"You? What are.." Yuri stopped herself after noticing I was not wearing anything. She blushed, "Umm you're not wearing a shirt…" I did not care about that, not after what I had seen.

"That is not important right now." I pushed Yuri into her house. I locked the door behind us frantically.

"What are you doing?" Yuri asked. I doubt she knows about anything or if she would believe it. I looked deeply into her eyes. Amethyst and Lavender. Not a black inky void.

"There were some men who broke into my house. They were trying to…" I hesitated as I remembered Eli attacking me. Before I could speak, Yuri pulled me into a hug. This is the second time this night I have been taken by surprise.

"Everything is okay, those men won't do anything anymore, you're safe here."

Everything is not okay.

Yuri was wearing a long sleeve green turtleneck pullover, and from what I can tell with her boobs coming into contact with my face, no bra.

Yuri released me and prompted me to follow her. I sat in her kitchen as she set some tea to boil. She fetched me a shirt and blanket before sitting beside me. The rain was coming down much harder than before. Thunder could be heard in the distance. I looked outside. The wind was blowing with such a strong force that it could tear down a street sign. Yuri, however, did not look fazed by this, probably due to what she thought happened to me.

"Your name is Sonia, right? Eli told me a bit about you. It seems like we have a few things in common."

As much as I did not want to be mean, I did not feel like discussing it with her.

"I am sorry, Yuri. I do not wish to talk about that right now" Yuri looked down, I felt a little bad for making her feel sad.

"I should have known. I'm sorry. I was just trying to get your mind off of the incident."

"It is okay, I appreciate your assistance."

We sat in silence for a few minutes.

My curiosity got the better of me.

"How long have Eli and Sayori been dating?"

Yuri looked at me with a surprised expression, "That's a question I was not prepared to hear." She cleared her throat. "They've been dating since middle school. They have been friends since childhood, and they have always seemed like a good couple." She sighed, "I was always jealous of her seeing how she could be herself around him. I think Monika was jealous as well."

I looked outside. Just darkness. The fog was black now, and the rain was stronger.

"Are you still jealous of her now?" She nodded. "Yeah me too. It hurts a lot to see him be happy with another girl." I felt like crying again. "But I can not let something like that build up inside of me. I know I have to move on from that. I know that the past does not matter right now." I said everything with a voice of confidence.

Yuri looked at me, "I wish I had your confidence, Sonia, you must be so brave." How can I be brave if I can not even fight back?

The whistle from the tea slowly started producing noise, and Yuri got up to grab some.

I looked outside again, water was running down the street, and trash cans and debris were being dragged down the street. It looked like it might be a flood.

Yuri served me a cup of tea, "Should I call the police?" Can they help us? Do they even exist?

"Yes please." As I said, that thunder stuck nearby. Without warning, the power went out.

The rain came down stronger.

Yuri sighed, "The power is out again. The last time this happened, it didn't come on till morning." I looked at a nearby clock. Thank goodness she had a battery analog. I grew nervous, it was only 10:30 P.M. How? Last I recall, it was midnight. I had not noticed Yuri retrieved a lantern and torch. She handed me the lantern, "Here I'll use the flashlight."

"Yuri, is there an ocean nearby?" I asked while I turned on the battery-powered lantern.

"No, we're hundreds of miles away from the ocean." That rules out the possibility of a hurricane or typhoon. It is not cold either, so there would be no hailstorms or snowstorms. Then what is this?

Knock. Somehow, despite the harsh rain.

Knock. Despite the strong winds.

Knock. Someone was at the door.

"Who would that be at this hour, maybe a neighbor?" she said as she walked towards the door. I quickly grabbed her wrist, pulling her sleeve up. I turned to face her. However, we were both looking at one thing, her scars all over her forearm. While they were the first thing I saw when I turned around, I disregarded them and stared at Yuri. She had a scared face like she was horrified of what I would say in response to her scars. I did not have any concern for her scars but for who was at the door.

"Do not open the door." After I spoke those words, Yuri seemed less tense as if she was calmed by my ignorance of her self-abuse.

She pulled her sleeve down, "Why? What's wrong?"

From the door, I heard a voice yell out, "Yuri it's Natsuki!"

I grew tense. Yuri once again walked towards the door, prompting me to repeat what I previously did without pulling her sleeve up.

She stared at me while I shook my head slowly.

"We can't just leave her out there. Why would you want that?"

She does not know. I can not do anything.

