Dead by Daylight - Nea Karlsson

The ominous drone of the Entity continued as I was lifted out of the arena. The pain from the talon piercing my body had subsided as everything faded into darkness. There was nothing left except the void. I am never sure how much time passes in this space. It’s different from the arena where you are aware of every excruciating minute. You know when you’ll have a burst of energy to sprint from a killer. You’ll know when a generator’s repairs will be complete. It’s just an innate sense of time that follows every survivor. Yet, when you exit the arena into the void everything is lost.

Flashes of light pierced the darkness attacking my eyes. Trees stretched into view contorting in weird ways. The abnormally flat ground suddenly appeared, resembling a forest floor left untouched. A campfire popped into existence leaving behind a trail of smoke, almost as if a magician had pulled it from thin air. Suddenly I fell onto the floor of the Entity’s forest. The campfire: a waiting area for the next trial. Every survivor ended up here once a trial was done. It was an endless cycle.

I looked over by the edge of the clearing, where field met forest, spotting my chest. It was an old, wooden chest with a rusted latch. My name “Cheryl” was cut on the front of the chest quite crudely with some type of knife. I rushed over to the chest unsure of how much time I had left until the next trial. Waiting times were always unpredictable. Sometime it felt like hours would pass until the Entity started a new trial. Sometimes it felt like seconds. Regardless, I did not want to waste any time. When I reached the chest a growling noise signaled another survivor joining me. Just as I fell from nowhere, so did Jake.

Thrusting the lid of my chest open, I grabbed the only thing it contained: a flashlight. Other survivors had an insane amount of loot in their chest. I peered over at Jake’s chest, which was now sitting next to mine. I bet he was loaded. He was one of the first people to be pulled in by the entity. Footsteps behind me started getting closer. “Didn’t make it either?” I always tried to show some compassion. You never know when a survivor could save your life should they choose to be nice.

“Nope. Guess I got a little too confident.” Jake shrugged as he crouched down to open his chest. I peaked over to see what he had. Several flashlights, med kits, and an ungodly amount of toolboxes all in pristine condition. Every piece of loot was much nicer than my sad, beat up flashlight. “Are you hoping to save someone?” He motioned toward my hand. The main point of a flashlight in these trials was to blind a killer, save a friend.

“I hope. Haven’t really used one of these effectively yet.” That was an honest statement for the most part. I did get my hands on a sports flashlight. Easier blinding, steadier handling, longer battery. There were perks to better loot. When I had the tool in my hand I felt confident. I tried to save a woman named Claudia who was running from the killer on my second trial. Unfortunately, instead of blinding the killer, I just annoyed them and became a short-lived distraction. One could argue it was a very effective use of the flashlight as Claudia got away. Unfortunately, I ended up on a meat hook twenty seconds after I got the killers attention.

“Don’t worry about it, you’re still new. Just keep practicing, you’ll eventually get it.” It was disturbing how normal the sentence was. We could have been talking about anything in the real world. Baseball, tennis, football, just keep practicing and you’ll eventually get it. If only we were talking about sports and not a very real killer who very much wanted to hurt us.

Two more growls occurred almost simultaneously. A woman who appeared to be a medic and another with a beanie (no one wore a beanie here) dropped down. Both of them ran over to their newly arrived chests. The woman with the beanie grabbed a flashlight, a new bulb for the flashlight, and some extra batteries. She meant business. The cowgirl grabbed a med kit.

Before we had the chance to say anything else the heartbeat started. The new killer was chosen, and we were ready to start the trial. I turned my head to look in the distance, distinctly seeing a burly man holding a scrap metal sword and bear trap. “Oh, I can’t wait for this one,” beanie woman exclaimed.

“What do you me-“ I was cut off as we all entered the void in the blink of an eye. Complete darkness, without a sound or sight to tell you there is still life in the world. Slowly, the darkness faded into a corn field. Farmland, hay bales, random walls scattered the land. An estate stood at one end of the corn field.

