Intro- Crown

Introduction

- - -

There was a person above him. A very blurry person. He saw the man's mouth moving, but only heard the ringing. He saw the man touching him, but only felt the throbbing and the pain. His vision was darkening. Where those sirens behind the ringing? Why was he so cold on a hot afternoon like this? The man kept getting blurrier and blurrier. The darkness was closing in.

David Crown didn't know. 

He didn't know where he was when the ringing stopped. It was hot again. David found himself on the grassy ground. The pain was gone. So was the man.

Instead, he sat up to find himself surrounded by trees. He saw city hall over the tops of them. The same view of city hall he'd seen before too. Before the ringing and the pain, that is. He looked the other way and saw the coast. This was the same spot from before. 

How fast do trees grow? David wondered as he stared up a pine tree.

How long has it been?

"Hello?" he called out, standing up. Nobody answered. He didn't expect anyone to.

Then he heard the soft drumming of running on grass from behind him.

Somebody wrapped their arms around him and growled. The arms were human, the growl was not. He braced himself for a fight as his attack pulled him to the ground.

David was hopeless against it. Not only was it stronger, but it was faster, smarter, and bigger. David put up a honorable fight, but not for long.

He found himself on the ground with the attacker standing over him. It had grey skin, cold, empty eyes, bright white hair, and sharpened teeth. When it spoke, it's voice had a bear-like gruffness to it.

"Don't run, lost one. I'll take you home."

David didn't bother talking back. He did the exact opposite than what the monster had told him to do. He ran.

"You idiot!" it screamed after him.

"I'll find you! You can't hide!" it shouted. David just ran faster.

"There's nothing for you here! You're dead!"

Dead? David thought, but ran faster. He kept running and the monster didn't follow him.

"Dead?" he said along to himself after running. The summer sun was setting. It was getting cold.

"I'm not dead," he muttered, checking his pulse. He'd seen dead people. He was a doctor. He kept looking for him own pulse. After all that running, it should be easy to find.

"Unless I'm dead," he said, giving up on finding his pulse. The pain... the ringing... the cold... David thought about it all. That's what dying felt like?

Then it hit him.

"I'm dead," he croaked. He'd always said ding was his worst fear. He'd always lied. His worst fear was facing whatever maker there was.

 "I'll take you home," the monster had said.

"I don't wanna go home," David whimpered as the sun sank below the horizon.

"I'm not going home."

We're all headed for the monster's homes, 

whether they drag our bodies there, or our minds.