Warped

Chapter 1: Lukas

Fear blasts through me as my shoulders are shaken wildly. A strangled panicked yelp bursts out as I snap my eyes open, my head pounding as a heavy grogginess refuses to leave.

It's pitch black in here, why is it so dark? Is it night? It's so hard to think, as if someone filled my head with mud. It smells awful, and I don't want to know what caused the smell. Wasn't I just sleeping? Why am I laying on something super hard? I wouldn't choose to sleep on concrete. What in the Nether has happened?

"Lukas?" My eyes widen at Petra's voice, still can't see anything, and I sit up, bonking foreheads with her. "Okay, yeah, you're finally awake."

I try to move my arm to rub my forehead, when my wrist presses against something metal and forces my hands to remain behind my back.

Vigorously shaking my head to get that grogginess out, which only serves to give me a slight headache, I move my hands. I can move my fingers just fine, but my main concern now is on the cold metal bands locked onto my wrists.

My heart beats wildly in my chest as I try to get up. Only to tumble back onto the hard ground, which is definitely concrete, when chains rattle and my legs can't separate very far at all. This can't be happening! Where the heck am I?

"Calm down Lukas." Olivia's in here too! I snap my head around, but I can't see. I can't see anything! "Panicking isn't going to do you any good."

"W-Why can't I see?" I cough, restoring a bit of life back into my crackly voice. It feels like ages since the last time I've had anything to drink. The chains continue to rattle as I bring myself to a sitting position, muscles trembling not knowing anything about where I am.

"Well, it's really kinda dark-" Axel's remark is cut off by an oof and more chains rattling.

"Cut it out, Axel." How is everyone so calm right now? We're in chains in some weird dark place that smells absolutely horrid and I'm the only with a heart ready to explode right now! Shouldn't everyone be panicking about basically everything!

Petra, who I can't tell how close she is to me, sighs. "Just wait for eyes to adjust and you'll be to see our outlines if you strain your eyes too."

I nod, not even sure if she can see that. It takes awhile for eyes to adjust, but at least I'm not alone. I would definitely even more afraid if I was alone and freak out by myself where everyone is and what the heck has happen.

"Wait!" My heart threatens to break a rib, I haven't heard Jesse yet! He would be the first to say something, why haven't I heard him yet? "Where's Jesse?"

My stomach throbs when I start to hyperventilate, the panicked gasps of air getting louder as my question is meant by silence. Maybe he's still asleep like I was, he's fine though. He has to be fine, nothing can hurt him. He'll be fine. He'll be fine. He'll be fine.

"Well? Where is Jesse?"

Again, silence. Silence that makes my frantic heart that much easier to hear. Silence which makes my fears scream painfully loud. Silence that just makes me want to scream so I don't have to hear it anymore.

Olivia awkwardly clears her throat. "We don't know. He's not in this cell with us, and none of us have seen him."

The once bursting heart of mine slams to a halt and drops into my stomach. I try to take deep breaths, to help wrap my head around that. The breaths get faster and faster as the meaning of those words sink deeper and deeper. Until my heart throbs painfully in my stomach to keep up with my lungs.

"W-what..." I take a huge breath, trying to form a proper question. "How did we get here?"

Axel snorts, bitter disgust in his voice. "These cowards couldn't face us head on. If they had shown their faces-"