glitch to the 50's

3 - aren't you scared?

 Irises POV:

Iris ran for what felt like hours, ignoring the erotic pounding in her chest. It was easier to listen to the sound of her feet on the asphalt than the thoughts racing around her head:

What was that 'thing' in the darkness?

Had it got the others?

Was she next?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Iris eventually collapsed in a sweaty heap behind some large bins in a gloomy alleyway. She leant her head back into the worn bricks and stared into the night sky, stars blinking at her like glowing eyes in the darkness. Iris sighed as she counted them, getting well over 200 before her breathing slowed to a regular pace.

The lack of movement allowed room for panicked thoughts in her head. what was she going to do now? Iris was alone in a seemingly alien reality with absolutely no idea where she was and – just to make her situation even more shitty – some kind of monster was chasing her.

iris screwed her eyes together, hoping that maybe this was all some terrifying nightmare. hoping that when she opened them, she'd be back at home, in her tiny bedroom with her plushies and band posters on the peeling wallpaper. she could almost smell the scented candle-infused air and hear the sound of her brother playing video games in the next room. Of course, iris would also be able to hear her mum and that boyfriend of hers fighting downstairs, but she didn't care. As long as she was there and safe and warm and not crouching behind a bin in some sketchy alleyway, she would be fine.

The sound of a rat in the bin next to her brought iris back to her grim reality. She was indeed crouching by a bin, and it was an undoubtedly sketchy alleyway. She slumped further down the wall and struggled to hold in an angry tear that was threatening to escape down her face – crying wasn't going to help anyone. She needed to try and do something productive.

Iris decided that being 'productive' must first mean finding her friends. With a bit of luck AJ would be able to come up with a plan that - ideally - didn't involve getting anyone killed.

AJ's POV

AJ's manic sprint had long since turned into a disgruntled walk. She and Layla had been resigned to ruby's depressing pace of a half jog but mostly brisk stroll through the cobbled streets of 50's Birmingham.

She glanced around at the others and realised who was missing. Iris. She was almost reduced to tears, what if something had happened to her when they were running? What if she was hurt and on her own with nobody to help her? What if that thing had got to her once she got separated from the group?

AJ swallowed her tears, soon realising that the best hope of finding iris in these alien surroundings was the small chance that they bumped into each other in their joint attempts at escape.

But she must be terrified.

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"Come on you lazy sod, that things going to catch up with us if you don't keep up!" Layla rolled her eyes as Ruby sat down for her third pit stop in the last 20 minutes. She crossed her arms irritably when she was hit by an icy glare from Rubys direction

AJ sighed and slumped down as well, "come off it Layla. Even you saw how fast that thing was – if it wanted to catch us, it would've by now." She scooched closer to Ruby and began on an age-old Twix that shed discovered in her jacket pocket. AJ chucked one of the sticks to Layla, "you need to eat anyway, get those sugar levels up."

Layla glanced at a notification on her phone and sure enough AJ was right. Now was not the time to be passing out because of a low blood sugar. "Whatever." Layla paused for a second, "and, uh, thanks."