Vanessa ran faster as she saw the school's picnic area, her heart racing and her worries heightening when thinking about Alice and Michelle.
Meanwhile, in the school's picnic area, the students of seventh grade decided to play some sports of any kind. Of course, they wanted to play football.
They sent a boy to get the ball they had brought.
He searched most of the bags and got slightly frustrated— they didn't tell him which bag was the ball in.
He then went to search for a specific bag that was under a large branch.
He sighed and bent down to open the bag.
Vanessa looked around and couldn't find any teachers, not even her best friends: Lana and Diana. But, she did see another friend of hers. Right away she ran to him. Even though he was busy, she didn't hesitate to call him.
"Hey Andrew!" Vanessa called out his name.
Andrew's eyes widened as he heard Vanessa's voice. He lifted his head up to look at her.
"Yes-" Andrew yelped as he lifted his head and bumped the branch.
Andrew touched his head in pain for a moment; then glanced at Vanessa.
"Y-Yeah?" Andrew finally replied.
Vanessa's eyes were wide as he hit his head accidentally.
"Uh, you okay?" Vanessa wanted to make sure that he was doing fine.
Andrew nodded.
"Absolutely..." Andrew lied, he was in fact 'absolutely' not fine.
Vanessa doubted that he was okay, but her expression turned serious. She remembered the situation Alice and Michelle were in right now.
"Listen, Andrew. I need your help," Vanessa said, looking up at Andrew with seriousness and slight hope.
Andrew's flushed face turned serious as he listened to her.
"What do you need help with?" Andrew asked.
"A-Alice and Michelle…" Vanessa's voice trembled.
After pausing for some moments, Andrew slightly tilted his head— waiting for Vanessa to finish.
"…What about them?" Andrew said, curious.
Vanessa turned around to look into the forest.
"They are stuck in a hole," Vanessa's brows furrowed upwards in fret.
Andrew's heart dropped. His eyes were wide and his mouth slightly parted.
He stayed silent in shock; thinking if Vanessa was pulling some kind of joke or not.
"Come again?" Andrew asked.
Vanessa glanced down at the ground, her tongue being cut by fear and guilt.
"A-Alice and Michelle are stuck…in a really deep hole," Vanessa stammered.
Andrew just paused. He was scared for the two that were stuck.
"Are you sure, or are you guys pulling some kind of prank?" Andrew chuckled, wanting to know if this was a joke or not.
Vanessa's expression shifted into confusion and irritation.
"I'm not pulling a prank, they are actually stuck in there," Vanessa said firmly.
Andrew blushed out of embarrassment, knowing he shouldn't have said that. His heart raced with fear whilst the information was actually true.
"I'm guessing you came here for help, right?" Andrew questioned.
Vanessa nodded. She looked around again, then back at Andrew.
"Where are the teachers and some of the students?" Vanessa asked.
"They all went to find logs. Apparently they are making a campfire," Andrew said. "Someone brought marshmallows with them and I guess the students begged the teachers to make a fire…"
Vanessa found the whole thing confusing, but her mind went on saving Alice and Michelle instead.
"Andrew, I want you to bring a rope. Also, bring Mark," Vanessa said, her voice slightly commanding, but gentle.
Andrew nodded. He knew who brought a really long rope, so he decided to go and search that person's bag.
Andrew ran to the bag; he sat on one of his knees.
He zipped the bag open, moving away unwanted items.
Andrew raised an eyebrow; not expecting for that many objects to be put in one bag.
"Damn…he brought a lot of crap just for some simple picnic," Andrew muttered to himself as he took the extra items out of the bag.
After a few minutes of just shuffling items around, Andrew finally found the long rope; he exhaled and put force on his left foot to stand up. Andrew shortened the rope and ran to find Mark.
Mark glanced down at the grass and crossed his arms, waiting with the other students that were waiting for Andrew to bring the football.
Mark moved his head up— hearing footsteps from his left. Mark's head tilted to his left; seeing Andrew running towards him.
Mark faced towards Andrew, as he slowed down his pace.
"Did you get the ball?" Mark asked politely.
Andrew shook his head as a no, also panting slightly.
"I need you to come with me, it's important," Andrew said, sounding serious.
Mark raised a brow at his serious tone.
"Why? What happened?" Mark questioned.
Andrew grabbed Mark's right hand and dragged him.
"I'll tell you when we get to Vanessa," Andrew replied.
Mark got really perplexed with Andrew, but he was curious about whatever problem had been going on, so he followed him.
"Mark, where are you going?" A student asked, raising their voice.
Mark glanced at the student; he shrugged as a response.
The rest of them were disappointed that the two had to go— then they sent another person to bring the ball.
Vanessa tilted her head up as she heard their footsteps, her heart racing thinking about her friends.
"Thank you so much Andrew…" Vanessa smiled widely, also nodding as she thanked Andrew.
