Chapter Text
We finally managed to escape from that damn facility, and we are reunited again... but why? Why does something ALWAYS go wrong? Can we never rest? What did we do to deserve this kind of thing? Is all of this really my fault? If only I hadn't brought everyone into this mess, if I hadn't gone on that trip, no, if I hadn't even been born-
*Tap tap* Ben catches my attention and makes a sign with his hands.
[Are you okay?] He looks at me, I can see how worried he is, after all the situation is not good at all, I just hope the others are luckier than us.
"...Yes. You've been limping, did you get hurt?"
[...Not sure. Sore?] I can feel how much he's trying to make me not worry.
"I can't see anything, maybe you just bruised the bone somehow?..."
An idea crosses my mind as I pay attention to the environment around me. We need to get out of here, at least to stay out of sight, after all there are still who knows how many police officers looking for us in the surrounding area, maybe if we could go a little higher we will be a little more hidden, and maybe we might even be lucky enough to find some of our friends watching from up there? It's worth a try.
"You think you'll be alright climbing some stairs?" I say and Ben nods almost immediately.
After climbing the stairs carefully so as not to make unnecessary noise and so that Ben doesn't get overwhelmed, I start looking for someone from that higher point for a few minutes, but without success.
[It's okay, we'll find them again soon.] I hope he's right. I can't help but imagine the worst in a situation like this. This is the worst possible scenario I could imagine, everyone separated and with no idea where each other is, or at least if they're okay, and what about Aiden? The last time we saw him was being pulled by a phantom, I think Ben can see how nervous I am, judging the look on his face. And i can't stop thinking that something is wrong, that it's not just that, maybe it's my instincts, or just a bad feeling, either way it's a very distressing feeling, and i don't see a solution that could be effective, what should we do? it's not like we have any means of contact to begin with. Maybe we can meet in the phantom realm? even with the phantoms after us, i think it would be easier than dealing with armed police.
"...Yeah. They couldn't have gotten too far..." I hope not.
How naive I was to think that way.
It was obviously not going to be that easy. It was never easy, so why would it be any different now?
After spending some more time looking for any familiar faces, we didn't achieve anything other than wasting time. So we quickly went to a nearby convenience store to buy some snacks so we wouldn't starve to death, and we had to find some dark, uncrowded alley to hide in and spend the night. It's not like cheap hotels are safe now that all our faces are plastered all over the newspaper.
We didn't know what time it was, we didn't have a clock nearby after all, but we could tell. It was midnight, and then, we woke up in the phantom realm.
Surprisingly we came across a deserted street, strangely empty, was it really supposed to be like that? Or was there something we weren't noticing? It's not like we expected to see people on the street, but there was no sign of phantoms either? Something was wrong.
As I looked around, I felt a hand rest on my shoulder.
"What is it, Ben?" I said as I looked down, realizing that we were still in our casual clothes, and not the attire we were supposed to wear when we went to the Phantom Realm. And that's when I noticed. A pair of sneakers were standing in front of me, far enough away that it took me a moment to notice them, and when I looked up to see who the figure was, I found out that it was Ben. Wait a second. If Ben was right in front of me, whose hand was still holding my shoulder?
A shiver runs through my body. I can see the desperation being sketched in Ben's expression in front of me, staring at whatever was behind me. How did I not notice before? I gather the courage to turn my neck back, where I should find the origin of the hand that was still resting on my shoulder. Only to see myself, standing static behind me with an apathetic but sinister face, and completely white eyes as if staring back at me, I had the feeling that this was some kind of creature much more threatening than all the phantoms we had encountered so far, perhaps because it now had a human form? I realize that this thing is exactly how I look in the phantom realm, except for its terrifying face, but the short hair, black outfit and...a knife in its hand?-
It was so fast that I didn't even have a second to react. If it weren't for Ben pulling me hard by the arm, the knife in the thing's hand would have been stuck in my face. I could immediately feel the pain and blood dripping from my shoulder when Ben did this, the creature had scratched me, suddenly its fingers turned into large claws. I definitely don't want to get close to that. Maybe it's a bit of luck, but the adrenaline I'm feeling right now is somehow numbing the pain, I just hope the damage wasn't too bad. Anyway, I have more important matters to deal with at the moment. What was that? Was it a phantom? Why did it look so much like us? Could it be that when we went to the phantom realm every time we used this...body? That would explain how Tyler and Aiden didn't really die even after their bodies were almost destroyed here. Now was not the time to think about that, the thing that had previously had an apathetic face, now showed a huge smile, which honestly managed to be much more terrifying than the expression it had before.
