AN - This is going to be a long chapter written by all three of us! :3 Dreaming Hearts helped me edit the bit with Victoria, which you can tell is centered btw. Keep an eye out for the audio version which DH will upload soon. We hope you enjoy this chapter! :3

Victoria awoke with a start, drenched from the pouring rain filtering down from the dark gray clouds overhead and beside her, she saw her friend Ruth lying unconscious in the mud. Despite her confusion, and shivering from the cold wind of what she assumed was mid-day, her green eyes barely skimming her unfamiliar surroundings, she turned and called out to Ruth.

"Ruth? Hey, wake up."

In her mind, she wondered what the heck had happened. Where was her car and, more importantly, where were they? This didn't seem remotely similar to Lake Erie, nor did it resemble anything familiar to Cleveland. Either way, she needed to wake Ruth in order to figure out their situation.

At this point, she was now shaking her friend's shoulders, albeit a bit roughly. "We don't have time for this! Wake up!" She repeated, and when that failed, she lightly smacked the side of her cheek. To her relief, that worked, though she would have thought the rain would have woken her by now.

As her eyes fluttered open, blue-gray squinting and blinking repeatedly, she soon raised a hand over her face. "What the..." When she moved to sit up, she nearly slid back in the mud. A startled gasp escaped her. "Why am I lying in the mud in the middle of a freaking storm?!"

Victoria sweat dropped. "I'm honestly surprised you could sleep through it. And correction, why are we?"

Before Ruth could press her for further inquiries, a streak of lightning lit the skies, followed by the crashing boom of thunder. It was so loud, it caused both the young women to flinch. In an instant, they were on their feet, searching for some place to take shelter. To their luck, they found it!

A cave imbedded in the side of a huge mountain!

Victoria and Ruth wasted no time slipping through, and once they were no longer burdened by the rain and cold air, they leaned against the walls of the dark cavern to gain their bearings.

"Remind me again why we were lying out there? What happened to the car?" Ruth asked, glancing at her friend beside her.

Victoria shrugged. "How would I know? I'm just as confused as your are. The last thing I remember was reading that paragraph in the book with you... Either I blacked out or we both fell asleep immediately after." It was the only thing that made logical sense.

At this, Ruth gasped. "You don't think someone kidnapped us and stole the car, do you?" She asked before suddenly huffing. "Geez... talk about rude! Stupid assholes. At least we still have our bags," She said, before suddenly kneeling down to make sure all her belongings were safely tucked away.

Seeing this, Victoria did the same, and to her relief, she sighed. "Everythings here, including my phone." After turning on the screen, she searched through her messages, but to her dismay, she couldn't find a signal. "Great... There's no internet connection."

"The book is gone..." Ruth followed with.

"Who cares about that stupid book? We have more important things to worry about. I'm not even sure we're still in Cleveland."

Ruth frowned at this and stared outside at the falling rain. "Well... this sucks... and I'm freezing..." She said, shivering as she wrapped her arms around her upper body. "So... now what do we do? Just wait out the storm before venturing out?"

She nodded. "That would be the logical thing to do."

Ruth sifted through her bag and retrieved her small flashlight. "Or... we could explore this cave and see where it leads..."

"Something tells me that's a bad idea, Ruth..."

But she only shrugged. "What else are we supposed to do? Just sit here out of boredom? We might as well make the most of this situation and check things out."

"I guess... Fine. We can take a quick look around, but we're not going too far inside. There could be bats, spiders or snakes inside..."

"Or bears," Ruth added, chuckling at her friend's worried expression. "Calm down. No use worrying. The most important thing is that we're both okay and still have each other. Right?" She asked, and at her nod, she smiled. "Right! Now, onwards!"

Despite having no signal to call for help, nor even a car to drive away to safely, it was fortunate they still had each other. There was no way their situation could get any worse, right? Well, this was only the beginning of their troubles. In fact, what was supposed to be a short walk through the cavern soon resulted in the two of them getting lost.

