Mirrored

Chapter 4 - Paper Hearts

'That guy must be crazy', Naya thought. She turned around to look at the male with a look of disbelief. First, she was a bit shocked at what he said. But then, how is that possible that she's inside a story? She could not believe it at all. The guy must have been pranking her. There are lots of people that are up to pranks nowadays and she doesn't want to fall in and be the victim.

She walks over to the guy who was sat at the bench and was staring at her, crossing her arms.
"I don't have time for pranks like this. All my friends already left and i am not in the mood."

"Do you think this is a prank? I am serious. We're all inside a story. Including your friends who left. Haven't you had a thought that everything that's happening is strange?" The guy stood up and his face truly looked serious. He's not the type to be joking around.

Naya still can't believe it. But thinking about it, she can think about strange events that had happened these days. Not just these days. Everyday in her life. There was one time in her childhood when she met a kid back then and was close friends with her. Soon enough, something happened and she forgot about it. She can't even remember the kid's face and name. She just remember and feel that she had a close friend back then.

Yesterday was weird enough too. Chelsea said something that made her confused and also the weather yesterday was not so good and the sky was so dark. It even rained and thundered. Then all of a sudden, it all stopped and the sky became immediately clear. It's like it never rained at all. And it looked like it was controlled.

Also, what was that feeling she had that she's not going to see Chelsea for a long time? What was that? That was weird too. What's weirder is that some guy just suddenly grabbed her arm and dragged her away from that place. It's strange also that her group of friends were down the place across the elementary school.

It all can be explained by them as to why they were there but it's just..strange.

Could it be possible that she's really inside a controlled world? That she's inside a story that everything that's going to happen has been written already?

"It's good that you're thinking about it that well. But, just so you know, we're running out of time. You need to help me." The guy stated, his face still looked so serious. So this is not a joke at all?

Naya can't think of words to say and just looked at him confused. The guy sighed but didn't explain to her and just grabbed her arm again and dragged her away from the place. She struggled and tried to pry his hand away from her but his grip is strong.

"Stop moving and just follow me. I'll explain it all to you."

Naya sighed deeply. What is she going to do then? She then just lets him drag her to who knows where and walks right after him. She doesn't quite trust the guy. She hopes she's not planning to do something bad.

Soon, they stopped at a forest and the guy lets go of her arm. She looked around and saw that there is no single house around. It looked quiet and peaceful. The giant trees are hovering over the place making it a bit dark. Thankfully, the weather is nice and the sunlight is shining in the forest and it doesn't look that scary anymore thanks to the sun. But she's not feeling comfortable. Usually, bad events in horror movies takes place in forests. The guy turned to her. She looked nervous and the guy noticed. He lets out a small laugh at her behavior.

"What's wrong? I'm not going to do anything stupid. I'm here to show you something. Are you ready to know everything?" Naya slowly nodded. She can't wait about anything now. She needs to know about whether she's in a story or not. Her curiosity gets the best of her. She needs to feed it. As much as she doesn't want to believe in it, there is really nothing to lose if she does.

She followed the guy towards a large oak tree and as strange at it looks, the guy knocked on the trunk of the tree. What is he doing? The day is getting weirder for Naya.

Suddenly, in the middle of the trunk, something slid open, revealing that there is a place inside the tree. Naya was shocked about what she saw and was standing there staring at it. It took the guy to nudge her for her to return back to normal state. She just can't believe what she saw. A tree has a place inside. Unbelievable. Is she dreaming?

They both entered and the guy walked towards a book shelf where five books were lined up there. He took one book and asked Naya to sit down on the couch. The inside of the tree was actually a huge house. It is like a rich man's house. The couch looked even expensive. There was also a chandelier hanging on the ceiling with little butterfly designs attached to it. The house looked amazing. There is stairs leading upstairs and it has swirly patterns in it. Everything just looked nice. She then soon sat down after looked around.

The guy sat down across her and showed her a book entitled 'Paper Hearts'. It wasn't a thick book and not a thin book either. Maybe it just has the right amount of chapters written inside.

"What's this? You want me to read this?"

The guy sighed. "This is the book that we're in. For you to know everything, you must read it." He shoved it in her hands and sat comfortably on his chair.

Naya looked at the book. Paper Hearts? What genre is it? Romance? Is she really inside a book? What if she really is? That's too hard to swallow and accept. It's too hard to believe. If she's inside this book and it is this story, then that means everything that's going to happen is written here also. For Naya, it felt totally weird. The guy is weird and so is the place and the book. Everything that's happening is weird. It does make sense that they're inside a story.

She sighed and looked at the guy and held the book in her hand.

"Well then, if my questions will be answered in this book and if i find everything in it right, i will believe you."

The guy nods his head. "Go ahead. But just to remind you again, the time is running out. You should hurry for a character's life is at stake. You will know after reading the book that everything in there is true and what i am saying is the truth. But if you don't believe and won't help, and something happens to that character, it's not your fault. There was just a mistake in the story and none of the characters is to be blamed for."

"One thing you should know also is that when you already know everything, you will not be able to unlearn the truth. I will ask you to help me to fix the issue in the story after you're done."