CORRUPTED FILE [Lumina Chronicles Past Drafts]

Level Eight: Homesick

Now that I think about it, running away in a giant and unfamiliar castle really wasn't the smartest idea, but it was the only thing I could think of doing at the time.

My bare footsteps echoed off the high corridor as I ran. I was tempted to look behind me to see if I was being followed, but I fought the urge. Kindle was obviously too distracted to have noticed I'd been there. I ran on, heart pounding in my chest, until I reached the end of the corridor. It branched off into two doorways. I froze. Talk about deja vu.

I reached for the handle of the door on the left, but the image of Kindle killing me in the game flashed in my mind and I hesitated. Although the chances of that actually happening here were pretty much impossible, I couldn't bring myself to risk it. I mean, hey, he stabbed me in the back already, right?

I opened the door on the right and walked through.

This hall was lined with doors on each side, and instead of opening one of them and going inside (Because, honestly, who knows what could be in there!) I sat myself against the wall and just stayed there. My heart was pounding and my breathing was rapid because of the running. Sure, I hadn't ran for very long, but when one spends a large portion of their free time in a beanbag chair eating junk food, it's pretty obvious that they aren't exactly in shape. One thing that people always seem to forget is that just because someone's thin, it doesn't necessarily mean they're athletic. I was a prime example.

I stared at the wall in front of me until my vision blurred, but it wasn't until the tears began to soak into the jeans Faye let me borrow that I realized the blurred vision was because I was crying.

I had no reason to cry over Kindle. We weren't even friends. But for some reason, what I saw outside Faye's room affected me. Maybe it was because he claimed Seraphim was like a brother to him, and yet there he was sneaking around with Seraphim's wife. Or maybe it was because of what he said. How he only unchained me to make me feel more comfortable being "enslaved." Either reason led to one solid truth: Kindle's a jerk.

I sighed, closing my eyes and tilting my head back to rest it against the wall. I slid my knees up to my chest, hugging them tightly. And then in the silence, I could do nothing but think. I should never be left alone to think for long periods of time.

This had been a very long dream. Almost too long. The longest dream I can remember before this one was just about me eating a plate of spaghetti, and that wasn't nearly as detailed as the one I was currently having. A horrible thought nagged at the back of my mind, and I tried to ignore it, but still it forced its way to the top of my mind. What if this is real?

I didn't want to think about it, but what if it was true? What if I was really taken from Elle's house in the middle of the night and brought to the world of our video game? It was completely impossible, yet at the same time it was the only option that made sense.

So then, if this was all real, I had really been taken from Elle's home. Oh lord, poor Elle! She must be a wreck! Did she see Kindle take me away? Did she hear me scream? Or did she wake up to find me gone with no note or explanation? Oh god, I feel horrible. I mean, not that I could really control it or anything... but still! And how could I apologize if I ever did make it back? No amount of best-friend-bonding-time (which consists of ice-cream, a Doctor Who marathon, and lots of mountain dew) could make up for this.

And what about her parents? What did Mr. and Mrs. Carter think of all this? Surely they had called the police, but had they told Jackie and Magnus, my "parents"? Part of me hoped they hadn't. Sure, parents have a right to know when their child has been abducted, but Jackie and Magnus aren't parents. They are the people who gave me life, and that's where it stops. Parents actually take interest in their child's life. Heck, parents actually talk to their kids! The only thing my "parents" care about is their next business meeting. If Mr. and Mrs. Carter called them, the most Jackie and Magnus would have done is sue them... or maybe not, if suing them involved taking a day off of work.