Bacharu R.

Chapter 2 ~ Flash Face

                                                          Ruth's P.O.V.

         I opened my eyes, instantly squinting in the bright light. I brought my hand up to my face to shield the bright light shining straight into my eyes.

         Once my eyes adjusted, I could tell that I was in an extremely white room. It looked kind of like a padded cell that you would see in an asylum. Except there were no padded walls, and no cell door. In fact, there was no door at all. The only thing in the room was a small hologram in the middle of the room.

          Choose your race.

          The hologram in the middle of the room projected an example of every race on the walls. There were so many, but I knew exactly what I wanted. I didn't even have to look.

          'Easy' I thought to myself. Then I declared, “I choose the Elven race.”

         Loading. Loading. Loading. Loaded. Choose a class. Now, only four projections appeared.

         On the far left, a figure with a dark robe and... a glowing hand? It started moving, slowly at first. With every flick of the wrist, colors shot out of the palm of it's hand. 'A mage.' I thought.

         The second hologram from the left was dressed in a robe similar to the first, but it had no hood, and was a yellow white color. It had bandages wrapped around it's hands and up it's forearms, stopping at the elbows. It's hands also glowed, just like the first. But this one only hand one color. Red. 'A healer?' I asked myself in my mind.

         I looked on to the next hologram. At first glace, you could instantly tell it was a warrior. It held a battle ax on it's shoulder, and occasionally swung it around just to perch it on it's other shoulder. It wore some basic full body armor. Except for the head, that didn't have any type of protection. “Is that all there is to the warriors? They seem pretty weak.” I wondered aloud.

         Classes will vary when in-game experience is commenced.

         “Ah.” I nodded, moving on to the final class. The hologram started moving quickly. It was wearing a green robe, with a hood that concealed the upper half of it's face. It reached back for an arrow in it's quiver, and knocked three arrows, firing them all at once. I didn't even start to think about my choices when I found my mouth saying “Rogue.”

         Instantly, all the holograms shut down. Leaving me in the motionless silence of the white room.

          Loading. Loading. Loading. Please say “OK” when ready to begin. Said a booming voice.

          I never really cared to listen to whether the voice was feminine or manly. It never really seemed too important. It should be easy to tell though, right?  As soon as the voice finished speaking, I could hardly remember it though.

          I thought about the booming voice, struggling to remember, as I was launched into a tunnel of a billion colors, all coming at me at once. And then it was over, just in a flash.

          Now I was in complete and utter darkness. I couldn't see the floor or any walls, yet I could still see my hands, bright and clear.

           All of a sudden, I heard the low buzz of static. As it got louder, the sound flickered. I looked around frantically. “What the he- This could give someone a seizure!” What if a random elderly person tried to become “cool” with the kids? This game could give the old fellow a heart attack! Luckily my heart wasn't so weak. Although the noise was starting to give me a killer headache. To add on to my worrying, the black room wasn't black anymore. It was starting to flash and become different colors.

         Flash. Red.

         Flash. Black.

         Flash. Blue.

          Flash. White.

          Flash... Face? “What the bloody-”

           Flash. White.

          Flash. Face. “Who's face is that?” I mumbled. I racked my mind back into the far corners of my brain. I didn't have a clue who this guy was.

           Flash. Black. Okay. The room was back to normal. Or what was the beginning state for this room. The static grew louder though.

           In between the buzzes of sound voices started to creep in.

           “Coming... Coming...”

          “Trapped...”

           “Hey! Let me out!”

           “I just want to go back home...”

           “The real world!”

            I twisted around where I stood. The voices sounded so desperate. The voices were starting to make me desperate too, and I had for no idea why. “What's happening?!”

           Flash. Red.

           Flash. Blue.

           I was seriously worried now. This was most definitely not part of the game. Or the loading sequence. “Are you freaking kidding me?!” I yelled out, my voice getting lost in the terribly desperate voices and the static. “This will give me a-”

         Flash. White.

          “seizure.” I finished. A hooded figure stood in front of me, pointing an arrow right at my chest.