The Darkness Wakes Them Up.

Jason ran through the woods at speeds unbeknownst to him. His legs moved with more vigor than ever; The monster was after him. Stopping was a death sentence. Hiding was impossible. Pain shot through his body when he tripped, but he crawled into a small hole in an old log and covered his mouth, holding his breath.

The monster ran past, and it was only when the chirping of birds continued that Jason dared to take a breath. *Thank god. Oh, thank god.* He fought the urge to laugh, giddy from surviving another match with the horse with a popcorn sticker etched into its head. It was his sister's, and her night light had run out. Then it woke up and stomped her to death, leaving her room and out into the forest. When daylight came, a child found it and took it back. Then night came, and the screams told him to hide from it.

That was futile, though. It was like hiding from a rainforest dragon- It saw all. The cotton that composed it were bloodied eyes, and the little plastic balls smelled like death enough to kill a man.

Jason cried a little, curling up. All his friends were dead. A small thump on the log told him to hold his breath, and that cursed neighing and stretching of limbs not meant to stretch trotted around the wood, looking for any sign of life. He lost it when the wood got kicked, and he groaned when it felt like it stopped. Then it crashed into the water, and he yelped.

Jason swam out of the sinking log and spat the water out his mouth, coughing. He stared at the horse and watched it dive into the water, planning to kill him, too.

Then a dragon caught it with its claws, disturbing the water and distorting Jason's vision. He resurfaced and watched the dragon left. It looked like sand, and more wing beats driving him deaf flew overhead. One turned around, and Jason ducked underneath, watching it scout the water before flying away to follow its friends.

Jason resurfaced and swam to shore, shivering greatly. Quickly, he grabbed a couple of sticks and scrounged around looking for a match for a few minutes before grabbing one out of his pockets. He lit it and dropped it into the sticks, taking off his clothes to let them dry while he curled around the fire. Jason closed his eyes and lied to himself for the rest of the time he was conscious.

Jason slowly blinked awake. And groaned. Everything hurt. Everything sucked. Getting up, he put on his clothes which were stiff and generally unpleasant, but they still kept him warm. He was about to leave to head to a domesticated city when he noticed a toy lizard. He walked over to it and picked it up, turning it around in his hands. It was malleable and could open its mouth. Jason smiled and threw it out to sea, never wanting to see another toy again.

Jason grabbed a map from his pockets and found himself on the northeastern side of the island. He stared at Safe Harbor and internally laughed at the irony of the situation. *Safe harbor's not so safe anymore.* If he went west around the forest, then he could make for The Indestructible City and arrive in under a week. Hopefully. Maybe. Impossibly-

Jason shook his head. He didn't want to focus on how screwed he was right now. Instead, he decided that he should make a break for the city while he had the chance.

Stuffing the map in his pocket, Jason began to walk.