This Isn't a Game [ YouTuber Fanfiction ]

Chapter 3;

[ Ooh! What could possibly be going on, eh? To be honest I'm not quite sure myself. Let's see how it plays out, shall we? ]

-

Toby;

The scream was agonised. It tore out of the holder's lungs as if the flesh was being ripped from her body. Well, I assumed the holder of the almighty lungs was female from the pitch, but I wouldn't be wrong in saying that I, in the right situation, could scream as high as that.

Well, I wasn't wrong.

She stumbled into the centre of the crowd, the right side of her face charred and blackened, red blisters popping up along the nape of her neck and cheek. The tips of her dark hair were scorched, the only untouched piece was that of pinkish-purple colour, resting by the good side of her face. Tears streamed down both eyes, even though the right was burnt beyond belief. It only just occurred to me that she had stopped screaming and had frozen in the centre of the circle formation that had created itself around her.

I craned to see her, to find out what was going on. Felix had done the same but, being at the front, could see everything. As I approached I realised her clothes, too, had been burnt beyond repair. A chunk of her ripped jean revealed more bloody and charred flesh. Many people questioned her, fearful gazed resting on her unrepairable expression.

"Fire," she choked out, wheezing from some unknown source. "In the middle of the street. It cracked; I don't know how, but it did! Lava spewed into the streets, people burnt where they stood. I tried to run," she sobbed, balling her hands into tight fists. "I tried to help but I was too afraid." She stumbled sideways, caught by a young man, dressed in everyday attire, his plain face pulled into a tight expression. It sounded as if she were inhaling nails through her mouth. Felix suddenly looked alarmed.

"Marzia," he whispered, and sprinted into the ever-grouping crowd. I didn't bother follow him; he was sprinting on lightning and it was difficult to run with my shoes...

"What's your name?" The young man that had caught her asked gently, having laid her down on the stone floor. He supported her head whilst she spoke the words:

"Michelle... My name is Michelle..."

But she was gone.

The man placed her head down on a pile of newspapers, his mouth a grim line. He gazed up at me, at the crowd, pressing two fingers to her neck. As he drew back his face grew even darker. One shake of the head confirmed it.

A panicked gasp emitted from the entrance, followed by many more. I pushed through, my eagerness to see too great for my mind. I got to the set of steel doors by the front and jumped up on my toes. What I saw would haunt me for the rest of my life.

The streets were flooded with red, oozing liquid; thicker than blood and far hotter. The screams of those that found themselves in it were terrorised; children, women, animals howled in agony as the magma tore through their bones and muscle, leaving them as nothing more than a clump of charred flesh. Tears in the roads were the source of the problem. They spewed the liquid as if it were a water fountain.

Vidcon was elevated, just enough to witness the chaos but not quite low enough to be engulfed in the mess. Without realising it I had backed away from the entrance, my mouth drawn into a thin line. Fists clenched, eyes wide and reflecting the sight before us. How did we not feel it? Hear it? But what exactly was... It?

I became aware of two voices, numb to my ears. Only when the physical forms grabbed my arms and drew me back when I finally processed their faces.

It was Felix and a woman.

The woman in question was very beautiful. Perfect sun-kissed skin, a ponytail spilling curls of chocolate brown, thin - naturally curved lips and deep, intelligent eyes. Marzia. Felix's girlfriend. She raised her delicate hand and tapped me across the face, clearly thinking my distance was shock-related. Felix frowned, pulling me into a corner.

"Dude, pull yourself together. Toby... TOBY!"

I spluttered, something fuzzing my vision. I wiped my eyes and drew them back - tears. I was crying?

Then the vision flashed before them.

Bodies burning. Fire blazing. Screaming. So much screaming.

Seizing my ears, my knees gave way.

"No," I moaned, rocking back and forth.

"No..."