“It’s time to wake up. Quickly now.”

The young man opened his eyes, groggy, unfocused. 

“Ugh…” he managed, his thoughts as cloudy as a rainy day. “Where...where am I?” 

“Quickly. There isn’t much time. She will return. You must escape now or you shall become like the others.” The young man was having a hard time understanding what was being said to him. The low baritone voice seemed to be echoing inside his head and he couldn’t see the one who was speaking.

“What are you talking about? Escape where? Who is she?”

“Quickly, you must move.” The young man groaned as he blinked rapidly trying to push off the ground. His hands slid over arm wide fibers...no they were too thick to be fibers, and too rigid. They seemed to be crisscrossed and the texture was uneven and rough, almost like...wood.

“Quickly.” the voice repeated a fourth time. 

The young man’s eyesight began to clear more and more with each blink. 

“Hey, why do I need to hurry?” He asked the voice, beginning to turn in its direction, “What? Am I running from some-” as the young man’s gaze fell on the source of the voice he let out a noise of panic before scrambling backwards with a start. In his rush on the uneven terrain he stumbled over his own legs causing his balance to shift and him to fall down to the wooden ground in a painful huff.

Floating, before him, a full meter off the ground was a small luminescent shape. It was about the size of his own head but with four beautiful spotted wings sticking out in different directions. The wings were flapping madly as if rushing to meet a deadline. The face of the creature had two enormous beady black eyes that seemed to swirl with something like galaxies behind them. The thing almost resembled…a butterfly.

“What the hell are you?”

“I am called Xes, now quickly we have little time.” What the young man perceived to be the creature's mouth didn’t move as it spoke these words.

“Quickly, there isn’t much-” 

“But wait a minute, where am I, what’s going on?!”

“There is no time. You must escape before she returns if you do not wish to end up like the others.”

The young man tried to get a bearing on his surroundings since the floating butterfly thing wasn’t seemingly giving him any hints. He looked over the place he was in. There wasn’t much light. Wherever he was it was quite dark. He seemed to be correct in his earlier analysis. The terrain he was in was made of wood, criss crossing wooden planks, like...twigs, but gigantic. Turning his head in an arc he noticed it appeared he was in some form of enormous bird’s nest.

Standing to his feet he made his way across the errant twigs as big as tree trunks, trying to reach the side of the humongous nest. Unseen to him the bright floating form of Xes followed. 

“You said I need to escape before she returns. Who is she and why do I need to escape?” The young man’s gaze was turned downward as he carefully picked his step across the felled wood, his eyes continuing to adjust to the darkness.
“You must escape if you do not wish to end up like the others.” The man reached the side of the nest, and with a jump latched on to a low hanging branch, pulling himself up and over. The nest was wider than it was tall and surmounting it was not a difficult feat.

“Why, what happened to the others?” The young man asked Xes as he continued looking around. His breath halted in his lungs as his blood froze ice cold within his veins. His skin raised up into goosebumps and every hair on his body stood on end as he discovered “the others” Xes had been speaking of.

On the opposite wall from where the nest sat on some form of raised shelf were people, hundreds of them. All were suspended on the back wall, crucified at various spots and positions at uneven and altering intervals. On every figure three twisted obsidian needles stuck out from them, one on each palm and one in their feet which hung atop one another. That would have been alarming enough but the condition of the figures made the man sick to his stomach.

Out of so many people only a few were still clothed however all were mutilated. Some of them had giant gashes torn open in their chest, their organs hanging out like limp noodles. Others had the skin along their chest peeled back and pinned alongside them, showing off their innards in a gruesome exhibition like frogs on a biology table. Some were missing their heads, or their entire faces, as the bone gleamed a cold alabaster in the dark. Some seemed to have holes in their heads where their faces should have been. Others had the tops of their heads removed, their brains impaled on similar needles beside them. At least one of the impaled people had the entirety of their entrails wrapped in a spiral around their body with various pins stuck in at different points to keep it aloft. 

It was a macabre museum, one that rang eerily familiar. Yes, it was reminiscent...of butterfly collections, the same kind he used to keep as a child.

“Xes, how do we get out of here?” The young man’s breathless voice barely echoed in the cool air.

“It is too late,” Xes replied, his voice solemn, “she has returned.”

Motion in the young man’s peripheral drew his vision to the right. From an unseen hole on the right of the horrific collection a ghastly appendage loomed. It was like a human arm but stretched out and pale, it’s sallow skin clinging to its bones, it’s fingers longer than any humans, hell, longer than a human and pointed like daggers. As the frame of the being the arm was attached to came into view, the young man couldn’t help but gawk. It was the largest woman he’d ever seen. Her arms stretched longer than her body as they pulled her into the cave. Her lower body was squat and folded under her like a toad, her toes similarly lengthy and sharp as her fingers. Her hair hung down like a black curtain, obscuring her face and breasts. She wore no clothing which showed off her bony ribs, bigger than the twigs that made up his nest. Her skin was a sickly ashen hue covered in dark blotches and welts all over. 

