Hell Difficulty Tutorial - When Hell Freezes

I'm barely able to keep my eyes open. Tears are starting to roll down my cheeks. Is this it? 

No. 

Traffic is thankfully slowing down to a standstill ahead of me. Using the opportunity I reach over and dig through my backpack for sunglasses. I find them and sigh in relief as I put them on, ending the sun's assault on my eyes. 

I glare at the overcast sky above, and the tiny gap that's allowing the solar death rays through. Traitorous clouds. How could they let an assassin like that through?

Turning up the volume on the radio I glance at the clock, 8:36 AM, and overhear something about a missing persons case.

"...as if they suddenly disappeared along with half of the campsite. Investigators are baffled as…"

I change the frequency and put on some music. I don't like listening to the news nowadays. Ever since my brother disappeared a few weeks ago it just ends up pissing me off. 

Mom is barely holding herself together, even now she stays in her room mostly, and I've been spending most of my time out of the house. I'd say it's to try to look for him, but I don't even have the slightest clue of where to start, half of the house and everybody at the party he was at just fucking vanished. The real reason is that I can't stand to stay in the house, next to his room. It should have been me, It would have been better for everyone like that.

I sigh and look around, actually recognizing one of the cars ahead of me—Mateo's. We're not exactly friends, I hardly know the guy really, but it's hard to miss that junker of a car. I wonder if he's still studying mechanical engineering?

My stomach growls—I really should have eaten breakfast this morning, I barely had dinner last night.

Suddenly, I get the feeling I'm being watched, and the hair on the back of my neck starts to stand up. I start looking towards the double-decker bus to my right when I get blinded by an impossibly bright light. For a split-second I feel nothing—no wheel in my hands, no seat below me. Then my stomach flips and it's all back. My ears pop as I start falling. Falling? What the f—"

An instant later the car slams into the ground and my head jerks forward towards the steering wheel. I hear glass shattering and a loud bang from the airbag throws me into darkness.

My head is throbbing when I wake up and my eyes refuse to focus when I crack them open. My backpack is just a blurry black blob on the other seat and my ears are ringing. Is this what a concussion feels like?

Probably. 

I groan and lift my head up from the deflated airbag, the horn that I didn't realize was blaring stops as I do. People are screaming nearby, loud and shrill, the sound stabbing into my eardrums.

Concentrating, I try to open my eyes, slamming them shut when sunlight even brighter than before attacks them. Where are my sunglasses? Did they fly off in the… crash? What even happened?

I shield my eyes and crack them open again. Forcing my vision to stop swimming I look around and spot them on the other seat. One of the lenses is missing.

Just my luck.

I lean back into the seat and examine myself. Nothing feels broken and other than a bad headache and a sore neck, back, and arm, I feel fine. I check my reflection in the rearview mirror, the pupils of my green eyes are dilated. There aren't any cuts on my face, but there are tiny shards of glass in my wavy brown hair. 

I force myself to sit still for a minute because I'm nauseous and my eyes still aren't adjusted to the light. Looking out the cracked windshield I furrow my eyebrows in confusion as I put the car in park, the engine already being off despite the keys still being in. I open the door and step out onto the grass, yes grass, and lean on the car for balance as I look around.

It was definitely brighter now.

The previously overcast and gloomy morning now looks like a picturesque midday sky. Large fluffy clouds dot the vast blue expanse, and the sun's warm light beams down onto me. My eyes are so sensitive that I can hardly keep my eyes open and I'm forced to glance back down.

Just how long was I passed out for? The people around me are still getting out of their cars, so probably not too long. What happened to the clouds and sun then? It's simply not possible for it to be noon already. I squint and look around some more.

Oh… Oh shit.

Tall trees encircle a large clearing with no road leading in or out. The pavement is gone and the cars are still lined up in lanes on the mostly level field. The double decker bus that was next to me has rolled forward and crashed into the back of a car.

There was apparently a cutoff point where things didn't get… teleported? That's the only way I can think to describe it. I'm near the cutoff point and the back of the car behind me looks like it got cut off by a laser. The whole rear section is just gone. The car on the outside lane is even worse off, only about a quarter of it remains, and there's a man outside blankly staring at the missing passenger section.

What the hell? Where am I? Is… Is this what happened to my brother? Is he here?

Scared and angry shouts start coming from my right on the other side of the bus. They must have also started to get out. Someone starts screaming, "call the police!"

On the other side of the highway to the left, which is funnily enough still separated by a partially toppled concrete barrier median, a group is forming by a different bus. People either stand around unsure of what to do, or group up to discuss what happened. 

Somebody shouts and points at the sky, and the people that follow his gaze start shouting too. I cover my eyes and squint, looking towards where he's pointing.

Holy shit, what is that!? 

It was hidden by a cloud before but there's now a smaller orange 'sun' floating in the sky to the left of the familiar yellow one.

I blink hard. Once, twice, but they're still there— two suns.

My stomach twists. This… can't be real.

What the fuck is going on?