Escape From Greif

TIME: 4:47

DATE: UNKNOWN

LOCATION: UNKNOWN

NAME: TENDRA

AGE: 16 - 18

GENDER: FEMALE

DECEASED: PERIWINKLE

We needed to find the green room. If we were able to find it, everything would be okay.

That's at least what the man who killed Periwinkle had told us. It didn't feel real, of course it didn't. I had never experienced someone's light vanishing so abruptly and forcefully before. Although, that didn't really mean anything coming from me in my current state...

Menteur hadn't seemed the least bit faced by his actions. It felt like the teenager's existence vanished from his consciousness after the abyss devoured him

None of us had reacted with screams of terror to Periwinkle's sudden death. That was the scariest part, it felt like Menteure's impassive demeanor had been infectious. We had all frozen in place, simply continuing to absorb the events.

All of us knew that the man in front of us wasn't a monster and that's why he terrified us.

The tone of his voice when he had started speaking was apathetic. No emotion. No regret. All empty.

"You need to find the green room", those had been his exact words. There were no spicy remarks or angry comments objecting him this time around. Instead, there were five scared teenagers who had all been faced with their own mortality and the reality of how weak they really were.

Menteur had pointed towards the opposite side of the training hall, where a small exit could be seen. The height of it was about the same as the doors to our rooms. It was as if a hole had suddenly opened in the wall. I hadn't seen an exit there before, but now it was hard to miss.

"You'll need to hurry, everyone in this facility will soon be hunting for you. There's a reason for all of this, but I'm afraid I can't tell you. It's up to you now, either you choose to trust me or find your own path. Either way, run!"

We all did as he said, we ran. The corridor's cold metal colors flashed by us. It felt like we were stuck in a never ending loop, that seemed to stretch out in an infinite straight line. The metal colors that flashed us by never vanished, as if they were chasing us. Stopping would mean getting devoured, just like Periwinkle.

I didn't want to think about it, but that was the same as doing it. Did Periwinkle really have to die? What purpose would his death ever serve? We trusted Menteur and then one of us got shot in the head...

My mind started calming down after having runned for about ten minutes, and I still hadn't seen any signs of people coming after us.

"Hey! Everyone, stop running!", I yelled and to my surprise, everyone seaced to run.

"What is it Emo-girl?!", the girl with red hair or Aka as her name supposedly was had been quick to complain. She hadn't been subtle in showing her irritation towards me.

"Wait... What did you just call me...?", she didn't respond to my question. It irritated me, especially since she acted like nothing of what she said had been offensive.

"Anyway!, the reason as to why I asked all of you to stop: does anyone here have any idea of what they're actually doing?", it had bothered me for a while now. What were all of us really trying to accomplish?

"I mean, none of us even knows what this 'green room' is supposed to be and the man who asked us to run there killed one of us. He didn't even give us an explanation as to why and simply told us to trust him!"

"Your point being?", it was Aka who had questioned me once again.

"What do you mean 'your point being'!?, isn't it obvious!? We can't just follow Menteur's orders because he says there's a reason to all of this!", I could feel my pent-up emotions starting to leak out.

"Of course we can! It is as you said, none of us knows what's actually going on here! If we don't follow Menteure's instructions, then what do you suggest we do? Run around like lost sheep without any directions? Wouldn't that just take away the purpose of Periwinkle's supposedly necessary death? I get that you might want to have a small teenage rebellion, but don't drag all of us into it!

I would've continued arguing, but a simple sound made me stop. Footsteps. Multiple people were approaching in our direction. The corridor made a sharp turn about thirty meters in front of us and the people making the sound would soon reveal themselves there.

Panic started to seep in and our minds immediately remembered Menteur's warning: "... everyon in this facility will soon be hunting for you."

Had I've been wrong? Could we really just trust in Menteur's words? Were these people really out to get us and if so, what would they do once they catched us?