“Ah yes! We even have corn. I feel so bad for this guy.” Beanie woman entered the arena in the same place I did. I admired her confidence even if she did seem a little insane. “Hey cutie, want to go fix that generator?” She pointed toward a set of walls we were standing next to.

“Cutie?” Who was this person? Now that I had a better look, it was quite obvious this girl fit into the city better than a farm. She wore a tank top, baggy jeans, and all of her hair to one side. Her permanent downward pointing eyebrows did not match the tone of her voice in the slightest. If I had to guess, I would say her life might have been harder before she was snatched into this hell.

“Yeah, you just go over there and fix the generator.” She took the lead without saying anything else. She was really odd. Most survivors were at least curious enough to ask what my name was. “Are you going to just stand there immersed or are you going to help me with this? Oh my god, people these days.” She started repairing the generator.

Cautiously I walked over making sure the killer couldn’t see me strolling through the middle of a field. No killer in sight, no heartbeat pounding in my ears. It was a good sign. When I touched the generator to star fixing whatever was wrong it immediately exploded with an electric overcharge. “What the hell happened?”

“Oh why? Jeez, I suck at this so much.” Beanie woman took a step back pointing at the generator. “You are not a good friend. How do survivors fix you every day without issue?” It was quite apparent she was talking to the generator and ignoring me. She was definitely crazy.

Heartbeats quietly pounded in my ear. The killer was already close! I didn’t even have the time to fix the generator, and we were already going to be chased. There was no way I was surviving this trial.

Beanie woman just continued to repair the generator like nothing was happening. Did she not hear the heartbeat getting louder? The killer would be here any second! I slowly vaulted a window next to the generator and walked away from the approximate direction I thought the killer was coming from. Within seconds I heard metal swinging through the air and saw beanie woman making a mad dash around the wall resting behind the generator. She immediately redirected herself, going towards a T wall. The Trapper came zooming in after her while I stood at the edge of the arena watching. I knew I should abandon her to go work on other generators so we could get out of this trail, but I couldn’t help myself. I had to watch. They were in this weird dance of tag that just kept repeating over and over again. First, at the T wall I would see beanie woman round the corner out of view, and so would the Trapper. Second, a swing of metal hitting wood clearly rung throughout the area. Third, a couple of seconds later, I would see beanie woman come out the other side unharmed, the Trapper chasing after her. Then the process would repeat. How did she not get caught by now?

I slowly crept to a hill next to the chase to get a better look. Beanie woman rounded the corner, and so did the Trapper. Right when the Trapper caught up, beanie woman did a weird 360 turn much faster than the Trapper could track. He hit wall rather than the woman. By the time the Trapper recovered, beanie woman already made enough space to run around the wall again out of his grasp.

For what felt like five minutes I watched the charade. Eventually the killer stopped and just stared. It was disturbing. “Ha, had enough?” beanie woman shouted at the killer. Without responding, the killer turned to search for other survivors. “God, I am so toxic,” beanie woman said to no one in particular.

I jumped off the hill up to beanie woman. “Who are you??? How did you do that? Can I do that?” It was amazing. She didn’t get hit once. I usually got downed in thirty seconds tops. This lady must never get touched.

“Wha? How did I do what? Oh right, you asked who I was. I’m, um, a massive noob! Sorry, I mean… I’m Nea.” Her forehead wrinkled in a way that made it look like she genuinely forgot her own name.

“Hi Nea, I’m Cheryl.” We might be in the middle of a trial, but I sure as hell wanted to make friends with this person. They had obviously mastered this little game the Entity had put them in. “Haven’t been here for long.”

“Ha, I know! Did you think I wouldn’t notice a new face? New people don’t just drop in.” My face blushed as my eye twitched. She really was relentless. Before we could say anything else a scream sounded off in the distance. “Well, thanks cutie for watching over me. Unfortunately, sounds like I have to save someone else!” With her last word she sprinted off in the direction of the scream.

I stood there watching her run into the corn field. What was with the whole cutie thing? Who are you Nea?