For this chapter, there will be two points of view; one from Taryn and one being narrated by Taryn telling us what happened to Vicky.

Chapter 5: Letters of Loneliness

The first thing I felt when I woke up was a terrible headache, like woodpeckers were pounding at my skull. I also felt a cold hard surface under me like a slab of concrete. Slowly, I opened my eyes, only to flinch at the sudden brightness, which didn't help my headache.

"Uugh… Where…" My voice came out in a croak.

Finally, my eyes adjusted to the light and I carefully got to my feet. I had been lying on the floor of a room best described as a prison cell. The only pieces of furniture were an old bed and a beautifully carved wooden table. Two posters were plastered on the wall; one of a creepy face on a green background, the other of a black and white heart.

I then remembered the events that transpired before I was knocked out. "Vicky? Hello?" I called through the door's barred window. "Where am I?"

Just then, an envelope slid out through a slot in the door, but I didn't see who had sent it. Quickly I opened it and took out a letter, written in formal font on white paper.

Hello there. It's me, Doctor Money. As you know, you have been specially chosen for my exclusive program. Unfortunately, you destroyed my last vial of the antidote. It seems that only you will be getting the special treatment, the very expensive special treatment. But you see, you are very important to me. You're worth every penny.

"I don't like the sound of that," I muttered, tossing the letter aside in disgust. "I gotta get out of here, and fast!"

I pushed against the door, but it didn't budge an inch, even when I rammed into it. "Welp, that's not gonna work. I'll have to wait for Vicky."

With a sigh, I sat on the bed, which wasn't that comfortable. I had only been sitting for a few moments when another envelope came, followed by a small device.

"What's this?" I picked up the device, which looked like an old Game Boy. Above the screen were the words 'DR. MONEY ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM'. I pressed a button and the screen lit up. "It still works. Neat!"

I then took the envelope, which was bright purple, and opened it. The letter was also purple and written in neat handwriting.

It's me, Vicky! I hope you get this letter. I'm so sorry, it was my fault you got captured. But don't worry, I'm coming for you! You're in the tower thing, right? See you soon.

"Vicky…" I sighed in relief. "Thank God she's safe! I gotta write back to her. There must be a pen and paper somewhere."

I looked around the room, but aside from an old cake on the table and some confetti on the floor, there was nothing I could use to write. "What the hell? There's hardly anything in here at all." I sank to the floor and pulled my knees up to my chin. "This room is so barren… It feels… Lonely…"

With a sigh, I glanced out the window, wondering what Vicky was doing now. So much for me staying by her side the whole time… Sorry, Vicky.

I wasn't with Vicky much for this part of our story, but she did tell me what happened when it was over.

After I was knocked out, she'd kept running for a long time until she was certain that she wasn't being followed. She then found a boulder where some paper, an envelope and a pen rested on top. For some reason, she decided to write a letter to me. After she put it in the envelope, she had looked back to see if Dr. Money was chasing her, and when she looked back, the envelope was gone.

"Weird," she murmured. "Well, I hope Taryn gets my letter."

Climbing onto the boulder, she looked around to get her bearings. Beyond the trees, she could see the skyline of a nearby city, the main feature being a tall tower reaching to the heavens. "It's so far away," she sighed. "But I can't leave Taryn there all alone. I have to make it to the city before nightfall; I'd never find my way in the dark."

Suddenly, she heard a strange noise in the forest, like custard splashing onto a tiled floor. As she turned, she saw two black puddles of goop sliding like slugs towards her boulder. Then the puddles bulged upwards, each revealing glowing white eyes and sharp-toothed grins.

"Oh no, those must be the Terrorlings!" Vicky gasped. "What do I do?"

Then she remembered the staff Wilford had given her, and the advice he'd told her. "That there staff has some powerful magic. At your current level, you can only cast ice, fire, and simple healing spells. But with more practice, you will learn some pretty tough spells for any challenge."

Taking a breath, she took out her staff and pointed it at the Gooplings who were starting to ooze up the boulder. "Here goes nothing… Ice Blast!"

She gasped and closed her eyes, feeling a burst of cold air shooting out of her staff. When she opened them again, the Gooplings were completely encased in ice, inches from her feet. "I… I did it?" she breathed, surprised at her strength. "That was too close though. I can't do this without Taryn."

Jumping down from the boulder, she set off into the forest again, holding her staff for protection. "Oh boy, moving around like this is so much easier in games. Maybe I should rest somewhere and write another letter…"

After a short while, she found another set of writing material on a stump and she sat down to write the letter. "I sure hope Taryn's getting these. She hasn't replied to my-"

Suddenly, she paused her writing, dropping the pen on her lap. "Hang on… Letters? Tower? Dr. Money? Oh my God, this is Presentable Liberty!" She ran a hand through her hair as she put the pieces together. "Of course… if Taryn's in the tower, that makes her the protagonist and I'm Salvadore, which means that our target must be Charlotte!"

