb all that my eyes can see. It's still not enough. "What the hell?"

"Hell is right." I turn, catch a glance of something with horns, fangs, claws, and faint dead.