Andrew blushed slightly at Vanessa thanking him.
"No problem," Andrew replied, averting his gaze for a quick moment.
Mark was just standing there, still lost in the whole situation.
"So, what's happening?" Mark asked.
Andrew almost forgot that Mark was here. He snapped out of his day dreaming images, and cleared his throat.
"Uh, about what's happening," Andrew started to talk, using body language too.
"Vanessa was roaming about with Alice and Michelle, and the three of them went too far, specifically: Alice and Michelle, then they fell into a deep hole without notice," Andrew explained; letting one of his hands fall to his side and the other on his hip.
Mark's heart skipped a beat hearing Alice's name, but immediately dropped at the fact that she fell into a deep hole— his eyes also widening a little.
"That's why Vanessa wanted you to bring me here?" Mark questioned, raising his eyebrow.
"Yeah," Andrew responded and nodded.
Vanessa was really optimistic that they were helping.
"I cannot thank you two enough, you don't know how guilty I feel," Vanessa said with a wide smile.
"You thanked us enough, we all feel guilty or worried when our friends are in serious danger," Mark replied, also smiling.
Andrew nodded at Mark's saying.
"Thank you," Vanessa said, exhaling after. "Let's go now," Vanessa gestured to the two to follow her as she started running.
Both Mark and Andrew followed her.
Andrew was hoping that Alice and Michelle were still alive, otherwise he would've been heartbroken. Vanessa thought the same thing, if Alice and Michelle were dead, she would've shattered into a million pieces.
As they ran through the forest, they reached the dead trees.
Andrew pushed himself through big trees, and once he got out…he saw the shocked look on Mark's face. His gaze followed Mark's; his eyes widened at the sight in front of him.
"Huh…?" Andrew muttered under his breath.
Vanessa walked one step, waiting for the others.
"We shouldn't stay here with our mouths agape at some dead trees, let's go," Vanessa said in a gentle tone, not wanting to sound like she's ordering them around.
Mark jokingly kicked Andrew's leg, telling him to start walking again.
Andrew let out a quiet hiss; he then started following him and Vanessa.
Vanessa walked some steps— and halted, then raised her hand; pointing towards the dark, creepy forest.
"They ran in there…I wish I had been more careful and aware," Vanessa said, her tone hinted with guilt. "There's no time to waste, let's go," Vanessa started walking again— towards the dead forest.
Andrew looked at his surroundings, feeling creeped out by the whole dead-abandoned vibe going around each step he took.
In the meantime, Alice and Michelle were observing the pond.
Michelle still had her eyebrows furrowed down in perplexity.
Alice was really close to the pond, her eyes taking every detail the pond had.
"This pond looks…unreal," Alice said, still examining the water.
"Well, no shit it looks unreal," Michelle said sarcastically.
Michelle cowered in a corner, while Alice sat closely in front of the pond.
After a few minutes of silence; Alice sat up properly and exhaled.
"I'm gonna go into the pond," Alice spoke bluntly.
Michelle's eyes went wide, her heartbeat speeding up in worry.
"Wh- Are you crazy?!" Michelle exclaimed.
"Yeah, I am," Alice jokingly responded.
Michelle tried to spit some words back at her, but stayed speechless.
Alice stared at the water for a few minutes before glancing at Michelle.
"…I think I can do it," Alice said to Michelle.
Michelle still had her palms propping her up and stayed near the cave's walls. Michelle stared into Alice's eyes, sighing after.
"Go ahead then," Michelle responded bluntly, her expression a mix of doubt and worry.
Alice nodded— taking a deep breath as she put her whole arm into the water of the pond.
She waved her arm left and right…she felt air instead of water.
Alice gasped when she felt something like a leaf hit her hand, but she didn't take her arm out.
After moving her arm around for some seconds; Alice hit a surface.
Her eyes wide open, not expecting to feel anything like…grass.
Alice froze for some moments.
Michelle raised an eyebrow, getting more confused each second.
"Why did you stop moving?" Michelle asked.
Alice— without any hesitation— crawled into the pond, disappearing into the water.
Michelle let out a gasp and her eyes widened, her heart was about to explode from worry.
Michelle quickly crawled towards the pond, the thought of losing Alice made her breathing uneven.
"A-Alice!" Michelle shouted her name, hoping for a response.
Silence. Silence was the only thing moving around the air…until Alice suddenly grabbed Michelle's arm and pulled her in.
Michelle let out a loud scream as Alice pulled her into the pond.
Everything…flipped over.
Michelle slowly fluttered her eyes open, seeing Alice smile in front of her.
Michelle stared at her with a blank expression; she was absolutely speechless yet also relieved that Alice was doing okay.
"Alice you fucking…Oh my god," Michelle placed her hand over her face.
Alice chuckled and stood up. She seemed optimistic.
