He couldn't count the steps he took in-between her shrill of screams. As the raindrops began to fall at a more frequent pace, her penetrating cries grew more desperate and high-pitched to the point where Kaiba felt like his head was spinning from the sound. Kaiba could feel the rush of hot and cool air escaping his mouth as he inhaled and exhaled, his chest heaving in frenzied urgency, but not even the sound of his own heavy breathing could successfully drown out the screams.
It was too difficult to brush away the tree branches and rain from his face that Kaiba quickly gave up and focused on keeping up pace with the girl in front of him. She was surprisingly much quicker than him, and Kaiba blamed the virtual world for such an unreal feat.
"This way, this way, this way!" She shouted repeatedly. Kaiba could hardly hear her over the screaming.
The girl dodged a fallen log and abruptly turned right, quickly vanishing out of Kaiba's line of sight. He cursed himself for losing her, and tried to catch up, following her same route. Thorns and tree branches scratched his face and arms while ripping through the lightweight fabric of his shirt. His wounds stung from the falling rain and he tasted blood as it dripped from his cuts and into his mouth. His spit out the excess blood mixed with rainwater, not letting something so minor stop him from reaching his goal.
These minor feelings weren't real anyways. Kaiba needed to find Tea, get her out of here, and finally go back to his normal life. Besides, if this virtual technology succeeded in bringing Tea out of her coma, he would have a whole other project on his hands. Kaiba Corporation would need to start the development process of the latest virtual technology, with the ability to withdraw someone from a coma. The technology would be groundbreaking; something the world had never seen before, and Kaiba couldn't wait to announce it, all the more reason to get out of here.
Kaiba came up on a break in the tree line and hurtled toward it, traveling through the brush and making it into the clearing. Standing before him was a single town house. It felt extremely out of place, considering they were in the middle of a forest, but Kaiba deduced the logic to this virtual reality he willingly placed himself in.
"Help me get in!" The girl was yanking as hard as she could on the front door. It wouldn't budge. Kaiba ran up the front porch stairs, resisting the temptation to cover his ears as the decibels in the high-pitch screaming increased. He pulled as hard as he could on the handle. The door felt like it was stuck to the frame by eight layers of tar. No matter what Kaiba tried, the door wouldn't even rattle.
There's always another way.
Whipping himself over the side rail of the porch and sticking the landing, Kaiba hurried over to the side of the house, this time leaving the young girl to follow him. There was a tiny basement window that appeared breakable. Kaiba took a seat on the grass, positioning himself to kick through the window. He hoped luck was on his side. If not, this would be extremely painful. Kaiba anticipated his shoes absorbing the major part of the impact, but only trial and error would prove that theory. Kaiba braced himself, knitting his hands into the thick grass to give him more leverage. Using all of his might, he forcefully jutted his legs out in front of him, creating contact with the window.
It cracked.
Awesome, he thought, embracing the fact that the impact didn't hurt nearly as much as he thought it would. After a few more powerful kicks, the glass shattered and Kaiba cleared away the dangling shards as best as he could. He motioned for the young girl to come closer.
"I'm going to jump in first and then I'll catch you, okay?"
She nodded.
Kaiba didn't spare another moment, diving right through the small window, landing feet first with a splash.
What the hell? Kaiba looked down to see that there was about four feet of water flooding the basement. Pipes all around him had burst and water was rushing in at an alarming rate.
Kaiba noticed the girl beginning to work her way through the window. He needed to carry her; there was no way she was tall enough to sift through all this water. Just as the thought draped through his mind, the girl had jumped. He caught her just in time, preventing her from getting soaked.
"Ah!" She shrieked, noticing the water, "What happened?"
Kaiba cradled her as she clung to his neck. "The basement flooded."
There was a minor current as Kaiba trudged through the water carrying the young girl in his arms. Noticing the water filling up faster than normal, Kaiba lengthened his strides, hurrying toward the staircase on the other side of the basement. The water filled up to his waist, then arms, then past his shoulders.
"We're not gonna make it out of here!" She cried.
"Yes we are."
Running in water was a difficult task, but Kaiba managed to make it to the stairway, setting his foot on the first stair, then the second, climbing his way up each step. It seemed that the quicker he moved, the faster the water rose.
The girl buried her face into the crook of Kaiba's neck, crying, "We're not gonna make it!" Water splashed up the sides of their faces. Kaiba was almost to the top. Maybe once he opened the door they would be safe?
They lifted their heads above the water. It was consuming them quickly. They were just about there….
Kaiba hoisted the girl up to the door handle, "Grab it and push!" The water was now surrounding his face.
She stretched as far as she could without pushing him under. "I can't reach it!"
"Hurry! Open the doo-" A wave of water took Kaiba under. Large bubbles rose to the surface where his face had just been.
