It was a quarter past midnight and the woman who everyone knew as Mother hadn't arrived yet. Last night we had learned that her real name was Phoebe. Her name before she had become what she is now.

"I told you she wouldn't show up," Asher said.

"She'll show up."

"You seem confident bout that."

I was confident that she'd show up, my gut was telling me she would. I could tell by her demeanor that she had been telling the truth, she sounded regretful and sad when she spoke to us.

"She will."

Asher scoffed as he leaned back against his chair, folding his arms across his chest. Asher's been skeptical of Phoebe, I couldn't blame him, I didn't fully trust her, but like she said, what did we have to lose.

Asher and I have been spending our last few hours, just talking about anything and everything. I think we were both scared to talk about what-ifs and what could've been.

"Hey, Asher?"

"Yeah?"

"Is there anything you regret not doing?" I asked.

Asher looked thought-full before he turned his attention to me.

"I regret not kissing you sooner, or telling you how I felt," he said, causing me to blush.

"Well if we manage to get out of here, we'll have plenty of time."

Asher smiled, before leaning towards me and placing a delicate kiss on my lips. Pulling away from me, he placed a kiss on my forehead, before leaning back against his seat.

"If we don't make it out of here," I started, but Asher stopped me.

"Scarlet don't talk like that."

"No I want, no I need you to know, that I'm so thankful for you. You, Emily, and Elijah were the only ones who didn't shun me for who I am, and I'm thankful that I got to know all of you," I said, as tears filled my eyes.

Asher's face wore an unreadable expression, as he pulled me into a bone-crushing hug.

"I'm so glad that you were in my life," Asher whispered out.

He pulled away from me, before connecting our lips in a passionate, but desperate kiss. It was as if this kiss was saying all of the words, that our heart couldn't.

We slowly pulled away from one another, as the tears that I had so desperately tried to contain, had begun to fall down my cheeks. Asher brought his hands to either side of my face, drying my tears.

The sound of the door being unlocked caught our attention. We hurriedly moved away from one another, as I quickly dried my face. The door opened, as Phoebe walked in.

I could hear Asher release a surprised gasp, as Noah and Macie followed behind her.

"This can't be good," Asher mumbled.

"What are they doing here?" I asked.

"We want to help," Macie said.

"But why?"

Their expressions turned grim, just like Phoebe's had last night. I don't know what they've been through in the past, but whatever it was, I can guarantee it wasn't pleasant.

"We just don't want to see anyone else get hurt, that's all," Noah spoke up.

Hurt was an understatement, from what we learned it was more like torture. It had been bugging me for a while, why they put everyone into the simulation world.

Phoebe said it was to drive people crazy. Said the longer you're in the simulation world, the more they alter it, twisting things to make you feel like you're crazy.

Until you can't even tell the difference between reality and the fake world. The things Asher and I had experienced in our last session, was a perfect example.

Asher and I had only been in the first stage out of ten. Stage two was like stage one, only difference is they alter sounds. It just keeps getting worse, until you finally reach stage ten, that is if your one of the "lucky ones".

Some have died from the stress, but if you do reach stage ten, they wake you up and move you into the transition room. They then put you into another simulation, but this one rids you of your memories, replacing them with new ones.

Eventually, you can't remember anything about your past self, all you know is who they tell you, you are. The ones who sadly didn't make it, or I guess we're lucky enough to get out of this hell hole, were placed in the disposal room.

Which I now know was the room I had locked myself into that day, Noah and Macie had found me. A chill ran down my spine just even thinking about it. That room had been the most disturbing thing, I had ever seen in my life.

"So, what's the plan then?" Asher asked.

"At the moment the guards aren't at their stations. We have exactly ten minutes to get you out of here, and to where you need to be."

"Is it even possible to get there in ten minutes?" I asked.

From the way she described it last night, the path we were supposed to be taking was pretty far away from where we are now.

"I honestly don't know, but this is our only shot. Now get up, we need to leave before our window of opportunity closes."

Asher and I stood from our seats, following the three of them into the hallway. Phoebe closed the door behind us, locking it before flipping a switch, causing an orange light to turn on.

"What's the orange light mean?" Asher asked.

"Execution," Macie quietly spoke.

We continued to walk down the hall in uncomfortable silence. The situation we were in, was weighing heavily on all of us.

We all knew how bad this could turn out if everything didn't go as planned.

"Phoebe?"

"Yes?"

"Can I ask you something that's been bugging me?"

"What is it?"

"Why us?" I asked, causing her to stop in her tracks. She turned towards me, before finally replying.

"Because you both had strong souls. Father saw that in you two,  he likes the thrill of breaking strong people down," she answered truthfully before she turned away from me.

"O-Oh," was all I said.

We continued to follow her until we reached this red, satin curtain that hung from the ceiling down to the floor. Phoebe pulled back the curtain, an old, rusted up iron door.

"No going back after this," Noah said.

"We know," I said.

Phoebe reached into the pocket of her coat, pulling out the key to the door. She unlocked the door, before returning the key to her pocket.

She opened the door just enough so she could peak out. A few seconds went by before she motioned with her hand for us to follow her. She walked out of the door as we followed her, the first thing I noticed was how dark it was.

The area was so heavily wooded, that the light from the moon, couldn't seep through. We were almost in pitch blackness, I had no idea how she expected us to get to the river, with it being this dark.

"I can't see shit," Asher cursed out, as he stumbled into me.

"Sorry Scar."

It's ok, I can't see either."

We both continued to stumble in the dark before finally, they decided to help guide us.

"We didn't take into consideration, that you two might have trouble seeing," Noah said from beside me.

"How the hell are y'all even able to see at all?" Asher asked, followed by a thud.

"Fucking hell," Asher cussed out again, causing me to let out a small laugh.