That's right. Lost. Completely and utterly lost.

And all because Ruth wanted to explore a series of tunnels that expanded further and further through the mountain. At one point, they somehow got completely turned around, and when they attempted to backtrack, they had unknowingly fallen through a short pitfall which landed them in a very unfortunate situation.

Ruth groaned as she rubbed her aching butt just seconds after that short fall. Fortunately, she still had her flashlight, and quickly shining it around her, she located Victoria sitting with her back to her. "Are you okay?!"

Victoria rubbed her elbows achingly, feeling the familiar sensation of warm blood. Even her knees were bleeding. "Still in one piece... I told you this was a bad idea," She turned, shielding her eyes from the light. "Look and see if there is a way back up. The last thing we need is for your flashlight to die and we're left here in the dark."

Doing as asked, Ruth shined her light above her, but all she could make out was the ceiling and a thin layer of fog. Right and left of their location, she noticed they were in a large area of another tunnel, with two paths presented before them.

"Well?" Victoria asked. "See a way back up?"

"Nope..."

A groan escaped Victoria. "Ugh! This is seriously not our day! This is all your fault!"

At this, Ruth turned and pouted. "I didn't know there would be pitfalls. And for your information, we barely walked five minutes through those tunnels."

"And yet you somehow got us lost!"

She only rolled her eyes. "We don't have time for this. Like you said before, we need to find our way back before my flashlight dies. Unless you have extra batteries in your backpack?"

"You didn't pack extra?!"

"Uh, no? Don't you remember the part where I told you I was running for my life? Literally jumped off a roof to escape the government," She said, reminding her, and at this, another sigh escaped her friend.

"Okay... Okay... Let me think..." She said, holding her head in her hands for the longest moment.

While her friend was probably having an internal meltdown beside her, Ruth looked around, shining her light down each tunnel. "You know what this reminds me of? I'm kind of getting SCP vibes... But without the scary music and sound effects..." She said, but she paused and squinted her eyes through the darkness when something caught her attention. What was it?

"I think I have an idea," Victoria suddenly said, standing up. "Since you're smaller than me, try getting on my shoulders, and I'll lift you up."

The idea sounded stupid. "Just so I get lost, and you remain stuck down here? No way. We're in this together."

"Then what do you suggest? We pick a random path and keep going?"

Ruth nodded. "Yep... Because that's all we can do at this point. Also, while you were contemplating a moment ago, I thought I heard something down that way," She pointed. "Not sure what it was, but I think we should check it out."

"That is honestly the worst thing we can do, Ruth... Do you know how crazy you sound right now? We could be trapped here until we die."

"I know... but what's the point of worrying when we could do our best to find a way out? Don't tunnels usually have multiple exits and entrances?" She asked, leading Victoria down the path.

"You say this reminds you of SCP... but I'm honestly thinking about that video I saw on YouTube where the guy got lost under an old underground passage and ended up dying. They never found his body. All that was left behind was his video camera."

Ruth shivered at the thought, recalling a similar video on YouTube by MrBallen. Everything uttered out of his mouth was a horror story, only it was facts. There was a reason she stopped watching those videos, because they gave her nightmares. Despite trying to be optimistic in this moment of fear, she couldn't help but wonder if she was leading them in the right direction. Would they ever see the light of day again?

Voices. Two of them.

That's what they heard the further they traveled down the path. Female voices bouncing off the walls in high-pitched hysterics. Hearing this, and realizing they probably weren't alone, Ruth and Victoria continued on the path, hoping it would lead them to these other people.

Bailey can hear something. There's a sort of familiarity to it, which adds to her internal belief that she must be in her Afterlife. Maybe it's her grandma? Doesn't sound Irish enough though... Not enough disparaging comments on her outfit, or well-meaning name-calling, for that matter.

With it settled that it couldn't be her grandma, Bailey grunted. The person talking unintelligibly talked faster and now shakes her at her shoulders. Bailey disliked this afterlife person, whoever they are. Where're the saints and angels and all that crap she was raised to believe in?