Once she'd figured it out, a fresh wave of panic washed over her. "We've got to get to them before it's too late! I'd better write this down for Taryn."

With new resolve, she finished writing the letter and left it on the stump. This time, she didn't even wait, she just kept running through the forest.

Thankfully, no other Terrorlings attacked her, but she soon faced a different problem. Looking up, she saw the sun sinking over the treetops. "It's getting dark, but I can't stop now," she panted. "I gotta hurry."

With that in mind, she quickened her pace and ran further down the path…

Compared to Vicky's stressful journey, I was bored stiff waiting in my cell. I passed the time playing games on the Entertainment System and practising my attacks on my Oshirinoken.

I'd just finished another level of my game when Vicky's next letter came. It's me again. I ran into some monsters like the ones we fought last night, but I managed to defeat them. I can't fight very well, especially on my own. I miss you so much… Just hang in there! I'll be there soon.

"'Just hang in there'?" I scoffed. "What the hell am I supposed to do then, sit here and do nothing?" I then sighed; I was giving Vicky too little credit. "It doesn't sound like she's got a plan either. But maybe I can-"

But then another letter came through the slot, this one in a green envelope. "Who's this from?" I wondered.

When I opened it, I saw that this letter was scrawled in shaky handwriting. "Hmm, it's not signed, but I bet it's from whoever we're looking for."

Hello… it's me. I'm really fucking bored. Is anyone out there? I mean there's probably no one reading this, but hey, a little denial never hurt anybody. Right?

"Well, at least they're trying for humor, I'll give 'em that," I chuckled glumly.

I then spotted a little bug scuttling around the confetti. "Oh, hi there," I smiled. "I didn't see you earlier. What's your name?"

Naturally, the bug didn't reply.

"That's okay, I'll come up with something," I decided. "I bet Mark would name you Tiny Bug Tim or something because he names everything like that. Well, that or BubbleButt." I gasped. "BubbleBug! How's that for a name?"

Again, the bug said nothing as it crawled under the table.

"You're right, I'll just stick with Tiny Bug Tim." Yep, this was where my boredom was at; talking to an insect and expecting a reply.

Fortunately, by that stage, Vicky had finally left the forest and reached the city. Now she was making her way through the silent streets, still focused on the tower. The flickering streetlights above her did little to brighten the shadows, but the sun was still bright enough for her to see her way.

"This place is so desolate," she whispered to herself. "The town looks empty, and there's not a soul around. It's scary being alone."

As she turned a corner, she spotted a bright light in the distance. "What's that?" she wondered aloud.

But before she could make another step, a trio of Gooplings jumped out the windows of a nearby building. One struck Vicky on the chest and she fell onto the sidewalk, dropping her staff.

She looked up in terror at the Goopling, who glared at her. "You're afraid?" it hissed nastily as the other Gooplings slithered closer. "Good…"

As the Terrorlings opened their mouths to bite her, Vicky looked up and saw the tower looming over the street. She also saw a single light near the top where she guessed I was trapped, and at that moment, she remembered my kind words back in the weapons shop.

"Y-You're right," she said. "I am afraid…" She turned and narrowed her eyes. "But not of you guys!"

With that, she swung her arm out and shoved the Goopling away. Jumping to her feet, she ran to grab her staff and pointed it at the Gooplings. "Fireball!"

Three bursts of flame shot out of her staff, striking each of the Gooplings. They screamed in pain as the fire burned their bodies which quickly melted like candles. Stepping over the puddle that remained, Vicky ran towards the light.

As she got closer, she could see that the light was in the window of a small cake store. "That's Charlotte's pastry shop," she realized. She then spotted a human shape in the window. "Is that the person we're looking for?"

But then, she spotted a huge swarm of Gooplings crowded outside the door, along with dozens of taller Terrorlings. "Uh-oh, there's too many of them," she gulped. "I'll never fight them all off on my own!"

Quickly, she ducked into an alley before she was spotted. "Looks like I'll have to come back for that person later," she sighed.

On the other side of the alley, she discovered an old gramophone resting on a table in the middle of the street. "That's right, Charlotte played music to the protagonist on the fourth night," she recalled. "Maybe if I play it, Taryn will know that I'm coming."

She switched it on and carefully lowered the needle onto the record. To her surprise, she heard a weird synthesized version of 'All Star' by Smash Mouth. "Really? Why this?" she muttered.

Next to the gramophone was another envelope. After she wrote her next letter, she set off towards the tower…

From my jail cell, I also heard the music, but I didn't know where it came from, or why that song either. "That was weird, huh, Tiny Bug Tim?"

As usual, the bug made no reply, but I didn't mind. "You know what, I like you, Tim. Say, I don't have to… feed you, do I? Oh wait, this is just a dream. Never mind."

