The angel returned to me that night. 

"Noah Whitfield, we must talk about something important before tomorrow." 

The white platform was steaming a darker grey this time, which I found mildly concerning. I looked up at her. "What is it?" 

"The Third Eye has risen, and is threatening the fate of your world," she began, and my eyes widened. "What? What exactly is the third eye?" 

The angel bowed her head and her expression became serious. "I don't have but so much time, but I will explain your question. The Third Eye is a being that connects to a gateway to higher consciousness that transcends you into a god. The reason he is a threat is that he wants to use his power for evil. We must stop him before he breaks free of this world." 

I understood her answer, but a new question arose in my mind. "What does the third eye have to do with us?" 

The angel looked at me even more seriously. "The one that your friend loves acquires information that is critical to his success. Do not let him get the information, or there will be no possible return to your world." 

I nodded. "I understand." 

"I must go now, to prepare for the upcoming war. We may not see each other for a while, so I must wish you good luck on this fateful battle," she said, and she began to disappear. However, I had one final question. 

"Wait! What is your name?" 

Her serious expression faded, and she suddenly floated to where she was directly in front of my face. Her pinky eyes glowed even in the darkness. She was truly beautiful. 

"My name is Maricana." 

With that, she faded away, but I didn't have any time to process what had happened. I was snapped back to reality in an instant. 

CRASH

We were waken up at around six in the morning. 

"What the..." Jacob mumbled as he sat up in the bed. 

"What was that?" Sayori said, scared. 

"Wait here, I'll go check it out," I commanded as I grab the shotgun near my dresser and sneak toward the crash.

I peeked around a corner near my kitchen, and I saw two guys with a purple uniform on. They were both turned around, so I had no way to see who it was. 

"They're not in the back of the house, David,"  the shorter guy said. 

"Very well, let's check near the guest bathroom." 

The taller guy turned around, so I hid further into the wall. I peeked out and pulled out my phone. I made sure the volume and flash was off, and I zoomed in to see the logo on the uniforms. I took a picture, and I looked at it. My blood went cold as I saw what it was.

It was the same eye logo from Natsuki's dad last night, just like Maricana told me. 

I turn back to go back to the room, but one of the guys said something. 

"Carl, did you hear that?" David's voice asked in a lower tone. I pulled the shotgun closer to my chest. I made sure the safety was turned off. 

"No sir, I didn't hear anything." Carl's voice answered. 

"Hmm."

I sighed in relief and went back to the room.

"Hey guys, it's me," I said.

"Who was it?" Monika asked, and I showed her the picture. 

Yuri looked scared when she saw it. "The LFS."

We turned around and looked at her, and I remembered what Maricana told me. "I had a dream last night. Someone told me that you had information that the third eye needs." 

She sighed out of frustration and nodded her head. "It's a book called The Portrait of Markov. It has information on how to control and manifest its power." 

Monika looked confused. "What's the LFS?"

"Libitina Force Squad." Yuri answered. 

"What?" Natsuki asked. 

"Libitina Force Squad," she repeated. "They're a group of people that work under the Third Eye and are controlled by his power. They have an eye symbol implanted in their foreheads." 

"Like my father," Natsuki implied. 

Yuri nodded. "Precisely." 

While we were talking, we must have made too much noise. 

"Hey! I think that's them!" David's voice called out from the hallway. 

"Hide!" I whispered loudly. They do, except for Jacob.

 "Dude! Go!" I insisted. 

"I'm not going anywhere." 

I pursed my lips and nodded out of reluctance. I cocked the shotgun, and Jacob pulled out a Beretta that he must've kept from when Natskui's dad visited. The two guys bust into the room and opened fire. Fortunately, we were able to get to them first. 

Carl and David both drop dead, and the Third Eye's marking began to glow. Their eyes opened and their bodies dissipated just like Natsuki's dad did. I took a shaky breath and reloaded the shotgun.  

"Are they g-gone?" Sayori's voice rings out from the closet. 

"Yeah, they're gone," I said. 

I was just about to speak again, but a deep voice interrupted my thoughts. I turn around to see a very skinny man floating over where Carl and David's bodies were once laying. He wore a purple suit and a golden tie. His pants matched the suit, but black stripes ran down the legs. His black top hat also matched the color of his shoes. 

I got instant chills just being in his presence. 

"It insults me to think less of me," he started. "Bow to me." 

"I only bow to one man," I said. "It will never be you." 

He lowered his gaze, and his eyes flared red. "You and your friend's code in this game is completely different. I can easily track you down." 

I didn't say anything after that. He continued. "Give me the book, and I'll destroy this world. As a reward, I will let you and your friends go." 

I glanced at Jacob, and he shook his head. 

"I know what you're going to do," I said. "If I give you the book, you're not only going to destroy this world, but all the other worlds, too. I can't let you do that." 

The Third Eye raised his head. "What a brutal mistake. You will pay for that, soon enough." 