Prying her eyes open, she saw none of it.

"Huh? Su...Suzuno?"

A shriek of joy made her wince as she's engulfed in a warm hug. Now that Bailey thought about it, it's not very warm at all wherever they are. She distractedly hugged back before pushing away. Suzuno has tears in her eyes.

"What's the deal? Are you dead too?" Bailey asked, a bit defeated. She had hoped that given that Suzuno's parents had real estate and resources, she'd get away from the nastiest blowback from the world crumbling at Covid's feet. Suzuno tilted her head.

"Dead, what're you talking about? I thought you were dead but I was wrong, you're alive! But um... How'd you get here? Oh! But what do you mean dead?!" she waffled, too full of questions to land on one she wanted to ask first. Bailey took the flustered moment to gape at their surroundings. Cave wall. Another cave wall. Some more dank-ass cave wall. Yeah. The cavernous room has tunnels leading in and out from it, and the only reason she can see it is from tiny pinpricks of miserable light tearing through a fairly large area above them. Drops of water can be heard coming from somewhere too.

"Oh god, are we in hell?"

Suzuno puffed her cheeks out in frustration at her best friend's observation.

"Will you listen to me, we're totally alive! I opened a book back home and it blasted light at me and now I'm here! It was nice enough to let me have my bag, too. Now what's your excuse, Bae," she shot, earning a wince. Bailey hates that nickname, and Suzuno uses it to her advantage only when the need arises.

"I, well, you know it's just me n' my mom. When Covid blew up I guess I caught it," she explained, scratching her arm. To her annoyance, whatever brought her here left her in the goddamn hospital gown. If she's not careful her bare ass will be hanging out…

Her crass thoughts are interrupted by sniffles coming from Suzuno.

"S-s-s-so you r-really thought you were dead because you were dying?! Bailey!"

Bailey got point-two seconds to look concerned before yelping as she's tackled into a tight hug again.

"Stop stop stop, it's fine, we need to focus on the now!" Her plea worked, and Suzuno withdrew, wiping her eyes.

After a few seconds, she did venture to ask, "So maybe there was a book where you were?"

Bailey closed her eyes to think, and then tilted her head side to side.

"Maybe? I remember touching something that felt like a book. Thought it might've been a hallucination," she answered.

Then Bailey squinted at Suzuno and glanced at her bag.

"You wouldn't happen to have any clothes I can borrow, do you…?"

The idea was a bit laughable, though neither laughed. Bailey was a good head taller than Suzuno, and had the joys of European stockiness.

"That's a hospital gown? It almost looks like a karate Gi," Suzuno pointed out, but bobbed her head in acquiescence when Bailey motioned for her to look. After some rifling, some good news! Suzuno brought dark blue plaid pajama pants that were too big for her anyway! And a t-shirt with a pink bunny on it!

And so, after a quick change, Bailey threw aside the hospital gown with a sigh.

"Goin' commando and barefoot. Never thought I'd have another one'a those phases after elementary school!" Her joke resounded through the cavern, unsure and mostly for her own comfort. Pink bunnies weren't her style, but then again, if she hated them, she wouldn't be best friends with Suzuno at all.

"Sorry," her friend mumbled, zipping her bag back up and heaving it on her shoulders. Bailey snorted.

"Don't be sorry, Suzy-Q, you're saving my precious butt from mooning an innocent soul. So, which way are we going?"

Suzuno smiled, greatly comforted by the words of her best friend. After so long without her around, it was nice to hear her say stupid things. They begin their perusal of each bleak tunnel, with none of them seeming particularly welcoming.

But it's during this hummed inspection that they hear conversation. Voices. Other lady-person voices!

But Bailey, in the unfamiliar environment and having read Hunger Games over and over and over, snatched Suzuno's arm and dragged her through the tunnel the voices were echoing through.

"Hey, what're you doing?!"

