Liam woke up.

His eyes snapped open, awareness slowly filling up those bright orbs of flesh and nerves. He found himself in a tight and dark space. He couldn't see anything with how dark it was, nor move his body with how small the available space was.

He was wearing pants and a long sleeved shirt. It was too dark for him to notice what color they were in. Wrapped around his pale neck was his favorite cross patterned scarf. This one he knows because he is intimately familiar with it. It's his favorite scarf after all. The familiar smell and warmth calmed him down, but not enough to completely vanquish the fear of the unknown that has gripped his whole being.

It was what in his hands that made his pulse beat rapidly. His hands were crossed over his chest, as if he was dead. His hands clenching over two objects. After a few moments of fumbling and touching, Liam realized what he was holding. While he hadn’t touched them before, he was familiar enough to know what they were.

He was horrified. Liam didn’t know why he was holding this things.

On his left hand was a knife. Cold and Merciless. Even without seeing it, Liam knew it was sharp. Sharp enough to rend flesh, sharp enough to cut seamlessly, and deadly enough to kill. He didn't know why these thoughts popped out in his head, he just knew.

It was called "Gardener". And this knife was Liam’s.

On his right hand was a gun. There was a phrase cut on its side. Liam’s finger traced it a few times before he could write it in his head.

"One Bullet, One Life," Liam breathed out the words, disturbing the eerie silence that had filled the space he was in.

A name came into his head. That must be the gun's name. "Bringer". Like the knife, this gun was also Liam’s.

He was so confused. He didn't know where he was. He didn't know how he came to be in this dark space. And he didn't know why he was okay with owning a gun and knife. Or why he even know their names in the first place.

Liam was a peaceful, is a peaceful guy. He doesn't use a gun or a knife, much less own one.

But he can't deny that these two are his. Something inside of him is whispering 'mine, mine, mine'.

GARDENER...

BRINGER...

'What poetic names,' Liam randomly thought as he came to realize that the gun and knife comes as a set together.

Again. Liam didn't know why these thoughts were popping up in his mind. He just know they were true.

He moved a little bit and then he realized that the thing that was on top of him was wood, and that it could be moved. Without thinking much about, he started to push the wooden cover off. He wanted to be out of this dark place!

After a lot of effort, he finally managed to prop up the wooden cover and push it to the side.

Light poured in as Liam gasped, breathing in the cool and fresh night air. Above him was the shining moon, its menacing form looking down on him. Without letting go of Gardener and Bringer, Liam grasped the side of the box-like thing he was in and pushed himself up.

Horrified, it was then that Liam realized where he was after looking around. The sight of gravestones greeted his eyes, filling him with a quiet dread. Liam was in a graveyard. He was in a graveyard. He had been trapped in a box in a graveyard.

An idea appeared inside his head. 'No, it couldn't be,' Liam thought, but it wouldn't leave his head. 'But... Could where he was be...' He froze, like a statue made of stone and fright.

Gulping, he looked down, and the thing he saw made his heartbeat race with dread. He was right. The thought that popped in his mind was real. And how he regretted knowing the truth. Really, ignorance was truly bliss. Liam should have never looked down, he should have just walked away immediately.

Liam was in a coffin. Liam woke up in a coffin. It was a freaking coffin! And Liam didn't know what to feel about that. Fright? Maybe. Surprise? Yes. Terror? Absolutely. Apathy? Unlikely.

Liam was alive and he had just been inside a coffin for who knows how long.

"Oh God!" Liam screamed, scrambling madly to get out of the coffin. He stumbled and laid on the dirty ground, breathing hard as he tried to rationalize what was happening, what he just went through. "Oh God!" He repeated to himself as the situation finally started to sink in. "Where am I? What happened?" He found himself asking. And fortunately no one answered him. Because if someone had answered him, well, let's just say that Liam wouldn't have liked what answered his question.

The idea of it being a pranked from his friends didn't even enter Liam’s head. How could his friends do this type of prank on him when he had no friends to begin with? He's a shut in, he rarely comes out of his house. He has no enemies to begin with. So the idea of the cliché revenge is out. Liam was a boring person, there's just no reason for someone to do this to him for the jokes or for some sort of revenge. There was no one that he could think of that would do this kind of thing to him, not even asking how they would be able to do this. The motive alone is sketchy.

Shaking his head to get rid of those depressing thoughts, Liam focused back on the beautiful coffin that he was just in like a minute ago. The coffin was made from a type of wood that while Liam didn't know the name of, he was pretty sure it was very expensive and rare kind of wood. It was a literal work of art, Liam noted. The gothic design and the mystical theme blended well together. And the inside was padded with real leather and velvet satins in an artful yet comfortable way. The design on the sides were filigree that Liam was pretty sure was made from real gold and gems. And the idea of real gold and gems isn't that unimaginable after waking up in a coffin in the middle of the night. It was just another strange detail in a strange night, after all.

Distantly, Liam couldn't help but comment inwardly how amazing the craftsmanship of the coffin was. It was amazing, a true work of art if he may say so, and Liam might have been more amazed by the beautiful design on the side if it wasn't exactly the coffin he woke up in. He wasn’t dead yet, thank you very much. He doesn’t need a coffin quite yet.

