Leah woke up feeling like she'd been hit by a truck. Her whole body ached as she got up from what felt like a cold concrete floor. It was dark all around, but there was a dim source of light from above that made the surroundings somewhat visible, which didn't really help because there was nothing to see, except for one more person on the ground some distance away from where she awoke.
A blond girl was laying on the ground not so far from her. Face down, arms and legs all stretched far apart.
'What's going on?'
Leah Lenov was a smart girl, but on a day like this, nothing she had learned in her life was helpful. But it was clear that whatever was going on in this vacant space stretching endlessly to all directions, the only way to figure out anything at all was to talk to this girl. If she was even alive, that was.
"Hey"
Leah knelt next to the girl, calling out to her softly so as not to startle her.
The girl, however, lay motionless, maybe even lifeless. Leah felt a jolt of sudden anxiety and she gently shook the girl by her shoulder.
"Are you alright?"
Was she perhaps… dead?
The thought struck her hard. The only time she'd ever seen a dead body was at her grandfather's funeral some years ago. Nevertheless, this girl - dead or alive - was her only clue.
"Please, wake up. Are you OK?"
Leah tapped on the girl's shoulder blade a few more times with her slender hand, ever so softly, but with a bit more pressure with each touch as she grew more anxious.
It was then that Leah heard this mysterious girl on the ground snore.
'What the hell?!'
Her anxiety now turned into irritation, Leah flipped the girl over to check on her.
It was Jean Simmers.
"Jean?"
Leah tapped on Jean's collarbone a few times, on both sides, with the tip of her fingers. She remembered this was what you had to do to check if someone was conscious before making the decision to perform CPR.
A snoring girl clearly didn't need CPR though.
"Wake up!"
Leah, a soft-spoken girl normally, yelled out at her while shaking the blondie somewhat violently. It was uncharacteristic of her, but so was the situation.
"Eh… no, teach-, I'm not sleeping :snore:"
'Damn it'
"Jean Simmers, WAKE UP!!!"
Leah shouted, finally losing patience.
"Yes, Sir!!!"
Jean bolted right up and saluted as if that was the most natural thing to do when a teacher wakes you up in the middle of the class.
"We are not in school"
As the still nervous but clearly irritated girl pointed out, Jean looked around.
"Huh? Why are you… in my dream?"
Leah was about to have an existential crisis but came back to her senses.
"Clearly, this is not a dream"
"Oh…"
"Yes, a big Oh…"
"Then where are we, Lola?"
"My name is NOT Lola"
"Ah, sorry, Lilly"
"And it's not Lilly"
"Shoot. Lez, yes, Lez"
"Why the HELL would I have a name like that?!!"
"I'm sorry, I know you. Of course, you are in my class. But I'm terrible with names, hehe"
That was right. Leah and Jean hardly ever talked to each other and this Jean girl was so absent-minded and slept through maybe half of the class all the time. She had her own clique and never really interacted with people outside of that, so it wasn't a surprise that Jean wouldn't remember Leah despite having been in the same class for the past two and a half months.
It was only because Leah had a good memory that she knew and could remember Jean's name out of twenty-five other students that were in her class.
Or perhaps it was because Jean had such a dramatic self-introduction when the new year began, but that was another story for another time.
"It's Leah", having given up, the reserved girl finally spoke her name.
"Right, Leah. My name is Jean"
"I know"
"Crikey, you've got a good memory"
'Or more like you are stupid'
But of course, Leah didn't say that, for she was a polite girl.
"So where are we now?", Jean asked.
"I have no idea. But we should probably look around if we can find anyone else"
"But hang on… weren't we on our way to, er, that museum thingy for a field trip?"
It was only then that Leah remembered.
Yes, the whole class was on a bus, heading toward National History Museum for the day.
"You are right"
"Damn, I'm glad we ended up not going!"
Jean exclaimed, pumping her fist in the air.
'Unbelievable'
"This place seems vast. It's not going to be easy to explore, especially in this darkness", staying calm, Leah tried to talk some sense into the excited girl.
"How do you know?"
"Sigh… hear this"
:Clap:
Leah clapped her hands once and Jean just looked at her incredulously. Then after a few seconds, she clapped her hand once too.
"What are we clapping for?"
'Dumbass'
:Clap:
Leah clapped her hands again and asked Jean,
"Do you hear any echo?"
"No"
"Try to scream"
"YAAAAAAAARRRRRR!"
'What are you, a pirate?!'
"You see what I mean now, right? There is no reflection of sound here at all"
"Damn, you are smart"
"It should be common sense"
"Smart ass"
Leah winced at the vulgarness of this blond girl.
'We don't even know each other well, how can you use a language like this?'
It was at that time the light source from above got brighter, which was a mystery to Leah as this place didn't sound like it had a ceiling either.
"Welcome, children"
They heard a soft female voice.
'Where did that sound come from?'
Leah quickly looked around but she couldn't even tell from which direction the sound came.
"Nan?", Jean's face suddenly brightened up as her jaws dropped and asked the mysterious voice.
"What the…", the soft female voice wasn't so soft anymore.
"Is that you, Grandma? Oh my god, I missed you so much. I never thought I'd see you in heaven!"
Leah double-face-palmed.
'What is she even thinking at a time like this?!'
There was a moment of tense silence and then the female voice spoke, now breaking up and assuming a pretty ominous tone.
"YOU! Little child, how dare you think I'm an old granny!"
"Eh?", Jean was incredulous.
"First of all, I'm not your grandmother. Secondly, yes, you are dead. But I'm not your grandmother and you are certainly not in heaven. And third, I am not your grandmother"
"Oh… you know, my gran passed away last year and I thought… it was like we died and came to heaven, and you know… like my granny came to greet me"
"How insolent! In the countless millennia I have been doing this job, nobody, I mean NOBODY has ever mistaken me for an old lady"
"It sounds like you ARE an old lady", Jean shrugged.
'Come on, don't do this. If I think we are in the situation we are in, you are bringing us the wrath of some kind of a Goddess', this was all Leah could think of at this disastrous moment.
"I will punish you. Oh yeah, I will punish you, child"
"Well, yeah? I'm not scared of you, you old hag!", the idiot rebelled.
"Old… old HAG?!"
Just as Jean was trying to say something, Leah quickly covered the insolent girl's mouth and started to explain.
"Your Holiness, I am terribly sorry that this blasphemous infidel offended you. Please punish her as you wish, but have mercy on my soul"
Leah pushed Jean down to her knees and also knelt next to her, bowing down with her forehead touching the cold ground.
"There shall be no forgiveness. You brats are going to suffer. I'll see to that"
"But… Your Holiness, I've done nothing wrong…", Leah was pleading but it was all futile.
"I will send you where you deserve to be. You shall labor until the day you die. And then I will bring you back and send you there again - or somewhere more horrible if I can by then"
"NOOOOOO!"
Just as Leah screamed out, a rare, rare occurrence for the normally reserved girl, the whole place flashed with blinding light, and was followed by the infinite darkness.
And into the void, they fell.