Her eyes were huge spotlights glowing a sinister yellow through the strands of hair that hung before her face. The way they beamed through that ragged curtain of hair was like the headlamps of a car cutting through fog, with the lights disappearing for a fraction of a second every time she blinked. Besides her eyes her face was not visible. 

As she made her way over to the nest she made no noise, like a cat moving across floorboards. It was unfathomable for a creature her size. Her face, larger than a billboard, loomed near the nest and through the curtain of black threads the sight of a gaping black maw filled with razor sharp teeth as large as a man was tall became apparent. No lips framed her mouth and no nose graced her face. The creature barely seemed to be breathe as no air passed onto the young man, but the smell...it was like a bag of decaying animals drowning in a bog. It burned the hairs on the inside of his nose as he struggled to bring his own breath to zero.

As the two stared at each, the young man could only shudder out one phrase.

“What…the...fuck?”

“I am sorry.” Were the last words Xes spoke before his glittering form folded in on itself like a collapsing star, disappearing and taking his light and the young man’s hope with him.

“W-wait!” the young man turned, reaching out to where Xes had been only to find no trace of the helpful little guide remaining. He stood there, arm outstretched and frozen for a few seconds, before he perceived something above him.

With fearful apprehension he turned upwards and saw an arm as long as a train extending overhead. The blotched, tight skin of this thing clung to the bones underneath as it moved forward, the gigantic appendage ending in a fist the size of a car. The speed and ease with which it moved captivated the young man as he watched, unable to look away.

It was paradoxical, somehow quicker than something so big should’ve been able to move but also with a tremendous slowness that carried the weight of its master. Finally the massive arm came to a stop before the fist began to dip forward. As if recoiling from the mere presence of the man standing underneath its girth the arm began to recede into the sky. It was like watching a pair of scales taking on new weight as the arm arched into the air at an unnatural angle allowing the fist to get mere feet above the branches within the middle of the nest.

With a hypnotizing slowness, the fingers uncurled, five monstrous snakes, uncoiling and slithering away from each other allowing that within to be detached into the nest. The limp form of a dark haired young woman was visible as she slid out of the palm of hand, crumpling into a soft pile on the branches near the median of the great wooden prison. The gentleness with which she was handled was like a mother carrying for its young. Her form lay on her side, arms strewn under her, legs tucked in as if she were sleeping. It was hard to even believe she was in danger from the way she looked.

Suddenly the young man was thrust back to reality as the hand which had so lovingly maneuvered the woman he had just witnessed moved forward with the wicked speed of an accelerating rocket. Palm splayed and fingers outstretched the hand moved three times as fast as it had before catching the man off guard. Before his mind could even form the electrical signals to react to the situation the terrifying appendage had collided with his body, knocking the wind out of him as he was pulled along away from the nest.

The centrifugal force of the swing was enough to keep him glued to the palm for a few seconds, though that was all that was necessary for the snake-like digits to wiggle their way underneath him. They curled around him, wrapped him in a loose embrace so as not to let him fall. There was no warmth in their grasp. The surface of the skin was so cold it was almost slimy. It felt as if it was sucking the heat from his body but wasn’t warming up despite this. The stench was far worse up close then it had been previously, like sticking one's head in an industrial garbage container for a prolonged amount of time.

The young man tried to move but despite the seemingly loose grasp the fingers had him in they held fast. The overwhelming stench and panic that flooded his brain overrode his sense of time. It seemed to have been a few minutes though it must have only been a few seconds. The man felt his prison unfurling and in an instant felt an intense pressure grabbing his left wrist. The force twisted his arm so much it was almost torn from its socket causing its owner to scream in pain.

The man was hoisted backwards quickly and decisively until his back collided with hard stone, knocking the breath from his lungs for the second time in so much time. The young man began to struggle in the grasp of the creatures’ forefinger and thumb, scratching at the digits with his free arm as he was held aloft on the wall.

Suddenly his world was illuminated as the massive face and its spotlight eyes appeared before him. Despite the illumination present from beneath the curtain of hair the eyes did not give off as intense of a light as the young man would have expected. However as the man looked into their pool-like surfaces he felt an emptiness beneath and within them. They were simply massive moving orbs, no pupils, no blood veins, no distinguishing characteristics of any kind. 

