First Bite

Five hours and twenty-one minutes. That was the estimated time our flight from Seattle would take. I didn't even want to go one this trip but now I'm wasting a month of my life to climb a mountain. It would be a good experience, at least that is what my so-called friends would like to believe. They never take my thoughts into consideration. Sam sits next to me damn near bouncing in her seat excited for this trip. I didn't have the heart to tell her how little this trip meant to me. Sam sat in the middle seat. While I got the window. I thought I'd have to fight her for it, but she was too excited to be upset.

Sam and I have been dating for 2 years and some change. So, she knows better than to argue with me. I'm just too stubborn. So, color me surprised when this trip was sprung on me. Nobody hates surprises more than I do and yet they did not have the decency to talk to me about this. I guess it was supposed to be a surprise anniversary gift from Sam. As sweet as she is, I not only hate surprises, but I don't enjoy her company.

I know what you are thinking 'if you hate this so much, why go on the trip?'. Well two reasons first its free, and second, I want to end our relationship on a high note. I would have broken up with her if it wasn't for this trip. Maybe she knows that, and this is her stellar idea to keep us together. she was always very clingy.

"Don't look so down" Sam said turning to face me. Her bright blue eyes gleaming with excitement. I just looked at her, she was beautiful short brown hair in a pixie-cut light freckles dotted her face. My eyes drifted down to the low-cut gray blouse that exposed a generous bit of cleavage. Seeing my eyes drift she slapped me lightly on the arm. "Not like that, you perv"

"I'm sorry just doing what you said" I reply with a grin. It's forced but she doesn't notice "Are you sure that this is what you want to do?" I ask taring my eyes away from her bust to look her in the eyes. She smiles softly then leans her head onto my shoulder.

"Of course, Just us, Becca, and Eric" she said with a sigh "three weeks of hiking snuggling and adventure" she finished looking past me and out the window.

'Ugh three weeks I forgot how long this trip was going to be for a second. you just had to remind me' I just nod and look out the window as well. The plane was just about to depart. we are supposed to be meeting Eric and Becca at the airport, but they lucked out and had an earlier departure. Instead of the fucking midnight departure we got.

Liftoff was as you would expect it bumpy, loud, and nerve wracking. I am not afraid of heights; I just don't like the idea of a metal tube 40,000 feet above the ground where the chances of survival in the case of a crash are damn near zero. I could care less if I was a story or two above the ground where death was possible but not probable. Watching the ground slowly get further and further away is a surreal experience. It's not the first time I've ever been on a plane, but something about this trip was giving me bad vibes. I'll just put that on my tired body.

"I'm going to try and get some sleep" I said looking down at Sam "You should as well It's a long trip after all" She nods resting her head against me yawning softly.

It's a slow process trying to get to sleep with the mild turbulence and the sounds of the people on board. When I finally find myself drifting into unconsciousness, something odd catches my attention. A soft blue glow flows through my window. At first, I think nothing of it. Perhaps the moon is full above the clouds and its light shines though. I would have gone back to sleep if it wasn't for the person sitting in front of me.

"What the hell is that!" His shout shook the sleep from my eyes. The man had his head pressed to his window, trying to see what was going on. I quickly turned to my window and that's when I saw it.

What could only be described as a whirlpool suspended in place twisted into nothing in front of the plane. It was massive, as if the whole sky was a twisting pool of dark blue that turned into black approaching the center. I was speechless quite literally I couldn't speak. It was as if the words were caught in my throat. I tried to push out any sound, but I was incapable. Thats when I realized that it was eerily silent. Even the man who spoke before was quiet. With every ounce of strength that I had I pulled my gaze away from the window and looked around me. There were maybe a dozen people in the seats around me. I knew for a fact that 90 percent of these seats were filled when we took off. where did everyone go?

"s-sam" I finally was able to speak but even my voice was a whisper. As if my voice feared breaking the silence. "Sam" My voice was stronger now, but she still seemed to be sleeping peacefully. I tried to think of an explanation for what was happening.

'This has to be a dream' I went to the first most obvious option and pinched myself, it stung like the dickens. 'a hallucination then' I turned back to the window only to see we were entering the whirlpool of black. I felt a panic set in.

'I'm going to die' I felt a rage bubble up in me. 'All because I wanted to be nice. Because I wanted to let her down easy' I don't know where this anger was coming from, but it was flowing through me like the flames of the Phlegethon. No not anger, an actual heat began in my chest it was flowing though my veins. Even so I could not tear my eyes away from the swirling black. Then we were falling.

