Fantasy Turns Into Reality

"What is the meaning of this?" I whispered quietly, not taking my eyes off the card. Darren started shaking his head, "No, no, no," he turned to me, "You know what this means right?"

I thought for a while, to rethink and reassure that everything was normal. Nothing was wrong. But my brain couldn't deny the hard truth, "Everything in the movie is now real. The boys, the game, the professor...it's all real. They are here in this world."

Darren rolled his fingers into boulder sized fists. Somehow, I could feel his frustration, his anger at himself because this time, he had messed up bad.

"Whoever did this, they're going to pay for it..." he growled under his breath. He extended his hand towards me, palm facing up. "Give me the card."

Something in me revolted and I brought the card close to my heart, "No, I won't."

This was the exact thing that had fallen in the hands of Adrien. Holding it, made me feel connected to him, like an invisible string tying us together. It made me feel relaxed among the chaos that was happening right now.

Darren sighed and gave up, knowing my stubborn side all too well. He grabbed his coat and put it on once more and stepped out before looking back at me one last time, "I'll give you one night to think about staying with them. Say your good byes. Tomorrow morning, I will ask you for an answer," he demanded, "And it better be yes."

I wanted to argue with him (something I only had the courage to do with Darren, not Saye) but there was already a lot on his head. He had to find the traitor in his staff and shut this whole thing down. And he was only 19.

My mind wasn't clear and I knew I couldn't make a proper decision right then. So I just grabbed my satchel with my phone and pocket money in it and stepped outside for a walk in the fresh rainy air.

The clouds had turned the 50th shade of grey and was looming over the city as I walked to the nearest store to buy some chocolate.

A strong wind blew as I stood under the convenience store umbrella and bit into my choco-bar. I slid my phone out of the satchel and called the only person I had to say good bye to. Fiona.

It rang...and rang, but no one answered. I sighed and threw the wrapper of the choco bar in the bin and decided to head for Fiona's.

On the way, I took out the golden card and watched it dimly shine in the light of the hidden sun. I remembered what Adrien said in the movie after he had gotten the card.

He had smiled wide at the thought of earning money to help his family and almost jumped up and down in joy. Before he could think of anything else, he had just yelled, "I accept!"

And that's when the world around him twisted and glitched and he got transported into the Breakfire Game world.

I blinked at the card in my hand and giggled. No way was that exact thing going to happen now. That was stupid. So I shrugged and decided to give it a try so that I could have a laugh out of it.

"I...accept?" I said and waited.

A pigeon flew past me and I stuffed the card back in my pocket when nothing happened. I let out a laugh. Maybe I did think for a moment that it might work.

I rang the door bell to Fiona's house thrice, but nobody answered. I frowned, "Did they already leave?"

Walking around to the back of the house, I found that there was no car in the shed. "She left without telling me?"

I smiled sadly and walked back. She wasn't at home, nor was she answering my calls. Was she actually on vacation...or something more serious?

I shook it off. "No bad thoughts, Ashe, Rumi is going to be alright," I told myself and went back home.

I didn't talk to Darren. I didn't do my homework...I was going to skip school anyway...

Oh wait, did I just say I was going to skip school? I guess there was no other way to protect Systema Games. I had made up my mind before going to sleep, but I didn't tell Darren until the next morning.

But that night when I closed my eyes, my mind drifted into a dream.

I was not on Earth. But there were mountains around me, and thick green grass floating around my feet. The sky was a bright blue and two suns dimly radiated in the sky.

I looked up at the queer sky in childish astonishment as a strong wind blew, "What is this place?"

As the wind made my hair flap, I saw strands of it wave in front of my eyes. I gasped and touched the strands of my hair and looked at it in shock.

My hair was supposed to be a bland brown, but now the hair I was holding...it was silver white. I looked around and saw a cluster of caves looming over a clear lake. I ran towards it, fighting against the strong wind and my silver hair flying.

I knelt down and looked at my reflection in the water. It was me alright, but...I was different. Long silver hair cascading down my shoulders and my eyes, they shone a deep blue in color instead of the brown I was used to seeing.

As if my hands had a mind of its own (it was a dream after all) I swiped the air and a statistics screen opened up with my name on top.

[Player Name: ASHE HERMANN]

"Player name?" I asked myself. Under that there were a lot of other info I don't remember clearly. Dreams can be a bit hazy after a while. But I remember the screen blinking with a message.

[Welcome to Breakfire Online]

I clicked the [Location] tab on the left pane and a map opened up with a blinking red balloon, denoting my current location.

[Current Location: Caves of Kaala]

Before I could remember what Caves of Kaala were I heard a low but deafening growl from behind me. The screen flickered out of existence as I turned back to look inside the dark of the cave.

Three huge creatures leaped from inside, mouths wide open and eyes flaring, their bodies flying right for me.

Before I could even scream, I woke from sleep and panted, scared because of what could have happened if that dream was real and relieved that I was nowhere else other than the safety of my room.

I shifted sides and pulled the blankets closer and tried to go to sleep.

No bad thoughts.

But still, they came, making its way in and out of my brain. What will happen to me tomorrow?

And...how was Adrien?

My heart lurched in selfish joy at the thought. Won't Adrien be in the house too, then?

For the past 16 years, I had been a normal girl with a love for nothing else except computers. So what was this feeling?