Corben spun when he heard the light thunk in, and his breath crashed out of him when he saw Maylea. "Maylea!" He palms hit hard against the thick glass, and he could see her, there on the floor, groaning from the fall. "Maylea!"

She lifted her head to look around, and her gaze caught Corben's, eyes still red from the tears she had spent.

Corben's skin tingled, and the sense of something wrong was screaming in his head. Maylea pushed herself up to her feet, and splayed out her hand on the glass, eyes filling with tears again.

"I'm gonna get you out!" Corben promised, touching his own hand to the glass, so that it mirrored Maylea on the other side. "Just give me a minute!"

A hiss. A click. The sound of water...

Maylea whipped around and gasped sharply, her heart stopping as she stared at the water that started to bubble in from the side. No no no no no she had to get out SHE HAD TO GET OUT. Panic flared deep in her gut and she couldn't breathe and the sound of the water was deafening and it was already covering her feet and Corben was yelling something at her but everything felt like she was already underwater and the world was getting blurry and...

"HEY!"

The scene snapped back into focus, all her senses tingling as clarity fought against the panic. And Corben-

He was pressed against the glass, fear in his eyes as he yelled, the sound nearly drowned out by the roaring of the water as it fell, fell, fell, filling the glass box. Up to her calves, up to her knees, she could feel the fuzziness creeping back into her vision.

"Maylea? Maylea! Stay with me now!" Corben pounded on the glass, and she forced herself to turn and look at him. "Just hold on, ok? I'm gonna- I'm gonna find a way- I just-" his fingers chased through his hair. "Just stay above the water!"

Stay above the water. Maylea could do that. She could do that, right? The world dulled down to the roaring of water, but she clung to those words like a life preserver. Stay above the water. It was at her hips.

Chills ran all across her body at the coolness of it, and her clothing felt both heavy and lightweight as the water climbed higher and higher.

Corben was somewhere. The room was too dark to see beyond the shining light exposing every drip and dip of water that was quickly filling the glass box, her watery grave.

Her chest. The sound of the water dulled, and it glided up silently up her skin. She could feel herself starting to float as it climbed up to her shoulders.

The clarity of it all faded and faded until all she knew was the icy fingers of the water holding her captive, thrusting her ever closer towards the blinding white.

Her lungs captured a breath, and she slid into the darkness.

The light went out.

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The computer clicked off, and the square of light from the hallway dissapeared, leaving Avery and Kai blind to their surroundings.

Kai reached out and clutched Avery's arm. "Ok, so, don't panic?" She whispered, trying sucking in deep breaths.

Avery patted Kai's hand, his own voice trembling. "Yep. Nothing at all to worry about. Just the fact that all of the lights went out and we can't see anything and also that we've been kidnapped and honestly Kai how have none of us had a breakdown yet?!"

Kai got up from her chair, still taking those deep breaths. "Uh, I guess we've just been too busy?"

Avery gave a breathy laugh. "Y-yeah. Just way too busy to have a panic attack or anything. This is fine we're fine I'm fine."

Kai nudged Avery forward. "Maybe we should try and find the others?" She asked, shuffling behind his back.

"Or-" Avery stopped, and felt around on his arm for his band. He tapped the screen and it glowed faintly in the dark, illuminating his face. "Maybe this has a flashlight function?"

Kai pulled up her own band, and the two of them stood there, clicking and tapping through options, until Kai gave a triumphant cry. "Aha!"

She angled her wrist so the light shone in front of the two of them, catching on the doorway to the room. "See if you can pull up the map bit? Maybe we can find our way to the dining room, or something."

Avery murmured something in reply and stood for a moment, searching through the screen. He clicked his tongue. "There."

The two of them peered at the small screen, and Kai took the lead with the light.

"Uh, turn left," Avery commanded in a hushed whisper, shuffling behind the shorter teen.

They made their way through many halls in such a manner, flinching at every little sound, light quavering with every movement.

"I wonder where the others are," Kai said, her feet stuttering as they turned a corner.

Avery didn't look up from the map. "Outer space, probably."

Kai snorted. "Ah yes, most definitely in outer space. In fact, we are all currently on a spaceship."

Avery tilted his head. "Honestly, we could be in outer space. It's not like there are many context clues as to where we are. I think the only thing to disprove that theory would be the the fact that we are not floating at the moment. I'm like, eighty-five percent certain that anti-gravity has not been invented yet, but for all we know this guy could be some kind of scientist and already figured that out and we're currently orbiting Mars."

Kai stopped in her tracks. "I'm not gonna lie, that would actually be pretty cool. Imagine, us in space. That would be quite a story to tell when we get back."

"If we get back," Avery muttered. Kai elbowed him in response, and it started a shoving match between the two of them, until their sides were sore from both laughter and elbows.

Kai let out a long, breathy sigh. "Hey, do you think we'll actually be able to get into our rooms without the power on? It seems like everything here is run by electricity."

