I walked and walked until my legs gave out. Each step, more painful that the last. I woke up here. I woke up on the other side, where monsters are everywhere, and warmth is nowhere. Its a dangerous place, but the scariest part isn't the maze of monsters. It's knowing theirs no escape, and trying to find one anyway. Hope is what is dangerous. This world, everyone here, their all monsters. Theirs no difference between the people trying to survive the monsters, and the monsters themselves. We are all monsters.
I walked until I could walk no longer. I was in the bustling city of New York. The monsters hiding in the darkest places were bearable, but the monsters in broad daylight, not even caring enough to hide themselves, were the real problem.
I was getting on a cruise, readying myself to be the protector of the people, from the monsters of the islands and of the sea, when I saw it. Far off in the distance was a leviathan. The sea monster known to attack ships, but more importantly, people. I stepped onto the cruise, went through security, and finally arrived at my room. I put my stuff down before reexiting and searching for the leviathan. I had to be prepared.
Hours went by with little events. Some dude spilled his beer all over himself and flipped out on the bartender for making it too liquidity.
Another person, and old women in her late forties, tripped over somebody's purse by their table, and yelled at them to be more considerate of other people, although their was plenty of other places to walk. Finally, I saw it. The leviathan was swimming closer and closer to the ship and nobody had yet noticed it, because very few had the ability to see it. I was one in five hundred sixty three thousand people who had the ability to see it.
I was just about to jump over the edge, when an incredibly gorgeous man pulled me back.
"Stop!" He screamed, grabbing my ark and pulling me down from the railing.
"This has nothing to do with you. If you want to live, back off." I spat out, and climbed back onto the railing.
"You can see it, can't you?" The stranger asked, with something like hope in his eyes.
"Yeah. I can. That's why I need to keep these people from dying. Back. Off. I'm doing my job and you are getting in the way." With that I jumped into the water. But luck wasn't on my side. As soon as my body was drenched in the icy water, something splashed in behind me. It was the guy.
"If you insist on taking it, we will all die. But I guess we are going out with a bang." He said, grinning. "My name's Gavin. What's yours?"
"Alyssa. Now shut-up. You are giving me a headache."
"Okay, okay. What's the plan?"
"I'm going in and using my spear to stab it's head, after that it will get a bit roadie. If you can handle that, that's when you come in. You can help me finish it off in a way that's fast and painless. We just need to drive my spear through its head and it'll die peacefully. Did you get all of that?"
He stared, confused for a moment, then shrugged and said, "Sure, whatever. I'll just follow your lead."
I dove underwater and he followed suit. After some struggle, we executed the plan and came back up.
"Are you okay?" I asked as we got our breathe back.
"Yeah, but I could be better. How about you?"
"I'm fine."
"The cruise is gone."
"Yeah, I noticed."
"You're looking a little pale. Do you need any help?"
"No." I said with finality. "What are we going to do about being stranded?"
Indeed, the cruise was gone. We were stranded in the middle of nowhere, and I was bleeding from a stomach wound I hadn't yet told Gavin about.
"We need to float, it'll save our energy while we wait to help to arrive." He said calmly.
We tried to float for a little, but the salt water was starting to sting on my wound. I groaned softly, but Gavin noticed.
"What's wrong? Did you get injured?" He stopped floating and started treading water to get a better look. The sun was setting but their was still enough light to tell I was seriously hurt.
"I'm fine. I already said that." I said, then winced from the pain of breathing. There was blood filling the water around us, but I pretended not to notice. Gavin saw it to though, and started crying.
"What are you? Two? Who cries because somebody else is hurt?" I said, annoyed.
"I don't know what to do. You are hurt and I'm the only one around. I'm so sorry. I should've done better in the fight. I should've gotten hurt."
"Oh, my fucking ducklings!" I yelled. "Shut up! It's not that bad. And if you had gotten hurt, well, I wouldn't have let that happen. You followed me, remember? So I can't let anything happen to you." He stopped crying and stared at me. "What?"
"It's just, my choices are my own, so even if I did get hurt, that would be my fault." He whispered, with an edge to his voice of something I couldn't place. Guilt maybe?
He grabbed my floating body and held me as the sun set, not wanting me to use all my energy on anything, because my body needed to heal.
"Damn it." I said after a few minutes of silence. "All my medical supplies is on the ship, and who knows when they will come find us."
"It's okay. You'll be okay. I won't let anything happen to you." He said softly. "You said it yourself, it's not that bad, right?"
My silence told him everything he needed to know. "How bad is it?" He asked, panic seeping into his words like water coming from a shower head.
"It's fine. I'll be fine." I said, trying to keep the despair from my voice.
"Alyssa. Tell me the truth."
"I-I-I don't know. I don't know how bad it really is but I know it is pretty deep." I said taking breathes as to not focus on the steadily increasing pain and dizziness I was feeling.
Gavin started gliding across the water in the direction the cruise would've been going. He held me close against his chest, with surprising strength.
"The world's full of monsters." I said, almost to myself. "Everyone. They are all monsters."
"What? Are you okay, Alyssa? Stay here with me. Feel my body. That's all you need to feel." Gavin started getting more frantic, and I could tell he was exhausted from swimming and holding me.
"Gavin. I have a question. What do you think about people?" I said carefully. " We just met, and you are so kind."
"People show their colors everyday with every little action. You showed me you are brave and selfless because you risked your life to save the people on that cruise. Inturn I am trying to do what I can to help you, even if it isn't much."
"It is everything. You are changing my outlook on life. And on people. From my perspective, at least, before today, I thought everyone was cruel and heartless. Now I think differently. You aren't cruel or heartless. Maybe others cab be different too."
"Yeah, it's all about perspectives."
As time went by I felt myself get more and more tired, until I drifted off, no longer conscious. The stinging from my stomach wound slowly faded into nothing, as did Gavin's screams of despair as he felt my heart stop.