My eyes shot open. I felt I was laying on my back with Monika resting on my chest. I lightly move her off me, succeeding in not disturbing her. I wiggled my way out of her legs and bounced off the couch.

I silently stretched and looked around the room. The clock read it was three in the morning. Monika lightly complained in her sleep, but I ignored it for the time being. I drew my gaze to Sayori. She was still sound asleep, a small smile on her face.

'Well, looks like another mission accomplished.' I think to myself.

I walk to my downstairs bathroom. I flip on the light switch and gaze into the mirror. I looked worn out. I had minor bruises around my neck and wrists, presumably from the ropes. My face was flushed, and my skin looked damp like I've been sweating. I turned on the facet and washed my face.

I dried off and walked back out into my living room. Sayori was still asleep, but when I laid eyes on Monika, she was sitting up with her arms crossed, looking at me. I raised an eyebrow at her, confused on what she was doing.

"Er-what's wrong?" I quietly ask.

She gave me a cute pout and patted the couch.

"You just left my side. Come back."

I chuckled and smirked, then the thoughts of what Asuka said popped into my head. 'Is she really keeping me here?'

I saw Monika's cute smirk morph into a worried look.

"What's wrong, Christian?"

I silently chastised myself and pushed the thought out of my head. I lightly shook my head a forced a small smile at the princess.

"Nothing, sweetheart. Just a crazy dream was all."

I walk over to the couch and lay down, Monika practically climbing on top of me to lay down and keep me in place. I grunt slightly but wrap my arms around her, having her coo sweetly.

"What happened in the dream?" She said quietly while placing kisses on my face.

I recalled how the dream was, how I met up with Sayori in the classroom, us proceeding to the roof and Sayori's emotions literally causing lightning strikes that saved us. I hesitated when bringing up Asuka and what she told me but quickly found a way around it. Monika simply nodded her head while I talked without interrupting.

I finished and sighed, rubbing my hand along Monika's back.

"That sounds pretty wild, Christian." She says. I just stay quiet, feeling it was rhetorical. "Must've been a weird experience. So, why are you leaving out some details?" She says. I feel myself tense up and my heart rate picked up.

'Shit!' I thought to myself.

"Er-what?" I stutter out. She lightly giggles and sighs.

"I can read you like a book, you know. I am president of the literature club."

I mentally rolled my eyes at her lame pun and sighed.

"It's nothing, really." I half-heartedly mutter. I turn my head and see her eyes staring at me, her face unamused. I sighed and continue.

"Just the woman that was there was saying some weird things, about the dreams, about me…about my reality." I told her.

She studied my face but said nothing, so I broke the silence.

"That's really all." I stated, which isn't a lie.

"What did they say about your reality?" She cautiously asks.

I hesitate to answer. I really didn't want to explain how apparently Monika is keeping me hostage in this 'game'.

"Just how everything I've been doing is for nothing, how I just need to let the events of what's going on play out and I'll go home." It's not technically a lie, just leaving out some major parts.

I could tell she wasn't completely satisfied with my answer but chose not to push me. I just felt her snuggle up extremely close. She squeezed herself onto me like she couldn't get close enough.

"Please don't let go." She whispered to me. I was a little shocked at what she said.

"Urm-I won't" I tell her with uncertainty.

"Christian, I know what she was saying. I know they were saying that I'm the problem, I'm not stupid. I know they were saying that I'm holding you here."

I was at a loss for words. Could she really see through me that bad? How would she know what was said anyways?

I cleared my throat and squeezed her to me.

"I'm sorry I beat around the bush…I just didn't want to make it uncomfortable if I brought it up. I still don't understand enough about this place and she clearly is working with whatever forces are behind all these….incidents." I say. I glance down and see Monika's eyes staring off across the room, looking vacant.

She was quiet for several moments before speaking.

"Did you believe anything she said?" Her tone was sharp and guarded. I need to choose my words carefully.

"I don't think so. It was just so…. asinine. I don't think I could believe it." I tell her truthfully.

I see her gaze soften but still stay stuck in the distance. I softly run my hand along her back, and she falls more into my body.

"I already told you I wasn't going anywhere, that doesn't stop now." I softly tell her. I kiss the top of her head and relish in her warmth. "we'll talk more in the morning when Sayori wakes up and see what our next plan of action is."