"Well," Avery said, turning to stand in front of the wall on his left. "I guess this is our chance to find out. Here's my room."

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The lights went out with a thunk.

Veronica's head whipped up, the look on her face dropping into a frown. Panic crawled down her spine, spider taps of fear making her shiver.

No. Nonono. She couldn't be stuck in the dark. She couldn't be alone in the dark and no no no.

She ran her fingers into her hair, tangling them as she sunk to the ground, trying desperately to grapple air into her spasming lungs.

A desperation to get out of there, to get anywhere, gripped her so tightly that it loosed a whimper from her, her eyes squeezed shut, as if the spiraling colors she saw in the light might grace her closed eyes if she tried hard enough.

She started to run. Veronica didn't know where, it was too dark to tell, to dark to have any half idea of a location. She ran into a hall, making her groan as she rebounded and turned to the left. This was the left, right?

She hit another wall, except this one groaned too.

She knew that groan... Juno!

Veronica felt around and grabbed, clutching something soft and moving. Wha-?

"Urmpgrmsgr, get off my face."

Veronica lurched her hand backwards, her lungs squeezing in a small breath. "Juno? That is you, right?"

There was a muffled sound, followed by a groan. "Oh... I think my nose is bleeding. How hard did you run into me?"

"Pretty hard, obviously." Veronica reached out, slowly this time, and felt a hand. "You're not a figment of my imagination, right? You're not some weird fever dream because I knocked myself out back there?"

Juno lifted his hand and slapped at hers, and missed, only catching the edge of Veronica's hand. "I don't think I would gushing from my nose if I was in your dream. Unless, of course, that's the kind of messed up stuff you might have in your head."

"I'm not messed up," Veronica snapped defensively.

Juno sighed. "V, I've heard you threaten to kill several people since we've shown up here, and it hasn't even been twenty-four hours yet! You've also promised to rearrange Avery's facial features with your shoe, told Charlie you would stab him if he didn't shut up, and you didn't care at all that Maylea had fallen into that vent."

Veronica clicked her tongue. "Maylea wasn't the only one who fell down that vent, now was she?" She sighed, dragging her fingers through her hair. "I really do hope that you take my advice. Don't get caught up in whatever is going on between Corben and Maylea. They'll either get over it or they won't, and they don't need any help from us."

"That's what you think," Juno mumbled, and Veronica could feel his glare, despite it being pitch black in the halls. "Why do you think the power is out?"

Veronica didn't want to be reminded of that. "Oh, I have no clue. Blackouts aren't my expertise. However," she added. "Threats and face rearranging are, apparently."

Juno breathed in sharply. "Yeah... sorry about that. It's just, everyone else seems so normal and then you're over here, and not only are you totally fine with everything, but you seem like you're used to it! The only other person like that is Corben, and he doesn't count because he's already been kidnapped like, five times already."

"Three times, actually."

"What?"

"Corben's only been kidnapped three times. Two of them were only attempted because they didn't really pan out. I guess this one would be number four, then?"

Juno groaned in exasperation. "That's besides the point. The point is, you're this super intimidating teen who have no clue about, and the only thing that we know is that you hate Avery."

Veronica chuckled. "Oh yeah, Avery sucks."

"Not helping."

Veronica shoved at Juno, just managing to catch his shoulder. "You should shush," she whispered. "Or you might just be the next Avery."

Juno shoved back at her. "Yeah right." There were some scuffling sounds, and then a quick sigh. "I guess the next step is finding the others?"

Veronica pushed herself up to stand next to him. "I guess so."

Juno reached up and grabbed her shoulder, and she stiffened a moment, before he began to speak. "All right then, V. Lead the way."

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Charlie and Blair were still staring up at the ceiling when everything went dark.

"Well," Charlie said quietly. "That can't be good." He rolled over to face the other teen. "You good over there, Blair?"

Blair did not hear him, because Blair was screaming his head off.

Charlie rolled over and sighed. "Yeah, that seems about right."

He sat there for quite a while when there was a creaking sound, and Blair's screams abruptly cut off.

"Hey!" Someone shouted from above them. "Blair, are you the one freaking out?"

Charlie jumped to his feet and squinted to try and see whoever was standing up there in the dark. "Yeah! Who's up there?"

"I'm gonna get you out!" They promised, and the creaking started up again, stopping with a thud that echoed in their small room.

Charlie sighed hard, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Great."

Who's the one who found them?
》》》

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Hey guys!! Here's another new chapter!! I'm sorry if it dragged at all, or felt like it didn't have much continuity to it, I just had a rough time writing this one.

This chapter us very dialogue driven, which is something I don't normally do, so I'm very proud of myself on that.

What do you guys think??

Any ideas on possible ships to toss out there? Or at least, pairings to stick together in the next few chapters?

Please let me know! I love hearing what you guys think!