"IT'S NOT GOOD TO OVERTHINK EVERYTHING...", a voice? I didn't recognize it...

"Stop daydreaming and get over here, Tendra", it was Emeralda who had called out to me. Her head was peaking out of the metal wall. Had she died!?... No, she hadn't... A part of the metal wall just seemed to have opened like a hidden door and I was currently feeling very embarrassed about my nonsensical assumption.

I hurried to Emeralda and entered the room. I quickly closed the... Door?, and as it silently became a part of the wall again I realized, we might just have walked straight into a trap...

* * *

The time was currently 5:10 and we hadn't heard the footsteps for a while now. The room which we were currently hiding inside looked just like the once we had woken up in.

This felt wrong. The door had opened at such a convenient time, as if someone had been monitoring us. And the layout of this room, did it mean that there were more people like us, people with "powers"?

If there were, had they gone through the same things we had? Had all of them also been given watches and watched their friend get shot? Maybe they were hiding inside our rooms right now, unsure on what to do...

I was currently sitting by the door and Emeralda sat besides me. Mercury was sitting on the bed together with Aka and the other guy who was left. I hadn't really paid much attention to him, or maybe he just hadn't stood out that much.

He had ebony colored skin and black hair with a buzz cut. He wore baggy clothes, a black hoodie with yellow arrows going across it vertically and a pair of dark grey sweatpants.

His left eye caught me off guard since it had a big scar going across it horizontally. The scar went all the way from his chin to the better half of his forehead.

Another thing surprised me, the right eye had a golden color to it. If I hadn't seen it myself, I probably wouldn't have believed that an eye could've had such a color. I was staring straight at it, almost as if I was stuck in a trance... And it was staring back at me?

He waved his hand and made a painfully forced smile. I smiled back at him, but the embarrassment of the situation made me break our eye contact and I started to stare at my feet.

I glanced over at Emeralda who was still sitting besides me. As I did, my greatest fear came true... She had seen all the events which transpired and was currently looking at me with a big smirk.

I whispered, flustered by the situation: "don't you dare!" Unfortunately, it was already to late. My "friend" moved her lips without saying anything. As if she expected me to be able to read them, but just that action made me realize... That I had lost...

"Hi! I'm Emeralda and this is my friend Tendra. I don't believe that we've been made acquaintances yet, so let's change that"

He seemed confused, but quickly made a smile, (which wasn't fake this time around) "Nice to meet you Emeralda and Tendra, I'm Orwende" I feelt a sense of relief, Emeralda had been able to start a conversation and at the same time make my embarrassed self go awa- "What's up with that big scar and cool eye, you're like... A superhero!", I had spoken to soon...

Supprisingly, he didn't seem weirded out by the question, but instead... Entusiastik? "I know! They're really cool, I especially like the scar. I mean, who doesn't want to have a cool scar like this, I can do so much with it, like... It's cool isn't it!?"

"yeah, it's awesome!", In my honest opinion, they were getting way too excited about this...

"Even though I don't remember how I got it, I feel a strong connection to it. Whenever I think about it or touch it, I feel a lot of strong emotions connected to it. The wierd part is that the emotions aren't ones of pain and suffering, but instead... Well, they're hard to explain, but I just feel like I'm... Complete. You know?"

Emeralda started nodding her head frantically," I totally get what you mean! I feel the same way about my necklace. I can't really explain why, but I feel really good that I have it. Plus, the teddy bear that's attached to it is just so cute!"

Their excitement and smiles were infectious. Before I knew it, I too had started smiling. But I quickly stopped, I didn't feel like it was right. Periwinkle had been killed and these two were getting excited about a scar? Didn't they care... No, I know, this has to be their coping mechanism. Of course it is, but to just try and focus on something else, isn't that a bit childish?... Then I asked myself, if they were coping like this, how was I doing it?