From the corner of his eyes, Liam absently noted that he was wearing black pants and a simple long sleeve button up shirt. And that he was right in the fact that he was really wearing his favorite scarf. But what shocked him was the blood red color on them. A scarlet colored substance (Liam didn't want to acknowledge the fact that it might be blood. The situation was already weird enough, let's not add more weirdness to it, shall we?) was splattered all over his outfit. But Gardener and Bringer were clean, suspiciously so. Still, the sight of the two weapons in his hand made him feel uncomfortable, but not enough to let go of them or just throw them away. Something inside of him was telling him to not let go of Bringer and Gardener, that he would somehow need them.

Liam felt cold even though he was wearing his scarf. It wasn't the cold evening air that was making him shiver, it was the gravestone in front of him. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. His legs gave up on him and so Liam found himself kneeling in front of his grave. Yes, the keyword is 'HIS'. It was Liam’s grave. And that means, he thought to himself, that the coffin was really for himself.

LIAM

HERE LIES AN AMAZING PERSON. A GOOD SON AND FRIEND TO MANY PEOPLE.

But underneath the neatly written words was a symbol and words that looked like they were messily slashed into his tombstone. It looked like it was made with a blade, a very sharp one.

He will rise again

My Bringer of Life

Our Gardener of Death

Rise, Herald of the End

'Knife?' Liam thought. He looked suspiciously at the knife that he hadn't let go of even once ever since he woke up. 'There's no way...' his hand couldn't decide whether to let go of the knife or not.

And those words...

Those ominous words made every hair in Liam’s body rise. There was a pressure, an aura over those words that made Liam afraid. They were so full of emotions that he didn’t even know where to begin.

Liam found himself staring at his grave for a long time, lost in his own thoughts, when he heard a howl. It shook him out of the dangerous spiral that his mind was going through. He shook his head, harder, trying to clear his mind from the depressing thoughts that nearly overwhelmed him, nearly drowning him in hopelessness.

There was another howl. It echoed throughout the night. It added another layer of fear over the graveyard Liam was in. It was a frightening sound, especially so for Liam who was already unsettled by everything that was happening to him. It was like a roller coaster of horror, everything ever since he woke up has been dark and frightening.

"AAAAAAAWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Another howl, this time closer, ripped apart the silence of the night. It was guttural, lower than any wolf or any other beast could ever make, and too horrifying for any human to make.

"Oh god..." Liam couldn't help but utter in a whisper, his hands seeking comfort from his weapons. He was thankful he hadn’t thrown away Bringer and Gardener. If what made those howls ever came for him, he would need them to protect himself.

It was then that something more out of this world occurred. He noticed it immediately. How could he not? It changed everything, nearly making Liam’s mind go blank with how impossible it was. He nearly let go of Gardener and Bringer as he realized what exactly was happening.

With his own eyes, he saw how everything started to gain a reddish tint, like a scarlet layer of film had covered his own vision. It was the light! Liam realized it a few moments later. His head tilted up and his jaw dropped, his eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets at the sight of it. IT being the scarlet moon high up in the sky. Like a crimson orb, a Bloody Full Moon nearly overtook all of Liam’s vision. It reflected itself in his eyes. He couldn't look away from it. It was such an unscientific thing that Liam nearly forget about the howl. 'Nearly' being the keyword.

"AAAAAAAWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

It was this howl that snapped Liam out of the enchanting embrace of the Bloody Moon. The howl sounded too close, far too close for Liam’s liking. His head moved towards the source of the howl, his neck swiveling so fast that it wouldn't have been a surprise if it had snapped.

To the east, towards a small copse of trees, was a pair of floating eyes. Hidden by the shadows, only its shining eyes could be seen. One of the pair was a ruby red eye. It was very similar to the bloody orb hanging up high in the sky, and it was just as enchanting in their beauty. The other was a frightening glaring white eye that was filled with surprising intensity. The orb was completely white with no speck of color or shape that indicates the iris or pupil even existed in those eyes.

And it was staring directly at Liam. Well, more like glaring at him, like how one would stare at a delicious food. He gulped, his body moving subconsciously into a ready position. His grip was tight on Gardener and Bringer.

He didn’t know what he was doing. He just know that if he doesn’t, he will not survive the next minute.

Claws stretched out of the shadows, grasping at the wood of a nearby tree. Slowly, it left dangerously deep claw marks on the wood. If that had been a human body, it would have been shredded instantly.

1 second. 2 second. 3 second.

The two stared at each other vigilantly. Monster to Human. Their eyes unnervingly locked with each other.

It was Liam who broke the deadlock. He was the first to give in. He took a step back, unknowingly stepping on a stick. It broke from his weight and the small noise echoing loudly in the silence of the hallowed ground they were in. It was like it was the signal that the two had been waiting for.

Liam swiftly turned on his heels and started to run as fast as he could. His bloody scarf fluttering in the night air.

And the monster hidden in the trees made a horrible and low laughing noise, a terrible grin, filled with bloody fangs, could be seen under the scarlet shine of the light.

With only the Bloody Moon as the witness, a hunt had begun.

Just who is the prey? And who is the predator?