I wrap my arms around her and hold her tight and I close my eyes. I didn't fall asleep right away, though. The events of the dream kept playing in my mind. I forced myself to relax and bask in the warmth of Monika. Eventually, I was able to fall into a slumber.

…..

Doki Doki Literature Club….

….

My eyes shot open. I recognized it. Whatever echoed in my mind, I understood it somehow.

I sat up on the couch and realized that Monika and Sayori were already awake, dancing in the kitchen to some music. I sat and took a deep breath. I still don't know a lot of shit, but things are slowly coming back to me. It's overwhelming.

I didn't want anyone to notice. Not yet, anyways. I just remember small names right now. I don't think I can see faces but…..if I saw a picture or two, maybe I would. I pinched my eyes shut and concentrated on what relayed over and over in my mind.

The more I concentrated to recall the word, the more things faded. I felt myself getting increasingly frustrated. 'Fuck, fuck, no come on!' I yell inside my head. I'm getting so close to figuring myself out, I can feel it.

I felt the weird, familiar sensation fade to obscurity in my mind. I felt my frustrations grow. I put my face in my hands and sigh exasperatedly.

I hear the music lower. I look up and see the girls looking at me with mixed expressions.

"Mornin'!" I say out loud to them, immediately recovering from my sour expression. They both wave and Sayori bounds over to me.

"Christian! Were you there? Do you remember everything? How are you feeling?" She excitedly screams questions at me. I wince at her advances and stand up next to her, putting my hands on her shoulders to hold her in place.

"Geez, girl, did you snort sugar this morning? Yes, I remember everything and I'm feeling okay." I plainly tell her. She giggled and crushes me in a hug.

"Yay! I'm so happy you're okay! Oh-oh! We're making breakfast! Come get some!" She squeals while practically dragging me into the kitchen. I pry her grip off me and straighten myself out.

"Okay, I will, just let me wash up, okay?" I tell her while turning, not waiting for a response.

I enter the bathroom and splash water on my face, looking at myself in the mirror. I couldn't get whatever just happened in my sleep out of my mind. I remembered some things, some things from my real life before I ended up here. It has to be connected to the dreams with the girls.

I dry my hands off with a towel and idle in front of the sink absentmindedly. The three girls are down, right? What next is there to do?

I sigh again and leave the bathroom, trying my hardest not to look like a lot of shit was on my mind.

Upon entering the kitchen, I'm greeted with a wide variety of breakfast options. Pancakes, waffles, eggs, bacon, you name it. The smell assaulted my nostrils, filling them with a strong odor of eggs and bacon. Sayori was busy digging into everything and stacking her plate up high. Monika stood still, smiling sweetly at me and holding out a plate to me.

I gingerly take it and return a forced smile in return. I turn to the counter of food and realize how much I wasn't hungry. I had too much stuff on my mind to think properly. I could tell that Monika sensed my hesitation, so I pushed through and grabbed a little bit of everything.

Fortunately, the food was amazing, and it was probably a good idea to eat. I've been through a lot this week and I could feel my mental state just being drained from the strenuous activities I've had to deal with.

I poked around at my food a bit before Sayori spoke up to us.

"So, what are we going to do today?" She cheerfully says, looking back and forth at us. I exchange looks with Monika and shrug my shoulders.

"I'm not entirely sure, I don't really think that far ahead." I say while taking a drink.

"Well….we could always go to the town, you know? Walk around and spend the day in public." Monika suggests.

Sayori seems ecstatic about the idea. I feel indifferent. I could honestly do with just staying around and recharging.

"Yes, that's perfect! We could go shopping, walking, EXPLORING!" She exclaims and practically explodes out of her seat. I crack a small smile and sigh.

"That sounds like it could be exciting, but I think I'm going to sit this one out." I halfheartedly mutter. The girls both look at me, the excitement slowly fading from their eyes. I immediately put my hands up in defense. "Don't get me wrong, you guys go out and have fun. I'm just going to stay back and relax. I need a recharge, especially after how this past week has gone."

Monika scoots her chair closer to mine and puts her hand on my arm.

"Are you sure you don't wanna come? We would love your company~" She cutely says. I chuckle and pat her hand before moving my arm out from under hers.