As the man and the monster stared at each time stood still, as if afraid to progress within the presence of this beast. Finally the creature lifted its face, no. Lifted would be incorrect. The top half of the head moved backwards as if on a hinge while the bottom half stayed where it was. The colossal mouth opened wide, showing off the rows of teeth the size of longswords within, yellowed and black, with what appeared to be dried blood near the tips. The inside of the mouth was the color of ink making it hard to distinguish anything else inside it. Because of this the man didn’t notice the leviathan until it had moved outside of its cave.

Her tongue moved, like a creature in its own right, its master completely still not making a move at all as if turned to stone. The tongue twitched and danced as it snaked its way outwards, its pointed surface turning this way and that as if searching for something. The tongue was barbed with spike like protrusions cresting its side, the same as one might decorate the side of a boat. Finally as if drawn to him specifically, the tongue turned in the man’s direction, moving forward quickly and extending itself further than a tongue should.

The young man looked on in fear, his breath coming in short gasps as he once again struggled to free himself. However he did not budge as the tongue moved in, a mere few feet from where his hand was pinned, as if inspecting the details etched within his palm.

With lightning speed and precision the tip of the tongue moved like a cobra striking its prey embedding its tip into the wall through the man's palm with such force the stone let out a cracking noise. He screamed.

The pain was unmatched by anything he had felt before previously. His new wound did not bleed. It felt as if something, from the entry point in the new hole on his hand was reaching into his body, greedily sucking up the blood that tried to egress from the wound. It wasn’t quick, but it was noticeable and it hurt, like a hundred wasps stinging his hand from the inside. 

The fingers that held his arm relinquished themselves, the great beast recoiled back into its grotto and the head folded back down like a demented muppet. The young man was in such pain as he struggled he almost didn’t notice his other arm being propped up in the same position, not until the same stinging sensation echoed in his other arm. 

He screamed again, his agony now doubled as he wailed, shaking himself back and forth within the grasp of this monster but he was now stiffly attached to the stone wall. As if the two sharp afflictions to his hands were not enough a third impacted both of his feet, he yet again not realizing his body had been moved into position without his consent.

The man began thrashing as his screeching wails intensified, trying desperately to throw himself from the wall, even if he had to tear his own flesh to do it, but the impacts to his body did not budge. He was stuck fast, helpless and at the mercy of whatever came next. 

Having been freed of their duty to pin the man to his perch the fingers move back from where they had successfully pinned his legs. However, instead of receding completely they swooped back in, like a vulture diving for carrion. They stopped almost ten feet in front of the man’s throat, causing him to shift his gaze toward them in alarm, momentarily ignoring the pain that continued to sting his hands. 

A single digit unfurled itself from the rest, extending towards the top of the young man’s chest, where his skin was visible above his short collar. His breathing became ragged once more, quick choked gasps as he waited, anticipated with absolute fear what would come next. The finger twitched for a fraction of a second, nothing more before returning to its solitary stance. 

At first, feeling no sensation at all the young man figured, thankfully, nothing had happened. That was until his gaze turned downwards as his shirt, now torn in two down the middle, separated in the middle and a thin line of crimson blossomed on his chest. It was instantaneous after that. A new sensation akin to a white hot knife having been dragging down his chest burst forth into his mind, causing fresh screams to tear from his throat until it felt raw.

As if taking this as their cue, the thumb and finger that had helped to pin him to this wall moved in, snaking their tips underneath the severed flesh of the man's chest. In a swift motion the fingers fled in opposite directions taking the outer layer of his skin with them. Blood issued forth like a geyser staining the young man’s pants and that of the stone below him. He was in hell, he had to be. He could feel his lifeforce leaving him and knew it would only be a matter of time before he bled out. This was how he was going to die. 

Twice more, the tongue returned. Twice more piercing needles dug into the man’s twisted flesh coursing waves of suffering and agony throughout his body. However now the tongue retreated and did not return. Finally his torment was complete. His internal organs and rib cage exposed, in morbid fashion, the flaps of skin that had curled around his body now outstretched, barbs holding them in place. His hands, and legs pinned to the stone kept him suspended in this position for what surely would be the rest of his life, though that wouldn’t be much longer he supposed. This is how he would spend his last moments, the newest addition to this ghastly collection.

As his vision began to dim, the overriding stimuli from all his damaged nerves shutting down his brain, the last thing he saw was those glowing yellow eyes, simply staring at him, unblinking like enormous yellow moons.

***

The young woman groaned as consciousness returned to her. Her hand moved of its own accord scratching her head, trying to help her clear away the fog that had overtaken her brain. She attempted to sit up though that only caused a wave of nausea to nearly overtake her. Where was she? What was going on? Suddenly, a low baritone voice cut through the darkness surprising her out of her stupor.

 “It’s time to wake up. Quickly now. Quickly. There isn’t much time. She will return.”