If anyone had chosen to listen, they'd hear the uneven crunching sounds of figure running past. Past the river and into the park, towards the place where trees were most bountiful, a teenage girl ran desperately. Her coffee brown hair was a mess as the wind blew past it, lifting the hair wildly, but it seemed that she didn't care about her looks right then. If anyone paid attention, they might have seen slight discoloration on the back of her neck, just peaking over her uniform jacket. If anyone cared to looked, they might have noticed she didn't seem to be alright, but they all had busy lives they were more focused on. However, even if they had noticed, she wasn't sure if she'd even want them to try and approach her.
Evening light was still out, but it seemed that rain would be arriving soon—typical. The chill in the air would only get worse once it starts to pour, but again, this teen didn't care at that moment. Her breath could be slightly seen as she breathed heavily, a tightness weighing heavily on her chest from the exercise. Finally, she came to a stop as she placed a hand on a nearby tree. Cloudy blue eyes, like the incoming storm above, began to glisten a bit as the teen slid downward to the base of the trunk. She lifted her hands to her eyes, hissing a curse when she touched her left cheek—definitely seemed to be swollen.
Gripping her brown locks, she attempted to calm herself down with deep breaths.
"Mew," came a nearby cry, followed by a rustling.
Jolting a bit, the teen looked towards the sound. A smile reached her lips, and she seemed to calm down, "Hey there, Dinah." Her voice was soft, slightly shaken, exposing her vulnerable state. The teen then lifted a hand towards the tabby, and the cat took the welcome and brushed up against the teen's fingers. The girl began to give the companion some scratches as a purr began, "Did you come to comfort me?"
Dinah responded by rubbing against the teen's leg, "Meow."
The brown-haired girl continued to pet the feline in an absentminded manner, heaving a sigh as her smile left her lips and a distant look entered her eyes. A quiet peace surrounded them. The first droplet of rain began to fall past the tree leaves, but nothing that bothered the teen or her companion.
Suddenly, a screeching and skidding sound blasted through the ambiance, ending with a large crashing and yells of panic. Dinah jumped and bolted away, hissing as her fur stood on end. The teen was also startled, beginning to get up with a hand on the tree.
"Was that a car accident?" she thought in shock. However, before she could expand on the thought or see what had happened, a rumbling and crackling was felt and heard beneath her. The floor underneath her gave way, opening up to swallow her whole. The teen's eyes were wide as she screamed, frantically reaching for anything to keep her from falling through but failing miserably to do so. Down the hole she went, terrified and confused as to what was happening, thinking death was coming for her.
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Blinking rapidly to try and get the blur out of her eyes, she realized that she was lying down on the ground. As her vision cleared, the teen instantly noticed the tones of the woods were very different from what she remembered. Rain clouds weren't anywhere to be seen, and the trees had leaves tinted red and bits of gold. Not to mention, it was quieter and warmer—no sounds of the Oxford city life that surrounded the park and no chill typical of spring rainy weather.
Did she die? Was this heaven?
As she started to push herself into a sitting position, a sudden piercing migraine stabbed her mind. Hissing, the teen curled into herself as she sat, hands to her head in an attempt to alleviate the pain.
Nope, not dead and definitely not heaven. Heaven wasn't supposed to have pain. Unless she was to hell? Didn't expect hell to look so peaceful.
After a few seconds, the pain subsided. Finally able to think straight, the teen noticed her outfit was different, tipped off by the feeling of a three-banded headband on top her brown hair. Instead of her dark gray uniform jacket and yellow collared blouse, she was now wearing a white skater skirt overall over a yellow cold-shoulder long-sleeve. The teen played a bit with the slight flare at the end of the sleeves, feeling the good quality of the fabric. The overalls also had light blue waistband and two light blue stripes at the end of the skirt. Whoa, there were pockets along the side seams of the skirt—unnoticeable but very practical.
And, instead of her matching uniform skirt and black stockings, she now had light blue leggings under the suspenders skirt. It also had black stripes on the thigh portions—how unusual.
Standing up, she tested out the new shoes, too. They were now black combat boots with white laces and soles instead of the sneakers she had threw on earlier. The teen looked satisfied with this particular change, liking the style.
With all the movement, she also felt the last clothing change—a choker hugging around her neck. It's in style right now in casual wear, but she had never worn one before. It strangely didn't feel wrong or uncomfortable despite it being a new experience. Here, she noticed that her hair was neat, much neater than earlier. It looked like it had been combed with care, showing off the natural wave at bottom of her medium length hair that now rested nicely over her shoulders.
The teen took another look around at the strange environment, trying to make sense of what was happening, while she absentmindedly went to take off the headband. However, it wouldn't come off. Confused, the teen spent a good minute struggling against the headband. Admitting defeat, she gave a frustrated sigh, patting down the hair to look neat again. It's been a while since her hair looked this nice. She wasn't going to ruin it.
"Haha. Greetings, Alice. Nice to see you again."
Who?
The teen swiftly turned around, trying to figure out the source of the voice. However, her confusion only increased another level when she saw no one.
Was she imagining things?
"Up here, dear Alice."
Again…?
This time, she was able to better pinpoint where the voice was coming from. It sounded male. But, to her even more confusion, nothing could be seen in the trees. Now, she was feeling a rise of uneasiness and fear in her chest. She didn't like this situation one bit. Still, she needed answers, and she feared that if she turned to run, she'd be leaving herself too vulnerable against a potential invisible enemy. So, taking control of her nerves, the teen yelled out, "Show yourself!"
She tensed, awaiting a reaction, but only silence and a breeze answered her.
Suddenly, laughter permeated the air.
A cold shiver rolled up her spine. The voice had moved to her right without her noticing—the only solace being that it was still amongst the branches. Yeah, maybe she was in hell.