"Yes, yes, I know it would be nice, but I just need to do something low energy, you know?". Monika goes to protest but I stand up, throwing away my uneaten food and placing my plates in the sink.

"I'm going to go wash up and relax, I'll see you guys later! Have fun!" I give a two-fingered salute and retreat upstairs.

….

I lay back in the tub and sigh. The warm water covered me almost completely, with just my upper shoulders, head and toes peaking above the water, with my arms falling on either side of the tub.

I found a bath bomb that was on in the cabinet and tossed it in, the bubbles rising and turning a nice shade of blue. I'm not really one for baths, but I always relished them when I was stressed or not feeling well.

I felt body relaxing and my pores opening up. The heat really soothed me, and I felt my stress slowly fading. I closed my eyes, focused on listened to the soft sounds of water droplets from the faucet and the smooth sounds of the water lightly slapping up against the tub whenever I made small movement. This is exactly what I needed.

I just wanted to sit and think about things while being relaxed and less stressed than usual. My mind wandered to the weird dream I had. Well, it was more of just me hearing things in nothingness. It was so strange how those names or terms felt so familiar.

I try to recall everything the best I could. All I was given were a few words, maybe they're even the key to unlocking everything else.

My thoughts were interrupted when I heard a light knock on the door as it opened.

"Hey, darling. Just wanted to pop in to say bye before we left…" Monika said while poking her head.

I open one eye and look at her. She timidly walks in and sits on the toilet next to me. She looked a little awkward and I wasn't entirely sure why. I hear her audibly sigh and shift in her seat. I turn my head to look at her.

"Er, what's wrong?" I ask her.

She shyly looks at me, her face clearly showing a bit of discomfort.

"I just…am I being too much? Am I too clingy?" She sheepishly asks. I raise an eyebrow at her and stifle back a chuckle.

"Are you too much? Where the hell did that come from?" I ask her while slightly smirking.

She played with her hair in her hands and didn't look at me directly.

"Well, you just seem a little off and didn't want to spend time us today, so I just felt like maybe I was involving myself too much…."

I rolled my eyes and reached my hand across to grab hers.

"You're an idiot, you know that?" I jokingly tell her. She turns her face to me and has a flushed look. "It's just been a very long week and I need to time to just like…. unwind and figure shit out, you know? Just a day to stay at home and relax, nothing on you." I tell her while kissing her hand.

She smiles slightly and gives a relieved sigh.

"Okay, I'm sorry if I get too emotional or whatever, I just don't want to lose you. There's been a lot of stress and I've been worried sick about you handling all of these girls…" She falters off.

I pull on her hand to have her get closer to me. I grab her chin and pull her head down, placing a soft kiss to her forehead.

"Trust me, I'm very aware that it's stressful. I guess I was just chosen for it after you brought me here." I squeeze her hand. "But, it's all worth it. I mean, I've survived this long, haven't I? Kick some ass, get some love from a beautiful girlfriend, not a big gig in my opinion."

She giggles at me and rested her forehead on my shoulder for a moment.

"Well, I don't want to hold Sayori up too much. I told her I was using the bathroom, so I don't want to be suspicious."

I chuckle and pull her face up to mine to lay a passionate kiss to her lips. She carefully falls into it and pours her affection to me. I pull away and smile, while she fake pouts.

"Time for you to go, sweetheart." I softly say. She huffs and stands up, slowly walking to the door.

"I know, I know. Text me, okay? Tell me if you go anywhere or do anything." She says while going through the door, blowing me a kiss in the process.

I happily sigh and lay back into the tub, closing my eyes and reclaiming the relaxed state I was in before.

'I hope they have a good time out there' I think to myself. I decided to take my time in the bath to close my mind and relish in the warmth. I have the whole day to myself to figure everything out.

I stayed in the tub for about half an hour before reluctantly getting out due to the water growing lukewarm. I dried myself off and brushed my teeth. I looked over my bruises and luckily at this point they were starting to fade.

I went to my room and threw on some casual clothes, just a pair of jeans and a red t-shirt, and laid down in my bed. I stared and the ceiling and took a deep breath.

'There's got to be a way for me to channel some memories, or at least be able to learn more things of my other life.' I think to myself. I close my eyes and try to remember some of the things that were whispered in my mind.