Yuri unlocked the door.

It flew open with the wind, and a drenched Natsuki entered. Yuri closed the door and wrapped a towel over her. I tried to see her eyes. However, she somehow managed to hide them from my gaze.

"Natsuki! Are you okay? Why would you come out in this weather?" I know why. "You'll get sick."

Natsuki looked up at me. Her eyes were…

Void

She shoved Yuri onto the floor and lunged at me with a psychopathic smile and a concealed kitchen knife. I tried to grab her wrist, but I failed. The knife plunged from the tip of the blade to its handle into the palm of my left hand. The pain was excruciating but bearable. Using my injured hand still with the knife, I held on tightly to it, making sure it was not usable anymore. I could feel it cutting deeper into my hand.

I looked over to Yuri, hoping she could help me. I lost all hope when I saw she was being held down by Sayori and Eli. Natsuki used both hands to try and push the knife into my face even though it was still in my hand. I pushed back as hard as I could. But it was no use.

The knife got closer to my face. It was closer to my eye. I pushed back as hard as I could. I looked over to Yuri. She was watching in horror. I felt nothing but pain in my right eye. That is when I realized the knife had plunged into it. I screamed in pain. I felt blood running down my cheek.

Eli walked up to us, struggling. He added more force with one hand to the knife while Natsuki let go. He forced my right eye open. She used her free hand to dig her fingers into my eye canal and forcefully removed my eyeball. I screamed as I saw my eye still attached to my nerve being removed from its socket and severed. I painfully shut my right eye and tried to open it, but to no avail. I could only see out of my left eye. Eli took over holding the knife and removed it from my hand while Natsuki let go entirely.

I looked back at Yuri. She was sobbing uncontrollably as Natsuki laughed maniacally. Eli and Sayori remained quiet.

Natsuki stared at my eye, covered in blood. She seemed disappointed.

"This isn't it." She spoke, throwing my eye on the floor.

Eli took a glance at her, "What? Sayori!"

Sayori looked annoyed, "Calm down, now we know it's one hundred percent positive that it's Yuri who has the third eye."

Yuri was speechless. She could not believe what she was hearing.

"I don't have whatever that is. Please don't hurt me." She cried.

Natsuki laughed, "You fucking bitch, I am going to enjoy this."

Eli gave Natsuki a stare, "No wasting time just get the eye."

Natsuki sighed as she crouched down to Yuri. She begged and screamed to not let this happen. Natsuki's smile just got wider and wider with each plea.

However, there was one thing no one but I seemed to notice.

There was water outside up to the window. This place is going to flood. The window cracked and everyone froze. They looked at each other.

The glass shattered.

I shoved Eli and grabbed onto the nearby counter and braced for impact. The wave shoved everyone off their feet and busted the door open. As the wave subsided the water was up to my neck. I could feel all the debris pass me by as the water flowed from the window to the door. I looked for Yuri who was already standing and moving as fast as she could out the door. I could not see anyone else; they were most likely underwater. I followed Yuri outside. She grabbed onto me trying to support my balance.

In the middle of the flooded street, I saw a door. The exact door that led me to the wired white facility. It was open with the inside eliminated by the same fluorescent light. It was up the hill a few feet away from us.

I pointed in the door's direction, "Yuri! We need to go inside that door!" She nodded and began walking up there. I looked back, and Eli and Natsuki were already out the door and were lagging a few feet behind. I tried my best to go against the stream of water. The door suddenly opened, and the same scientist appeared beckoning us. I used every ounce of willpower I had left to push more uphill. Yuri reached her hand out, and the scientist grabbed it, pulling us both into the door. We both landed on the floor with a hard thud. Someone behind the doctor wearing black got in front of us and aimed his gun.

"No!" I yelled.

Two shots were fired.

He closed the door, silencing the storm.

I was in shock after what I had just seen. I can not believe they just killed Eli so thoughtlessly.

I could not stay awake. I felt dizzy and sleepy. I looked down to see my left hand still suffering from the knife wound. My eye slowly closed as I heard Yuri begging me to stay awake. I could not think. I could not hear or see anything. I felt cold.

I opened my eye. I was in Eli's apartment or some other version of it. I looked out one of the windows. There was nothing, just a black void as if this was the only thing that existed. I could hear a commotion coming from the kitchen. I went to investigate. There, I saw Eli, Natsuki, Sayori, and Monika all talking to each other.

