The Panic Room

Chapter 1

I woke up laying on a rough fabric surface, my head pounding. As I slowly sat up, my eyes widening when I realized that I was in a van instead of my room. The windows were painted over so I couldn't see the outside, and there was a hastily made divider between the driver's seat and the back.

I glanced behind me. There were three other rows, each had a kid somewhere near my age, still asleep. I groaned, grabbing my head as the headache spiked. After a while it faded to a tolerable pain. I stood up and walked back to wake the other kids. "Wake up." I whispered, shaking a tall, dirty blond haired boy's shoulder.

"Ugh." The boy groaned, sitting up. "Who are you? And where are we?" He asked, taking in his surroundings.

I shrugged. "I'm Flicker, and I have no idea. You have a headache too?" He gave me a small nod, rubbing his temples. "Come on, help me wake everyone else." He stood and clambered to the row farthest back.

"Hey, get up!" He whisper-shouted, shaking a small, dark skinned girl's arm. She groaned and rolled over.

"Ten more minutes." She mumbled.

"Come on, you have to."

"Hmm?" She said sitting up. "Oh my..." She looked very confused.

I cursed under my breath. "Does anyone know where we are?" No one answered. In frustration I kicked the side of a chair.

"I-I remember these masked people breaking into my room." The smaller girl said, making me sigh.

"So, we all got kidnapped." The boy clarified.

"I guess so. Who are you all anyways," I asked in an attempt to get my bearings.

"My name's Angel, I'm thirteen, almost fourteen. "The small girl started. Angel had dark brown skin and shoulder length curly hair. Her soft brown eyes reminded me of the baby deer I once saw in the forest a few blocks from my house.

I hummed then nodded at the other girl. She had blonde hair with pink and purple dyed tips; her vibrant blue eyes seeming to see right through me. "My name is Taisa. I'm fifteen." I nodded. All eyes turned to the boy.

"I'm Nick. Seventeen." He said, running a hand through his dark brown hair.

"My name is Flicker I'm also seventeen." We fell into an awkward silence; the only sound was the rumbling of the van.

"Are the doors unlocked?" Taisa asked. I mentally smacked myself for not thinking of the obvious.

"Let's check." I made my way over to the left door and opened it. "It's locked." I sigh frustratedly. I just needed to get out of here. Where was I going? I'm literally being kidnapped. The reality of the situation hit me hard.

My hands began shaking as I heard a little beep from my watch, informing me that my Fear Level was getting too high. If your Fear Level became too high, you would be trapped in your Panic Room. A mental space filled with everything you have ever feared. Millions of people have been trapped in their Panic Rooms, some for years, decades even. So far, there hasn't been a way found to get out.

I took deep breaths to calm myself down. It was a required class in school to learn how to keep your anxiety and fear in check to help prevent kids from being stuck in their Panic Rooms. I carefully watched the screen, feeling my anxiety lessen as the bar dropped to a normal level. "Are you okay?" Nick asked, following my lead and taking a few deep breaths.

"My level is down now. But what are we going to do? What's going on?" I replied, blinking away the tears filling my hazel eyes.

"I'm afraid too, but it'll be okay." He gave me a small smile and showed me his fear level. I brushed away my tears as the green bar slowly dropped.

"Well, there's not really much we can do, why not get comfortable?" Taisa suggested, settling down on a row of seats. Nick and Angel murmured in agreement and followed Taisa's lead to get comfortable. Eventually all of the other kids fell asleep, the soft sounds of their breathing filling the air. I couldn't seem to relax though. Why did someone kidnap us? What were they going to do with us? Are we safe? After thinking over the situation again and again, I eventually drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

A/N: 800 words, hopefully they'll get a little longer, unless you like shorter chapters. I'll try and update every other Friday. So excited to finally be (re)doing this! This is something that I've been planning and writing for a while, so I am hoping that it works out well. This entire book was inspired by the song "Panic room" by Au/ra, so go check it out. (I personally love the acoustic version the most). Take care of yourself!

-Watermelon