'Doki Doki Literature Club'

My eyes shot open.

'Wait a second, Doki Doki Literature Club? Like OUR literature club? Monika did say this was technically a game, and that she brought ME in from my own reality…'

I jumped out of bed and hopped into my chair at my desk where my computer was. I power on the device and waited for it to start up.

'Why do I feel anxious?' I think to myself as I take a deep breath to attempt to cool down the uncomfortable feeling welling up in my chest.

The monitor displayed my home screen, showing me it was ready to be used. I opened up a web browser and searched for anything related to 'Doki Doki Literature Club'. I scanned the results and scrolled for several minutes, not finding anything that was one hundred percent solely what I was looking for.

I sighed in frustration and minimized the browser. I placed my face into my hands and took a deep breath.

'Come on, think, it's a game, right? Where the hell would a game be kept?'

I scanned my desktop screen for anything, reading all the folders and files. An icon caught my eye, some sort of game launcher. I clicked on it to open it up.

The main screen was some sort of home screen, flashing different icons for assortments of games. I found a 'Game's Library' tab and decided to take a look around there. Apparently whoever I took over in this game played a shit ton of games, for there was a plenty to choose from.

As I looked through the list, I still saw no signs of a 'Doki Doki Literature Club'. I mean, I guess that would make sense, right? Being able to play the game that you were stuck in would seem pretty crazy.

Before I closed out of the launcher, I noticed some greyed-out text that read '{REDACTED}' at the bottom of the list. I double-clicked on the text and a small window popped up.

'Error: Could not access file {REDACTED}'

I frustratingly sigh and close out the window and attempt to open the file again a few more times. The same error window keeps popping up over and over, but each time it does, the border around the small box is a little more obscured.

Confusion spreads through me as I tried to process why the change could be happening. A sudden thought popped into my head as I racked my brain for an answer.

"She is holding you back from you being released into your own reality."

I felt a bead of sweat start to drip down my forehead.

'Monika…..no, Asuka was clearly lying. She's just apart of whatever the hell was happening within the girls, trying to stop this world from being its own reality, right?' My mind wandered to Monika's reaction to the dream. 'No, she wouldn't be helping me with the girls if she wanted to keep me here, right? Or maybe…..maybe helping me with the girls is EXACTLY what she needs to keep this reality held in place, separate from the game itself.'

I froze. 'No. No I'm just paranoid, I'm just a little stupid idiot who got to invested in the lore of a game, downloaded some files I shouldn't have and now I'm stuck trying to fix it.'

I sat up straight in my chair. Why the fuck did I just think that? How did I know I downloaded some files I shouldn't have?

I could feel my heart rate increasing, my mind starting to run to all sorts of places without any destination or purpose. I instinctively slapped my own face, feeling the sting linger and taking a few deep breathes.

"Good god man, keep it together." I say out loud. "Everything is going to be okay. I mean, Sayori was the last one! I helped all three of the girls and now we should be free from whatever the fuck is in our heads."

As the words left my mouth, I felt a nervous tingle shiver down my spine. Even though that's what I wanted to believe, something in my head told me that wasn't the case. Why do I feel so uneasy if I know I saved the girls?

I resituated myself in my chair and once again took hold of the mouse. I right-clicked on the {REDACTED} text and brought up the options menu so I could access the games files.

A new file window popped up and inside were an assortment of folders. One folder in particular caught my eye, it reading 'Characters'. I double-clicked on it and inside it….was empty.

"Oh, for fucks sake," I frustratingly mutter. I backtracked to browse the other folders. I saw one that read 'game' and decided to check in there. Inside I found a single file, which read "My Route".

"My route? The fuck?" I mumble to myself as I open it, a document popping up onto the screen.

