"Well done-"

"Seraphiana."

"You completed-"

"Your task."

"We will-"

"Send you back."

Sera frowned, "Wait, what about the truth? You weren't going to talk about the Perception Phenomenon nor the truth about the Face C-" The woman stopped as one of the wins appeared behind her, and placed a hand on her mouth.

"Silence."

"You've done your job."

"Now go back-"

"To your universe-"

"Like a good child."

With that, Sera seemed to dissolve into thin air.

Everybody gaped.

"So, it was a lie after all?"

"I knew something about her story seemed off."

"Hmph! I was right."

"But then, what is going on?"

Lauris frowned. She whipped her head around, witnessing confused and concerned faces. She couldn't blame them. This situation only got weirder each passing day. At this point, she was unsure what was even real.

The whole situation may as well be a fever dream.

However, if that was the case, why did chills run down her spine?

Why was every fibre of her being screaming at her to run?

"Well then!"

"Shall we start?"

Lauris watched as one of the twins stepped forward with a wide, cavernous smile.

"I think that there are too many people."

The other stepped forward.

"Agreed."

"Then, what shall we do?"

The twins faced each other, giggling.

"I know! Let's reduce the numbers!"

Everyone froze.

The twins smiled wider. One of them tilted their head, revealing those multicoloured eyes.

"Well then-"

"Shall we?"

At that, someone screamed.

Lauris looked around as the crowd dissolved into confusion and chaos. She watched in horror as a red blob resembling a human shape wobbled forward.

Everyone took a step back.

Lauris shivered and followed the crowd.

The blob struggled forward, pushing out something that resembled a hand. "EEEEEEEE."

The crowd took another step back.

"E—H—E"

"Hel – EE"

Lauris paled.

No way. It's – it's asking for help.

Another appendage stretched from the abomination.

"H—P –EE."

Lauris watched, wide-eyed as a small girl stepped from the crowd. "Mama? Is that you?"

Lauris jumped as childish laughter boomed from the ceiling. She looked up.

"This is fun!"

"This is so very fun!"

"What will you do?"

"Will you guys help the girl?"

"Or will you abandon her to her fate?"

"Mama? Why are you like this?"

Lauris turned her attention back to the girl and the blob. She watched in terror as the child tentatively reached out and screamed.

The girl's skin bubbled ad melted off. Her body flopped into a shapeless mass.

There was a momentary silence as the two blobs merged. Then, everyone panicked. Lauris and the rest of the crowd scrambled for the door.

"Everyone! It won't open! Find something to break it down!"

Everyone scattered before everything turned grey.

"Hehehehehehehe"

"This is fun! Fun! Fun! Fun!"

"Keep it up."

"We will be watching."

The grey receded, letting the chaos resume. Just like the others, Lauris scrambled over objects and furniture, desperate. She flinched as a splatter of red fell near her feet. The woman dodged and ran, searching for a place to hide.

Lauris froze as she heard the glass shatter. Gathering her wits about her, she ran towards the door, avoiding any signs of bloody red. Once out in the car park, she slowly stopped, breathing heavily.

"Hey, is it me or are those things not coming out?"

Lauris looked up. She frowned as she saw the red blobs disintegrating as they reached the door. Looking around, the woman noticed how the crowd of people diminished from a hundred and fifty to around thirty.

A woman crumpled down, sobbing. "I knew that girl. I could have saved her, and yet, I was too scared. It's all my fault."

There was an uncomfortable silence. Lauris bit her lip.

It wasn't anyone's fault.

Who would have known what would happen?

It wasn't anybody's fault, and yet, she felt something uncomfortable. She felt the burning sensation of guilt.

Lauris looked around, searching for Marie.

She wasn't in the crowd.

No.

Lauris searched once more, sighing in relief as she saw her friend. But wait, was she really her friend? Sera said stuff about parallel worlds, but was that really true? What if it was another scheme of the twins?

Lauris shook her head. What was real? What was not?

"Ooooh, it looks like a lot of people died!"

"It was fun! But I'm bored now."

"Oh, I know, you can be test subjects!"

"And you know what happens to test subjects?"

"Oh, I know! They get experimented!"

Everyone froze. The woman who cried looked up and yelled. "Isn't this enough? Haven't you had the fun you wanted? What's wrong with you? Just let us go!"

People murmured in agreement.

"It's not like you can't leave."

"You can."

"You're just...unobservant."

Lauris frowned. Unobservant? What did that mean? What was the purpose of this senseless madness?

"You have eyes, but you don't use them."

"Or is it that, you can't?"

"Hehehehe"

Lauris rubbed her forehead. None of this made sense.

Nothing made sense.

Nothing.

"Hey, guys. I think we should find shelter."

Lauris, along with many others, looked up. Dark clouds gathered, obscuring the sun.

A man pointed to the store. "I don't want to go back there."

Lauris looked back, still noticing movement.

"Where do we go then?"

Lauris blinked. She opened her mouth and closed it. The woman sighed and spoke up. "I arrived from a ruined city. There may be something there, and I didn't run into any boundaries. Evidently."

People looked at each other, uncertain. Lauris sighed.

Figures.

After the Sera incident, it was hard to trust anyone.

A man raised his hand. "I think we should give it a shot. I don't think sitting here and doing nothing is going to help unless someone has a better idea."

Silence.

"Good." The man nodded. "Okay, Lauris, I think?"

Lauris nodded.

The man smiled. "Lead the way."

...

Lauris led the group, walking on the empty road. She looked around and stopped at the wall of fog."

"What's wrong?"

Lauris swallowed. "When I walked past this fog, there were...bodies."

There was an uncomfortable silence.

Lauris continued. "Just – just for warning."

With that, she plunged into the fog.

The woman looked straight ahead, refusing to look to the side. She sighed as she stepped out of the fog.

Everyone gasped.

"Well, this is interesting."

Lauris nodded in agreement.

There was no city. Instead, something that seemed straight out of a horror movie appeared – a palace of bones.

******

What the hell is going on? Who knows? ;)

Things after this point will get much more...interesting.