"No!" She wailed, making one last grasp toward the door. Suction sounds were heard as the water was quickly overtaking the basement. The growing current pulled her under.
Kaiba opened his eyes underwater and saw that the girl had been dragged under as well. Using all his strength to avoid the current's suction, he lifted her up past the water and to the surface. She gasped for air, taking only a moment to collect herself. She instantly knew why Kaiba had lifted her up in the first place, and she firmly grabbed a hold of the doorknob, twisting it open with all her might, and pushed.
As the door flew open, the water's current carried the young girl and Kaiba through. Water rushed in but did not fill up the area, so the two had a glimpse of time to catch their breath.
The screaming was still present.
Kaiba coughed up water. Once he was able to control his breathing he turned to the girl. She was catching her breath as well. "Are you-" he took a moment to cough, "okay?"
She nodded and stood abruptly. "Hurry, we need to find her and get out of here!"
Kaiba stood, trailing the girl as she ran throughout the house. Kaiba noticed the water from the basement beginning to fill up on the first floor and encouraged the girl to find the stairs that would bring them to the second floor (if there even was one.)
"I got it!" She shouted, and swung an arm around the railing to the second story staircase. They scurried up the steps, noticing the water shadowing behind like an uninvited guest.
"She's this way!"
Kaiba began to wonder how this girl knew so much about a random house. Was it her house? If so, how long had she been living here? Did it even matter? This whole world was imaginary anyways. Just the happenings of Tea's mind, playing out like a horrific dream. But boy, did it feel real.
The girl elbowed a door at the end of the hall and barged right in. Kaiba entered in after her. He stopped in the middle of the room, his eyes growing wide. For almost two years he observed her lifeless body, wishing she'd make a move. But there was never anything more than an insignificant twitch. Now, here she was, lying down on a bed, screaming for bloody murder, eyes clenched shut, hands balled up and covering her ears.
She was full of life.
Tea…
He darted to her, grabbing her wrists, trying to shake her awake. Her screams were petrifying. Kaiba thought he'd blow an eardrum. Why hadn't her voice cracked yet?
"TEA!" He shouted, shaking her so hard it looked like she was seizing. "PLEASE WAKE UP!" He strained his neck in an attempt to shout over her screams, but it seemed almost impossible. His voice felt like sandpaper, squeezing his vocal chords together so hard that he thought they'd burst.
With one last violent shake, and one final holler, Kaiba gave Tea everything he had, "TEA!"
Her screaming stopped. Her eyes relaxed. Kaiba took her loosened hands away from her ears, and set them down gently beside her.
His ears rang. The silence was spooky and sent a shockwave of shivers through him. His raspy, soft whisper sounded like a shout cutting through the quiet, "Tea? Can you hear me?"
Like lightning, her eyes shot open, and blue met blue.
Tea gasped at the sight of a stunned Kaiba, and moved away from him, sitting up on her bed. "K-Kaiba!? What in the world are you doing in my bedroom?"
Her bedroom? So this wasn't the little girl's house after all? "I was brought here by her," he twisted around to point to the young girl who was standing behind him.
She was gone.
Kaiba blinked. Then again, and again. Nothing. The little brown haired girl that had helped him find Tea had disappeared. He ran toward the doorway and peeked his head out into the hall, looking both ways for her. She was absent.
"Kaiba…. No one is here…."
Once again, Kaiba realized he was in an unsteady environment and at the threshold of Tea's mind. Anything could happen here. That girl could have been a fragment of Tea's imagination; a piece of her subconscious that desired to assist him in his quest to find her conscious mind. Even still, she had looked so much like Tea….
"Kaiba?"
He turned around to face her, switching his mind back to the matter at hand, "Follow me. We're getting you out of here."
Confusion etched itself across her facial features. "Get me out of here?"
"Yes. It's not safe. Let's go." He waved for her to follow him but she continued to sit on her bed.
"No, I'm not just going to up and leave my home just because you tell me to."
"It's not safe."
"No."
"Gardner, just trust me on this."
"No!"
Her defiance was despicable. Kaiba let go of a heavy sigh. He didn't want to have to do this but she needed to know the truth.
"This isn't your home."
"…."
"Your reality isn't what you think it is."
"…."
Her lack of response was getting to him. He hated doing this much talking.
"You're trapped in one of my virtual reality systems."
This brought on a severe glare that Kaiba really didn't feel like receiving at the moment. Especially not after risking his mind to save hers. He sighed. She really wasn't going to like this part….
"You've been in a coma for the past two years…."
When she still refused to speak, he studied her, his eyes carefully searching for a response. Stunned, shaken, and shocked were the words Kaiba would use to depict the actions her body took as her shoulders tightened, jaw-slacked and eyes filled with horror. She began to blink frantically, shaking her head and scraping her scalp with her fingernails as she ran her hands through her hair.
