𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙍𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙕𝙤𝙣𝙚

Five

FLETCHER MOON

This might possibly be the oddest dream I've ever had in my entire life.

I hunch over slightly and fold my arms against the sudden cold as I stand up. The floor is made of polished metal, so looking down I can see that I'm still in the same itchy blue pajamas. They don't do well to protect me from the low temperature.

Usually people don't stop to think about that kind of thing in dreams...

Shrugging off that thought, I spin around in a circle to get a better idea of my surroundings. The walls and ceiling are identical to the floor. Behind me are two tall dark grey doors. Across them, in a golden plaque, is a name etched on in all capitals.

'DARKIPLIER'

I blink at the doors, squinting to make sure I've read it right. Sure, I think, I'm a huge fan of Mark. But I'm not so obsessed that I would dream about one of his characters. Right?

I reach up and run my hand down the door, but yelp and recoil when I feel a splinter lodge itself in my finger. I stand there fiddling with it for a good few seconds to get it out.

And I'm dumb.

So I open the doors.

The mood is entirely different inside. A long, dark red carpet is laid down the hallway. The walls are the darkest shade of black, so dark that I feel as though if I walked up to them, I could step right through them and into the void.

I barely get the chance to take a step in before I hear something. Two voices echo from the metal halls, their footsteps clanging against the steel. Their conversation is incoherent from here, but from the tone I can gather that they are less than happy to be here. I take off running towards them, the doors hitting me in the foot as I abandon them and the corridor labeled as Dark's.

Eventually, I spin around a corner and crash straight into someone. We both stumble backwards, and end up on the floor. I hold my head, caught off guard by the collision, and stare awkwardly at the person I've bumped into.

Her wide hazel eyes are brimmed with a cocktail of emotions, none of them particularly good. I'm curious as to wether the paleness of her skin is natural, or due to the experience of suddenly being transported to a completely different, unknown place out of nowhere. Her hair isn't ginger; it's a brilliant dark vermillion, and it shines under the artificial lighting above us. Her skin in covered in freckles.

"Uhm..."

"Sorry," I say almost automatically, my voice scratchy from misuse.

A pitchy voice to my left is giggling. It belongs to a younger boy with hair so dark a brown it's almost black, and his eyes are a warm honey color. His face and eye shape are almost identical to the girl's, but apart from that, I would never realize looking upon them both that they must be siblings.

The girl gets up and brushes herself off. I copy her movements, with the extra action of extending a hand to her and grinning awkwardly despite the situation. Her reaction is delayed, but eventually she shakes it.

"I'm Fletcher," I say.

"Lethia." Her smile is tight; she still seems shaken up from the fall.

The boy grins and opens his mouth to speak, but Lethia does it for him.

"That's my brother Atlas," she says. "He's got a lot of energy."

Now Atlas is no longer smiling. "I wanted to tell him myself," he pouts. Lethia only smirks and ruffles his hair in response.

I grin, but it quickly dissapears when I remember the situation we're in. I'm desperately trying to push my fear down as it sinks in now. My head is still throbbing slightly from when it butted into hers; I don't think that it would do that if this were a nightmare.

I put my hands on my hips and look around. "So," I chirp. "Any idea whatsoever where we are?"

"None," is the reply. "It was so weird. It was like... like I just blinked and we were here."

"Here as in, like, right here?" I point to the floor.

This time it's Atlas that talks. He shakes his head. "We came down the hall. It was in front of this door-" I shiver "-it was green, and had a weird word on the top."

"Antisepticeye," Lethia says, her face and voice grave.

It's so insane I almost laugh. Or cry. I don't know.

I explain that a similar thing happened to me. I describe the door with Dark's name on it to them. Lethia's face turns even darker. Atlas seems confused - and rightly so. I assume he only really knows what his sister has told him.

"What does that mea-"

A loud banging sounds rings through the hallways. The three of us collectively turn in its direction. We frown at each other, and in silent agreement, take off down the hall. Atlas is slightly slower, so Lethia has to grab her hand to drag him along.

The banging continues, guiding us towards it. Eventually, the metallic hallway opens up, and we skid to a halt. What I see next makes my heart stop and, judging by her gasp, so does Lethia's.