—Ahhhh!
I woke up startled and terrified in an old bathroom. When I touched my face with one hand, I realized it was stained with something...
It was blood.
—Was it... real? How am I alive?
I placed my hand on my chest to clearly feel my heartbeat.
—I'm still alive...
Immediately, my eyes scanned the entire area around me. The place was in a deplorable state, to say the least. The walls were covered in vines, mold was consuming the depths of the structure, and plants were beginning to devour the building.
The metal doors were rusted and nearly destroyed. The mirrors were completely fogged and covered in dirt. The place looked as though it had been abandoned for years. Everything was dark; there was no source of light in the bathroom.
—Welcome to the S... Zoo!
I heard a voice echoing throughout the entire area, full of joy. However, the moment it mentioned the place's name, it abruptly cut off...
To say the least, it was strange to hear a cheerful voice inside a gloomy, decaying, abandoned place.
But despite how strange it was, it was necessary to leave. At last I would be able to see sunlight again. I was free, finally.
—...
The words wouldn't come out of my mouth. I couldn't move my lips. I was...
Stupefied...
It was dark. The entire place was covered by immense darkness. It was nighttime. Vegetation had completely taken over. Only a few lamps illuminated several benches surrounded by vines and bushes. Accompanying the eerie area was a deathly silence.
A desolate silence that only intensified the doubts emerging within me. The only thing I could constantly hear was the beating of my heart. Until it was finally broken by the appearance of an animal...
A... deer?
It leaped out from a nearby bush and landed right in front of me. That animal was anything but a deer.
Its skin looked gaunt, grayish, and rotten. It was only a few seconds, but it was enough for me to contemplate the creature's grotesque appearance. It was extremely thin, to the point that its ribs were visible beneath its skin, as were its limbs. Above its head hovered a swarm of flies buzzing in unison, setting a rhythm of disgust. Its gaze was beyond comparison...
No pupils, yet it seemed able to see right through me. A sharp pain struck my chest, as though that creature were piercing me with its gaze fixed upon my soul. My legs went numb for a moment. The initial shock was followed by a rush of adrenaline that prepared me for either a confrontation or an imminent escape, but it was neither.
The animal slowly opened its mouth, revealing an extraordinarily long tongue that reached the ground and dripped torrents of disgusting fluids. Its head split in two, exposing pieces of its brain and parts of its internal anatomy, while chunks of flesh peeled away.
The deer let out an extremely high-pitched scream, brutally piercing the inside of my ears as it echoed throughout the area. It triggered the roars of other nearby animals that followed it. Fortunately, they had not revealed themselves nearby. It was clear that I was now in danger. Though at the moment, the greatest danger was the deer before me, which showed no interest in my flesh...
It simply fled while dragging its tongue across the ground, leaving behind a trail of fluids.
—It looks like it's leaving me a path...
I didn't dare follow it. Doubt stopped me. What if it was a trap to lure me toward death?
Then the roar of what sounded like a nearby lion echoed through the darkness. Though it wasn't visible... yet. Instinctively, my legs began moving in search of a safe place, following the path marked by the deer's fluids. The trail offered no room for hope. There was no light nearby.
The animals' roars grew louder and more frequent, while the vegetation around me became thicker and denser. Eventually, I arrived at some kind of statue...
"The Lady of the Zoo"
"In memory of the founder of this zoo who fills the family with happiness every day"
"That accident marked the life of the entire zoo"
It was the statue of a beautiful woman whose face lay cracked and broken. It was illuminated only by a lamp and appeared to be holding something...
A strange object that I couldn't properly see from where I stood. For some reason, the statue seemed to illuminate itself dramatically, as though using the lamp's light to reflect even more brilliance.
Honestly, I didn't know what to think...
I approached slowly. It was as though it was calling me, as though whatever the statue was holding needed me and was beckoning me closer. So... I did it.
What I found was strange.
A pistol...
—What is this feeling?
The weapon felt familiar. Known... but there was no time to think or reflect.
!
I noticed movement coming from a nearby bush. The bush was behind me, and the movement produced a macabre sound...
Branches colliding with one another, leaves rustling against each other, and a faint squeal of teeth constantly scraping together. I had no intention of turning around. My body was ready to run with my heart in my throat. But... I had a gun. I checked it and found it fully loaded.
Enough bullets to keep me alive if I used them properly.
I slowly turned my body to avoid sudden movements in case the creature was watching me, or had already noticed my presence...
However, something emerged from the bush. It was what had caused that squealing sound.
It was some kind of monkey... its skin filthy, most of its fur missing. In those bald areas, enormous holes in its skin and flesh revealed the animal's interior. It emitted a suffocating stench capable of overwhelming even the dullest sense of smell and causing nausea. The flesh around the holes pulsed...
Not dramatically or violently. It pulsed slowly and steadily. It was reddish. It was soaked in blood coming from within. With every pulse, jets of blood burst from the flesh, drenching it in a vivid crimson.
Its limbs appeared putrefied... its arms and legs were in a deplorable state. Some fingers even fell off and detached in a disgusting, grotesque manner.
Its face...
Had no eyes.
The places where its eyes should have been were empty, only crimson sockets tinged with black, as though they had begun decomposing. It had a mouth full of grotesque fluids, what seemed to be bile and drool at times. But it was filled with teeth...
They weren't even arranged in any order. They were mixed together, some overlapping others, some cracked or broken, others completely rotten. It possessed more than one set of teeth.
My body froze completely. My feet wouldn't react. My arms wouldn't raise the pistol to fire. My body rejected my commands...
Move, damn it. Shoot, run, do something. I don't want to die.
The creature began grinding its teeth. They scraped and shattered against one another. One thing was clear. I realized the animal couldn't see me. The absence of eyes also meant the absence of that sense. My theory was confirmed when my heartbeat continued.
I was still alive. That beast couldn't see me.
!
But at that instant, the sound of a bell saved me. The monster began growling as it quickly moved away in search of the source of the noise...
—I think... I'm safe...
I could barely move my lips. The rest of my body was beginning to return to normal. That brief moment of peace quickly vanished when a whisper coming from everywhere reached my ears.
—My name is... S... a... and you...?
That voice... it was the same one I had heard in my apartment. It didn't come from any specific place. It was as though it echoed directly inside my head, reverberating through everything. Little by little, the whisper faded away like a breeze in the darkness.
...
I don't intend to stay any longer in this lousy zoo...
I decided to walk in search of an exit as soon as I regained control of my body. After several minutes of walking, I found a huge door marked "Emergency Exit." However, it was sealed with a single metal lock.
—Damn it...
And right beside it was a container holding several zoo maps. I took one. However, the map I grabbed had a location marked on it: the center of the aquarium, which was right next to the emergency exit.
—There's something written on the edge of the map...
"She reminisces about the moments when they met, but do you even remember them?"
—It's... strange...
I was currently on the west side of the zoo. The place was enormous, containing multiple animal enclosures. Apparently, I had awakened in one of the bathrooms located near the center of the map.
A nearby clock indicated it was 04:44 AM.
...