"N-no, no, no…. This can't be? How could I be in a coma? For two years?" She violently shook her head once again, moving to a standing position and pacing the length of her bedside, "No, no, no! There's no way I could be in a coma, not if I'm standing here talking to you!" She lifted her hand and gestured to him, but the look on her face was one of pure confliction. She wasn't confident in her answer, her voice shaking and plagued with turmoil.
Kaiba just stood there, staring at her. It was unnerving.
"Why aren't you saying anything?" Her voice broke, cracking as her eyes began to water, "If I was in a coma, you wouldn't be here." By now, Kaiba could tell she was just trying to convince herself he was wrong. She knew he wasn't.
"Listen, you're body is in the real world and it's starting to fail. If you don't trust me you'll become a vegetable, trapped in this virtual world forever. Worst of all, I'll be stuck with you."
A swell of silence hovered over them for a few seconds.
"Look, I uploaded my mind to this virtual world to save you. You're the only one that can control this place. You're the only one who can find a way out. That's the way I designed this virtual world."
Tea furrowed her eyebrows. "You created this virtual world for… me?"
It was almost as if her doubt had vanished. Did she suddenly believe everything he was saying or was she simply shocked at the fact that he would do something that helped out another person? Whatever the reason, Kaiba didn't care. He needed her to get them out, and pronto.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"To wake you up."
"And you uploaded your mind to save me?"
"Essentially."
Tea just stood there, staring off into nothing. It was like her mind was processing the entirety of the situation.
"Well?"
"Huh?"
"Are you just going to stand there all day looking like an idiot, or are you going to help me find a way out?"
She narrowed her eyes at him, "Don't call me an idiot."
Kaiba was about to make another snide remark when the sound of rushing water occupied his ears. He moved into the hallway and noted that the water had risen to the top of the staircase. The entire house was flooded except the second floor, and soon they'd be submerged if they didn't find a way out. Kaiba's main exit option was out of order. He needed to convince Tea to get her ass moving or they were both screwed.
"What's the matter, Kaiba?" She walked out into the hallway and gasped when she noticed the water rising. She panicked and screamed once again. Scrunching her eyes shut and twisting her hands into her hair in distress. Kaiba's eyes widened when he understood that all of this screaming and anxiety revolved around water.
Her subconscious is trying to protect her from water. Something must've happened with water….
He slammed his hand over her mouth and she instantly stopped screaming. It was as if she was brought back to reality. He gripped her forearms and tugged them away from her scalp. A few stray hairs were pulled out in the process and Tea winced. Panic was still incredibly evident upon her face and Kaiba had to calm her down or they'd both drown.
"Gardner, quit freaking out!"
"I can't!"
"You need to relax and help me think of a way out of here. You said this is your house. You know it better than I do."
"There isn't another way!"
"Think!"
"I don't know!"
"There has to be another way."
Their blue eyes mixed, transferring a sliver of understanding to the other.
Tea thrashed her way out of Kaiba's vice grip and grabbed his hand, dragging him back into her bedroom. She ran to her bedroom window, pushed it open, took out the screen and rotated around to face him.
"We're jumping." She was pointing out the window.
"This is crazy," he replied.
"You told me to find a way out!"
The water began to leak into her bedroom, rapidly saturating the premises.
He jogged over to Tea. "I guess there's no time to think about it now."
"If you want me to trust you then you need to trust me as well."
He didn't argue. He simply took her hand and crawled onto the ledge with her. Thankfully, the windowsill was big enough for the two of them to stand on.
"How do we do this without killing ourselves, Kaiba?"
"Oh, now you believe me?"
She frowned, "Yes! Of course I believe you! Just tell me how we survive this!"
The rushing sound of the water grew louder and Kaiba glanced back. Seeing that the water had risen almost two feet since they hopped on the ledge, Kaiba shortened his small talk, urging her to hurry up.
"Just think of the nicest place you can! Some place that's not your home!"
"I don't know! I can't think of a place-" He abruptly snatched her hand, pulling her away from her thought process.
There's no time, Kaiba thought.
"Jump!"
They leaped out of the two-story window, flying through the air and rapidly hurtling for the ground.
The last thing Kaiba heard was the water pouring out of the window and splattering against the earth.
A/N: Well, well, well, it looks like I left you guys on a bit of a cliffhanger. I guess you'll just have to read the next chapter to find out what happens…..
Speaking of reading, THANK YOU to everyone who has read this story and my other stories so far. Thanks for all of your favorites and reviews. You guys seriously are the best! Please review and let me know how I'm doing and what you think so far. Thanks everyone!