I never really knew him so MAYBE it's not that bad. MAYBE there's no need to get upset over people who choose to not grief. I'm probably just scared, all of us are probably not upset over Periwinkle, but instead we're simply scared of the possibility that we'll end up the same as him. If you didn't know the person MAYBE it's a waste of ti-

"Do you want everyone in this facility to hear you? Lower your voices", Aka had interrupted their conversation and my poisonous thoughts.

Aka was strong. She kept a calm head and never faltered. Even though she seemed hot-headed, her skill to evaluate the situations we had been put in impressed me. Then again, maybe I'm just idolizing her so that I won't have to think about my own problems... I'm pretty despicable, aren't I...

"YES, YOU ARE", it was the same voice as before. It had a light sound to it, but at the same time it was rough.

"BUT DON'T WORRY, MOST PEOPLE ARE"

"Who are you?" I didn't say that out loud, instead it felt like I spoke with my thoughts.

"I'M YOUR COMPANION THROUGH THIS JOURNEY, YOU CAN CALL ME TIRIPS"

"Okay... So, why are you here, Tirips?"

"TO BOST YOUR SELF-CONFIDENCE. IT'S OBVIOUS THAT YOU DON'T SEE YOURSELF IN A VERY POSITIVE LIGHT AND I'M HERE TO CHANGE THAT"

"I don't... Okay, maybe you're right, but how are you going to do that? Are you going to give me therapy?"

"NO. I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR MENTAL STATE, I'M HERE TO MAKE SURE THAT THE JOB WHICH NEEDS TO BE DONE IS DONE. IF I NEED TO STRENGTHEN YOUR SELF-CONFIDENCE IN ORDER TO DO THAT, THEN I WILL DO IT"

"Well, thank you for the positive words, I already feel much better!"

IF YOU WANT TO BE A SARCASTIC ASSHOLE, BE MY GUEST, BUT DON'T COME COMPLAINING TO ME WHEN YOUR "FRIENDS" INEVITABLY GETS TIRED OF IT"

"Thanks for the warning, I will try and keep it in mind"

"TOUCH THE FLOOR"

"Wait, are you the one who actually needs therapy?"

"TOUCH THE FLOOR, TENDRA"

"No, I don't want to "touch the floor". Is that some kind of fetish that you have?"

WE CAN ARGUE ABOUT IT OR YOU CAN TOUCH THE FLOOR AND GET THIS OVER WITH. WE DON'T HAVE MUCH TIME, TWO VERY DANGEROUS PEOPLE WILL SOON ARIVE"

"W-why didn't you tell me that earlier?!"

"BEACUSE THIS WOULD'VE WORKED MUCH BETTER IF YOU WEREN'T STRESSED, BUT OF COURSE THAT WAS ME BEING WAY TOO OPTIMISTIC. AFTER ALL, YOU LOVE QUESTIONING EVERYTHING THAT YOU'RE TOLD. NO WONDER THAT AKA GIRL GOT TIRED OF YOU! SO, IF YOU WOULD, TOUCH THE FLOOR!

"Okay, I'm sorry for doubting things in a situation that I know nothing about!"

My hand reached for the floor and as I touched it, an electric felling went across my arm and into the concrete.

A blue light blinded me and I could hear the surprised reactions of everyone in the room, confirming that I hadn't gone completely mad.

* * *

"It's this room, right?"

"Yeah, the boss said he opened this one"

"Good, guess I should get down to it then", the man reached for a part of the wall and touched it. The wall, with its boring metal color started changing.

The grey color of it vanished, it started degenerating. It's color became orange and after only about ten seconds, a part of the wall had turned completely into dust.

The room which could be found behind the wall was empty.

"I thought you said this was the correct one?"

The woman made a shocked expression, "this is the correct one..."

The man sighed, "So it has already started..."

TIME: 5:33

DATE: UNKNOWN

LOCATION: UNKNOWN

NAME: TENDRA

AGE: 16 - 18

GENDER: FEMALE

DECEASED: PERIWINKLE