Chapter 3: Episode 1 – The Game Will Begin (2)

From inside a large building, young children and adults could be seen roaming around the area, some leaving through a large metal gate. The late afternoon sun bathed the property as the sky gradually turned orange.

The chattering of people soon faded into silence, and only the sound of the gate being locked could be heard. A cold wind blew through the opened windows, leaves rustling with it. The building was empty and closed. The sun sinks behind the tall buildings, leaving the young girl nothing but darkness.

Maria was alone.

She was afraid and gulped down her worry.

Where was she? Why was she here? Why was she alone? 

There had to be a reason why she was in a strange place. She closed her eyes and gathered her thoughts, trying her best to calm down in this situation.

First, she needed to know where she was.

Maria looked around at her surroundings and found there were many student desks in the room that had eight rows. That alone was enough for Maria to quickly identify where she was. She was in school and was currently inside a classroom, but something was off.

With her hair stretching down her back, she wore a casual white blouse with a dark blue blazer hanging from the side of her desk. Wasn't her hair short? And why was she wearing a school uniform? 

Looking at the green ID lanyard dangling around her neck, she was able to guess she was in her eighth classroom. Maria furrowed her brows in deep thought. 

Right now she was in her old school and was currently 13 years old. 

She had some questions in mind but she didn't panic. It was odd, even Maria felt like she should at least be scared, but she wasn't. She was calm as she looked through the window.

No teachers were walking through the dark corridor. There wasn't any sight of her old classmates sulking around the room or even wandering stray cats outside.

The whole school was dark, only the sun setting down illuminated the area. It gave off an eerie feeling that made her face pale but she remained calm. 

Once the sun sets, it will be night soon. The feeling of being alone inside a classroom at night was scary, especially when no people were in sight. Not only that...

Tick. Tock. Tick.

A sound of a clock rang in her ears. A loud, annoying clock.

Tick. Tock. Tick.

The clock ticked, filling the empty silence surrounding the classroom.

Maria looked underneath her desk and saw a small blade sitting on top of her piled notebooks. It was a small pocket knife that her uncle gifted her for her 14th birthday.

14, she was 14 years old. 

"Am I dreaming?" Maria wondered. 

She must be. There was no other explanation.

Then maybe if she just waited for something to happen she would wake up. So Maria waited by her desk. She picked up the knife from her table and played with it for a bit. 

Seconds passed and nothing was happening. Minutes passed and nothing. Hours passed, and still nothing. The clock over the classroom's door struck 10 P.M. 

3 hours had passed since Maria waited, yet nothing.

Maria remained seated with a dissatisfied expression. She was asking herself when she could wake up, tapping her desk with an agitated expression.

"Come to think of it, has someone ever been conscious when dreaming?" She mumbled. "I think it was called Lucid Dreaming?"

The young girl began to come up with ways to wake up when the dark room suddenly lit up with lights, causing her to shift her gaze to the front door.

A girl around her current age appeared by the door, leaning her body against the door's frame.

Maria distinguished the appearance of the middle school girl. It was difficult to make out the girl's face but she was able to discern the girl's physical appearance.

Her hair was dyed blonde, she had a brown messenger bag with a scribbled-up name tag, and had an odd necklace dangling from her neck.

It was a puzzle-piece-shaped necklace, a silver kind. They were the type of necklace that came with a pair that would commonly be worn by close friends.

Despite her normal-looking outfit, her face was anything but normal. She had facial features, no eyes, no mouth, no brows, nothing. It was just a mosaic, a blurry mosaic. Things that Maria would see when scrolling through the internet.

Right now, whoever this person was couldn't be recognized. Maria should be afraid, but she wasn't. Sooner or later, she would wake up and forget about this dream.

"You still haven't gone home yet?" The girl asked, her voice low. 

Maria wanted to ask who she was, but her mouth wouldn't open. In fact, her entire body couldn't move on her command. It was as if, she was in a trance after hearing her voice. 

Maria tried moving at least one finger, but even a simple action like that couldn't be done.

Without responding to her, the unknown girl could only let out a sigh and drop her bag on a nearby desk. She walked over to Maria, each step made Maria nervous. 

