Chapter IV: Luke's Memories

Moments later, as he was sleeping. Eurus found himself dreaming. He dreamt of being in a bottomless pit, shouting and shouting, hoping for someone to save him.

Everything was pitched black. He then sees a ray of light just above him. He shouted again, yet no one responded.

Then all of a sudden, a silhouette just above him suddenly appeared, seemingly on its knees, staring down at him.

He shouted once again, his voice echoed, reaching onto the top. He continued shouting until his voice eventually faded. He then tried to climb his way up, but the stone walls around him were slippery and covered with moss, nearly impossible for him.

He glanced back to see the silhouette not moving an inch. He inhaled and exhaled deeply, then he gathered up his courage and once again shouted for help.

Then something had snapped, his surroundings started to shake. He glimpsed back to see the silhouette above him getting nearer and nearer towards him.

Suddenly someone moved Eurus awake, ending his nightmare. His eyes snapped open wide to see a too-close face staring down at him. His vision was a bit hazy, so he squeezed his eyes to have a better grasp of who was staring down at him.

He rubbed his eyes, and when his vision came into focus, he saw Peanut, holding a notebook and a pen.

So he immediately sat on the folding bed. He was sweating, having a whey-faced look. He was breathing heavily.

He looked to his left, then to his right. He noticed that it was already morning. He never thought that he could sleep through the entire night as his mind was full of uneasiness.

Peanut then started writing in her notebook, with Eurus just staring at her, wondering what she's up to.

She turned the notebook around to Eurus to see a text written on it.

How does it feel to be dreaming?

"I..uhh.." Eurus responded. He paused for a moment. His mind wonders why she communicates with a notebook. "I-it feels-it feels real," Eurus responded, with his voice having much less energy than usual.

Cashew interrupted and approached both of them. He greeted Eurus' with a smile on his face. "Hey." He wrapped around his left arm over Peanut's neck.

Just like Peanut, he is sweet and kind. He is overprotective of his twin sister.

He saw the text written on the notebook, then glanced back at Eurus.

"It's... It's been ages since we last dreamt. What was your dream? Did you have a dream? Cashew asked as his face grew with excitement.

Eurus responded with a short answer, "Yes." He doesn't want to go into details about it.

It was not a dream, it was a nightmare, Eurus thought to himself. He kept it to himself, didn't want to spill his words, thinking it would crush their expectations of dreaming.

Eurus suddenly changed the topic and grabbed the moment to thank both of them.

"I..uhh... I want to thank you for waiting for me to regain my consciousness yesterday," He said. "Without you guys, I would have been dead by now."

Peanut again started writing on her notebook, then turned the notebook again to Eurus to see her reply written on it.

"You're welcome." written, with a smile emoji drew after it.

It was morning, 8:15 a.m displayed on the clock. He stood up from where he slept and rotated in a small circle looking in different directions. He observed their surroundings. The scenery has changed once again. The buildings that surround them returned to how they looked before.

No more abandoned buildings, no more demolished ones either. People have started to reappear once again. Everything went back to how Eurus first saw them.

He felt a slight relief, thinking that it is way far better than the scenery last night.

Cashew took notice of him, surveying their surroundings. He scanned Eurus' emotion, full of curiosity.

"When 8:00 a.m comes, things go back to the way it was before," Cashew stated out of nowhere.

Eurus glanced back at him. "This happens every day?" He asked.

"Yes, that's wh-," his answer was cut short.

Luke suddenly interrupted their conversation, holding a duffel bag. "So you're awake now, huh? squiggy?" Luke said. "You might need this for gathering supplies." He added as he tossed the duffel bag to Eurus.

Eurus looked at the duffel bag, then back at Luke. He then stared for a moment, thinking that it would just slow him down once they're chased by those hideous-looking beasts, demons, even.

"I-uhh, do I really need this?" Eurus asked as he scratched his head, making excuses.

He was hesitant to go with Luke. He doubted himself even more-thinking that he might just be a burden to him. He does not dare to fight his fear.

"W-wouldn't it be easier if you would take Kaya with you instead?" Eurus suggested as he shrugged his shoulder up. He can't think of any other excuses.

Kaya overheard the conversation then she approached them. "I'll stay here and keep watch," Kaya said. "If you decided to stay here and something bad happens to them, to Cashew and Peanut, that's on you," she added.

He paused for a moment, realizing that she has a point. He knew to himself he would just instantly freeze, once the creature showed up. So he had no choice but to go along with him.

He put his hands over his hips. An idea came into his mind. "If we're running for supplies, can we just go to the supermarket and gather supplies there?" Eurus paused, waiting for someone to interrupt his other suggestion, but none came.

Kaya just rolled her eyes out of irritation, then she turned her back and walked away towards the railing on the roof deck.

"It's not that easy squiggy," Luke said. "There are some things that are intangible to us, while some, have already been looted, we're not the only players that entered this game, you know?" He added.

Eurus stopped for a second. Only now did he thought of the number of players that might have participated in this game.

"H-how many players have you encountered?" He asked.

"Tons of them," Luke replied. "They don't seem to be friendly as well."

Eurus was just about to follow up with another question, yet Luke interrupted him. "We have to go," Luke stated.

Luke thought to himself that they need to move as fast as they could, in fear that when 7:00 p.m strikes, things could get worse.

They both geared themselves, with luke holding an ax. Eurus then grabbed his baseball bat.

As they were leaving, Kaya called Eurus' name. Eurus jerked in her direction.

"Be careful." She said. She glanced at Luke then back at him. "Both of you," she added with a soft voice.

She is cold, and a fierce woman-Eurus never expected Kaya to act that way to him. He stopped for a moment and stared at her.

Luke then took notice, and he nudged Eurus with his elbow, "Let's go, pretty boy," Luke stated. And both of them resumed their walk.

Eurus was still battling his mind from fear and anxiety.

As they went down the stairs out of the apartment building, Eurus became even more and more nervous. His heartbeat was beating faster than usual.

He tried to calm his mind, but the thoughts of the creatures made him feel scared. As they were outside of the apartment building, he stopped for a second. "I-i don't think I can do this," Eurus said. He hesitated.

"Stop doubting yourself squiggy, let's go," Luke responded, encouraging him.

His words of encouragement were definitely new to his ears. Eurus was able to snap from his fear for a moment. Then they continued and hurried themselves to find some supplies.

As they were moving along, Eurus can't stop himself from asking questions-as if his mind was asking answers that he needed to know. "Don't you remember at least one incident before you arrived?" Eurus asked.

"I do remember something," Luke replied. "I was in a crowd. I don't remember what the place was. People gathered at a small stage, just outside of a building. And on the platform are people wearing white coats. They look wealthy. They keep on announcing about a game, a game that if you win, you will be ensured with fame and money-i mean, you'll be rich in an instant," He added.

"I was a daredevil myself, I wanted to try new experiences in life, so I decided to join. While some were forced to join. Some were less fortunate and had no choice but to join. Some were abducted, even." Luke said.

"Abducted?" Eurus asked, confused.

"Yes, it was just a rumor from what I remembered. People were even rallying because of it." He replied. "That's all I remember."

Eurus pictured Luke's story. A crowd, people wearing white coats, Rallying, abducted, even. Everything seems strange to him.

He pictured himself in that situation. He could not imagine himself joining the game. "What was my reason?" He asked himself.

As they were hurrying to find some supplies, Eurus' mind was restless. It did not make any sense to him. What is their intention? Who are those people with white coats?