I couldn't tell you the exact moment we went through the whirlpool. One second, we were on one side, and the next I was in free fall. Twisting so rapidly I couldn't tell which way was down. I was sure of only one thing; I was going to die. Falling at terminal velocity was a death sentence and I've been falling for what felt like forever. It was so dark I couldn't tell if I was close to the ground or if I still had a ways to go before my demise. Until I was hit with a bright light that nearly blinded me.

I realize then that I was going though whatever that whirlpool was. I was thrown out into a lush forest. My body skipping like a stone until I smacked hard into a tall evergreen. I sat up slowly my body gowning in protest to take in my surroundings. The sun high in the sky illuminating everything around me. Tall Evergreens As far as the eye can see in all directions.

*Growl*

The First thing I noticed attempting to stand on shaky legs. Is that I'm fucking alive. I look at the groove that I left in the wake of my body. My adrenaline dulling the excruciating pain I must be in. I know that I probably shouldn't move but...

*Growl*

There are defiantly predators nearby, and I'll be damned if I survive whatever that whirlpool was and then die to some bear. So, I began the arduous process of dragging my most likely broken body away from whatever this sound was.

*GROWL*

The sound was even louder now, I could almost feel the sound reverberate through my body. I picked up the pace almost in a run from whatever this was. I would have kept running if I didn't realize something.

That sound was me.

I was starving.

I can say with absolute certainty that I've never been this hungry in all my life. Even during my broke collage days, I was never this hungry. Before I knew it, I was running again much faster than I've ever ran before.

I realize now that I was running towards something that smelt amazing. My senses where on fire, and my mouth was watering. If I was paying more attention, I would have noticed that I was not in pain. Even though I took a massive spill only minutes ago, but I couldn't. The smells were too good. My mind almost blank in the face of this wonderful smell. It took only a minute to break the tree line, finding myself in a clearing I take stock of my surroundings.

I stayed near the edge and gazed at the area around the clearing only to find it empty besides a small alter. It was made of sticks and bones from a deer of some kind. The skull prominent on top of the alter. A massive rack rests on top of the deer skull at least twelve points. Gore and viscera covered the skull, draped over the antlers in some kind of sick display. I wanted to turn away, but something held my gaze. On one of the points was a hand. A human hand.

Before I could stop myself, I was running to the alter in a mad frenzy. The smell was overpowering spurring me on. It took me what felt like two steps to reach the edge of the alter. When I reached the alter, I realized I was not alone in this mad dash. Another person was running from the woods towards the alter from directly in front of me. I don't know what came over me, but I was furious.

'How dare this person approach what is mine!' My mind roared. The heat I felt on the plane was here again. Buring anger flooded me, and I jumped over the alter lunging at my adversary. My jump must have surprised this person. They stopped the moment they saw me, their lips pulled back in a snarl. A roar tore from my throat.

"MINE!" I landed on the women. My teeth tearing into her neck. The moment the ichor touched my tongue I couldn't stop. Even as I felt her hand pierce my side straight through my lung. I continued to rip into her throat with savage abandon. She tried to throw me off, but she was already too weak. I pulled a chunk from her throat and drank deep the flavor. Looking down it was only then that I realized who it was that I had just murdered.

Sam's bloody visage stared back at me. Eyes wide and filled with fear. Her hand was coated in blood that I now noticed she had run straight through my chest. Yet I was fine. My breathing wasn't labored. In fact, I felt better than I ever have even with a gaping hole in my chest. I don't know why but I didn't feel bad for what I did. It felt necessary, and important. I turned back to the alter. The skull that was facing the other way when I leaped over was now looking at me again.

"Youuuu..." a voice from the skull of this deer. Like a hundred whispering voices layered on each other. Its eyes began to glow a dull red like smoldering embers. "You have ignited your selfish soul. There is no going back now" a light mist started to bellow from the mouth and nose of the skull.

The mist swirled to life and began to surround me. I wanted to speak. I wanted to ask what it meant, but pain ignited every nerve in my body. I couldn't even scream. I collapsed to my hands and knees. The heat I felt before was burning in my chest. It was as if my heart spontaneously combusted.

"You deserve the curse" its voice was louder now like it was right in front of me. If I were to look up, I would have saw a massive creature in the mist around me. I was incapable of even moving my head. "When you wake. You will reap what you sow." The voice paused for a moment. "Survive"

The heat began to dissipate. Darkness encroached on my vision. The last thing i saw before the dark took me into her sweet embrace was a black box with red text.

[You have ignited your selfish soul]

[You have been blessed by a God of Monsters]

[Consume and survive]

[Wendigo]

Then I fell into unconsciousness.