And now that I realize it, why doesn't this creature make the same sound as the other phantoms? Does that mean it's...human? Or could it be something else?
Run.
No matter how much time we spent fighting the phantoms, it didn't even come close.
My instincts screamed at me to run, I KNEW I had to stay as far away from that thing as possible, or I would be DEAD, for real this time.
Stop thinking.
I was able to deduce that Aiden and Tyler had "died" here, but not in the human world, because it wasn't really us, but something else.
You need to move.
Now I figured out what that "thing" was, it was the same thing that was now trying to kill me, and that could only mean one thing. If this thing is here, that means that I have my human body here, not just me but Ben too, and now that I stop to think about it, everyone else was also wearing their casual clothes, that means that if by any chance we die here, this time there will be no going back. We will be dead, whether in the phantom realm or in the human world.
It's getting closer.
There will be no second time.
JUST. RUN.
As the thing started to get closer, I scream in desperation "BEN, RUN!!" I turn my back to that freak and start running while holding Ben's wrist, to make sure I don't lose him too.
I don't know where we should go, I don't know if there are other things like this around here, and I don't know if we'll survive, but I need to run, anywhere but here.
I'm going to make sure no one else gets hurt.
We've been running for quite a while now, I've completely forgotten about Ben's sore foot, and we're forced to stop to catch our breath for now.
"We can't just keep running like this, we won't make it, and those creatures are faster than us."
[ Agreed. ] Ben signs as he tries to regulate his breathing. [ Hide. Hotel ] And he points to a tall building, with a relatively fancy hotel facade. We better get lucky.
"Let's go," I say as I head towards the building. When I'm in front of the reception door, I stop for a second to see if I hear any noise from inside. Apparently it's clear. I turn the handle and the door opens. I walk in and pull Ben inside, closing the door behind me as I breathe a sigh of relief.
"We need to hide, I think this is the best place for now." Ben nods in agreement with what I say, and we go up two or three floors to where I imagine we will have rooms with a good view of the outside.
When we reach a hallway of rooms, I hear a noise. Phantoms. I open the first door I see and drag Ben inside, making as little noise as possible, I close the door and lock it. "There's something out there. Help me make a barricade." I go to look for something heavy that is in the room, accompanied by Ben, we drag a small sofa to the door.
With exhaustion finally catching up with me, I throw myself on the floor with a sigh. "Finally some peace, I guess all we can do now is wait." Ben nods, also leaning against the wall.
"We'll take turns keeping watch, I can start, you should lay down on the bed and rest."
[ This brings back memories ] He looks at me with a slight smile on his face.
Oh, that's right. It's just like in Savannah... Wait. Now that he mentioned it. I start looking around the room we're in.
Ben seems confused by my reaction, so I try to explain. "Ben, doesn't this room look familiar to you?" He starts to analyze the room, and seems to realize what I meant when he looks at me with a shocked look.
"It's not like it looks like Savannah. We are. in Savannah. This hotel is the same hotel we stayed at on the trip we took. I can't believe I didn't notice it, it was right in front of us!"
[ Calm down. Didn't notice either ] Ben signals and puts his hand on top of mine, as if to calm me down. I take a deep breath.
"It's okay. You can go to sleep now, I'll keep watch." I say and Ben starts to lie down. I think now I'll have some time to process everything that happened.
I just hope the others are okay...