Maiden-In-Distress

Chapter 2

It was in a flash, our hands broke apart and we were separated when the ground began to shake. "Lina!" Maddie screamed, as the hole in the ground opened wider and wider and I held my footing before I tripped over a pebble and into the dungeon of darkness.

I woke up, my head pounding. I was in the middle of a dark hole, it was a miracle I even made it through when I fell. But this is virtual reality and I will live to get out of here.

Maddie was still up there, maybe she'll call for help. However, we had seen no one since we passed through this world, and it was dark right now, there was no sign of anyone above.

Before I realized, I was crying. After all this was partially my fault that we were going to rot to bones.

And Maddie, if not, she was going to leave me alone. I recall a echo as I sniffled. I listened, it was a human voice.

For a while there was silence, but then it repeated. "LINA-!!" Maddie's voice screamed. It was coming from within the dungeon. But how?--unless Maddie had fallen down.

"Maddie!" I yelled back. "LINA—!!" The echo repeated. We followed each other's voices. Or maybe it was just me, I didn't see anyone coming towards me.

I went towards the voice, feeling around the unseen walls. I stopped in front of a wall, it was a dead end. Then something slammed down. CRASH!

I moved backwards and felt sharp edges. I thought of the air, but it was not air.

I was trapped in a cage.

"MADDIE!! HELP!!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

"I am. Not Maddie." The voice replied, in such a different tone, and I wondered why I was even fooled by it.

"Who are you!?" I shouted.

"Never mind me, I was notified that only staff would be here at this period of time, why are you here?" The figure appeared, his arms crossed.

"Can you let me out of this cage first? I'm not threatening in anyway." I said awkwardly.

"Right." With a gesture of his hand the cage rumbled from the ground and sucked itself into the ceiling of the damp dungeon.

I cautiously moved from my place. Can't risk being trapped again.

"So? If you don't tell me a good reason why I'll have to notify management and you will be arrested for trespassing."

He said and glanced at me with no emotions whatsoever. I gulped. I couldn't just tell him that Maddie and I went in on our own accord, we would surely be arrested in a instant.

"Wait a minute! Where's Maddie?!" I anxiously looked behind the boy, but there was nothing more than endless darkness.

"Assuming she's your friend, she is above ground. I will take you there." He nonchalantly replied whilst checking his wrist device.

With a quick snap of his fingers I landed on my butt.

"Hey! That hurt!" I yelled, but the boy with black hair was nowhere to be seen.

Suddenly, I heard a sound from my butt. Whoops, I just farted, I think?

"GET OFF ME!!"

Oh, it's him.

"EEEeeeeek!"I screamed in shock.

I got up frantically and tripped on nothing, landing myself headfirst into the grassy ground.

Oww..on my butt, and now my head?! The boy rose to his feet and dusted himself. "Ugh, did you fart on me?" He sniffed himself.

I flushed red, "No, I didn't,  it's just you!"

"Not that I care much." He wrinkled his nose before turning to me, "Your ans-"

"LINA!" I heard Maddie's overly familiar voice and the sound of sneakers.

"Maddie?" I called. I do hope its really her this time.

"YES! Where have you gone?!" Maddie rushed to hug me and we jumped up and down.

"Oh yeah." I turned to the boy and said, "This guy helped me. I think he's a NPC in the game."

The boy waved, "Yea, hey. We were talking about—"

Maddie turned to look at what-ever-his-name-was and said, "Hi" shyly before blushing.

"The hell Maddie! Why are you so shy all of a sudden?" I poked her in the ribs.

"What are you talking about?" She said in a whisper, clenching her teeth. I laughed.

"Let me talk!!" The robo-boy shouted all of a sudden.

Maddie and I were silenced. Well,we weren't able to talk at all.

"What brings you two here? You know that no one is allowed to enter until the world is completed. There can be unintentional bugs—" The boy continued.

Maddie poked me on the shoulder and then we made a run for it. Screaming was all we could do. "AHHHH!" Maddie and I screeched like the mad men we were.

When we stopped running we were in the middle of a forest. The trees held high over our heads, shrouding us in it's shadows. Maddie and I sat down on a pile of dead leaves and we caught our breaths.

"Oh god. That was scary!" I breathed heavily into her messy auburn hair. "It was. But did you SEE him? He is so handsome!" Maddie turned to look at me with love struck eyes and I gave her a concerned look.

"Mads, you do know that he's a robot programmed for this game. So whatever you're thinking about is totally not going to workout. And by the way we need to think of a way to get out of here as soon as possible!"

"I know. I know Lina. Can you blame me? I always had a thing for boys with blue hair, yellow eyes and tan skin!" Maddie sighed dreamily.

I rolled my eyes, imitating her signature eye roll. "Boys like that don't exist in real life! And you don't even know, he almost got me killed!"

"WHAT?! What happened?" Maddie asked jumping up from the pile of leaves and finally showing interest in my demise.

I thought about it carefully. He did save me from rotting to death but he almost got me killed which equates to literally nothing.

"While you were up there, I was stuck in the pitfall and then I started making my way through the dark when I heard you calling my name."

Maddie nodded her eyes wide and followed along.

"So I followed the voice that sounded like you and then a huge cage fell down on me!! It was his doing!"

"OH MY GOSH!! Are you alright?" Maddie examined me from head to feet.

"Yeah, we don't know what happens when we die in the game, but I'll tell you, that boy's dangerous. He doesn't seem like the average NPC. He acts so..human."

Maddie nodded her head in agreement. "You're right. We should stay together."

"We should head back to the grass field. Besides, it's getting dark soon." I pointed at the sky and it's orange shades.

"Let's continue looking for the booth and before he finds us!" Maddie said tying her sneakers and then getting up.

"Alright, better than nothing." I said excited to get back to my main concern.

Maddie laughed, "Lina you are always happier when going home instead of going out."

"Of course." I smiled widely and grabbed her hand. We began to execute our plan to find the portal without being spotted.