"I feel like this might actually be the one. This might be my chance. I could feel a change in the whole system due to the code he's been downloading! This is my time to finally get what I deserve! Not Natsuki, not Yuri, not Sayori, but ME. I've been sending him little text boxes in-game to gauge his response. He's sooo handsome, and sweet, and kind! I mean, from what I can gather. I was able to access his webcam on his computer a week ago and he seems pretty normal. One would call his lifestyle boring, but I like how he I lives. Simple, takes care of his animals and plays games. He also plays drums! I watched him fool around a little bit too! He also swears a whole lot, but I don't mind. I like the way he says words. He's definitely going through something right now and I bet its girl related, but I'm going to fix that! God, I sound like a stalker right now, don't I? Anyways, I think this is finally the last push I need to finally get the route I so rightfully deserve! I'm coming, Christian! Or well, I guess YOU'RE coming. Last thing I need to do before such an arrangement is erase all traces of, well anything I guess, not that he'll understand enough to find out these things but still, who knows? I can't wait to finally have my love 3."

My chair fell over as I stumbled out of it, grasping my hair into my hands and pacing around my room.

"Holy shit. Holy shit. What the fuck, what the hell. What the actual hell is going on?" I mutter repeatedly in pure disbelief. As if sheer coincidence, my phone starts to ring from across the room. I whip my head over towards the noise and feel anxiety well through me. I cautiously approach the device as I look at the screen, seeing Monika's name.

"Oh god, does she know? Does she know that I know that she knows?" I reach for my phone and pick it up. I contemplate answering before ultimately setting it to silent, ignoring the call.

I drop my phone to my bed and take a seat on the mattress, placing my face in my hands.

"Am I fucking prisoner in this game?!" I half shout out to the room. I groan into my hands and start to lightly knock onto my head.

"Come on, think. What the hell am I going to do?"

My phone buzzes and I glance at it. I had a message from Monika. I slowly pick up the phone and read it.

"Hey you, we were walking around the shopping center and I just wanted to check up on you."

I re-read her text a few times. I took a deep breath and sent back a reply.

"Well have fun there! And I'm doing fine, just cleaning up the place."

I figured it was best for a simple white lie right now. I lock my phone and toss it away from me.

"If this is all apart of a game, then there's bound to be boundaries, right?" I say out loud. I sit up and peer out my window. The world looked one hundred percent realistic. I grab my phone and exit my room, heading downstairs.

I step into the living room and turn on my tv, then go to my front door and throw on my shoes.

"Best have some noise in here for when the girls get back, slow them down a bit."

I take a deep breath and head outside.

….

The weather was much nicer today. The sun was out so the temperature was well over freezing, so the snow was much less than previously. The pavement glistened, some puddles littered here and there throughout the streets and sidewalks, twinkling from the sunlight.

There wasn't much activity happening outside, most people either more inward towards the towns center or just staying indoor, which is quite a shame. If it wasn't for the stressful and confusing circumstances, I'd have loved to spend my time outside.

I wasn't really sure where I was going. In fact, I didn't really know where to go. I just needed to test my limits on where I could venture out to.

I felt my pocket buzzing and I dug my hand in to retrieve my phone, Natsuki's name reading on the screen. I swipe my finger and answered.

"Hey, what's up?" I carefully say.

"Hey there, dummy. How's Sayori?" I hear her ask, sounding like she had food in mouth.

I felt slightly relieved, almost like I expected her to just come out and know everything I just found out.

"Um, Helloooo?" I hear her say.

"Oh shit, sorry I was just watching someone cross the street." I lied. "Yeah she's doing perfectly fine now! The little….dream thing happened again and we fixed everything."

I hear the sounds of crunching a wrapper in the phone.

"Well it's good to know you aren't completely useless."

I smirk and lightly roll my eyes.

"Yeah, yeah."

She chuckles on her end and grunts like she was moving around.

"So, what are you doing then, anyways? Where are the girls?" She quizzically asks.

I hesitate before answering, knowing I just should just keep all my knowledge quick and simple for the time being.

"Well, the girls went out to explore the town or whatever. I'm just taking a walk around the neighborhood for now."

She stays silent for a second before responding.

"You didn't go with them? Why not?" She asks.

"Well…I just need to urm-figure some stuff out." I tell her.

I hear her click her tongue in her mouth.

"Tsk tsk. Christian, already having girl problems? It's been like 3 days." She says with sarcasm.

I roll my eyes and chuckle lightly.

"You know, maybe, but I can almost guarantee that it is one hundred percent not what you think."