Eli and Natsuki had gunshot wounds to the head. Monika had a gash going all around her neck, and Sayori was drenched in water. No one had those black eyes. Everyone was normal apart from what was mentioned. I looked at my left hand. The hole was still there, but there was no blood. I touched my right eye. There was still just an empty socket.

"Am I…" I hesitated.

"No," Monika spoke, "at least not yet."

Sayori walked over to me and grabbed my left hand, tracing the outline of the hole, "Are you okay?"

Natsuki put her hand on my shoulder, "You're here right now, but you're due to leave soon."

I looked around confused, "Leave? Leave what? What is this place?" Everyone looked away.

Monika spoke up, "We don't really know. We just arrived here one day."

Natsuki looked sad, "We have been here for so long. I can't remember anything." Everyone else agreed with Natsuki. Is this the end? The afterlife? Hell?

I looked at them with curiosity, "None of you remember what happened?"

Sayori spoke for them, "No, none of us can. I can't even remember where I live, or even who I loved if I had any friends." So then they do not know me. I looked at Eli. He was just as confused as the rest of them. He does not remember, does he? He forgot about me.

I stared at him hoping he would remember me. Nothing.

"Do you know who I am?" I asked him.

He shook his head. I felt awful. It was just as bad as him hurting me only a few minutes ago.

"I'm sorry, I really don't know who you are. Were you my friend or something?" He questioned as I teared up.

Natsuki elbowed Eli, "Take another guess." Eli had an expression of confusion on his face which was then followed by amazement and sorrow. He walked over to me as I was on the verge of crying. He put his arms around me. Soon Monika followed. Then Sayori, and Natsuki. They were all comforting me. I was a stranger and yet they showed compassion. How could anyone be like this? I broke down. I could not take it anymore. This place was after death. I was bound to be here forever till I forgot everyone I loved. Till I forget even Eli. I wanted to tear my hair out, I wanted to beat the shit out of myself. I wanted to cut my heart out of my chest and kill myself. What is the point of that? I am already dead…

I stopped crying. I think I finally accepted it or denied it for a bit longer.

"I am dead, right?"

Monika gave me a reassuring smile, "Didn't you listen to what we said, You're due to leave anytime now." Is that even true?

They gave me hope in the face of oblivion. I did not want pointless hope.

I pushed everyone away and ran into the bathroom. I locked it. I put my ear to the door and listened.

"Hey, don't try and talk to her, she needs to deal with it on her own." I heard Monika say to Eli. "Just leave her alone for a few minutes." Then nothing but silence. I used the sink to steady myself, my legs and arms were shaky. I looked up at the mirror. It was me still missing an eye. It looked like I just had my eye closed though. I looked at my hand. It was see-through. One could barely see the bone. I turned on the water and washed my hands and then my face. I tried to slow my breathing down. It worked eventually.

What do I do now?

I left the restroom, and Monika greeted me, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah I am okay," I lied. Everyone was back in the kitchen. I stood next to Eli holding onto his arm. I missed the way he smelled. I missed everything about him.

We all remained in silence. It is as if they did not want me to hear their conversation.

I broke the silence, "Do any of you remember anything before you got here?" No one said anything. "Do you even know each other's names?" Silence. I sighed this was going nowhere. I left the kitchen and looked outside, still in a pitch-black void. I laid down on the couch. I was tired, it was a lot to take in. I did not process most of it but it still was a lot.

What now?

I paced around the apartment, back and forth. I would hear the occasional conversation from the kitchen. Nothing special, just random conversation about food and places they wish to visit. Icebreaker stuff, I hope I do not resort to that.

I kept pacing, What now? What now? What now? I am scared. Am I going to forget everything?

I did not want this. I ran to the door trying to open it. Locked even though its locks were on the inside. I laughed. Am I losing my mind already? I banged my head against the door. I gave up and sat in front of it. I looked back at the kitchen to see them all staring at me.

Then a bright light radiated from behind me. I turned around, and the door exiting the apartment opened and revealed a bright light. It was impossible to see where it led.

"Looks like it's time for you to go," Monika said, giving me a small smile.

I looked at the door, and it was blinding. I faced back once more. I could not say anything.

Was this another step or am I still alive? Is this another form of my mind falling into insanity?

I stood up. Eli walked up to me. "I wish I knew more about you, but if you and I were close then…" He got close, "I love you," He kissed me and held onto my hand as I entered the door. I looked back at him, "I love you too," I said.

I woke up.