Just then, a letter came through the slot. The moment I opened it, I knew it was from Dr. Money.

I'm sure you've also heard that music, huh? Your little friend seems to think she can be the hero who saves the day. It's almost quaint; such a shame she won't last much longer. The generator room can be a bit…shocking to those who don't know what they're doing. You just stay in your cell like the good, valuable child you are.

With a scowl, I scrunched up his letter and threw it aside. "I'm really starting to hate that bastard!"

Another letter came in just then, but this one gave me more hope. "Vicky!" I cheered, ripping it open.

I know you're getting these letters and I know you can't respond; it's okay. I'm still scared, but I think I can reach the tower before it gets dark. It's so empty around here, though. I wish you were here; being alone only makes things worse.

"Oh Vicky, I know how you feel," I sighed.

On the bright side, I think I saw our person in one of the shops! I couldn't get inside though because there were just too many Terrorlings outside. Sorry!

"Don't be sorry," I replied as if she was here. "At least you'll know where they are now. Then once you've freed me, you can guide me there."

I then saw another green envelope slide in. "It's from our target," I recalled. "I wonder what they're thinking about this time…"

This sucks. How the hell did I even get here anyways? I've been staring at this wall for like… I dunno, a while? Time isn't real! Nothing is real! We're all gonna die!

"No doubt about it, this is who we're looking for," I decided. "And it's gotta be the person Vicky saw in the shop." I kept reading the letter, and what I saw next made my blood run cold.

Fuck… being lonely sucks; it fucking hurts. And now I'm just sending out letters to someone that isn't real. How pathetic is that? Guess they were right…

"Oh no!" I jumped onto my bed and yelled out the window. "I'm real! I'm here! Listen to my voice!"

But it was no use; there was no way anyone could have heard me from up here. I might as well have been a flea, shouting from beneath the long fur of a dog.

I felt so helpless in this tiny cell; sinking onto the bed, I put my arms onto my knees and bowed my head. Tears poured down my cheeks and fell onto my dress. "What am I going to do…?"

Little did I know that, right at that moment, Vicky was running through the doors into the tower's lobby. "Yes! I made it just in time!" she cheered. "Now I just need to find the generator."

The lobby was very small with only two doors. The first one was locked tight, as she discovered, but the second led into a large room full of equipment. "This must be the place."

She walked up to a computer built into the wall. "Alright, let's see… So, in Presentable Liberty, Salvadore tried to destroy the generator and ended up getting electrocuted. I need to find some way to disable it instead."

After writing another letter and flinging it out of the room, she set to work on the generator. At this point, most of what she explained to me got too complicated for me, so long story short, she found a way to close the breaker and take out the power.

"Yes!" she cheered as the emergency lights kicked in. "I guess it pays to have an electrical engineer for a mom! Taryn should be free; now she just has to find her way out."

To try and cheer me up, I took out my weapon again, turning it over. "Hmm, the Oshirinoken… Bit of a mouthful, isn't it? I think I'll call you… Shiri. What do you think, Tim?"

The bug's response was to crawl under the table. "Say, Tim, you're not a Terrorling, are you? That'd be kind of awkward, especially since you're so tiny." I looked over at him. "No? Ok, that's good."

I got off the bed and sat next to the table. "Y'know, it's a good thing you're here, Tim, or I'd have been even lonelier. Thanks for being with me, Tiny Bug Tim."

Just then, Vicky's next letter came in: You're almost free! I'm going to disable the generator so you can get out. The cell you're in is actually an elevator, but it's missing the buttons to lower it. Once the door opens, try to find the button panel and attach it to the wires by your door. I'll be waiting for you on the ground floor. Good luck!

Just as I finished reading the letter, the light went out and the door clicked open. "Yes, she did it!" I cried, getting to my feet. "But wait, how did-"

But another letter from Dr. Money came in before I could finish my question.

I wouldn't leave here if I were you. Don't you know how much you're worth? Your useless friend may have turned off the generator, but why join her when you could stay in your cell? Here, you are safe and comfortable, without a care in the world. This is your only warning, do not try to leave.

I hadn't planned on staying in the cell at all, and the next letter from our target sealed the deal.

I hate being alone. Honestly, I'm just so tired of this. I'm tired of everything. I don't want to do this. I don't want to do anything. I don't wanna be here anymore.

"There's no way I'm staying here while this person dies alone," I declared. "I have to find them and fast." With that, I grabbed Shiri, pushed the door open and ran out my cell.

But the moment I stepped outside, a pair of Shadowlings materialized out of the shadows. These ones were taller and gaunter than the ones in Vicky's dream, but their clawed hands were exactly the same.

"You were warned, little girl," they hissed as one. "Get back in your cell, or you will die!"

Out of the frying pan and into the shadows! Find out next time to see if our heroes will be reunited.