"Sh! We're gonna go down this tunnel and find a place to hide. Whoever those people are, they're still far off, so we should have some time to find somewhere better to hide!"

"Bailey, this feels unnecessarily risky…"

"Just hush up n' run!"

Despite Victoria's refusal to continue further, lamenting her fears of the unknown that might jump from the shadows of the narrow passage, Ruth continued onwards, pulling her friend by the wrist. Just as a precaution, she tapped the small rubber button on her palm-sized flashlight, flickering its beam further ahead just in case there was a wild animal lurking around.

There were no animals, nor any other living soul within eyesight of their location, nothing but a steady fog rising at their feet, and at one point, the two found themselves climbing higher and higher up a rocky slope. Before long, a light ahead caught their notice, and determining its cause as a relation to the female voices, they quickened their pace.

It didn't take long before they reached the top, but what they found wasn't the light from another flashlight, but from a curious torch and its flickering red flame. It was the only one within this area, but several more continued down another passage to their right.

Ruth exchanged a curious stare with her friend. "I guess there are others down here!" She said, turning off her light with a triumphant cheer. "We must be close to an exit!"

Victoria surveyed her surroundings, her green eyes noting several barrels and crates snug in the corners of the room. But before Ruth could turn to down the lighted passage, she grabbed her arm and sternly pressed a finger to her mouth.

"Huh? What is it?" Ruth asked, lowering her voice into a whisper. When she noticed the strained expression on her friend's face, her green orbs shifting towards the barrels and crates to their right, she almost gasped in realization.

Two figures were knelt behind the crates, barely noticeable except for the fact that the nearest torch revealed their shadows. At this, the two stilled in an instant, their eyes wide with uncertainty as they mentally prepared themselves to run or fight for their lives.

"Come out from there! We can see you hiding!" Victoria said loudly, clenching her fists. "You're not fooling anyone!"

A slight movement caught their eye suddenly, a harsh whisper barely audible, and then a figure stepped out of the shadows with a scornful expression. Bright red hair, large blue eyes, a pale countenance and adorned in dark blue plaid pants and a bunny t-shirt.

The sight of the pajama wearing female certainly caught them off guard, but when another crawled out behind her and stood next to her, her black hair bound above her head and her large golden eyes wide with fear, Ruth and Victoria felt their earlier fear begin to diminish.

These did not look like dangerous people, and they certainly weren't wild animals that they should run from. Nor did they seem to have any weapons on them either. In fact, they also seemed quite lost and out of place, just like them.

Despite Victoria and the red-head still glaring daggers at one another, Ruth waved her hand and smiled in greeting. "Hi! We thought we heard other female voices down this way. I guess it was you two, huh? Are you guys also lost?"

The red-haired female shifted her glare to her. "And if we are?"

Victoria noted the hostility in her voice and narrowed her eyes. "No need to get defensive. She was only asking."

The female scoffed. "Can't blame me for not trusting you. We know nothing about each other. What a strange coincidence that you also claim to be lost in these tunnels."

Ruth blinked and mulled over her words. "I guess that makes sense..." She said, unperturbed by the two glaring daggers at each other, so she instead turned her gaze to the blacked hair female. "My name is Ruth, and this is my friend, Victoria. We were actually on our way to Columbus to hide out in a bunker because Corona and all, but we woke up outside of this mountain cave."

The girl's eyes widened at this as she slowly nodded. "A mountain? So, we're inside a mountain right now?"

Ruth nodded. "Yep," She said, turning her eyes back to Victoria. "I guess it's a good thing we got lost. Otherwise, we wouldn't have found these two."

Victoria rolled her eyes. "I wouldn't get our hopes up just yet, Ruth. We still don't know how to get out of this place."

The two females exchanged a look and whispered to each other. Before long, the black-haired girl introduced herself. "Sorry for not trusting you immediately... My name is Suzuno, and this is Bailey. We aren't entirely sure how we got here... but as unbelieving as it might sound, the last thing we remember was a bright light..."

