"Are you scared?"

The silence in the room, thick and vast; was suddenly broken by snores and giggles. Shadows danced here and there along with the movement of the dim candlelight.

Tessa stared at the smiling faces of her sleeping roommates one by one. They looked like they were happy as they slumbered.

They must be happy. So why? Why this unshakeable feeling? This fear.

She laughed nervously at Sadie, her best friend. They had been friends even while they were still navigating through crawling and baby language.
Sadie had been an ugly baby. She only grew uglier as the years passed. As a teenager, mirrors made her cry.

Now as Tessa stared at Sadie's perfect small face and short blonde hair, she looked every bit like a model.

There's nothing money can't buy, Tessa thought as she stared at her new set of teeth glowing more than the only source of light in the room. A lone candle.

PING. . .PING

The sound told both girls that it was time. Sadie squeezed Tessa's hand hard; it was her way of encouraging her friend. Worry etched Sadie's face darkening the edges.

"It’s going to be okay Tess. You know you can trust me. . . You can trust us." She caught a sinister glint on the soft lines around Sadie’s mouth as she bit off the last word. It was gone as soon as it had appeared. Maybe she had imagined it. Or maybe. . . No, no. She had imagined it.

“Let’s go,” Tessa said taking a deep breath, her eyes shut tight. "I’m ready."

“Are you sure Tess?” Sadie squeezed tighter, her voice reflecting worry, her eyes two black holes swallowed by grimy essence.

"Yes! Just go already!" She implored, pulling her hands free.

Sadie waited just a while then grabbed her phone, unlocked it, and pressed the big button that glowed on the screen. Almost immediately, she fell back unconscious.

She looked peaceful, smiling just like the others.

Tessa grabbed her phone and scrolled through. She saw the app. ELSEWHERE. . .

It was all everyone talked about and yet it was a secret. A visual world you enter when you sleep. They would meet together, laugh, gossip and party all night. Sadie had been begging her to join for months. She had refused for so long. It just felt creepy as fuck.

Elsewhere. . .

Who names an app Elsewhere? And what's with the dream Voodoo stuff?

During the last few days, Sadie had gone from asking to begging till she had used their sacred bestie bond promise. The sacred bestie bond promise was "Sacred". Both girls knew just how sacred it was.

Her finger hovered on Uninstall.
Do it! Get it over it!
Her heart slammed hard against her chest as her whole body quivered against her will. The silence wasn’t helping. The candle would soon die off. Just fucking uninstall it!

The sound of a ping from her phone brought her back from her troubled thoughts with a start. The big ENTER button glowed on her screen. She closed her eyes, praying silently to a God she hadn’t spoken to since she left home.

She pressed the button.
***

The air burned with mist and dark energy. The walls on both sides were taut and wet. The enclosed darkness stretched far. The place smelled foul. Like decay.

This didn’t feel right. Was this how they welcomed new members? It was scary and it felt so real but she told herself it was all a dream. She was probably in the room sleeping with a foolish smile across her face just like the rest of her roommates. Just a stupid realistic dream.


She started walking slowly. The ground hummed with life. The earth below her feet thumped and pulsated with power. Everything here oozed dark energy.

She could hear whispers and chatters coming from within the walls. Her eyes had started to adjust to the darkness. She could now make out the outline of her jeans and her outstretched hands which were trying to feel around.

Stopping, she moved closer to the wall on her right and listened; her ear close to the wet sticky wall. The voices were there. Something else as well.

Movements.

She instinctively flinched. A sensation suddenly swarmed her almost frayed senses. A feeling that the walls were pulling closer.

Closer.

Heart thumping violently, Tessa tore through the long hall at full speed. She heard broken wails behind her. Surprised and somewhat relieved that she wasn't alone, she turned to find a silhouette.

A silhouette of a little child-like creature scurrying towards her. Shock scattered within her veins. Its movement was broken as joints, limbs twisted and contorted in every direction. It made sickening sounds as it advanced toward her. It was even creepier since she couldn't make out exactly what it looked like.