"I'm glad you're so entertained by my suffering," Asher said, as Noah chuckled at us.

"Macie I thought you were supposed to be helping Asher?" Noah asked.

"I am, well at least I'm trying to," Macie said from behind us.

"You never answered my question," Asher said.

"What question?" Macie asked.

"How can you see with no eyes."

"Well we technically can't see," Phoebe spoke up, as the sound of a gate creaking open reached my ears.

"I'm going to need more information than that."

"We can't see like you can, but we can see temperatures though," Phoebe said.

"Interesting," I said.

"We've reached the path, once we get you guys past this part, you'll be fine."

Noah helped guide me forward, as the pathway started to grow clearer. Looking around I noticed this area didn't have as many trees, which was a good thing for us, that meant the moonlight could make things more visible for us.

Once I could see on my own, Noah moved away from me. I was grateful for Noah, if it hadn't been for him, I was positive that I would've already ran straight into a tree.

The more we walked, the louder the sound of flowing water got, until finally, you could see it.

"We made it," Asher said, mostly to himself.

"I've brought you as far as I can, now it's all up to you two if you make it to your destination or not," Phoebe said.

"All you have to do now is jump in, and let it take you as far downstream as you can get."

The sound of clapping caught our attention, well all turned to see who it was, but we couldn't find anyone.

"Did you really think, it'd be that easy Phoebe?" a deep, gravelly voice spoke, before a man in a three-piece, black suit stepped from within the shadows.

Phones body tensed, as he expressed looked terrified.

Was he the man she had mentioned? Was he Father?

He reached inside his coat, pulling out a gun, he cocked it back before aiming it at Phoebe.

"I should've known you'd eventually turn on me," he said, his voice oddly calm.

"I didn't hav-," Phoebe began before he interrupted her.

"Didn't what? Didn't have a choice? Oh sweet, sweet Phoebe, you always had a choice."

He pulled the trigger, placing a bullet straight between her eyes. Her body hit the ground, as she began to bleed the same dark blue substance that Jeremy had.

Her body began convulsing, as her curse marks started to disappear. Once the last marking was gone, her body stilled, as her body slowly turned into ash.

Before any of us had time to react, he had already fired two more shots, taking out Macie and Noah. Asher and I just stood there, frozen. I didn't know what to do. Should I run for it? If I did would I end up just like them?

The man turned towards us, aiming his gun right at me.

"Now, let me finish what Phoebe couldn't manage to do."

I closed my eyes, preparing myself for my ending, but it never came. Instead, I could feel myself being thrown in the air before I landed in the water.

I came up to the surface, gasping for air, I could feel the water pulling me downstream. Looking over, I see Asher fighting with Father, well that as before I heard his gun go off. Asher's body went limp before he fell to the ground.

It was as if my world had stopped, watching his lifeless body drop down to the ground, was too much. I felt like someone had ripped my heart out, I had just watched my best friend and the man I had come to love die.

And the thing that hurt the most, was the fact that he could kill him so easily.

Everything in me wanted to scream, but I knew that if I did that, then he would figure out where I was, and kill me. Then Asher's sacrifice would've been for nothing, tears fell down my face, as I took a deep breath, diving back under the water.

The longer I can stay underwater, the more of a fighting chance I had. The current picked up, as I came up for air. Looking around I couldn't recognize any of my surroundings. How far downstream had I gone?

The current slowed down enough around sunrise, to where I was able to get on dry land. I had to stumble through the woods until I had eventually found a house, that luckily had people in it.

They brought me into their house, piling blankets on me, trying to warm me as one of them called the cops. The cops showed up and took me to the hospital, where I had told them that I couldn't remember anything.

I knew I shouldn't have lied to them, but if I told them the truth, they wouldn't believe me. Who would believe a story like that?

I mean seriously, who would believe that we had been kidnapped by eyeless people, who did weird-ass experiments on us. I'll tell you who, no one. No one would believe such a weird story.

The door to my room opened, revealing my parents and my three older brothers. I busted out in uncontrollable sobs once I saw my family. To make matters worse, I could hear the voice of Asher's mother in the hallway.

It hit me hard then, Asher was really gone, and his parents would never see him again, I'd never see him again. I know Asher had chosen to do what he did, but I wish he hadn't, maybe we could have gotten out together.

He'd be with his family, we probably would've gotten together, he'd been able to grow up, and live a life. But he'd never get any of that, because of me, because he chose to save me.

I'm guessing I fell asleep at some point, because when I woke up I was in my bed, my actual bed that was in my room. When I first woke up, I wasn't sure if I was in the real world, or if I was back in the simulation world.

It didn't take me long to figure out I was in the real world, just by the simple fact that I no longer smelt roses. I grew happy until I realized that what had happened last night was real.

Asher was gone.

I rolled over onto my side, my heart was heavy. I pulled my blanket over my head, ready to just sleep the day away, but my mom barging in my room changed those plans.

"They found Asher," my mom said.

My body tensed at her words before I slowly pulled my blanket down.

"What?" I asked.

"They found him on the river bank, he's injured, he lost a lot of blood, but they're pretty sure he'll make a full recovery."

I sat up in bed, staring at my mother in disbelief. How? I had seen him die. Hadn't I?

"Are you sure?"

"I just got off the phone with his mom sweetie, he's here," she said.

I burst into tears as my mom rushed over to me, quickly wrapping her arms around me.

I hugged her back as I let everything out. Everything from the past three months we were in that hell hole, I let it out.

He was ok, he was alive. Things were going to get better now, it had to.

They'd be hard for a while, but I was sure we could get through it, slowly but surely we would.

I tightened my hold on my mom, finally feeling calm, something I hadn't felt in a long time.

                     The End