A slight feeling of agitation rushed through Maria's body as she stared at her cautiously. She reached Maria's desk and sat on top of it, looking at her silently. Maria sensed something was wrong until she heard her speak, but what came out couldn't be understood. 

"@&€#$%^&*₩£#¿"

Maria felt goosebumps in her soft yet distant voice. 

"#%$. $#^@*#*#."

What was she talking about?

"@#$%&÷@×$."

Her words were all scrambled up. Maria couldn't understand a single thing. Despite this, Maria kept her stoic expression. She manage a small nod at the girl even if she didn't know what she was saying. 

The young girl's face might've been hidden by the thick layer of mosaic, but Maria could tell she was smiling slightly at her. She looked at her, an unknown expression projected on her mosaic face.

Maria didn't know what she was thinking, saying or what face she was making right now. All she could do was just nod and listen.

"#$^!&$^##¿" As she said this, the girl suddenly reached her hand out.

The moment Maria felt her hand brush past her shoulder, she felt her heart pound as the sound of a door opening entered in her ears. Before she could look at the door, a burst of light blinded her.

Maria's eyes snapped open as she jolted up from her bed, breathing heavily as if she had run. She looked around her bedroom, glancing in every direction with a sweaty forehead, letting out a breath each turn.

"Hah... Ah."

No one. No one was here.

"Dreams... really are weird and vivid sometimes."

Confused, she took a half-empty water bottle sitting across her bedside table and drank the liquid to cool herself down. The lukewarm water entered her throat and her heart gradually calmed down.

Maria opened her phone to check the time. The date was November 18, 2029. Saturday 6:27 A.M. The woman was silent as she stared at her bright screen, her eyes narrowing at that thought.

This was the first time I dreamt about that person.

"Dreams could easily be forgotten," Maria came up with an excuse to calm herself down. "This is my first time experiencing a lucid dream, of course, it would be freaky."

Maria sighed as she got up from her bed and entered her bathroom.

She pulled down the faucet lever and dipped her head in the cold running water, feeling it gently flow through her hair. Maria grabbed a towel hanging from the side of the sink and wrapped it around her head. She began caressing her hair while walking out of her room, passing by her tall bookshelves and movie posters.

Maria made her way downstairs but stopped when she saw a familiar figure standing at the end of the stairway.

A man around 6'0 stood by the staircase, his black hair neatly combed and he wore a brown suit with a white polo shirt. Maria wondered why the man was there, but she didn't speak and continued to walk. She had only taken one step when the man suddenly turned his head and smiled brightly at her.

"You're finally awake!"

He made it sound as if I had just woken up from a coma.

"Why are you here?" Maria asked, stepping into the first floor. "Don't you have a job interview today?"

"Can't I visit my little sister once in a while?" He smiled as he said this. "After all, it's been a year since I last visited you."

Maria's older brother, Mason, also lived in the same city as her. He was only five years older than her and was very clingy since they were younger. 

Her brother had worked as a teacher for five years before suddenly quitting. He said he wanted to go for an office job since he studied software and programming and had graduated with a bachelor's degree in computer engineering.

Though Maria couldn't really understand why he suddenly quit his job, then again, wasn't she the same? She also did the same and didn't have much of a reason to explain her sudden leave.

"Do I look like someone you'd hire?" Mason asked while adjusting his necktie.

"Probably not."

"Come on," He pouted, fixing his hair.

Maria laughed and waved her hand. "I'm joking, I'm joking. You look great."

"I know I do," Mason said with a smirk, receiving another laugh from her.

After looking at the mirror for the fifth time, Mason nodded at his reflection with a smile before motioning Maria to follow him. He led his sister through the kitchen and she saw two of his friends feasting on a plate of ham along with fried rice. Their expressions showed signs of satisfaction.

"I didn't know your friends would be here."

"Oh yeah, I just got my driver's license yesterday. I'm supposed to be driving them to their workplace but figured I should stop by to visit."

Maria sat down in an empty seat beside one of his friends who were too busy eating to even notice her. There was a plate of fried rice mixed with hotdogs and scrambled eggs in front of her. A blue mug rested beside it with coffee poured in. 

