CH.2
MONOYELLOW

You open your eyes, groggily blinking away the bright light. as you begin to take in your surroundings, the musty scent of a damp carpet greets you— its mildewy aroma wafting through the air and filling your nose with a stale yet pungent smell.

Malik rose slowly from the floor, groaning as he clutched his side. wincing and wincing again, he grabbed onto something to balance himself as reality set in. his clothing was fine, his dreadlocks were disheveled– nearly all over his face.

Jay groaned as he awoke, rubbing his eyes and running a hand through his messy hair. "Shit..what happened?" he asks.

Kena stirred fitfully, her body jerking as if tugged by an invisible force. her eyelids fluttered and she awoke with a stifled cough, scratching at her neck. as kena opened her eyes further and looked around, a moment of confusion passed before reality set in– she didn't recognize where they were.

Marcus stirred awake, opening his eyes to the glaring buzz of harsh fluorescent light. he sat up with a grunt as he felt an ache in his back from whatever hard surface he had fell on just now. looking around the room at its monoyellow walls, it seemed unfamiliar– as if it were some kind of maze that never ended. he took note that there was nothing to distinguish one wall from another, no furniture other than what appeared to be dark spots on the floor, which looked like mold.

Malik's gaze wandered around the room, taking in whatever place he was in. he heard a soft sound coming from one corner and found you there, sprawled on your stomach with hands laid limply at either side. your eyes were closed tightly in slumber. Malik let out a gasp of surprise and quickly crawled to where you lay, murmuring your name softly as he put his hand on yours, "[name].." he quickly turns to you over to check if you have a pulse.

"Is everybody okay?" Jay asks while standing up. Kena dusts herself off as she looks around, ignoring his question.

Marcus stands up, fuming. he was angry– angry at the fact Jay led them into this. he wish he would've never came, the worse part about it?

Well..he goes over to check the camera, nobody knew it was still on. when he grabs it he looks through the tape, his lips trembling a little. he didn't want to assume the worst but he had to in order to not sugarcoat anything.

Malik had forgotten he ever recorded anything, still trying to process where he was. he lays your head in his lap as he checks his watch which weirdly enough— was glitching?

"[Name] wait!"

As Marcus watches the tape it finally dawns on him what happened, he didn't want to believe it either.

SNAP !

Everyone had witnessed your neck snapping but didn't have time to process anything when they fell through that phase wall.

You were dead. but if you were dead, how were you still alive? that didn't make any sense. he glances over at you and furrows his eyebrows— then turns to Jay.

Yeah, Marcus was angry. extremely angry. this was all his fault.

Jay paced around, panicking. Kena walked over to you and malik, her hand making it's way to your neck to see if anything was out of place.

Marcus stomped over to Jay, pointing an accusing finger. "This is all your damn fault!" he bellowed.

Jay spun around, eyes wide and mouth open in disbelief. his voice was almost a screech, "My fault? my fault? how was I supposed to know their neck was gonna snap? Huh!?"

Marcus shouted back, not backing down, "You would've known if you looked at your skateboard before giving it to anybody!" he jabbed his own chest with the same accusing finger for emphasis.

Jay's voice rose in anger. "So you think I knew [name] was gonna die or something? what do I look like, some kind of seer? I don't have any crystal ball that tells me what's going to happen in the future. fuck you man, why am I to blame?!"

Malik sighed heavily when he saw Jay and Marcus, their bodies tense and faces scrunched in anger. he stepped between them, held up his hands to break the tension between them, they stopped. "Guys," he said softly with a shake of his head.

"Fussing isn't going to do anything– we have to find a way out of here." his voice was heavy but steady. he glanced around the room as though seeking one from every corner.

You on the other hand? were surprised, there was no possible way for you to be alive. you died.

You suddenly notice Malik observing you from a few feet away, his brow knitted with concern. he moves towards you and wraps his arms around your shoulders, shielding you in an embrace warm enough to melt the fear that had been slowly freezing your heart. his concerned voice breaks through to ask if anything hurts or if you're okay. the sound of another human's voice brings forth tears that mix with confusion and fear as they course down your face, he's offering comfort for you.

"I- I died," you whisper, your voice quivering as your hands tremble. you feel like the life has been sucked out of you and all that's left is an empty shell. the feeling is overwhelming; it was so sudden, yet felt so final. you take a deep breath to try and steady yourself but the air doesn't seem to fill up in your lungs– no matter how much you suck in or how deeply, it's as if each breath doesn't exist at all.

Tears began to stream down Kena's cheeks, and she stumbled towards you with an outstretched arm. her voice cracked as her words came out in a sorrowful whisper, "Oh, [name].." she dropped the arm back to her side and stepped forward to embrace you.

you held onto her as she wept gently into your chest until finally the sobbing eased off. with tears still wet on both your faces, you wiped away a few of hers that remained on her cheeks before releasing the hug slowly so she could stand again.

Marcus paced around, muttering to himself and shaking his head. his eyes blinked rapidly as he tried to think of a way out of this mess, and his nostrils flared with each deep breath he took. the words left his lips in an uncontrolled stream, "Shit shit shit, what the hell are we gonna do?!" his hands were clenched into white-knuckled fists at his hips as he shuffled back and forth across the carpet, searching for some kind of solution but finding none.

Jay's face contorted with rage, veins in his neck popping out. he slammed his fist on his thighs and yelled, "SHUT UP! Just shut the hell up!" his voice echoed around the room like a thunder clap as he rose from his spot on the floor and began pacing. the others looked on in shock at their friend, an unpredictable storm of anger that had suddenly been unleashed upon them.

Marcus scoffed, "You telling me to shut up? when you're the one who got us into this mess in the first place? you stupid motherfucker!?" his insult hung heavy in the air, echoing around them. he shook his head and turned away from his friend with a look of disdain on his face. It seemed as though he had no more patience for whatever it was that had gone wrong here; all that remained was frustration and anger at their current situation.

"Okay listen. I'm fine. alright? let's stop fussing cause this isn't helping our situation." You say while Malik helps you up.

Malik carefully helps you up by the elbows while glancing at his camcorder, he also had a camera in his small backpack he also brought with him.

Maybe those could come in handy. so he placed the smaller camera around his neck using the cameras strap, and the other in his backpack. everyone could only last with at least seven water bottles which were room temperature.

Kena turns to him, "since when did you bring your backpack?" she asks curiously while circling him.

Malik shrugs, "I made sure not to forget it when we got dragged down to this place.." he answers while helping you up.

picking up his camera he snaps a single shot— and what he sees makes a shiver run down his spine.

What the hell? a shadow was watching everyone. now malik had a feeling that they weren't alone.

Jay and Marcus were fighting about god knows what and you were just watching, kena was looking around trying to see if there was any exit.

"Does anybody have a weapon we could use? something useful?" Kena suggests while glancing at Marcus and Jay who paused, turning to her.

"My pocket knife. but we don't know what's here so we shouldn't just be going around stabbing random people." Marcus answers with a shrug of his shoulders.

Jay shakes his head in disapproval and pulls out his set of keys. "I have these. we could probably use them if somebody were to attack us first. Marcus is partially right but not all the way."

You turned to malik who looked spooked, "what? what's wrong?" you asked as you made your way over to him, concerned.

"I– the.." Malik trails off and stared at the camera again before glancing back at photo. "I just saw..don't worry about it." he replied quickly.

You furrowed your eyebrows. "If you say so. we gotta get going now guys." you say.

And with that everyone nods in agreement and follows you and malik, he stood next to you before briefly glancing over his shoulder and seeing a small shadow before it quickly disappeared.

END OF CHAPTER TWO