So, I've been a bit cagey on how I got out of there...

...Mainly because...well.  Let me just say that this time, I did something so stupid...I'm a little afraid of everyone yelling at me for it.  But what the hell, it worked and I wouldn't have made it out otherwise.

That mist was rising faster and faster.  The first hour it was slow.  Two hours later it had made its way up about a hundred feet and was still gaining speed.  I knew I had to act quick, otherwise any plan I had would be the only one I had time for.  So.

It wasn't really that hard to determine what to do.  The Path was my only option.  Forget being the only sort of interdimensional-esque travel technique I knew, it was starting to look like the only way I could even get down from the top of that building.

But I tried it before.  All it did was send me somewhere else in the world.  And that mist was EVERYWHERE.  No matter where I looked, all I saw was a dark cloud and all the unpleasant death it was sure to bring with it.  And as I watched it...I saw things inside it.  Twisted shapes.  Writhing, twisting, changing.  I could hear things in the back of my mind - screams, warnings, threats.  And as it rose higher, out of the fog, a gnarled, withered hand emerged from it, reaching towards me, followed by another, and another.

"Okaaay, fuck that noise." I recall muttering to myself.

There was only really one thing left to try.  I walked forward and straight off the edge.

And yeah, at that point, I started to panic.  There's nothing quite like hurtling down a several hundred foot drop to put things into perspective.   Especially when the ground is covered in death mist.  I didn't have any intention of coming into contact with it, though.  Even as the voices in my head reached a crescendo of eager bloodlust, I had already opened a way into the Path, in mid-air.

...What happened next was interesting.  I made it onto the Path, sure, but I was now traveling horizontally instead of vertically.  At the same speed.  I was rocketing over the cracked streets, empty houses, and black leaves at a bird's eye view.

And it hurt.  Jesus christ it hurt.  If anything, the pressure was worse at that altitude, at the speed I was going.  Pain.  I was pretty sure that was it - I was just gonna crash into the ground and die alone in this goddamn nightmare zone.

Except then I saw that the street ended.  All there was ahead was darkness.  No ground, no...anything.  Then before I knew it, I came into contact with it.  And...I was floating.  In a black abyss.  The pressure was gone.  But...somehow, somehow this place felt even less safe.  I couldn't breathe- but I didn't need to.  It still almost gave me a panic attack, but for some reason, most of my body just...sort of faded out.  I was pushing up against something- something invisible.  There was a dark street ahead.  It looked familiar.

It made me wonder.  Does the Path have different networks, for these different worlds?  Did my stupid Portal stunt allow me to get out of the pocket dimension's network and back to my own?

But I'm getting ahead of myself.  Because there was someone who wanted a word with me before I got away.  His voice was everywhere...around me, IN me...I couldn't escape it.

You claim defiance of the Pale One, yet you use his gifts to escape me?  What hypocrasy indeed.

I wanted to question him.  But I couldn't speak.  All I could do was give him some of that defiance with every bit of willpower I had in me.  I tried to...push back with my feelings, let him know I was pissed and not interested in taking his crap.

And you believe yourself above the judgement of your betters.  Such arrogance for a human.  No matter.  Take your freedom.  It will not last.  Nothing but madness and emptiness await you.

And...with that, I was on the Path again.  I stumbled, feeling weaker by the second - out the first alley I could find.  I popped out in...Wellington, New Zealand, of all places.  Lucky for me, because apparently health care is easier to get here than in my country - and because they speak english.  If I'd been really unlucky, I coulda gotten dumped in the middle of Nowhere, Siberia.

So...I'm recovering from surgery right now.  I had severe internal bleeding.  In short, not my most well thought out plan, but at least I'm alive.

I need to get back to the States, but...I also need to look into some shit while I'm here...I dunno, I'll figure something out once I'm outta here.