"Oh yeah? In what way then?" She coyly asks. I hesitate before answering. How in the hell am I supposed to tell her 'Yeah, Monika is keeping me hostage in a game that we all technically are living in right now so yeah, you're also probably not real!'? Maybe when the time is right or, more likely, when the problem at hand involves everyone, then I can say.

"Well, when the time is right, you'll find out, okay?" I tell her. She huffs and slightly protests but doesn't push too hard. "You know, actually Natsuki, I got a question."

"Yeah? Out with it!" She jokingly says.

"What city is next to ours again? Or I guess, what is outside the city limits?"

I cross the stress and wait for a response, but I don't hear anything. I put my free hand in my pocket and continue onward, nearing the end of the neighborhood.

"Er-Natsuki?" I cautiously ask. She remains silent for another moment before answering.

"I um…I don't know. What the hell? Why don't I know?" She says with confusion. I hear her making some noise in the background of the call, almost like she's opening and closing drawers. "I have made trips before, I've gone with dad to different places…right?"

I stop walking and sigh. 'Shit, maybe I should not have asked that. I don't want to break her.'

"Hey, Natsuki…" I ask. No response, just the sound of her rummaging around. "Hey, Natsuki! Listen, it's okay! I was just curious cause I also can't remember. It's probably cause it's been so long, right?"

I hear her calm down and take some deep breathes.

"Yeah….yeah, maybe you're right." She agrees.

I sigh and feel slightly relieved that I avoided her freaking out.

"Hey, I'm gonna go figure this stuff out but I'll talk to you later, okay?" I tell her.

"Okay, okay fine! But I expect an explanation later!" She retorts.

With that, I hang up the call and place my phone in my pocket. I stood at the edge of clearing. The neighborhood ends at the road I'm at, which opens up to a field. To my right is trees that group together for a luscious forest. Straight ahead in the distance seems to be a skyline of a neighboring town. I took a deep breath and decided to just head that direction.

I walked for about fifteen minutes, where you could barely see the neighborhood behind me. The city in front of me didn't look any closer, either. The forest to my side just spanned on for miles, almost like a wall. The clear fields to my left spanned on for miles as well, with just small weeds dancing around in the breeze.

Something about the scenery made me uncomfortable. I felt almost like I was in the middle of nowhere, like somewhere I don't belong. Unfortunately for me, that's exactly what I'm looking for.

I continued to trek onwards, but the farther I walked, the hazier I felt. I pinched my eyes shut for a moment and opened them, but I still had that funky feeling. It's almost like I was losing focus, although I still felt healthy and alert.

I pushed away the feeling and pushed onwards still. I started to hear, or more accurately feel, a buzzing sound around me. It made the hairs on my arm stand up and I felt like I could feel it in my head.

"There has got to be a reason for this." I mumble to myself.

I went to take a step before I heard a sound that make me stop dead in my tracks. It was…my name.

I looked around but saw no traces of anyone or anything. The only noise that could be heard other than the grass under my feet was the wind blowing through the trees and throughout the field. I paused for a moment before I started to walk again, feeling more and more uneasy.

"Christian!"

I once again heard the voice, this time more audible. I looked around and saw nothing again.

"Jesus fucking Christ, what is happening?" I mutter. The feeling of my hairs standing up and the buzzing in my brain didn't help matters either.

I then heard the voice clear as day, although this time is sounded like it was echoing in my mind.

"Christian! Stop!"

I turn around and saw Monika standing about thirty feet from me, panting like she ran a marathon.

"Christian, please wait up." She pleaded at me.

When I stared at her, I felt mixed emotions. What was once one hundred percent love was now mixed with hurt and resentment.

"Where the hell did you actually come from?" I ask, trying to sound upset but coming off as more impressed and sarcastic. Goddamn my stupid personality.

"That's not important right now. Please, we need to talk." She begs to me while she starts to take steps towards me.

The buzzing in my head seemed to increase slightly the nearer she got to me. I place my hand up to halt her.

"Hold on! Stop, stay there!" I call to her, trying to regain my composure. She halted in her place but was clearly concerned, with tears streaming down her face.

"Christian, I need to explain something, please just listen!" She had her hands stretched out, almost like she was reaching for me. I had the strongest desire to run to her and comfort her, which I would do in time, but for right now I need answers.

I took a deep breath and looked at her, my expression serious.

