𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓑𝓻𝓸𝓴𝓮𝓷 𝓟𝓻𝓸𝓶𝓲𝓼𝓮𝓼

Chapter 1

Alora Looked around the new place. She wasn't here even a while ago.

Where am I? How did I end up here?

She squinted her eyes to focus better. She could not recognise the place. Where was she? How did she end up there? Why was she there? Does she really not know the place or her brain was playing tricks again. She wanted to scream. She wanted to cry but her throat felt sandy. Her tongue felt heavy as a brick. The hole in her chest was growing, and growing and growing and growing. Her senses were not in her control anymore. Her breaths are short and heavy as if she'd die any moment with the lack of oxygen. She was going to die. Die. Die. Die. Di- Something caught her eyes.

A person?

The person stood far away. As if miles and kilometers away from her. Alora tried to look and focus but her mind kept distracting her and the person started becoming blurry. Without any second thought Alora started to run. Run. Run with her life. Run with her death. Running from her death. Run in fear. Run in desperation. Running in insecurity. Run with everything she had. The more she ran the more her mind turned fuzzy. She knew this place? No, her mind's tricking her. But she had been to this place before or maybe seen it somewhere? But where? Alora's feet stopped abruptly.

Something was wrong. Terribly wrong. She scowled. Nothing made sense. The person who stood far away was now standing just a few feets away. Alora blinked her eyes rapidly. Why was the woman blurry? She rubbed her eyes but everything was foggy. The woman's image started becoming clearer.

Who was she?

She was looking at Alora with tears in her eyes with a familiar look in her eyes. Alora wanted to run towards her and hug her. She wanted to comfort her. But she seemed to be frozen. She saw the woman inserting her hand in her coat's pocket. Alora scowled.

Why did all of this appear so familiar yet so unknown?

Alora's cheeks were getting wet. She touched her cheeks and realized it was water. No. It was tears. She tried to speak but no voice came out. Alora stood frozen in her place.

Alora heard a faint voice. It was the woman's voice. But it was so faint. "Ara."Alora's eyes widened. This was a familiar name. It was her name.

Alora looked back at the woman but her breathing stopped. The woman stood with a gun pointed at her head. But she was smiling. She was smiling a sad smile. Looking at her.

Alora closed her eyes when a loud sound reverberated throughout the whole surroundings. The sound kept echoing as if the space was too small. She closed her eyes in fear. Her whole being shivered and she whimpered in fear. After what felt like an eternity, she slowly opened her eyes. She burped seeing the surroundings around her. The woman's lifeless corpse lay there. Blood all around her.

Alora opened her mouth to scream but her tongue turned sand and her whole body was paralyzed. She started to fall. Fall into something which didn't have any ending. Her body soaked in water. Or was it blood? Is she dead?

Alora sat up in her bed , breathing shallow and heavy and sweating profusely. Her whole body soaked in sweat. She looked around her and found herself at the same, familiar place where she slept at night. With shaky hands she touched her wet face slowly and brought it in front of her eyes. Was it sweat? But she noticed the thing was sticky and everything became clear. She sighed and smiled. She looked beside her bed. She was right.

Maya!

Maya was sitting by her side , her tail wagging vigorously. "Maya , you scared me!" Alora patted Maya's furry head, "How many times have I told you, don't lick my face. You naughty golden retriever!"