"So, have you thought of a gift to give to Ervin or Dylan?" Mason suddenly asked, sitting across from where she was at. "I already bought one for Dylan, but I'm not sure about Ervin and Melissa though..."

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"I already brought gifts for Mom and Dad, but the rest of our siblings." He looked a bit embarrassed. "I don't know what to give them and thought I could ask for some examples from you."

"Dylan is simple. He's fine with anything as long as it's a toy," Maria glanced at the two men who ate beside her. "Ervin is fine with anything as long as it's not clothes. Melissa is fine with clothes."

Mason just nodded and took notes from his phone. Maria was eating quietly with her plate of ham when she realized Angela wasn't with them. There were six chairs and one was empty.

"Where's Angela? Is she still asleep?"

Amelie nodded and said, "She was still awake when I went to the bathroom at 1 in the morning, so I didn't wake her up."

"She doesn't have class in the morning so it should be fine," said Maria as she bit into her egg. 

The four people continued to eat in silence while one of Mason's friends was chewing too loud. Mason was embarrassed and tried scolding him, but his friend didn't listen and continued to chew loudly to annoy Mason.

Maria didn't mind and let him be, though Mason was still embarrassed. Amelie was rather amused by the two siblings and took a bite of her cooked ham.

The dining room was lively as they all ate while talking. Mason was quietly sorting things out with his two bickering friends while Amelie and Maria planned things out about what to do before Christmas arrived.

"You already brought gifts for everyone?" Maria asked Amelie as she took a sip from her coffee.

"I only brought gifts for your cousins, siblings, and parents," Amelie answered. "I don't wanna spend too much money this year." 

Says the girl who spent 3,000 on groceries.

"What about your relatives? You didn't buy one for them?"

Amelie's expression darkened and she looked at her empty plate. 

"That... I did that last year, but..." Amelie's brows furrowed. "Even if I go all the trouble to buy them gifts, I don't think they can accept them." 

Maria realized what she meant and immediately regretted asking her. Amelie patted her back and assured her that it was alright. 

"It's all in the past. As long as I stay in this city, I can avoid unnecessary troubles this year."

Amelie looked at Maria and smiled, saying, "That incident happened seven years ago. My relatives can't accept some things so I should be the one to adjust. I'll just ignore them and hopefully don't run into them this year." 

Maria knew what 'incident' she was talking about, but she didn't want to bring those horrible memories back. Instead, she just smiled and continued planning their event for the second week of December. 

* * * * *

The sky was bright and calm, the cold wind brushing against their face, sending goosebumps all over their body. After eating and changing out of their casual clothes, Amelie and Maria were walking outside of their neighborhood.

The two walked calmly along the streets of their neighborhood. Mason couldn't drive them since his two friends' workplace was in the exact opposite direction of Amelie's College.

On normal days, Amelie would often ride a bus or tricycle when going to college. But since the cafe was close to her college, the two would normally go together.  

"I just don't get why we couldn't have taken the bus or something," Amelie complained.

"Your college isn't even that far, plus I'm still not over the fact that you spent that much money on presents." 

Maria had to control Amelie's bad habit of spending things. What if Amelie were to wake up with her bank account empty? Imagining that situation made Maria smile wryly. 

"Oh yeah, what about your bike you often use to commute with?" Maria asked. "I remembered that you own a mountain bike."

"It had a flat tire and I didn't have time to bring it to a repair shop," Amelie answered. 

The two talked for a while until they entered a secluded neighborhood. It mostly had old-run-down buildings with homeless people living either on the sidewalks or in empty, unoccupied houses.

Only a handful of people were registered as 'residents' in this neighborhood. There were also some cases of thug fights and assault happening here even in broad daylight, so most people tend to be careful.

Walking for a while, Amelie had an uneasy look on her face. Her eyes were fixated on the abandoned houses, causing a few homeless people and passers to avoid her strange gaze.

This didn't go unnoticed as Maria silently stared at her. Amelie would often talk about her course or job in mind. Sometimes even mention her mother, so why is she awfully quiet today?

It wasn't like Maria couldn't understand why she was like this, people who would rarely use this area to go to school would normally be scared. But the thing was, Amelie hardly ever gets scared. Or, at least, that's what she knows.

