Beyond the veil

Chapter 1: A Night to Forget

Scene: Lila playing online games with her friends in her bedroom

e.g. (shouting at her friends) 3rd Person POV 
"180° to your left!" Lila shouted. She's playing Fortnite with her friends at exactly 1:30 a.m., as if she doesn't have 7 a.m. classes this morning.

"Lower your voice, man."
"It's 1 a.m.," her friend, Milo, replied from the other end of the voice chat.

This is normally how Lila's day goes. She often isolates herself in her room as she is not good with socializing. However, she always wants to try something new.

But how do I do it? she often asks herself.

"No aim. No aim." 
"Do better, Milo," Lila teased. She easily gets mad when they lose a game.

"Defeat."

"This game is getting boring..." she thought to herself. Playing Fortnite, that's what she always does. She's now used to its characters, places, gameplays, and stuff. And it's now boring for her.

"I'm gonna head to bed, nice game," she said and got out of her game chair.

She took her phone with her and checked her messages before going to sleep.

Milo: Nice game, Lay 
She replied to his message with a voice message, "Girl, practice your aim. I played with the Noob Milo earlier, Dumbass!"

Lila slumped into bed, the glow of her phone casting faint light across her face. She stared at the ceiling, sighing deeply, as Milo’s voice message notification pinged.

Milo: *Shut up, 3 9 7 standing* 🤣

She chuckled softly at his joke. But even the banter couldn’t shake the monotony she felt gnawing at her. She was bored of the same routine, the same games, and the same virtual worlds.

Her phone buzzed again. This time it was a group message from Zara.

Zara: Guys, I can’t sleep. Let’s do something crazy.

Lila raised an eyebrow and texted back: 
Lila: Like what?

A few seconds later, Kai chimed in: 
Kai: Let’s meet up. How about at 3 a.m.? No rules. We can just roam the streets, see what happens.

Milo: Lol, you’re nuts. But I’m down.

Lila hesitated for a moment. She was craving something different something real. And this was it. A surge of excitement crept into her chest, replacing the dull boredom that had plagued her for weeks.

Lila: Alright. Let’s do it.

By 2:45 a.m., she had thrown on a hoodie and sneakers, carefully tiptoeing out of her house, avoiding the creaky stair. The night air was cool and heavy with the scent of rain that hadn’t fallen yet. She met her friends near an old gas station, a place they used to hang out when they skipped school, which was rare for her but common for Milo.

Kai grinned as she approached. “You really came, huh? Guess you do have a wild side.”

“Don’t flatter yourself,” Lila muttered, stuffing her hands in her hoodie pockets.

Zara stood beside Kai, scrolling through her phone, while Milo tossed a small rock across the parking lot, looking half-asleep but smiling.

“We’re seriously just wandering around?” Lila asked. “What are we, 12?”

“Exactly! Let’s embrace it.” Milo smirked, leading them onto the empty road.

They roamed the streets for almost an hour, laughing about old memories, daring each other to climb random fences, and chasing stray cats. The world was eerily quiet, the streets bathed in a dim orange glow from the old street lamps. But there was something unsettling about the silence, a tension in the air that made Lila’s skin prickle.

As they rounded a corner, the world around them flickered. The streetlights buzzed, then cut out, plunging everything into darkness.

“Whoa, what just happened?” Milo said, his voice barely above a whisper.

Before anyone could answer, Lila felt something cold and rough press against her face—a handkerchief soaked with a sickly sweet smell. Her vision blurred instantly. She tried to scream, but the world around her dissolved into black.

Lila gasped for air as she awoke, her head throbbing and her body heavy. She blinked rapidly, adjusting to the strange light above her. Where was she? The faint sound of wind and creaking metal echoed around her, but when she turned her head, she froze.

They weren’t on the street anymore.

She was lying on hard concrete, surrounded by cracked, faded paint and twisted metal structures. Slowly, she sat up, her heart pounding in her chest. It took a moment to recognize where they were—a desolate amusement park, abandoned and decayed, swallowed by time.

Zara, Milo, and Kai were scattered around her, just beginning to stir.

“Guys,” Lila rasped, panic seeping into her voice. “Wake up.”

Milo groaned, rubbing his temples as he sat up. “What... What the hell is this?”

Kai stood abruptly, eyes wide. “This... This place isn’t right.”

Zara glanced around, her face pale. “How did we get here? And why—?”

Before she could finish, a loud *click* echoed through the air, followed by static from an old, rusty speaker overhead. A distorted voice crackled through the speakers, sending shivers down their spines.

“Welcome to the first game.”

Lila’s heart sank. She looked at her friends—terror mirrored in their eyes.