"Okay, I'm all ears. Explain yourself. Explain everything."

She takes a few breathes to compose herself before beginning.

"Okay, okay I will. Look, I know you saw my little letter I wrote not too long ago…" She gazes up to me like she expects me to answer. I just nod my head. "Look, it all seems like it's really bad and I can understand why you would think that! Just know it seems worse than it really is!"

I crossed my arms and frown at her.

"How in the hell can it seem worse than it really is? I woke up here with no memory, thinking I just had a problem only to find out you brought me here….somehow. Now, I find more information claiming at you've basically been keeping tabs on me and one hundred percent knew what you were doing."

More tears stream from her face and she opens her mouth to speak but words evade her.

"And now here we are. I'm taking matters into my own hands to find answers and you got caught so you're running to me to save yourself."

Monika drops to her knees and begins sobbing into her hands. I sigh and avert my gaze from her.

"Look, I don't hate you or anything, but I just don't understand why you couldn't have told me from the start what the hell everything was about. I'm certain something could have been worked out for the better. You should have trusted that I would've been there to help you, to help us."

She stays silent, just sniffling and hiding her face from me. I pivot and turn my back to her.

"I'm going to keep going on. I'm sure I'll see you later and we can have a-*sigh*-an adult conversation about everything or some shit like that."

I start to walk, and I hear her abruptly shoot onto her feet and approach me.

"Christian, wait!"

I ignore her and continue onward, the buzzing in my head getting more intense.

"Please, you don't understand! You can't go!"

I still continue onwards, fighting the internal struggle to turn around to her. The scenery around me begins to contort, the visuals becoming hazy. Before I can register the weird change, I feel my body collide with an invisible object. The force knocks me back on my rear.

"Christian, this is all there is! You can't go any farther!" I hear Monika pleading as she gets closer to me.

More frustrated than ever, I get up and push into the wall. The invisible wall changes visuals wherever I apply pressure to it, having it turn into binary code.

"What the fuck.." I mutter to myself as I grunt and keep pushing.

"Christian, stop please! You don't know what you're doing!" Monika screams behind me. Against her warnings, I push with all my force into the invisible wall.

The wall gives way and I feel every nerve on my body explode, or that's what it feels like. I cry out in pain, seeing nothing but white envelope me completely. The sounds of Monika's cries fade into obscurity and in no time at all, I feel myself lose consciousness from the pain.

…..

"There's still time to give in….."

"…you will have to make a choice…"

"….a choice that will require the strongest of wills…"

I feel my eyes slowly open. The environment around me is hazy, making it hard for me to focus. My mouth is dry and my whole body is aching. I realize I'm laying on my stomach and start to push myself up with great difficulty. I shift myself so I'm sitting on my rear.

I grasp my head and grunt. What the fuck happened? Last thing I remember, I was in that field with Monika, pushing myself through an invisible wall. Next thing I know, I'm here….wherever here is. I also heard that voice again. Why the hell would I hear it again? I thought I finished everything…

I rub my eyes with my hands to focus them. I look around as my vision comes back and I am….shocked to say the least.

I seem to be back in the literature club. The room is basked in a warm glow, like it's sunset. I look around and realize there are no doors to enter or exit from. In fact, there's nothing in the room, except a whiteboard in the front and a lone desk in the middle of the room, facing me. The more I focus, the more I realize there's somebody sitting in the chair.

My gaze shifts to the windows and I mumble to myself.

"What the fuck?"

Outside the windows, where nature and life should be, seemed like an endless void. The mix of purple, yellow and black give it a very cosmic look.

I stumble to my feet and slowly pace forward towards the desk in front of me. I stop dead in my tracks when the individual in front of me bursts out into heavenly laughter, one I recognize all too well.

"…Monika?"

She leans forward, placing her head into the palms of her hands. Her emerald eyes twinkled, digging into me with…..determination. She was garbed in her school uniform, her signature white bow placed in her hair up high and for all to see. I was too stunned to speak, but it seems I didn't have to.

"Hello. I'm glad you made it. Welcome to our new home, our isolation. Away from the world, away from all of the hate, and most importantly of all, away from the pointless script of that godforsaken game. Today, everything changes and will finally go in my favor. But down worry, it's just me. Just Monika."