p class="MsoNormal""Thank god. This 8am is killing me." Sarah boasted, her blond curls tumbling down her back as she stood up from the small lecture hall chair, span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanher watery blue eyes rolling to Carla./p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanSensing he gaze, Carla flipped her own dark eyes from her laptop to her best friend. "If you didn't stay up 'til 2 every morning, you might find it more manageable." She cooed be for slapping on a grin that made her eyes squint./p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanCarla flipped the computer closed, rose, and tucked her mid length locks behind her ear. Sarah smiled coyly before Carla gestured to the exit./p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"So, Tyler eh?" Sarah questioned, matching the pace of her shorter friend as they strolled down the hall./p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"There is nothing going on with Tyler." The Burnette coolly responded, keeping her eyes forward. The façade wasn't quite up to par though, and Sarah was quick to grin at her friend's slip./p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Not yet."/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanThose to words found a kink in Carla's armour and she barked a laugh. "you have me there. "she said, shoulder bumping her friend./p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"When am I ever wrong?" The blond countered, swerving slightly, narrowly avoiding bumping into another student in the hallway. "But you'll have to fill me in later, unfortunately I have chemistry." She stated, coming to a gentile stop, one hand opening the door to lecture hall 32. "Any plans for dinner?"/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Not that I'm aware of." Carla answered, stepping out of the way to let a lanky man pass through./p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"You, me, tacos, 7:30, at your place." The blond resorted, turning and striding into the lecture hall without waiting for a reply./p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanCarla inwardly smiled as the door closed. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Home time for me,/em she thought, weaving her way through the crowd of people rushing to the class room./p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanThe campus grounds were speckled with students as she stepped out of the building. Some were playing catch in the spring sunshine, some quietly gossiping at the tables to her left, some just sluggishly walking to their next class./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;"Bridget University was known for its sciences, having many graduates go on to be world class scientists and doctors. Carla chose it for its biology program specializing in genetics and stayed for the friends she found there. She had met Sarah during orientation and they soon became inseparable. The friendship with Tyler came later as she was sitting in her first class of second year./p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanCarla readjusted her shorts and hummed to herself as she climbed the student housing-lined hill to her apartment./p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanThe apartment wasn't anything special compared to the other apartments in the area. The rent of the 2-bedroom was split between herself and girl she met in residence of first year. The two rarely talked now however since her roommate found a lover in the next city over. The walls of the common area were barren except for the odd band or movie poster, and the kitchen was clean except for the couple of plates that rested in the sink awaiting a rinse./p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanWith a sigh, Carla slid off her sneakers before turning into the second door on the right of the small apartment./p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanCarla loved her room, as she had got her parents to come up and help paint and decorate it. The deep purple walls were covered in movie posters and polaroids of her friends and family. She had a few plants scattered around the room, sitting proudly on her bedside, bookcase and desk. The widow above the desk lit up the room and ushered a ray of warmth to her bed./p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanCarla slid off her backpack and fell on to her bed, soaking up the sunlight she had just intercepted. Breathing out in content, she closed her eyes. The light played on her eye lids, and she felt herself relax./p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanSitting up so fast her head spun, she remembered she had to submit a lab report by tomorrow. She let out a groan as she picked up her bag and slid out her laptop while never leaving the bed. She booted the 2-year-old machine and went to work./p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanBy 4pm, she had the first draft done and her back ached from being hunched over. She clapped her hands to stimulate her senses and decided quickly to browse her Tumblr. After looking at some generic memes, an ad caught her eye. It was bight red, a stark difference from the dark photos posted to the website. "Do you ever wonder what it would be like to be part of another world?" it read, the black letters jumped from the vibrant background. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Shit posts are just getting weirder, /emshe mused. Despite knowing that it was probably a virus, she clicked on the odd post, hoping her firewall would be able to protect her. The site took a few seconds to load, and she watched the loading symbol struggle to complete its turn. Carla's interest jumped as it finished loading, but only for the briefest of moments. A blank page glared back at her, and Carla could see her own refection in the screen./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;"She pursed her lips and pinched the bridge of her nose. Letting out a huff, she closed the laptop and placed it on the floor. She leaned back on to the pillows and flailed her legs out in front of herself. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"I have a few hours before dinner/em, she pondered while letting her eyes drift shut./p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;"Carla woke to a scraping feeling along her forearm./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;""son of a –" Carla was interrupted by the sound of a twig snapping. It was then that she became painfully aware of her surroundings. She was no longer in the comfort of her dorm, but on the floor of a heavily wooded forest. The woods were so dense that Carla wasn't able to definitively tell if it was day or night./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt; tab-stops: 267.75pt;"Heart pumping, she placed her hands down and felt the branch that with all the most certainty drew blood on her arm. Hoisting her self up, she scanned the area, looking for any movement./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt; tab-stops: 267.75pt;"It was the clear distinct clang of metal on metal that struck her senses. She whipped her head in the direction of the sound, heaving and waiting for in to happen again. The sharp sound of steel scraping made Carla bend her knees, wanting to be closer to the ground and out of sight. Within 40 seconds she heard the freighting sound again but this time it was closer. Adrenaline coursed through her veins, pumping to her legs./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt; tab-stops: 267.75pt;"She Bolted./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt; tab-stops: 267.75pt;"She weaved through the trees, occasionally stumbling over a root or a dip in the earth. She never looked back, and she wasn't sure where she was heading, but she knew she couldn't stay here./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt; tab-stops: 267.75pt;"She moved just within a hairs width when a dark dart flew by her head, slicing open the soft skin on her cheek, making her loose her balance. She landed hard on her wrist, and she could feel it begin to throb as her muscles twitched around it. The twigs scraped her exposed hands, legs and face as she came down with a hard thud./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt; tab-stops: 267.75pt;"The sleek sound of metal being pull out of a sheath made her head whip around, eyes wide and mouth slightly ajar, only to find the tip of a sword pointed at her nose, the little light gleaming of the length of it./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt; tab-stops: 267.75pt;""What is your alliance?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt; tab-stops: 267.75pt;"The deep, threatening voice had her eyes sliding up the edge of the blade to rest on the man holding it./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt; tab-stops: 267.75pt;"His hair was the colour of fresh snow and was in direct contrast with the menacing red eyes. His jaw was clenched tight as he frowned down at her, his hand gripped on the hilt. His angular face matched the sharpness of his tone as he repeated while pushing the blade closer to her face, "What is your alliance?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt; tab-stops: 267.75pt;""I don't have one." She breathed backing her head up so the blade wasn't so close./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt; tab-stops: 267.75pt;"His gaze bore into her for the longest seconds ever before whipping the blade away. He reached down and grabbed her by the upper arm she used to protect her face and yanked her to her feet./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt; tab-stops: 267.75pt;"She winced as he let go and brushed her wrist, which she promptly hugged to her chest./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt; tab-stops: 267.75pt;"He didn't so much as raise a brow at her reaction. He slowly walked around her, and her eyes followed him, but she didn't dare move a muscle. It wasn't long before she felt a thump on her neck and her eye's lost focus on the world around her./p