Chapter 1

He was gone.

He wasn't at school again today, claiming he was sick. I leaned back, the old chair screeching beneath my weight. I let out an exhausted groan.

How does he manage to do these things? I've spent the whole week trying to create my player for the game we were making. Clay said I couldn't do it, I just had to prove him wrong.

Gulping down my water, I cracked my neck and continued to type on the keyboard.

Clay and I had been friends since primary school. We were the outcasts of our friend groups and found solace in each other. We share a common love for games. I love to play while he loves to create.

So whenever he had drafts for games, I'd be there to give it a test run. About a year ago, we decided to collaborate and tried making a game together. It was originally going to be a multiplayer game with the main character being this knight.

The knight's character was pretty much based on Clay himself. In fact, Clay created The Knight. After I mocked The Knight, he dared me to create my own character to input into the game, to which I took on the challenge.

The Mage was what I came up with. Or at least, tried to. The Mage was a work in progress. She barely has her skills down and there were still many faults with the coding.

I shouldn't have mocked Clay's knight afterall.

I bit my lips, my eyebrows furrowing in confusion. The sound of fingers furiously rapping against the keyboard filled the dark and empty room of the school's computer lab.

When suddenly a bright light blinded my vision for a second. I turned towards the source to see the school's guard with a flashlight in hand. He was standing at the door frame.

"Hey, it's time to pack up and go home, Althea," He urged. My eyes went to the clock to see that it was already seven in the evening.

"Right, sorry. I'll leave right away," I bowed at the guard as he turned around and shut the door. I was about to save my progress and log out of the computer when my phone rang.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Hey, how's your character coming along?" Clay's raspy voice asked. I rolled my eyes. Was he trying to show off?

"Just fine. In fact, I'm almost done," I lied.

"Perfect, I'm going to log into the game now. See ya," He hung up. I breathed out a sigh and zipped up my bag. My fingers tapping on the mouse when suddenly, the screen glitched.

Weird, inconsistent flashes of purple and green flashed across the screen, distorting the codes on the computer. Soft static sounds radiated off the computer as I tapped furiously on the mouse. What was happening? Did the computer catch a virus of some sort? I've worked on this computer more than once, why now?

When the glitching finally stopped, I breathed a sigh of relief. The screen turned black and silent. I swung my bag onto my shoulder, ready to leave the room when a bright light suddenly clouded my sight. I winced.

Then pain. Extreme pain consumed me as I screamed. It was excruciating, but as soon as it came, it left. The pain dissipated into nothingness, and it felt like pure bliss. I felt like I was drifting off into sleep, and so I let it take me.

Before I lost consciousness completely, I caught a glimpse of the words that flashed before me. The font strangely resembling one of those video games from the 90s.

[Loading game..]

[Access granted. Entering game..]

I couldn't remember anything after that.