"We're safe, don't worry," Alice sighed softly, "Look at this place…" Alice said with a relieved voice.
As Alice moved out of her way, Michelle moved her hand over her eyes as she got flashed by the bright blue sky.
Michelle sat up and looked around her.
There were a lot of bushes and pretty flowers…
Alice observed her surroundings one more time to see if this was real or not, it just made her smile even more.
"Damn…" Alice muttered.
"Oh damn," Michelle muttered the same word as Alice, her eyes widening slightly.
Alice stood up, slowly walking away from the pond they both came out of.
Alice got startled a bit by a beautiful white butterfly; her smile widening and her eyes admiring the butterfly.
The area the two were in— was a place unlike any other.
Green trees, green grass, flowers of many colors, and a fresh breeze.
Alice glanced down at the flowers. They were all daisies.
Her gaze moved from the daisies to the view in front of her, she could see mountains and forests from afar.
Alice still had a smile plastered onto her face, but her smile faltered slightly as she tilted her head in confusion.
Some of the forest's trees were an unusual color— like purple.
Michelle stood up as well and stood next to Alice.
Michelle's gaze also moved to the purple forest from afar; she got perplexed by the color as well.
"Purple trees?" Michelle said, her right hand on her hip.
"It seems like it," Alice replied, her gaze moving onto the ground.
Alice noticed something about the grass— there were faint footprints.
The shape of the footprint…it was…weird. It looked like a bird's foot but larger.
Alice's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"These footprints…" Alice muttered.
Michelle looked down at the strange footprint; she got as confused as Alice.
"Uh, are you gonna follow them?" Michelle asked. "There's a whole trail of 'em," Michelle pointed at the trail of footprints.
Alice glanced at Michelle for a moment, a look of disbelief in her eyes.
"I think you read my mind," Alice responded, a slight smile on her face. "Let's go follow them then," Alice said as she started walking.
Michelle observed her surroundings again, it seemed safe.
Michelle sighed and started to follow her.
Alice glanced down at the footprints, she felt a little uneasy about the huge shape.
After a lot of steps, Alice tilted her head up as she noticed the atmosphere got slightly darker.
Michelle stayed behind Alice, she also took notice of the atmosphere getting darker…unlike Alice, Michelle felt some sort of anxiety growing in her.
Michelle then started to get a bit distracted by the butterflies— distracted to the point she didn't realize Alice stopped walking.
Alice glanced at Michelle, confused on why she was still walking.
"Michelle?" Alice called her name.
Michelle snapped back to reality and turned to look at Alice.
"Sorry," Michelle said, laughing it out after. "The butterflies here are so pretty…but, anyways— why'd you stop?" Michelle asked.
Alice raised her hand and pointed at a cave.
"These footsteps," Alice said. "They lead towards that cave," Alice's gaze glued onto the cave.
Michelle tried to see where she was pointing at, until she saw a little hill.
"That thing?" Michelle questioned as she glanced back at Alice.
Alice nodded and turned to Michelle.
"Should we go?" Alice asked Michelle.
Michelle thought about it for a few seconds, the idea thrilling yet it was rather risky. She put her gaze back onto Alice.
"Sure…" Michelle finally answered.
Alice had a soft smile creep up on her face— then she suddenly smirked and ran off towards the cave.
"Last one to be there is a shithead!" Alice shouted out as she ran.
Michelle laughed and started running to Alice, trying to catch up.
"Hey!" Michelle exclaimed.
Alice glanced behind herself, seeing that Michelle is slowly catching up to her. She picked up her pace, trying her best to reach the cave.
Alice got closer and closer, she reached the cave, but she didn't notice that the inside of the cave was slightly steep.
She tripped over, but thankfully— she prevented herself from breaking and landed on her palms and knees.
Michelle stopped by and looked at Alice, slightly worried.
"You okay?" Michelle asked Alice.
Alice stood up, then dusted herself off.
"Yeah…" Alice replied and laughed it off.
Michelle chuckled; she pointed at her hair, noticing bits of dust there.
"There's dust in your hair," Michelle alerted Alice.
Alice dusted her hair off too. Alice looked at Michelle with a smile, sighing after.
"Y'know I only did that to get your worry off of being lost?" Alice said, revealing the reason why she challenged Michelle.
Michelle had a look of surprise on her face— laughing it off after.
"You're the best at distracting people from getting stressed…" Michelle complimented Alice.
"Thanks," Alice responded with a soft smile.
Michelle smiled back at her, but then…Michelle noticed a figure walking towards Alice. Michelle's eyes widened and she got startled.
"What the fuck is that?!" Michelle shouted out loud and jumped back, pointing at the tall, black and fluffy figure behind Alice.
Alice widened her eyes, immediately turning around to see what Michelle was pointing at.
Alice screamed, and jumped back.
