Vin didn't scream.

He couldn't.

The noise around him drowned everything—panic, shouting, the collapse of sanity itself.

A rift had torn open in the air, swallowing people whole.

Someone dove in after a loved one and vanished without a trace.

Vin staggered forward as well, hand outstretched toward where his family had just been standing. "Wait for me—"

Pain exploded through his skull.

A moment later, a voice spoke inside his head, calm and vast.

"Forgive the discomfort," something voiced.   

"It can be difficult attuning with so many minds."

"I am the body of a dying planet named Auroraan."

It wasn't human. It wasn't anything.

"Over the next three years, I will consume your world to heal my own. Prepare to join those already within me."

There was a brief, unnatural pause after the mysterious entity's string of ludicrous statements. Then a new voice broke through, nervous and trembling.

"H-hello? Uh—Jerry here, leader of Earth."

"Everyone, stay calm! We have three years to plan—humans will prevail!"

Vin could only stare.

The man from earlier—the one with the tin foil hat—he wasn't kidding.

The first voice returned.

"Avoid the lesser bridges that will appear. They are unstable."

"Goodbye."

And then it was gone.

So was the portal.

Vin dropped to his knees and screamed. He howled until his throat tore, and after, he wept.

He had nothing except his family—no additional relatives or friends—they were everything.

A second light exploded nearby.

Vin picked up his skateboard and bolted. He shoved through the panicked crowd, knowing the portal could close at any moment.

He spotted the rift and leapt through without a second thought. 

To another world.

There was a balmy, silent flash when he crossed over, and he immediately found himself falling from the sky, which scared him so much that he dropped his cherished skateboard.

Vin fell into nasty, perhaps polluted, dark water.

He broke for the surface quickly, opening his eyes to a foggy sky and air that reeked of decay.

From what he could tell, he'd landed in an incredibly foul swamp.

No family in sight.

He was a fool to assume all the portals would lead to the same place.

While his family was absent, he wasn't alone.

A figure rushed toward him through the mist—Lynn—face pale with terror.

"Run!" she shouted.

Everything happened so quickly after that.

There was a distant rumble as droplets fell from the sky. By the time the first of the rain hit the surface, the ground erupted behind her.

Something huge and white burst from the swamp—

a slug the size of a truck with peeling skin like a zombie and sharp teeth.

Vin ran.

His inner voice was usually calm and reassuring, but even it had fled in that danger. 

He moved thoughtlessly forward with no plan in mind.

Mud clung to his legs, and water slapped his knees with each step, making it hard to flee. 

He tripped on something beneath the surface and splashed into the disgusting water.

His hand grazed something solid.

The skateboard he dropped earlier.

The monster lunged.

Vin raised the board like a shield just in time.

Teeth clashed against acrylic, sparks of pain shooting through his arms.

The monster's heavy charge thrust him back into the water—wind knocked from his lungs.

All of the slug's upper body weighed down on him. 

His body screamed, his breath gone, lungs filling with liquid rot that tasted like juice from a heated dumpster.

'I don't want to die,' he thought.

Faces of his family flashed through the dark, not all of them smiling. 

His sister Macy was glaring at him, ready to attack.

'I won't change the channel to sports while you're watching your soap operas anymore.' He cried.

Vin made a promise for every ounce of water that drowned him.

If only he could be given a second chance, he would do better: Be nicer to his sister, make friends, and explore more of the world.

There was no way he could die without even having his first kiss.

His heart skipped a beat when something latched onto him.

Not teeth... But, hands? 

Vin was quickly yanked up by Lynn.

She slammed his chest repeatedly until he vomited the swamp from his lungs.

He coughed, gasping for air, lungs burning.

The slug roared in agony—its eye impaled by a branch.

Lynn used that moment to drag him through the water, her entire body quivering, her glasses almost falling.

Her tone was desperate when she spoke, repeating over and over, "Please, Gavin, you have to move."

He hated seeing her tremble.

Despised the truth that she struggled because he was weak. 

Nevertheless, his mechanical functions were shutting down.

He was poisoned.

Amid the panic, Lynn didn't spot a hollow log that was floating in their path. 

She tried to pull away from it, but Vin's hanging head crashed into it and split before she could.

He howled in pain.

She covered his mouth, crying under her breath, "Please, be quiet!"

She tightened her grip over his lips, repeating, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

The pair hurried through the swamp until they reached a crooked tree. Without a second to waste, they climbed until they reached the highest branch above water.

The monster was never far behind, arriving with a furious shriek. 

It circled below, blind and enraged, searching for a way to reach its prey.

Vin nor Lynn spoke.

Only breathed and prayed this terror would end.

Because in that new world, even the silence could kill.