Marie stared at the statue. She looked up and blinked.

The children were gone.

Marie stood up and turned back. She didn't know why, but everything suddenly felt wrong, surreal even. It was as if a pane of glass separated her from reality.

Leaving the box behind, the woman walked back in. She stopped.

All around her was an endless field of grass with people looking up at the sky. Something dropped. Marie looked down. It was a body of a man whose limbs twisted at an unnatural angle. The woman lifted her hand to her face.

Blood.

She looked back up with chills running down her spine. The sky was bright, but something was flying above.

There was silence.

Then it began to rain, and screams filled the air. Some screamed at the sky while others shrieked at the oncoming ground.

...

Nora turned her head away, muttering under her breath.

Lauris frowned. "What is this? What sort of sick joke is this?"

Nora pushed through the crowd and walked down the steps. "Let's go. We – we will discuss this with the others."

"Discuss what?"

Nora continued walking. "Whatever I saw, I sincerely hope it's an illusion or a hallucination."

The group followed the woman in silence.

Lauris bit her lip. Nora seemed subdued, perhaps even fearful. The woman that easily got rid of her hand trembled at the sight of headstones?

What did that imply?

Lauris understood that 'failed' most likely meant death, but what about the numbers? They all seemed random.

The group reached the bottom of the stairs. The others murmured uneasily at their arrival.

"They're alive."

"Unbelievable."

"Lucky fools."

Lauris frowned at the blatant insults before shaking her head. The room hummed with tension. She was surprised that nothing drastic happened.

Nora clapped her hands. "We found something."

"Let me guess. It's a body."

Nora sighed. "Typical of a horror house, but no, it's not a body. It's a bunch of headstones."

At that, everyone froze. A boy stepped forward. "Headstones? Is my dad's name there?"

Nora stopped. She crouched down, the dim light hiding her expression. "What is your dad's name?"

The boy looked up; his wide eyes filled with pain. "Kayne. Dad's name is Kayne."

Nora shook her head. "I don't know if your dad's name was on one of those headstones. Do you want to have a look?"

The boy hesitated before nodding.

Nora stood up. She looked back. "You guys stay here."

Lauris tilted her head. What was the aim of this? Why didn't she tell the rest about the numbers and failures?

The rest murmured uneasily but did not stop the duo. Lauris sighed and sat down, uncomfortably leaning against the wall. Closing her eyes, the woman listened.

"Is that child really following her?"

"Why didn't anyone do anything?"

"Why didn't you do anything about it?"

"Well...that's –"

Lauris sighed.

"Hey guys, I think there's something wrong."

Lauris opened her eyes. She stood up and frowned.

What happened now?

Everyone crowded at the base of the stairway, murmuring uneasily. Curious, Lauris pushed through the crowd and gasped. A there was a woman that held up a clock. A name glowed faintly on the clock face, and one could see that deep cracks marred the glass.

Lauris gasped at the name. Sera.

"Damn it! I knew that woman was suspicious."

"Yeah yeah, we don't need another one of those 'we are being watched' speeches."

"Hmph, I bet you my entire life savings that this 'Nora' girl is working with the Twins. I mean, she seems funny."

Everyone stopped talking as they heard footsteps from the stairways.

"Speak of the devil."

Nora blinked. "Oh? Were you discussing how suspicious I am?"

The man crossed his arms and nodded.

Nora snorted. "Okay, but by your logic, I can say that you, Mr – "

"David. David Abrams."

"I can say that you Mr Abrams, are suspicious. For all we know, you could be working with the twins and trying to frame an innocent person." The woman crossed her arms. "I mean, you just seem funny."

David looked away.

Nora shook her head and beckoned the boy to come down.

He hesitantly followed the woman, hiding behind her figure.

Nora looked down. "Could you tell the others what you told me?"

The boy looked at the woman before looking back at the crowd.

"I-"

"Big, loud voice, please."

The boy nodded. "I'm going to die today." He stopped and looked at the woman.

Nora nodded. "Take your time."

The boy looked down. "The headstones show a time limit to those who are still alive. As soon as we arrived here, we have twenty-one days to live."

At that, everyone exploded.

"That's impossible! I saw you arrive. Does that mean I'm going to die? Besides, it has only been a few days."

The boy looked down and shuffled behind Nora.

Nora frowned. "This is just speculation, but I feel like the time here is slower than our respective worlds, that is, if Sera was telling the truth. If we came from different parallel worlds, then even the length of the day is different. That does not, however, explain our lack of fatigue or the lack of the need to eat or drink."

Lauris paused. She didn't need to eat or drink? Was that why the food was weird?

"This is a lie, right?"

Lauris turned her attention to what seemed to be a woman in her fifties.

Nora shook her head. "I hope so. Dear god, I hope so."

The room descended into silence. Lauris looked down.

The threat of death loomed over them all, and yet, it felt unreal.

Someone stood up. "I can't take this. I need to go."

"Hey, stay here. What if it's dangerous?"

The man turned around. "We are going to die anyway! We are going to be dead with no one to mourn us. Not really."

"Suit yourself."

The man walked away, swallowed up by the darkness.

The heavy silence returned.

Lauris looked up.

What to do now?

She rubbed her face and snorted. She seemed to be asking that question a lot lately.

What to do now?

****

Let's go strong depresso!

More chapters coming soon. Nine thousand-ish more words to go.