Tessa increased her velocity. Her eyes were wide with shock. Her heart felt like it was going to burst but she kept going.

She had to.

The creature was fast. Sounds of the horrible cries getting closer, bones snapping and her frantic breathing filled the hall with echoes. It got so close that she could smell saliva and hunger radiating from deep within its core. The frenzied cries vibrated with primitive anticipation.

Tessa saw the doorway only after she had entered the big space. The creature paused by the entrance unable to go further. It stood watching her as if an invisible wall had come in its way. The thing cried and screamed in obvious pain. Clicking its tongue, it skittered back into the welcoming hands of the darkness it had come from.

Tessa fell to the dirt, hot tears burning her bruised skin. Everything hurt.

Everything.

Her chest felt like it was on a countdown to explode. This was getting all too real for a dream or a visual world. Oh God, what have I done?

They had given her some crappy-tasting concoction to swallow and she had drunk it like the dummy she was. No questions, nothing. After all, the sacred bestie bond's promise was sacred.

Fuck!

Where are Gabby and Kiki?

The arrangement was they'd both come early to make sure everything was set for her first day in Elsewhere. Now she'd rather be anywhere else but here.

And where's Sadie?

Her tears intensified. They trickled freely, choking.

The sound of feet dragging made her aware of her surroundings. The space was in complete darkness. Darkness seemed to be the theme of this place, she noted.

She made a move to rise but stopped short as a figure shuffled past her. It reeked of death, of decay. She held back the urge to gag. Her stomach burned from fatigue and nausea.

The tall figure looked human yet it moved lifelessly, obeying no rational pattern of movement. Tessa pulled herself to her knees staying low. She watched it close enough to tell it was somewhat human. The neck swiveled at an awkward angle. She couldn't make out the words that hissed out of the dead lips. She pushed closer.

"Help. . .Help me. . ." It repeated voicelessly.

She retreated in a crawl away from the figure. As she got up slowly, she whirled instantly and saw she was about to crash into another one.

Then another!

The place was crawling with them!

A thousand or so, drifting aimlessly while mumbling nothing in a speechless repetition. There was no space to turn. No space to move. No space to breathe!

No!

***

She woke up grudgingly. A big part of her wanted to continue sleeping.

A very big part of her.

Maybe if she was lucky, she'd wake up in bed just in time to see the girls arguing about their tv shows and men.

But a little part of her warned it was time to get up. Her raven-black hair clung to her skull. Everything here was wet. Her eyes were gradually adjusting to the gloom.

"IDENTIFY YOURSELF." Tess turned around with a start.

A tall man was facing her. She assumed it was a man because of the thick male voice. Its features were absent. No hair on its head. No hair on its face. No eyes. No mouth. Its face was completely void. Its body, blank.

"Your ID?" the voice came out from the formless thing more like a command than a question.

Tessa relaxed slightly. Certainly, this was part of the process to finalize her registration as a new member. She was going to drop her ratings down to 2 stars. Anything lower would be pure evil.
That was when she noticed the lit doorway behind the blank form. Sadie and the girls must be there waiting for her.

She relaxed.

"ID number 421131." she let out evenly. It's a miracle she still remembers the number after the fright they had just given her.

The formless thing looked harmless compared to the welcome crew she had met so far.

She relaxed further.

"Driscoll Tessa?" the thing asked in the same commanding tone.

She nodded. Tessa looked above its head to the lit doorway again. There was something painted there. It looked fresh.

MUICIFIRCAS.

Sounds like an exotic drink or something. A warning light in the back of my mind came on but she dismissed it immediately.

"What's your name?" She asked because the silence was starting to break down the little peace she was beginning to build since entering this world.

"I have no name," the creature said to her maintaining its thick tone.

"Well, now you're Blanky," she said with a pout, head cocked.

Nothing. No reply.

Someone wasn't good at keeping conversations.