Victoria raised a brow. "Huh? A bright light?" She asked, faintly recalling something similar happening, but she had thought it was nothing more than just a dream she conjured.

Ruth gasped. "A light?! Was there perhaps... a book involved?!"

Suzuno nodded, her brows furrowing suddenly. "Y-yes... There was!"

"Was it old and leathery looking with weird animal pictures inside it?"

Suzuno quickly nodded, her eyes widening even further. "Yes! It said something about making our wishes come true after turning the page!"

"Was it titled something along the lines of The Universe of the-"

"Four Gods!" Suzuno finished, nearly jumping on her toes in excitement. "Oh my gosh! You found the book too?! Was there a flash of light that shot out of it?!"

Ruth nodded just the same, raising her fists in front of her as her face mouth contorted into an excited grin. "Yes! There was a red and silver light that Victoria and I saw before we passed out!"

Victoria furrowed her brow. "Wait... I thought that was a dream?"

Ruth shook her head. "No, it really happened!" She said, turning back to Bailey and Suzuno. "And then... well, we don't remember what happened after that and when we woke up, we were outside next to a mountain in the pouring rain. We assumed someone stole the car and left us stranded."

Suzuno gasped and grabbed Bailey arm, trying to shake the disgruntled look off her face. "Hey, they're in the same predicament as us! Do you think we were pulled into that weird book?!"

"What?" Victoria and Bailey asked in disbelief before sharing another glare with one another.

"This isn't some anime where we're pulled into another world!" Victoria said, shooting down Suzuno's initial excitement over the idea. "This is real life, not a cartoon."

Bailey couldn't help but agree with her. "That is true. This isn't an isekai."

Ruth frowned at her friend's refusal to believe in the idea. "I don't think it's impossible. What if it's true?"

"You only say that because you watch too much anime, Ruth," Victoria sweat dropped. "How does that even make sense?"

"Then are you saying we hallucinated the same thing? That we both had the same dream? If that's the case, then how do you explain how Suzuno and Bailey found the book and saw that same light?" She asked, hands on her hips as she waited for her friend to answer.

Victoria didn't say anything immediately, her gaze shifting to the other two females. "It just doesn't make sense! How would they have the same book you had? Are you saying it can magically teleport?"

Suzuno suddenly cut it. "It seems like the only reason we have to believe in right now. Everything that Ruth and I described from the book, we also witnessed. So, it must have teleported to each of us when we needed it the most."

Again, Victoria seemed disbelieving in the idea. "When we needed it the most?"

Suzuno nodded. "Yes! After all, we come from the same world since Ruth mentioned Covid. I'm not sure what your story is, but I was about to run away from home because of some creep my mom and dad invited in to help build a shelter, when I suddenly discovered the book. That light brought me here, and soon after, Bailey appeared beside me in a blue light."

Ruth awed at the story and turned to Bailey. "So, what about you, Bailey? How did the book wind up in your hands?"

After having stood there for so long listening to them prattle on about magical books, Bailey sighed and took a moment to think about it. "I was in the hospital, waiting for death to take me. I had covid really bad, and I'm not sure how long I was there for, but then the book appeared on my lap. I thought someone placed it there... I also saw a light."

Suzuno nodded. "When she appeared beside me, she thought she had woken up in hell—"

"A valid assumption, considering the cave, thank you!" Bailey defends quickly after the raised eyebrows she gets. Suzuno sweatdrops at her friend and continues.

"But shortly after that, we heard your voices and we weren't sure if those voices were good or bad."

Ruth sighed in relief. "So that's why you two were hiding. Well, I'm glad we're not the only ones here. It must be true then, that we're inside the book," She said, earning yet another disbelieving stare from both Victoria and Bailey. "Believe what you want to believe, but Suzuno and I are going with what makes the most sense. Right, Suzuno?"

She smiled. "Yes. Hopefully, there's no covid here..."

"I should hope not," Ruth said, laughing. "We don't need another world ending on us."

"Agreed!"