Wind.

The sound of rushing wind through thick walls was the first thing that invaded my senses. It howled and whistled.

I slowly cracked my eyes open and stared blankly at whatever was in front of me. My vision was blurry, and no matter how hard I tried, my eyes wouldn't focus. It felt like I was floating. My head felt light and fuzzy.

I shuffled to pull my blanket onto my body, feeling around for the soft fabric. I paused as I noticed I was laying on a cold and smooth surface. I raised my head, thinking maybe I'd fallen off my bed or something, and suddenly sat up.

I was not in my bedroom.

My eyes darted around the dark room. There were long stained glass windows, with soft moonlight shining through that created rainbows of color on the floor. Along the sides of the room were pews, all facing me. I took note of how cold it was in the room and shivered. I glanced behind me. Upon the raised platform sat an open casket, its sides broken and splintered. There wasn't a body in it.

I slowly slid my legs under me and stood up. Immediately I noticed everything around me was smaller than it should be and swayed at how trippy it felt. I brought my hands up and jerked back. Big, pawed hands with hooked claws came into my vision instead of my normal fleshy ones. I looked down at my body and saw dark fur with scraps of black fabric clinging to it. My legs had an extra joint in them, and I recognized the shape as digitigrade.

One thought raced through my still foggy mind. 'Okay... Okay. If your body looks like that, what does your face look like?'

I reached up with a clawed hand and felt something smooth and solid. My hands shook as they felt around the different bumps and curves.

Mirror.

I had to find a mirror.

I stepped forward on wobbly legs and did my best to look around, which proved to be difficult with my swimming vision. I blindly stumbled down a random corridor and hoped I could find a bathroom. After just a few seconds of walking, my head smacked into something. I scrambled back and trained my eyes on it, nearly jumping in joy if it weren't for my dizzy state. I carefully ducked through the door and walked through the dark until I was blinded by a bright light.

I rushed to cover my eyes. Making sure to let as little light in as possible, I peeked through the cracks of my fingers at the tiled room I now stood in. I slowly lowered my hands and looked over to the mirror. The first thing I saw was the color of my fur; a rusty red color. I bent down and froze. My face...

It was a skull.

I recognized the general shape as a wolf, possibly a bear. Protruding from the top of it were curved horns that formed a halo, but also curved back into crescents. Long, vaguely rabbit-like ears were under them, twitching occasionally. I turned my head and noticed my lower jaw wasn't actually bone, but covered in the same fur as my body. I opened my maw to reveal rows of sharp teeth and a red tongue.

I couldn't look away. This felt like almost like a dream with how unreal it was. I sat down and noticed something trailing behind me. I turned and jumped as a long tufted tail came into view.

I backed away and tried to press myself against the wall, but even that revealed more as I was met with resistance. I twisted around and saw long, bone-like spikes protruding from my neck and lower spine.

Nope. Noooope nope nope nope.

I wrenched my body away from the mirrors and buried my head into my arms. My head swam, and the dizziness increased so much I felt my body lean to the side and fall over. I didn't bother to get up, instead deciding to focus on steadying my heartbeat. I took deep breaths, making sure they gradually got slower as the minutes passed.

As I waited, my thoughts wandered. What happened? Why was I a big skull demon? Where was I? I didn't know. I was so confused and scared.

'It's... Okay. It's okay. Just try to remember what happened.' I told myself. I thought back to what had happened earlier that "day." I'd been angry at my mom for not picking me up, and then I was walking home, and then... I saw...

And then it hit me, and not the truck. I... Died. And something brought me back as this thing.

I thought back to the broken casket. Was it mine? It made sense for it to be shattered, considering how big I was now. I slowly stood back up and hobbled out the small door. Though my head was clearer, my legs still shook as though I hadn't walked in months. I found myself back in the sanctuary. As I limped to the casket, I noticed there were deep claw marks in some of the seats. It occurred to me that I must've done that.

I shook my head. One thing at a time.

I looked to the intricate box. There were deep gashes in the cushions, and cotton fluff was strung everywhere. There was a small table next to it. I stepped over to it and picked up the framed photo. Sure enough, it was me. Honestly, I was a little surprised they even had a good picture of me, though it was obvious they'd had the acne and stuff photoshopped out.

I put my hand to my face again and dragged it down. What was I going to do? I was clearly in a church, and I looked like someone had used my body as a sacrifice to summon Satan. That wouldn't exactly go over well with my super religious family. I averted my eyes to the windows, squinting as the bright sun pierced them. It'd probably be best if I ran, as depressing as that sounded. People couldn't be trusted to not shoot me if I was seen.

I dropped the picture and turned to the front door. I approached it and pushed. Locked. Figures. I slammed the door in anger and dented it.

Wait.

I... Just dented a metal door. With my hands.

I looked between the door and my paws. I placed my palms on each side and pushed, making the metal bend outwards. A shiver ran down my spine. To say I was strong would be an understatement. Unfortunately, I needed to break through the door. It would be my only way out unless I wanted to break a window. Which I really didn't.

I balled my fists up and threw them against the steel. The glass on the door shattered as the frames went flying out of the hinges and landed on the concrete below with a deafening crash. They screeched and skidded across the pavement until they reached the grass next to the street outside.

A moment of silence passed, where I listened for any possible people who might've shown up early for the funeral. My ears were standing straight up, straining for any sound to penetrate the silence. When nothing came, I slowly crawled through the too-small door and turned to the right.

I froze.

There was a man there, dressed in a black suit. He must have been the pastor.

He screamed.

I ran.