She looked up. MUICIFIRCAS. The warning light blinked rapidly.

"Blanky, where are my friends?" she asked determined on making sure the silence didn't exist at all; head cocking further.

"Partying. With their friends."

Her friends were partying with their friends which were about to be her friends because she was about to meet them; if eventually, this lump of boredom showed her the way on time for the party she was missing at this moment. Maybe 2 stars was too good for them after all.

"And what exactly am I doing here?" the irritation in her voice shocked her.

"Waiting."

Waiting? Waiting?

It took everything she had to make herself relax. The vein on her temple looked ugly. Her eyes moved up and kept. MUICIFIRCAS. Something about the word sent cold chills down her long spine.

SACRIFICIUM. No. She was imagining things.

"Blanky," her voice was a croak. "Shouldn't I be at the party with my friends?"

"No."

Her heart heaved at the word, flat and impassive.

"Why?" Tessa's voice sounded more like a plea than a question.

"I think you already know," the thick voice hit her core, splitting her composure into fragments.

Her mouth dropped in horror. Sacrificium. Her Latin was rusty but she knew.

Sacrifice.

Her mouth fell.

"Don't scream. You'll expire," it came out more like a gentle warning.

Her hands instinctively flew to her mouth stifling the echoes of her pain to soundless whimpers. Tessa dropped to the ground folding into a fetal position. Her tiny frame trembled with heavy sobs.

The people she called her friends had offered her up to this wicked app and she would die alone in this demonic place! Her tears burned her throat making breathing impossible.

Sadie had been everything to her. They had been everything to each other. Then there was the sacred bestie bond.

Screw that.

Tessa thought about her mom. Kerry had always warned her about these types of things. Tessa had seen it as ridiculous superstition and now. . . Tessa was the one closest to her mom. Her sister lived in her job. No one ever saw her or heard from her. She cried knowing she'd never see her mom again or her twin. She cried hard.

Some minutes later, Tessa struggled to her feet wobbling over to Blanky. She looked up at the hideous form devoid of everything that makes a person human. What if it had once been a person just like her? She held the smooth blank hands.

"Can I ask for one thing before we go?" Her voice flat and emotionless held brutal strength.

Blanky's head moved for the first time, his featureless face pointing down towards her. She held back a giggle. Maybe he had been too much of a bore in life that his features had run off for greener pastures. She laughed hard.

***

The movement of the trees flowed with the noises from the elements of the night. Little and great, they all came out to play; this forest was their playground.

The raven-haired girl stayed quiet as she focused on one sound. The feral breathing deep in the woods.

It was male.

The males were stupider and more violent; more dangerous. He hadn't noticed her presence yet. He was still stupidly stalking his prey. The bastard doesn't know he's the prey.

She grinned feverishly. She loved her job. She loved the hunt.

The thrill.

She had been working for SCA since she had left the army. The breathing quickened deep in the throat of the beast. It was preparing for the onslaught. She watched the gullible campers exchange worried looks. Like all humans, they joked and laughed it away.

But it didn't go away.

It stared at them, red eyes burning with hunger. The guy with dark curly hair was tense. He must be the smart one. The big hulkish one just ruffled Prince Charmin's hair laughing with a mouth full of beans. They were really in character down there, she noted.

The vibration in her pocket broke her concentration again. This was the 57th time in the last hour. She was going to ignore it for the 57th time. She would call her mom back once the beast was good and dead.

The vibration stopped. Something twisted deep within her causing her to zone out. Something didn't feel right.

Something was off.

She shrugged it away. The beast was still waiting for the campers to sleep. The dumbass was clever after all. The vibration started again as she swore softly. She swiped the screen.

"Ma, can I call you back. Work—"

"Jessa listen. Your sister is dead."

Pause.

Silence.

"Do you hear me? Tess is gone."

Silence stretched.

Nothing moved.

There was no sound. She heard nothing anymore.

"I- I'm coming home."

© Grey Wrld