Briar couldn't sleep.

She laid in her bed for hours, tossing and turning. She watched ASMR videos. She took a shower. She even dragged herself to the kitchen to eat. She did everything she could to try and sleep but it was proving to be damn near impossible. It was strange. Before she could probably sleep at the drop of a hat. But now, she could barely keep her eyes closed.

She blamed Scarlet. She kept thinking about what she said, and as the night wore on and she got more and more tired, she started to actually consider it. What else was there? The government didn't have an answer, and despite her alien comment, she didn't actually believe that was the cause. She hoped it wasn't, anyway. If anyone should've gotten abducted, it should've been her; not Violet. Hell, she didn't even believe in aliens. She shook her head and pushed the thought out. She sat up and shoved her blankets off, sighing loudly as she rubbed her forehead. If she couldn't sleep, then she might as well do something with her time. She dragged herself out of bed and moved to her desk. Her cat, Harry Potter, lifted his head and meowed at her. She patted him on the head halfheartedly and fired up her computer as he settled back down with a small stretch.

She stared at her desk monitor. She wasn't in the mood to write. She hadn't written anything for two years now, and she couldn't find it in herself to care. She couldn't play Stardew. She stopped since that was the last thing she and Violet had been doing before she disappeared. She sighed and was about to just watch some YouTube when suddenly, her eyes got caught on a certain icon. Minecraft. She hadn't opened it in years. She thought back to what Scarlet had said before she sighed. "Ah, hell," she muttered as she moved her cursor to it. "What have I got to lose?"

Unknowingly to her, Sadie and Lilli were in their own rooms in their houses, opening the launcher at the exact same time. They watched as, before their very eyes, the launcher that looked just like the one in Violet's photo pulled up. They both froze. Sadie's eyebrows shot up, Scarlet grinned, and Briar found she couldn't breathe. The launcher was a simple one. It looked glitchy, but it had a dirt wall with one torch attached to the center. It was the torch's light that let them see the blocky white letters. Minecraft. The three girls stared at it before they pressed play and the game launched.

They did their own thing for the next thirty minutes, but they all opened their own survival world and messed around. It was weird to Briar. She didn't like to play games alone. If Violet was here, she would be playing something with her. Or they would be texting, either roleplaying, coming up with new ideas or just talking about the future. Violet always stayed up with her whenever her mind wouldn't shut up long enough for her to sleep. God, she missed her.

Suddenly, Briar found herself yawning. When did she get so tired? She rubbed her temple, grinding her teeth together before she paused the game. She leaned back and rubbed at her face. Harry meowed at her but she didn't look at him. How did she get so tired so fast? She stretched before she stood. She stared down at the computer, at the game on the screen. She sighed. She had been right. It wasn't anything but Scarlet's hopeful dream. The launcher was probably just some easter egg, maybe calling back to the earlier versions. She didn't think to exit out of the game and instead turned and walked towards her bed.

Sadie herself was already lying in bed, and when she felt herself growing tired she yawned and began to finish up the house she had started making. She knew she would probably never come back to this world, but she absolutely hated leaving things half done. Her vision blurred and she blinked, reaching up to rub at her eyes. She couldn't be that tired, could she? Sure, it was nearly three in the morning, but...

Scarlet was yawning widely as she continued searching her word for something. There had to be something here. Maybe there was a clue, or some type of code; maybe a certain block. Maybe, just maybe, there was a message left by Violet somewhere. She knew she was grasping at straws, but what more could she do? She gritted her teeth, blinking away the tears that welled in her eyes. No. She couldn't cry. She would find something. She wouldn't sleep until she could.

Suddenly, Briar's vision blurred and her legs collapsed underneath her. Sadie found she couldn't hold her mouse anymore. Scarlet's head suddenly spun so hard that nearly fell out of her chair. Harry meowed loudly and hopped off Briar's desk, trotting up to her. He sniffed her limp arm, only to recoil as it suddenly dissolved into green pixels. He backed away as he watched the pixels move towards the computer screen before he hissed and sprinted out of the room. Sadie watched as her hand dissolved into green pixels before her eyes rolled back and she fell off her bed. Her computer went down with her and the screen cracked and landed on its side, and as she struck the floor she dissolved into green pixels and was sucked into the screen. Scarlet was coughing loudly, stumbling to her feet, holding her hands out in front of her as she watched them dissolve into the same green pixels. She looked towards the hallway that led to her mom's bedroom, took a step, then collapsed. Her blond hair covered her face as she turned into pixels and they were sucked into her computer.

Briar came to in a pitch black cube, made up of other cubes lined with strips of neon green. Her head was spinning and she could feel bile rising up in her throat like she was about to throw up.

B̴r̸i̴a̸r̶

The voice sent shivers down her spine. She whipped around, her long brown hair floating around like as if they were in a pool of water. She could see an entity floating across the room. Their entire being was glitching in and out of existence, and lines of code were spinning around them.

I̶'̸m̶ ̶s̶o̸r̷r̸y̵.̷

Her ears ached from his voice.

B̶u̶t̵ ̶I̶ ̷n̴e̵e̸d̷ ̷y̸o̸u̷r̵ ̸h̷e̶l̷p̸.̷

She opened her mouth to speak but found that she couldn't.

Y̶o̵u̵ ̷a̴n̶d̵ ̴t̶h̶e̴ ̵o̵t̵h̶e̴r̶s̷ ̶m̸u̶s̴t̵ ̴f̷i̷n̴d̶ ̸V̸i̸o̶l̶e̷t̴.̷

She grabbed her head as the cubes around them dissolved into cubes that flew around her, blocking her vision. She couldn't see the entity anymore.

F̸i̸n̸d̶ ̶h̵e̴r̵.̵

Her vision went black and she felt like her soul had left her body as her senses faded from her.