A girl sleeping on the ground shivered from the cold hard floor. She frowned from the discomfort before her eyes gradually opened. When she felt the icy floor, she sat up in a jolt.
When the view registered her mind, her heart beat fast from anxiety the surroundings are unfamiliar.m
"W-where am I?"
The room was plain, though it looked a little old, it looked clean tidy, with each surface looking spotless.
There's only one bed inside the room, other than that, there's no other furniture inside. The lights kept on flickering, making it seem like the room would collapse any minute now.
She also noticed that in the room, she's not the only one. A lot of people are sprawled on the ground like just her earlier.
She felt a chill run down on her spine when she took in the situation.
Something's wrong
Glancing down on her body, her fingers brushed against her skin, tracing her legs and arms. Huh?
She could still remember the feeling of being engulfed in fire. It was the most painful thing she ever experienced.
Each seconds in the fire was like eternity, the way the heat crawled beneath her flesh made it feel like she's melting away, like paper burning away.
At that moment, she thought 'Im gonna die'. But clearly, she's fine right now because there's not a single burn at all, as if she's never been engulfed by the flames to begin with.
"H-how am I alive?!" She asked to herself, in disbelief. Then a person beside her suddenly woke up. Maybe because of her loud voice.
Like a chain reaction, the people around her woke up one by one. All of them blinked their eyes, showing different expressions, surprise, happiness, sadness, and more.
After all of this, one person remained still on the floor. The remaining person who's still sleeping was a fine young man, sprawled on the ground uncomfortably.
Even if she's still confused, with her thoughts clouded by the why's and how's of this strange phenomenon, she decided to wake up the young man.
"Wake up, wake up!"
"Hmm.." Kian groaned, his mind foggy, various muffled sounds entered his ears. His eyelids felt heavy, and he couldn't bring himself to open them, as if they were sealed shut with tape.
His body felt stiff, but not as painful as before. He frowned in frustration, as he tried pushimg through his cloudy senses, his chest heaved as he gasped for breath. He could feel someone shaking his body relentlessly.
He snapped his eyes open at the strange sensation and saw an unfamiliar, cramped room filled with various strangers.
Where is this? He though, sitting upright while instictively holding his abdomen. That's when he noticed something was odd.
He could vaguely recall the moment before he lost consciousness.
He was hit by a car.
"Oh no."
Suddenly, he remembered Archelle and stood up in haste. But as soon as he stood up, he felt a wave of dizziness wash over him.
Staggering, he noticed something strange. His body was somehow okay and there's no pain at all?
Confused, he looked down on his body. He touched his legs, shoulders, then his face, searching for injuries but there's clearly none of that.
"I'm not hurt at all?" He said out loud. That's weird. How come there's not even a single scratch on him?
"Are you okay?" A voice quipped in, breaking through his running thoughts.
He shifted his gaze to the person who woke him up. A stranger.
He can't understand this situation. He scanned the room feeling bothered by the questions in his mind. There's about 10 people inside the room, him included.
He noticed someone on the floor, sitting hunched. The hunched man was covered in tattoos, his lips moving rapidly as if whispering to himself, and his eyes kept on darting around the room.
Beside the thug-looking man was another figure in a suit, leaning casually against the wall. His posture was relaxed, but his expression showed otherwise.
In a secluded corner, four guys huddle together in a school uniform was having a conversation, their faces etched with conflicting emotions. An obvious tension hung around them. After a few moments, two of the boys walked away from the other two.
There's only three girls in the room. The two girls sat on the only available bed inside the room, their expressions stiff as if talking about something serious. Then, the last remaining girl was in front of him, the one who woke him up.
This combination of people seemed odd. He felt instictively alert towards them.m
"Who are they? And you?" He asked, while scooting backwards.
The girl shook her head in response. "I'm Isen, I...I don't know them."
He looked at her intently then opened his mouth to speak
[ Participants, please gather around the broadcasting area in 25 minutes. ]
A monotone voice resounded in the room stopping him, everyone to halted in surprise.
All the people glanced at each other. Confusion was obvious in their faces. Wondering where the sound came from, the people spoke out their concerns one by one.
"What nonsense is this?!" The guy in tattoos, yelled in frustration.
The girls muttered.
"Why am I here"
"Did they just say broadcasting area?"
"Where did that voice come from?" One of the guys in a school uniform asked.
No one answered because no one knows.
"Isn't it strange? That we're all gathered here." The guy with tattoos spoke.
"Duh." The guy in a suit responded, and the man with tattoos glared at him.
"What?"
"Nothing, by the way." The guy in a suit, paused as if thinking. "I thought I was about to die, but then I woke up here." He continued.
"You too?"
[ Please gather around the broadcasting area in 19 minutes ]
The monotone voice spoke up once again.
"Where the heck is this voice coming from?!" The guy covered in tattoos snapped at the robotic voice, but it didn't reply.
The group noticed that there was no speaker. It's like the voice was immediately transmitted in their minds.
A boy in school uniform stood up, fidgeting the collar of his shirt, he asked in a shaky voice. "S-Should we go?"
"Why would I trust that robotic voice?" One of the girls said, her tone sharp as she crossed her arms.
"Isn't it weird? There's no speaker, but we can hear the voice somewhere."
"Let's call the police." Another girl proposed, desperately looking for any communication device.
"I'm alive?! How am I fucking alive? Wait, actually this is amazing but weird." One of the boys wearing school uniforms, mumbled repeatedly.
The people began panicking.
Kian had enough. His thoughts were in a mess as well, and his head kept on throbbing in pain.
It feels like he'll go crazy any moment now.
He recalled buying his younger sister cake, then he went home expecting to be able to surprise her, but she was in danger so they run outside to get away from the danger.
Then the danger—Harvey—caught up to them, so they decided to convince the guy to have a conversation with the guy instead.
However, universe seemed to be playing a trick on them, because a car rushed right where Archelle's standing. He acted without thinking and immediately shoved Archelle out of the way, taking the hit in her place.
Therefore, he should be dead because of the impact right now, or if not, he should be injured while laying on a hospital bed. Also, he shouldn't be here. In an unknown room full of strangers.
This was truly unexplainable. These people couldn'tve abducted him–they don't have any reason to do so. Plus, judging by their reactions, they probably don't have any idea about this situation either. Maybe, just maybe, they are all in here together for some reason.
Even if it sounds ridiculous, he couldn't find any proof to say otherwise. Specially, when he heard one of the guys mention that he almost died then woke up in here, just like himself.
He clicked the door open, the sound making everyone to turn their heads
"Where are you going?" One of the girls asked.
"Broadcasting area"
"What? You'll really listen to that voice? What if they're just messing with us?"
He ignored her question and stared at her judgingly. Only completely insane people would abduct people just to mess around.
"I'm going now," he said, turning back to them. "Follow me if you want."
Kian walked away, his footsteps steady as he made his way in the hallway, looking for an elevator.