The Heretics from Up Above [🄿🄾🄿🄿🅈 🄿🄻🄰🅈🅃🄸🄼🄴]

Chapter 1: The Crash

The dark hallways were all I could see. A female laughing sound came from one hall, saying I was stuck. A deep, booming voice came from another hall, telling me to leave or die. But that wasn't the thing I was worried about. A creature staggered towards me. He came from the doorway in front of me. His mouth was opened, showing two rows of blood-stained teeth. His eyes showed an insatiable hunger. I tried to move, but I couldn't. Arms held me there. The monster in front of me came closer, not uttering a word. But the two voices played again. "You aren't going anywhere, dear~"

"SUBMIT."

~~~

The sun was high in the sky as the wind blew against the car. Windows were up to block wind gusts from taking our things out of the car. The Jeep kept going on a straight road beside many other cars as we made our steady way to Las Vegas. I sat with my little sister Charlotte in the backseat as my mom ate Corn Nuts to keep herself awake while she drove. My dad was in the passenger seat watching the NFL on his iPad, all while texting his office. I mean, why put the game on in the first place? Anywho, I had my earbuds in, listening to some Lofi music to relax and maybe fall asleep while my sister played Gacha Life on her phone. She's not one of those kids that ship themselves with characters and she doesn't get mad because someone else is with them. She just makes random things and characters, and then she calls it a day. For like a long time. 

"Look over there!" my mom said.

I raised my head, looked to the right, and saw Eddie World. It's where we always stopped off during road trips; whether we were going to Vegas or St. George, Utah. My mom turned the car and went to Eddie World, parking near perfectly. I could never. She got out of the car as dad paused the NFL on his iPad. Charlotte and I also got out, going to the front doors. "Now, remember. One snack and then we can head out," my dad said.

"Okay!"

Charlotte and I ran off to find some good snacks to buy, and the first thing I found were 4D cupcake gummies. Charlotte sighed, saying there were no Kinder Buenos. "We'll see if they have any when we get to the hotel," I said, patting her back.

"Alright. Oh my– Sissy, look at this!"

She was pointing to a ring-tailed lemur plush, which in our minds, meant one thing. "King Julien!!" Charlotte said, getting on her knees.

I watched with a sneer as she began to praise the lemur plush. I took a video, hoping to make a montage of what happened over our vacation by the time we got back home. While my mom and dad went looking for snacks, Charlotte took a bag of gummy worms, which I'll definitely be stealing when she isn't looking. Soon, when we had chosen what candies we'd be buying, Charlotte and I walked to where Mom and Dad stood. "Do you guys have your snacks?" Mom asked.

"Yep," I responded.

We checked out and made our way back to the car. Charlotte asked for a cupcake gummy, and when she ate it, I saw her face contort into one of confusion. I took my retainers out as I snickered. "These taste weird," she said.

"Yeah, but they're a pretty good snack," I replied, popping one into my mouth.

Mom and Dad got into the car and now Dad was driving. Since I'm learning and trying to get my permit, he wants to set the best example for me. And trust me, he does. But sometimes it gets a little hectic. The car revved up, and we were back on the road. This time, we were listening to country music. And I put my earbuds back in, listening to Visions of Atlantis. Ever since I began rewriting a story I wrote as a freshman, I've been wanting to make a playlist of songs that go with the different arcs; 12 to be exact. Find it on my Spotify. About 30 minutes into the car ride, my dad began to doze off slowly. "Honey. Wake up," my Mom said.

He jolted awake, looking at the road. I took an earbud out and pursed my lips. And I was supposed to learn from them?

"Oh my God!! Look out!" Mom exclaimed.

"DADDY!!!" Charlotte cried.

"WATCH FOR THE CAR!!!!" I yelled.

My dad swerved to the side, but the car dodged it, managing to ram into the side of our Jeep. It knocked my mom out as Charlotte and I cried out. "MOMMY!!!!" she shouted.

Chaos ensued. We tried getting the car back on track, but it was inevitable. The car flipped over a few times before landing on its upside, the sensation of turning around eventually knocking Charlotte, my dad, and me out.

...

I slowly began to open my eyes as I felt the harsh cement road below me. I sat up, holding my head. I had a few scrapes on my arms and my sweatshirt sleeve was a bit tattered from the crash. Bloody scrapes littered my face from the glass that hit me. I wiped the dirt off my face as I looked to my left. "Charlotte? Are you alright?" I asked, checking my sister.

She slowly sat up, holding her head. She had a scratch on her knee as she struggled to get up. But when she did get up, she also wiped the dirt from her face. "Where are we...? And where are our parents?!" Charlotte exclaimed.

Right. I turned to look behind me, seeing that there was no sign of an overturned car. There was no fire. "I don't know..." I muttered.

Sweat rolled down my face as I breathed heavily. What if they didn't know we weren't there? What if Mom and Dad got to the hotel and then saw we were gone? They'd be devastated! Charlotte wrapped her arms around me, her breath trembling. "But that's not important anymore. Are you alright?" I asked.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. It's just a few scrapes and bruises. Nothing much," Charlotte replied.

Thank goodness. But she already had acne on her forehead, and I've got 2 times that. I took another look at her, double-checking for any injuries. That's when she began to zone out. "Um... Sissy?"

I looked to see Charlotte pointing in the North. We were facing South, but when I turned to look in the North, I saw a large building. And I knew what it meant. The exhaust pipes. The circular windows. The cartoon-like buildings. The large red P on the roof. "Since when did Playtime Co. end up here?"