The eye suddenly evaporated. I dropped the shotgun after a moment and went over to where the girls were. 

Monika suddenly exploded in rage. "Why the hell can't anything be easy for us?" 

That surprised me. I'd never heard Monika curse like that. I didn't know what to tell her. 

She continued her rant. "You know what? Fine. If they wanna fight, I'll give them a fight."

"But there's hundreds of them and six of us," Natsuki tried to reason. 

"So what? Six is all we need." Monika said. 

I thought for a moment. "Actually, there's seven."

"What?" Monika asked. 

"Seven," I confirmed. "Not six. There's someone that I've been seeing ever since I arrived in the game." 

I tell them the whole story of Maricana. The dreams, the talks, what she looked like, every detai that I deemed necessary. 

"She sounds powerful," Sayori said after I finished. 

"Well, the best thing we can do now is figure out a way to open that portal to get out of here," Monika said, cracking her knuckles. 

"I agree, but first I suggest we get moving. I'm sure the other members of the LFS know we're here," Jacob suggested. 

"I agree. Let's grab anything that we need and leave," I said, and I looked at each of the group. "Three minutes. Get a small bag from the coat closet and stuff clothes, snacks, and water. Go!" 

I put in three pairs each of underwear, socks, shirts, and shorts. I then ran to the kitchen and grabbed the box of Pop-tarts and a thermos that happened to be sitting in the cabinet next to the refrigerator. I filled it up with water and shoved it in my bag. 

I glanced at my phone, and three minutes had gone by. "LET'S GO!" 

Yuri was the last to finish, and without hesitation, we left the house for the last time. 

When I took a good look outside, what I saw terrified me. It was like the game was on the verge of collapsing. Black with green lines filled the area and the ground would vibrate every now and then. 

"It's the glitches from before," Monika said. "He's trying to delete the game." 

"We should head for the school," Yuri suggested. "It's probably the strongest place in the game." 

"That would make sense," I agreed. "It would be the last place that would be deleted."

With that, we carefully made our way towards the school. The closer we got, the louder and stronger the glitching became. As we make our way through town, it was eerily quiet. Jacob and I kept our guns at the ready, and Yuri had two holstered knives in a belt. Natsuki held my hand for her comfort. 

"Hey, I think I may have an idea," I said, trying to break the quiet. 

"What is it?" Monika asked. 

"Jacob, do you remeber how you got here?" 

He stopped and looked at me. "It's like I told you, the angel brought me here."

"Well, why don't we do that, except reversed?" 

Jacob seemed confused, but an understanding expression formed on his face. "You mean instead of Monika making the portal, the angel does it?" 

I pursed my lips. "I'm not so sure about that, but I think if we do it the same way the angel did it, maybe we can get out of here before it's too late." 

Natsuki tilted her head. "How are we supposed to do that?" 

I thought about it for a moment. "Have you ever seen 'The Avengers?'"

Jacob snapped his fingers. "Completely unrealistic, but I understand your point. We just need a strong source of energy and Monika's coding." 

Yuri joined the conversation. "There's a huge computer that the teachers use. I'm not sure if it'll actually work, but it could be worth a shot."

"Will it be able to fit all of us?" Sayori asked. 

Monika huffed. "That's what I've been worried about. With as unstable as the game is, I'm not sure if it'll be strong enough to hold all of us." 

Gunshots ripped through the air close to us, and Jacob and I got the guns out. The school could be seen in the distance, and there was a swarm of LFS members surrounding it. 

"Holy shit," I mumbled. "This is going to be harder than I anticipated." 

One snuck up on us and tried to attack Yuri from a dark corner. She yelped and was hit, but Jacob managed to kick him off before he could do anything. He shot him through the head, and he dissipated the same way as the others did. 

I sighed in relief. "He's wearing body armor. We should use that." 

Jacob nodded in agreement. "That's a good idea." 

We compared sizes, and Sayori was the closest fit. We figured that it was a good idea to put them on the girls first, since they could defend themselves the least. 

The closer we got to the school, the more LFS we took down. Eventually all of the first were armoured up, picked up a few more weapons (even a couple grenades) and were ready to advance into action. 

We finally arrived on school grounds. 

"Oh my God..." Monika mumbled with a hand covering her mouth. 

"This is insanity," Yuri said. 

I looked in Jacob's direction. "Are you sure we can do this?" 

"Are you doubting me?" he questioned. "I've got your back, Whitfield. I have since day one." 

I smiled in satisfaction. "As do I, Carnes." 

"You've got my back too, right?" Natsuki asked. 

I chuckled. "We've all got each other's backs. There's no doubt about it." 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------And that's the first part for The Escape! How do you like it so far? I'm pretty excited to write some more. I'm not sure if I'll be able to get anything else out this week though, because this is going to be a pretty busy week for me, since my spring break starts next week, and Algebra is going to kill me. But I'll try my best to get at least one more part in this week. So wish me luck! Later guys!