Knowing her, she's the type of person I'd come with to a haunted house, so seeing her like this was making me feel concerned.

They walked for a while without speaking and Maria didn't like it.

"Are you okay?" She finally asked, feeling concerned.

Amelie looked at her and gave a small smile. "Yeah, watching horror movies so late at night can mess up my head sometimes."

"But, you're rarely scared at horror movies."

"The movie I watched was scarier than the normal ones." Amelie laughed awkwardly before focusing back on the sidewalk.

The movie was scarier than the normal ones? What does she mean by normal ones?

From what Maria could remember, Amelie had always dragged her to see the latest horror movies at the cinema and hardly ever looked scared. When a jump scare scene appeared, she would laugh it off as if it was funny.

Maria could only just stare at her other people like she was insane. There was even a time she pretended not to know her for her own sake.

If someone like her gets scared by 'this' movie, imagine me watching it. I'll surely get a heart attack.

But Maria knew the woman was lying and was using a stupid excuse to hide it, but she couldn't really press her on about the reason. So, she pretended not to care and focused ahead.

They walked for another few minutes or so when Amelie came to a stop. Her eyes seem to be focused on the dark alleyway that was a few feet away from the sidewalk they were in. Maria also had to stop and follow her gaze at the empty alley.

It was an old alleyway that was often used by thugs. There was a strange emotion arraying from Amelie's eyes. Maria felt bugs creeping into her body the longer she waited for her. She stood in front and was still as a statue.

Maria was a bit worried and grabbed her shoulder. "What is it?"

Amelie, "..."

"Come on. I'm not playing around here." Maria lightly shakes the girl's shoulder, hoping for some reaction or response.

Instead of an answer, Amelie suddenly shoved her bag at her and ran inside the dark alleyway. It caught Maria off guard that she accidentally dropped her bag, textbooks scattering over the concrete ground. 

"Wait!"

Before her shout could even reach her, Amelie had already disappeared from her sight.

The alleyway was so dark that no sunlight ever shone from that. Cats often roam around that small space, leaving dead rodents and mice to rot. No one wanted to enter that alleyway, even if they were paid to.

"Is she crazy...? Why did she leave me?" 

Maria crouched down and started picking up the heavy textbooks with a frown.

After putting back everything, she wore the bag over her shoulder and continued walking. Maria was silent as she strolled through the neighborhood alone. There was an uneasy feeling lingering in her heart. The first thing that came to her mind was to text her.

She took out her phone from her bag to leave Amelie a message, but before she could even go to her home screen, a new notification suddenly appeared the moment she opened her phone.

[The Game will Soon Begin!]

[Players are advised to prepare!]

[38:56:40]

"A timer?"

Maria had no mobile games downloaded on her phone whatsoever, so it was strange for her to receive a notification of some game.

Is it an ad maybe?

Though it didn't look like an ad. It was just a simple text that was in blue and white. This made Maria even more curious.

Her finger swipes along the lock screen before typing her password. She wondered what game it had come from. Maria searched endlessly at the apps she had downloaded while sneaking a glance every minute to make sure she was walking safely.

Swiping over and over again, Maria couldn't see what game it had come from. She checked the notification once more before realizing it was a banner.

Maria couldn't understand what it meant by 38 hours, but she knew something was up. An ominous feeling occupied her heart.

"Since when did I receive these kinds of ads? And why can't I permanently remove them?"

Frustrated, she temporarily removed the notification from her phone and moved on to her contacts to text her friend. She typed her friend's name while muttering curses, eyes narrowed.

Game. Game. Game.

It kept repeating in her mind.

She needed something to keep her mind off this strange ad. 

There was the sound of tapping as Maria tapped lightly on her phone. 

After sending her a message, Maria tucked her phone inside her pocket and continued to walk. Her walking pace increased and she kept looking at her surroundings, feeling someone's eyes were on her, but she couldn't see them. She couldn't see anyone. 

Shit, this is what happens when you suddenly remember something scary and get paranoid.

Maria lightly slapped her cheeks and calmed down. There was no one in the neighborhood, so she had nothing to worry about. It was just the sense of fear after being left alone.

Yeah, just that.

"Once Millie comes back, I'm going to give her an earring..." Maria muttered and continued to walk.

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