0 & 1

print("Eleven")

Ari

My mind was still spinning.

I felt even worse than before. Somehow.

The running had not only worn me out, but it had also irritated the soreness all over my body, and the migraine in my brain had escalated to something of a hammer cracking open my head.

The aching in my stomach felt like a little monster was inside and starting eating my organs.

A sharp pain pierced my back.

I cried out, and fell to my knees. Lena's face flickered with concern, and she held out her hand. My eyes landed on them, and the defiance and grudges from the past caused me to push myself up off the floor and stand. "I'm fine," I said, loud and clear, and entered the dark underground.

I glanced at Summer. "Hey, what exactly is this place?"

Summer looked at me, and smiled. "It's our home."

From the corner of my eye, Lena's nose wrinkled. I knew that look. She wanted to say something, most likely offensive, but held back.

"Didn't you say there were others?" I asked.

She nodded, and her eyes brightened up a little. "Yes, actually. As long as they're not out, they should be here. I'll introduce you to them, and I'll answer any questions you have, now that we're in a safe place."

Lena let out a breath of relief. "Oh, thank God."

"That was a pretty impressive stunt you pulled back there," I commented.

She perked up. "Oh? I've had plenty of time to learn."

I snorted. "I guess so."

We followed along a concrete hallway, and I picked up on some things. It was a pretty big place. It was loosely lighted, and some things were broken. It seemed really old, but it was at least sturdy.

"My ancestors carved this place by hand," Summer said.

We glanced at her, our faces not as enthusiastic as she might have thought.

She didn't notice. "My family established this place ages ago," she explained. "We've lived outside Phantasm for...well, forever. It's been our mission to free people from it, and I decided to start with you guys, after building relationships with you."

I squinted. "The what?"

"Phantasm. That's what we call the world you used to live in." She pondered for a bit. "Well, the fake world."

I nodded, not really knowing how to reply. "Right."

We walked a bit more, and turned a few more corridors.

We approached a door. Summer pulled out some keys, put it in the lock, and pushed open the door.

We walked into the room, and saw three people: a woman had dyed purple hair, another had tiny braids and the man had black hair.

"Hey!" the one with braids said.

The black haired one came over to me and grabbed my arm. "You're injured,'' he said. "Come on, let's patch you up."

He led me to a bed, laid me down and pulled something over me.

Wow. This guy was straight forward.

end

End