heartache || alice in borderland

chapter one

"Oh, look at this dress!" I exclaimed, eying a black mini dress that was topped with a white bow.

"It's really pretty..." Aoi hummed. "Are you going to buy it?"

"Duh!" I said.

Looking at Aoi's empty hands was a pitiful sight.

"You always do this! Come on, I know you want to buy stuff! Why do you only have one sweater?" I ask mockingly.

"Fine..." she turns around. "You know why I'm holding back?" She glances back at me.

"Why?" I ask.

"I wanna buy the whole store!" She giggles.

We both laugh. She ends up doing just that. Luckily for us we have opposite styles, or else we would've fought over pieces.

-

I sigh with relief when I finish putting away my newly bought clothes. It's been a few months  we've lived in Tokyo, but we're Americans. We only came here for vacation, but we both love it! I smile thinking about all that we've done together.

I stand up and press my ear to Aoi's bedroom door.

"Aoi?" I ask, knocking.

No response.

"Angie?" I ask again. That's her real name. But we wanted to go by shorter names easy for our Japanese friends to call us by. And for me, Aya isn't my name. It's Amber.

No response.

I sigh and open the door. She probably has her headphones on or something.

...

All I see is clothes on the ground. Where is she?

I go downstairs and check around, calling her name.

Did she leave the apartment? I go outside and that's when I see it. Emptiness. No one to be seen. My heart stops for a moment, and I get an uneasy feeling in my abdomen.

Could this be a dream?

-

I don't even know. I'm just running. Running for some sort of answer.

"Hello?!" I yell out.

I'm already sweating from this eerie feeling of loneliness.

"HEY!!" I yell when I come across a group of three men.

"What's going on? Where is everyone?" I ask.

"We don't know." Says one man.

Suddenly, a once black screen turns white and displays a description of a game.

"Game?" Asks another man.

"Um..."

Without a word, I start searching for this "game." The men follow behind.

When I come across the table of phones I grab one.

"Facial recognition?" A blonde man questions, picking the phone up.

My breathing is shaky and all I can do is wait to see where this takes us.

Soon, a woman starts confidently walking towards the phone table. Like she's done this before.

My eyes light up subconsciously. A girl! A girl maybe I can form an alliance with.

I smile at her when we make eye contact. She was wearing what looked to be a professional outfit, paired with some heels.

"So well put together..." I thought to myself, blushing slightly.

The woman approaches a short man and pulls out something from his pocket, throwing it through what seemed to be lasers.