There is a searing pain in my head. I reach up an arm to steady myself, feeling cold stone touch my fingertips.
I shake my head, trying to clear it.
Where am I?
I stand up, and as my surrounding come into view I look around, turning on the spot.
A cave.
I'm in a cave. It's not lit up, but there is a small, flickering light on somewhere further away. I can see it from here, small and yellow.
I run my hand through my hair, and try to remember where I am. The last thing I can remember is sitting with Lachlan in the meadow.
Where is he?
And then I hear it.
A scream.
My heart jolts, and I'm up and running in a second.
Lachlan.
"Lachlan! Lachlan, where are you?"
I yell, sprinting towards the light at the end of the cave. There is another scream, this time cut off short. Panic starts to run through me. What's happening?
Then I see him. Slumped, on the ground, his red hoodie dirty and dusty.
My eyes lock onto him, and I run forward and-
BAM.
I slam into an invisible wall and my head cracks backwards. Intense pain races through my nose, and I lift a hand to feel blood pouring down my face. My head is ringing loudly, as I stare up at the roof of the cave.
I stumble to my feet and face Lachlan, but the barrier between us prevents me from getting any closer.
"What is this? Hello?"
I turn slowly on the spot, peering into the darkness. A shiver goes up my spine. And then I hear a voice.
"How does it feel, Vikk?"
I spin around on the spot, trying to locate the speaker.
"What? Who are you?"
"How does it feel, to be left alone, forgotten?"
"What are you talking about? What is this?"
The voice laughs, a sneering cackle.
"Don't you remember me, Vikk?"
I see it then, a glowing red gem in the corner of the cave, seemingly worn by a shadowy figure, darkness obscuring his face.
"N-no?"
There is no answer, but there figure starts to walk closer, into the fiery glow of the torch.
I begin to make out certain features; a twisted grey crown atop his head, cold eyes like stone. Do I know this man?
"Well, you may not remember me, but you certainly remember Lachlan here."
he gestures to where Lachlan lies on the stone.
I gulp and nod.
"W-what have you done to him?"
I see him smile, a twisted smirk.
"I'm going to offer you a choice, Vikk. But first, it's story time."
I watch him, glancing at Lachlan quickly.
"There were once eighteen boys, thrown into an arena. Monsters lived there, they would try to kill the boys, and they would try to survive together. But then, when they died, they woke up in a new world, memories wiped, apart from the last survivor. But what would happened if one of them was left behind. What if he never died, lived alone for years?"
He approaches me, grey eyes staring.
"And then, when he went mad, and killed himself, he woke up again, in another empty world. Because everyone he knew had already moved on. He lived alone for years, sitting on all of these feelings of fear, and loneliness, and guilt...
"And when he finally died, a second time, he woke up in a broken world. But there's people there, this time. Two boys, madly in love. And no memory of before. They've left it all behind.
"Have you realised it, yet, Vikk? Are you ready to wake up, with all the guilt, in an innocent world, with the people who you once loved gone, stolen from you?
"Because I wasn't ready. But that doesn't matter. Because I'm about to forget it all. You're going to be the last one to live, the last to wake up. Are you ready?"
The red gem he wears around his neck starts to glow brighter. He reaches down and picks up Lachlan, holding him up by the neck.
I step closer, but the wall holds me back.
"What are you doing?"
he smiles that twisted grin again, and pulls out a knife. To my horror, he put it to Lachlan's throat.
"Don't worry, vikk. He'll be fine when he wakes up."
I see Lachlan's eyes fly open, survey the scene around him. He tries to struggle and get away from the man, but he's too weak.
I pound my fists against the wall, but all in vain.
The man looks me straight in the eye.
"See you on the other side, Vikk."
And then he takes the knife and plunges it deep into Lachlan's chest. I scream, tears rolling down my cheeks, knuckles bloody.
He pulls out the knife, dripping with Lachlan's blood, and then lets his body drop to the floor.
And then he thrusts the knife into his own neck.
I scream.