The tall, black and fluffy figure…their neck was long, they had a white head shaped like a bird's beak. Their eyes white— glowing as well.
Hands of a sloth, its claws were white. Its feathers, its wings— pitch black and puffy.
The tall, bird-like creature seemed confused and shocked at their reaction.
Alice and Michelle took a few steps back.
"Run!" Michelle shouted out loud again.
Alice calmed down a bit as the tall creature did not do anything.
Alice grabbed Michelle's arm before she could run off.
"I don't think they're hostile…" Alice told Michelle.
Michelle paused, glancing back at Alice and back at the tall creature.
She had a shocked expression, but it softened over time as Michelle continued to observe them.
The tall creature slightly smiled and waved at the two.
Alice started to seem amused, a soft smile creeping up her face.
"I never seen something like this before…" Alice said with amusement.
The bird-like figure hesitated to speak for some seconds, then they raised a claw.
"I mean no harm," the creature spoke gently.
They put their claw on their chest.
"My name is Akari," Akari said, a warm smile on her face.
Alice took a step forward, looking up at Akari.
"So it was you who touched my hand," Alice said, curiosity in her eyes.
Akari nodded slowly, her warm smile widening as Alice continued communicating with her.
"Correct, and you are?" Akari asked, wanting to know her name.
Alice was confused at her sudden urge for her introduction, but answered anyway.
"Alice, Alice Miller," Alice said, introducing her name to Akari.
Akari bowed down, and rose up again.
"Greetings, Alice," Akari said, trying to contain the excitement within her as it is obvious through her wide smile.
Michelle stayed behind Alice, her gaze shifting between Akari and Alice.
Akari stared at Michelle, waiting for her to introduce herself.
"The name's M-Michelle…" Michelle introduced her name to Akari.
Akari chuckled and bowed again.
"Alice and Michelle— such beautiful names!" Akari said, complimenting them.
Alice and Michelle glanced at each other, their gaze lingering on each for a moment before smiling.
Akari took a step closer to the two.
"It's been a long time since I have seen other humans…" Akari said with amusement.
Alice and Michelle got slightly confused. Has she not seen humans before?
"What do you mean by that?" Alice questioned Akari.
Akari chuckled sheepishly, averting her gaze as her smile faltered.
"It's…a long story," Akari said, her voice slightly quiet.
Michelle's expression shifted into a mix of perplexity and curiosity.
Akari's gaze moved back onto Alice and Michelle.
"Let me introduce myself more properly and then I'll tell you two everything," Akari said, gesturing to Alice and Michelle to follow her.
"Come inside, make yourselves comfortable," Akari said with a warm smile as she walked into the cave.
Alice didn't worry, nor think that Akari would trick her— so Alice followed Akari.
Michelle was pretty hesitant, but followed Alice and Akari anyway.
Alice and Michelle looked at their surroundings whilst they followed Akari.
The cave seemed beautiful with all its crystals above and below.
The crystals even had different shapes and colors, it was mesmerizing.
"So, your name is Akari?" Michelle asked.
Akari nodded.
"I'm sorry if this sounds rude but…what are you?" Alice questioned Akari.
Michelle shook her head and glanced at Alice.
"Wait, why did we just suddenly agree to follow a random creature out of nowhere?" Michelle said bluntly.
"Okay, that sounded more rude than what I had asked," Alice said.
"I'll explain everything once we get inside…" Akari responded to their questions.
The three had now walked into a room.
It was huge, there were seats that were just large, smooth rocks.
A shelf filled with old books, and there was a table that caught Alice's eye.
It had…eight candles on it, all of them unlit.
Meanwhile, back on earth— Vanessa, Andrew and Mark were in the dark forest Alice and Michelle ran into.
The three found the deep hole Alice and Michelle fell into.
They used the rope Andrew found to go down.
The three of them did the same thing as Alice and Michelle— follow the trail of grass and see where it leads to.
Andrew led the way, he was starting to get even more worried about the fact that they have not found Alice and Michelle yet, but that just encouraged him to keep going.
Andrew paused as he noticed the ground get steep.
Below the small little cliff they were on, Andrew found more flowers.
Andrew turned his head to the right, and alerted the two that were behind him.
"There are more flowers…" Andrew told the others.
Mark and Vanessa glanced at each other, both of them with confused looks on their faces.
Andrew then climbed down, gesturing to Mark and Vanessa to follow him.
The two did as Andrew told them to— their gazes were on the ground, to what was in front of him.
Andrew had a confused look on his face, his eyes were also wide from worry.
He saw Alice and Michelle's hand prints on the dirt near the pond.
He thought that they drowned…the thought of that making his heart drop.
Andrew tried to convince himself that it would be impossible.
A pond this small? People drowning in it? Impossible.
Andrew's gaze still stayed on the pond, he noticed strange details about it…