Place: Unknown 

Date: Unknown 

Year: Unknown 

It hung in the air in front of Cade like a glazed sheet of glowing glass. An opaque barrier bisected the chasm, dis- appearing into the red-dust walls on either side and extending up to their summits.

Cade had almost run into it, for it had appeared suddenly in front of him, stopping him in his tracks.

He had been staring at it for the past few minutes, steeling himself to touch its surface. There was no other way out— the creature lay in the other direction.

Cade tried not to ask himself what the barrier was, or who had created it and why. He just needed to get as far away from the injured creature as possible. It could be following him, even now.

He extended a trembling finger and prodded the sheet as if it were a sleeping giant. The barrier was smooth. Smooth and chilly, like wet-slicked ice; as soon as he put pressure on it, his finger slipped to the side. It was strange to the touch, and he pulled his hand away, inspecting his finger for frost- bite. But his fingertip wasn't even cold.

Suddenly, as if it had never been there at all, the barrier was gone.

"What . . . the . . . hell?" Cade said slowly, waving his hand through where the wall had been.

This was too strange. He tried to stay calm, think logically, even as his heart raged in his chest. He had no choice but to follow the path; see where it led.

Cade rounded a shallow bend and saw that the passage widened ahead. He stopped, confused. Rubbed his eyes, looked again.

The chasm ahead of him appeared almost exactly like the area he had started in. The same ledge— the same rocky out-crop opposite.

Had he gone in a circle? But the path he had taken was relatively straight. There was no way this was possible.

Stranger still, the wall above the ledge was caked with dust, and the same kind of rock he'd used as a hand axe was there too, protruding like a black jewel. This was all the same . . . but somehow different. As if the entire area had been sculpted to the same exact design as where he had been before. But how was that even possible?

He heard a bellow. Loud and far off, like a wounded bull. Only — it sounded human.

Cade didn't think. Instead, he hurried in its direction, curs- ing the twisted ankle that sent shooting pains up his leg. The yelling only got more frantic as he neared it, but he didn't care. 

Anything was better than being alone in this desolate hellscape.

Then he saw them. Another monster, crouched in front of a tall kid, his back against another slick barrier like the one Cade had seen before. He wore only his underwear, using his uniform as a matador's cape in one hand, his other in a balled fist.

Strangest of all, Cade recognized him, even in the shadows of the chasm. The pale blond hair was unmistakable, as were the broad, muscled shoulders. Eric. Another kid from his school.

If Eric had seen Cade, he gave no sign, instead punching at the beast's face as its claws tangled in the cloth. As he did so, the creature darted forward, and the boy barely managed to evade its snapping fangs.

Cade wanted to turn back, but he knew that once the monster was done with Eric, it'd be after him. His best chance at defeating it would be when it was distracted.

So he charged, his heart pounding as he held the hand axe high.

Ten steps away.

Five.

He slipped in the wet mud slamming onto his back. Ahead of him, the monster spun with a screech, its black eyes narrowed. It leaped onto him, and Cade lashed out, yelling with fear and desperation.

His hand thrust into its open gullet, the length of the hand axe all that stopped the teeth from clamping on his wrist.

The creature choked and screeched, its claws sinking into his chest, the points breaking the skin. Blood ran down his arm, the stone's tip slicing the roof of the beast's mouth. Desperate, Cade kicked out, and the creature reared up, wrenching the stone from its maw.

Cade swung blindly, screaming as the monster's head whipped toward him. But the bite never came. Instead, the beast was yanked back, blood-flecked saliva spattering his face as it choked, crooked claws grasping at its throat.

Eric had whipped his uniform's belt around the beast's scrawny neck, and now he heaved on it, falling to his knees.

Cade watched as Eric's knuckles whitened, tightening the loop of cloth as he pulled back on both ends. The monster's black eyes bulged as if they might burst from their sockets. Then there was a snap, and the eyes glazed over in death.

For a moment they remained that way, Cade panting on the ground, Eric holding the creature upright, the belt still in his hands. Then he let it fall, and stood. He kicked the corpse derisively and looked at Cade.

"Thank you," Eric said.

Cade stared back. It was the first time he had ever heard Eric speak. Not in the entire six months he had known him.

Eric had kept to himself, back at school, and most of the other teens were too scared to approach him. There were even rumors that he had killed someone. Cade only knew his real name because a teacher had read it in class once.

"You're . . . you're welcome," Cade stuttered as Eric helped him to his feet.

Eric craned his neck to see the back of his shoulder. Cade saw furrows in his flesh where the monster had managed to catch him with its talons. The marks didn't seem too deep and had already started crusting over, leaving a trail of dried blood down his back. Eric winced as he prodded at them with a large finger.

"It was fast," he said, kicking his downed opponent again. "I didn't think I had a chance."

Cade nodded dumbly as Eric fished his uniform from the muddy ground and began to put it on.

It had been clever to use the uniform to tangle the monster's claws. As a result, the top half had been shredded, so Eric tied the arms in a knot around his waist, remaining bare chested.

For a moment they stood there awkwardly.

"You're from school too," Eric finally said.

"Yeah," Cade said, holding out his hand.

"Eric," Eric replied, smiling at the formality. "You're Cade, right?"

Cade nodded, and Eric's big hand enveloped Cade's as they shook. It was strange, only to introduce himself now. They'd been in the same classes and sat near each other for so long. "You know what this place is?" Cade asked, hopeful. Eric shook his head.

"Maybe we're dead," he mumbled.

"Like . . . there was a fire or something?" Cade asked. "We died in our sleep?"

"Yeah." Eric shrugged, bending down and unraveling the belt from the monster's neck. "Maybe this is hell, and this is one of the devils. It looks like a demon to me." 

Cade stared at it, his gaze skipping from its translucent needle teeth to the inky black eyes.

"Its head looks like one of those deep-sea fish, you know? Like a viperfish, I think they're called?"

Eric shook his head, as if he'd never heard of them. "A viper." He shrugged. "As good a name as any."

He looked down the chasm where Cade had come from and gave him an inquisitive look.

"Any vipers where you woke up?"
"I fought one off," Cade said. "I hope that was all of them." Eric looked impressed, even a little disbelieving, but Cade

felt no pride at what he had done. It had been a desperate, frantic affair. He didn't like remembering how close he had come to death.

"Glad you can hold your own," Eric said, patting Cade's shoulder. "I underestimated you."

Cade winced as he was knocked forward, knowing Eric was just being nice. The kid was as strong as a bear, and built like one too, in stark contrast to Cade's lean frame.

Yet Cade couldn't decide if he was lucky in finding Eric. He'd heard the rumors about Eric's past—and this kid would have no trouble overpowering Cade if he wanted to.

Still, he gave off more of a jock vibe than anything else, now that Cade had heard him speak for the first time. He had the build for football too.

Then, just like that, the barrier behind them winked out of existence.

Eric stared, then swiped his hand through where it had been before. 

"Yeah," Cade said. "They do that."

For a moment he considered telling Eric about the hand axe, still embedded in the wall somewhere behind them—it could come in useful after all. But even as he opened his mouth, he closed it again. Maybe giving a rumored killer a new weapon wasn't such a good idea.

Instead, he examined the canyon beyond. This time, the passage looked different, although he wasn't exactly sure if that was a good thing.

"I'm guessing there isn't a way out behind us?" Eric said, motioning the way Cade had come with his chin.

"I don't know," Cade said. "But there's a viper there."

"Then we head this way," Eric said, wrapping the belt around his fist. "Let's go."