One Shot

Untitled Part 1

We Knew that is not what the man meant when he talked to us. We were so disappointed in ourselves. The internet had corrupted us. We would forever be doomed. That is when they knew, that they were stuck, stuck like this, forever with no cure nor help. All of them unable to move, "so. . we're broken beyond repair?" the man with the gun said, a raspy yet elegant voice rings through the room. Through the room echoes a chuckle. "I see you're new here. With time we learn to live with it. It is a part of every person that has been here long enough. To answer your question, I wouldn't say we're broken, just a bit... stuck. We cannot go back to the way things were, but it's not so bad. Some of us are happy with how things are," said a young man, no, boy. He looked only around fifteen. He was playing with a knife as he spoke. 

"And who are you?" the man with the gun asked, "You seem younger than at least 16" he finished, quickly fondling the gun in his pocket, safely securing it from any harm. 

"My name is Arthur. I've been here since I was eight and I've been stuck like this almost as long. And yes, I'm 15. But you, you seem old. How have you not been corrupted before? It usually happens around when puberty starts," said the boy with the knife. The man nodded "ah.. well, I'm Jason, Jason Dean in fact. I have been corrupted for a while now, starting my senior year" Jason muttered.

"What even is this place?" he asked, looking around confusedly, his reaction scrunched into a more of a concerning emotion.

"Unfortunately, I don't have a clear answer for that. Stef-" Arthur nods his head towards a blond girl around 13 "- thinks we're dead and this is our punishment for how we were. Tommy thinks this is a computer simulation," Arthur points at a kid that looks to be 10 at most. "And Alyssa thinks this is a dream." A girl in her early twenties waves from behind Arthur. 

Jason nodded, monitoring the newly found group, "Stef, right? Your name... I actually.." he choked out, he remembered something from his memory, a memory so sickening yet too beautiful. Blooming inside his mind like a scene from tv just rolling, and rolling until the memory ends and it all was just bliss. Reality was indeed harsh. Harsher than any punishment given.

"You alright, Jason?" Stef asked with a worried tone. "The memories come with time," she said smiling. "That's what Alyssa says. She's been here the longest," she told Jason. 

"h.. how long has she been in this void" He breathlessly asked

"I lost count after a while, but if I had to guess, around ten years," Alyssa said, looking grim.

 Jason's face contorts into a shocking matter, eyes bulging like both were about to pop off. "T-ten?!" he exclaimed loudly."What is this!" he roared, "We aren't prisoners!"

"For all we know, we could be. None of us have our full memory," Arthur says. "Not even Alyssa."

Jason stayed silent."Do any of you remember how you got into here?" The people in the room looked around at each other and slowly shook their heads. 

JD cursed under his breath, "well... I do.. at least... I think I do" he laughed breathlessly, a laugh that doesn't contain emotion, a black hole that was needed to be filled, but he was, broken. Broken is what everyone would describe him, a pretty face, though broken mind.

"It'll get better. At least you're not alone," Stef said with a comforting voice.

JD looks at her, "I'm not sure" 

"You're not sure? About what?" Tommy asks, finally speaking.

".. I'm not sure that anything goes better at this point."