Chapter 04:
I suddenly woke up to my own scream after being chased by nightmares in which my parents were killed over and over again, one after another, without me being able to stop it. Then, when I found myself waking up to reality, I was sitting on a bed inside a building that was almost completely destroyed.
— In the end, I only woke up from one nightmare to fall into another. — Neale spoke to himself as he remained seated with his head lowered and his left hand resting on his forehead. At that moment, the single white streak in his long hair was covering his right eye.
When he looked at the rest of the bed, he noticed the journal lying there again, its cover facing the mattress. As soon as he picked it up to read it, the first page already said:
O.M.'s Journal
Reports/Operations:
Soldiers:
Jena L.
Cristian M.
Nolan K.
But the moment he thought he should read the next page, his gaze shifted toward the outside of the building and became fixed on the morning sky, which was clear at that moment but covered by clouds that seemed to be competing to block out the sun.
Neale saw that it was still early, but the sun was not far from reaching noon. That put him in a state of near urgency, causing him to quickly get up and move toward the backpack in front of him. He placed the journal, his torn overcoat, and the canteen containing the few drops of water he still had inside it. As for the handle of the long knife, he chose to leave it attached to the outside of the backpack before putting it on his back and heading outside the building once again.
He wanted to make the most of the daylight, determined at all costs to avoid repeating the same situation from the night before.
Now that he was back on the road that divided the forest in half, it was possible to notice that the silence from the previous night was no longer as dense in that place. Even so, some things still seemed determined to remain within that silence, hiding behind the sound of the wind striking the leaves of the nearby trees and bushes.
As he walked at a pace he considered good enough to preserve much of his strength, the sun was already passing its highest point. It was another sign that time was not taking it easy on him, and in the middle of all that, Neale ended up reaching a more open part of the forest.
In that place, a small but not very dense cloud of dust rose toward his eyes before quickly passing by him. After that, Neale's deepest senses entered a state of alert that made his entire body break out in goosebumps, while some of his muscles reacted with tremors as if they were preparing for—or responding to—something.
Then, as his attention turned to his surroundings, things such as the movement of the grass, the trees along with their leaves, branches, and finally the earth—all of it seemed to be moving in opposite directions, as if the wind were colliding with itself in a completely unnatural way. Then his eyes turned upward, searching for the source of the sound of paper being crushed and torn apart by air pressure that had suddenly appeared and invaded his ears.
That was when that thing appeared. It was as if it had emerged from the middle of the forest, but at the same time, it was also as if it had come from the sky—similar to thunder, when you do not know where or when it will come from. It simply appears.
That thing was a BD-m, a Lesser Demonic Beast of the winged type. Its physical form was not even remotely similar to anything that existed in the world at that moment. Its crimson-red skin had a dull tone and radiated a heat that, if compared to that of other beasts, could be called lukewarm. Its three eyes were redder than its own skin. Its wings no longer had many feathers, but the ones they did have resembled sword blades forged by the finest blacksmith. Its legs were sturdy, with claws that left no doubt that they were capable of tearing through clouds. And when it saw Neale as one of its prey, it let out a roar. Its roar was similar to the cries of an orphanage filled with babies weeping in agony, rivaling the sound of lightning striking the ground—but this sound was constant.
Neale curled up, covering and holding his ears in fear that they would implode along with his organs. Then, after roaring, the winged beast dove toward Neale, who was still curled up as if the creature's roar were continuing to force its way into his body. At that moment, he could easily say that even his bones had felt and trembled from that single roar.
Neale quickly got to his feet, even though he still felt as if his ears were bleeding. He only realized that the beast was heading toward him when it was already above him. There was no longer any time to decide where to go or what to do in that situation. But somehow, perhaps because fear had drained the strength from both of his legs, he managed to escape the claws of death—but not unharmed.
Two of the beast's claws ended up cutting through the strap of his backpack along with his shoulder, which felt as if it were burning while it bled. But knowing that there was no time to feel that pain, he grabbed the handle of the long knife attached to the outside of the backpack and drew the blade, still wearing an expression of pain on his face as the beast flew even higher into the sky. Neale took advantage of that moment to run away from the area, and when the beast noticed that he was still moving, it dove again, following its fleeing prey and quickly catching up to him, while he could barely run very far.
The beast's impact against the ground sent a massive amount of dust into the air, throwing pieces of the road in every direction along with Neale, who was thrown several inches forward. Meanwhile, the beast propelled itself back into the sky, emerging from the middle of the dust. After gaining some altitude, it made a half-moon arc through the air that carried it downward. It was now flying with its claws almost touching the ground as it roared again, about to enter that cloud of dust once more and tear off Neale's head.
But when the beast reached Neale, his feet were firmly planted on the ground, and both of his hands were tightly gripping the handle of the long knife.
And when the two collided—the blade and the beast—the creature's own strength and speed began cutting through its wing as it dragged Neale across the ground, covering him in its blood. He was dragged with such force that the soles of his sneakers ended up tearing. After being dragged for several yards, he and the beast were thrown in opposite directions, both of them slamming their backs against nearby trees.
Neale was now in pain throughout his body and covered in the winged BD-m's hot, thick, black blood. His long knife had broken from the impact of its blade against the skin of the beast's wing.
The creature was the first to get back up. Its wing had been cut slightly past halfway through by a single vertical slash, preventing it from flying even when it tried. The wound also seemed to be healing very slowly. Realizing this, Neale began trying to run as far away from that place as he could, but the beast was not going to leave him alone and began chasing him on the ground despite being injured.
A little farther ahead, while Neale fled from the beast, he caught sight of a river whose current did not appear to be very strong. When he tried to jump across to the other side—since, from his perspective, he did not have time to find another route around the river with the beast only inches away from killing him—he jumped, but ended up falling into the river after the beast interfered at the moment it nearly devoured his foot.
The beast then roared one last time when it realized it had lost its prey, while Neale was carried away by the current.