Running From Insanity ☀ Ch. 1

Instructions

c H a P t E r 1 ☀☀☀☀☀☀☀ (PoV; Minty - 1st Person) I awoke with a start, my eyes gently fluttering open. Where... Was I? It seemed as if I was in the middle of a dense forest, but that couldn't be right. About 4 hours ago I was in bed, at home, plugging in my computer and putting away my book, then pulling the blankets over me... Maybe this was a dream. It *had* to be a dream. I pinched myself and squealed, flinching. Okay, not a dream. I wandered around curiously, jumping at every noise, every rustle in the bushes... I would *not* let my guard down. It was too risky. As I looked around, I realized that the forest wasn't really... A forest. Everything seemed fake, yet it felt real when I touched it. The animals also made weird noises- like, the squirrels croaked like frogs, and birds yowled like wolves. It was quite humorous, yet I couldn't make myself relax. If this wasn't a dream, what was it? There was a loud squeak when a girl with pale olive skin, dark brown hair and dark eyes stumbled out from behind a tree, tripping over a large root that had emerged from the ground and falling on her side. She muttered something as she struggled up and, without thinking, I helped her. "Um...." I stared at her for a long, awkward moment. Instead of banging my head against a tree, wondering why all I said was 'Um,' I pulled myself together in a quick inhale of air. "Are- Are you alright?" She smiled, brushing dirt off of her, nodding. "Oh- yeah! Totally fine!" She shrugged, taking a deep breath. She seemed slightly anxious at first glance, but was hiding it well. "Did you just get here, too? Creepy, huh?" I only half-listened to her as I scanned her up and down warily. She was wearing normal clothes- like, ones you'd wear when going shopping. Since I had fell asleep, was I wearing pajamas? But, when I looked down, I was wearing my normal clothes- the ones I had laid out before going to bed- the ones I was going to wear the next day... I shuddered, then realized she was looking at me curiously. Of course, I had missed *everything* she said. I bit my lip nervously, smiling. "What? I- I mean, yeah, it's weird, huh? You just woke up here, too?" She nodded, suddenly serious- or at least looked serious. "Someone is *for-sure* behind this. It's almost like- well, like we're in a simulation." She glanced around nervously, before turning back to me with a smile. "I'm Peachy, by the way." I nodded, smiling back. "I'm Minty. Have we- Have we met before?" She shook her head, shrugging. "Maybe, I--" She was caught off by a loud scream, and, a moment later, someone shouting, "NIGHT!" Peachy and I shared a nervous glance and, within an instant, ran over to where the noise came from. There was fire- fire *everywhere*- and, in the middle of it, was a girl with brown hair and pale skin who was leaning over a note. A tortoiseshell cat sat next to her, looking generally spooked as she meowed loudly. The girl glanced at us, gray-blue eyes wide in horror. "She's gone," she gasped, and, after a moment, she gulped. "He took her."