"Miri. It's time to wake up. Miri. Miri!"

The voice echoes through the darkness and I wake up with a jolt. My eyelids flutter open. All I see around me is darkness, and I assume that I must be due to my eyes that have not adjusted to the lack of light. As the minutes pass by, I realise that it's not because my pupils have not expanded to receive maximum possible light. I cannot see because there's not a single ray of light to illuminate my surroundings.

My breaths become shallow as I try to contain my fear of darkness and of nothingness. Beads of perspiration start to form on my forehead and I brush it away with the back of my hand. My heartbeat quickens, becoming more and more rapid and time ticks by. My head starts to pound and I can feel my hands beginning to shake. The darkness does strange things to people who fear it, like myself. To me, I believe that the darkness does no actually mean without light. My definition of darkness is the absence of light. And if light symbolises life and new beginnings, I do not even want to start thinking about what the darkness represents.

Darkness consumes you whole until you fade away and become nothing.

I don't know when I started viewing darkness in this light - now, isn't that just ironic - but I have been afraid of the dark for as long as I can remember. Maybe this is the real reason I'm terrified of the dark and I've finally figured it out. Or maybe this is merely an excuse I give myself for fearing this element. I'll never truly know.

"Miri. Miri. Over here, Miri."

Instinctively, I take a step backwards, my eyes darting all over the place although I can't see a thing. The voice sounded like a whisper that is projected and amplified all around me, encasing me in an invisible wall of sound. The voice came from all around me, as if it is surrounding me or like it is slowly consuming me. My breaths become jagged; tears gathering in my eyes. I rub my eyes with my left hand in trying to dry them. I run my fingers through my hair in a vain attempt to calm myself.

"Miri. Don't be afraid. I won't harm you," the voice says. A cold shiver goes down my spine.

"Who are you?" I call out, raising my hands cautiously and protectively while I walk backwards in a circle, trying to see from all angles, trying to identify the owner of the voice. Naturally, in the darkness, my attempt is fruitless. After all, there is not much one can do in the absence of light.

"I am the one who has been with you since the first day. I am the one who was with you since you were created in the facility. I am the one who was with you when you underwent the many experimentations. I am the one who was with you when you escaped the laboratory. I am the one who was with you when you narrowly avoided being brought back into the hands of your captors. I am the one who is with you now.

"I am the one who creates all datas. I am the one who cares for all of you, even if it seems otherwise. I am the one who deleted all corrupted datas that have the potential to disrupt the system - both themselves and the society. I am the one you call the Data Tree."

My eyebrows furrow in confusion. The Data Tree? But that's impossible. How is she here? How can she talk to me?

A large screen, suspended in the air, appears in front of me. It is dark, not showing anything, but the dim light that it emits is enough to illuminate my surroundings. I glance around. Nothing. There is literally nothing in this void. I am in a pit of nothingness. Oblivion.

I blink. A tear escapes my eye and rolls down my cheek. I brush it away with the back of my hand, willing myself not to cry. To distract myself, I advert my attention back to the screen.

It lights up and a startled cry escapes my lips. A picture appears on the screen. At first glance, the person in the photo resembles the average teenage boy, with tousled black hair, his lips curved up into a grin. However, upon close inspection, I notice the more minute details, the ones people normally miss.

Although he is smiling, his eyes tell a different story. His chocolate brown eyes are filled with worry. They are open wide, making him seem alert, giving the impression that he is searching or on the lookout for something. His shoulders are sagged, suggesting that he is worn out. He looks somewhat... familiar. A gear clicks in my mind. My eyes widen in realisation and shock and I gasp. Of course he looks familiar. Of course. How could I have not noticed it before?

It's Wil.

"What's - Wil?" I ask, slightly bewildered, my eyes sweeping across the space around me.

No answer. I should have expected it.

I turn my attention back to the screen, expecting to see Wil staring back at me. Instead, I find myself staring at what I assume is a scene from some sort of movie. A girl is standing in a dark alleyway, talking over the phone. Although unintentional, I manage to catch parts of her conversation with the person over the phone.

"They're here... running... the underground... Yes, I'll... promise... won't go far..."

She turns away, so her back is facing me, making me unable to hear the rest of the conversation. The scene morphs into a forest at dusk. The thick canopy of leaves cast shadows onto the ground. The full moon illuminates the forest, but just barely, just enough to allow on to see what's in front of him.

The silhouette of a girl comes into view. She's running as fast as she can, stepping on dried twigs, breaking them, and fallen leaves crunch under the soles of her shoes. A boy quickly follows her from behind. The camera pans, following the pair as they run through the forest. They don't stop, not even after they've been running for quite some time. I wonder what - or who - they're running from.

A blinding white light flashes across the screen, making me momentarily unable to see. I squint, putting a hand in front of my eyes to black as much light as possible from reaching my eyes. The sounds of sirens fill my ears. I wonder where it is coming from. The floating screen blacks out and disappears. And once again, I am standing in the middle of nowhere in pitch black, leaving me confused.

What happened?

"I don't understand," I say, my voice breaking as I try to stifle an incoming sob.

"You'll understand when the time is right," the voice answers.

"What am I supposed to do?"

A pause. "It's not safe here anymore. Go as far as you can from here and never come back. Run."

"But-" I start to protest, but the mysterious voice interrupts me.

"Miri. You can do it."

*

My eyelids flutter open. I feel the weight of Wil's arm on my body. He is holding me at my waist, holding me close to him, as if he does not want to let me go. His grip on my waist is loose and the both of us are lying on the ground. I push myself up but a sharp pain in my arm makes it go weak and I collapse back onto the ground, hitting my head hard on the concrete. My head pounds and I groan in pain.

"Wil?" I say, my voice barely a whisper.

No response.

I turn my head to look at Wil. His eyes are closed and - even from where I am - I can see that he is lying in a pool of crimson liquid. Blood. For a split second, I panic, thinking that he might have already gone. I breathe a sigh of relief when I see his chest moving, indicating that he is still breathing. He is still alive. Yes, datas may not die, but if they injure themselves beyond saving or repair, they are deemed corrupted and will be deleted sooner or later. I just hope that Wil has not disrupted his own body system yet.

"Wil..." I mumble, but this time, not to call him.

I force myself to stand. A wave of dizziness washes over me. My arms shake as it tries to withstand an immense amount of pain. Black dots spot my vision as I push myself up. I grit my teeth and clench my fists, hoping that it will at least lessen the pain. Unsurprisingly, it didn't.

I successfully manage to stand, but my knees feel weak and my head is pounding harder than ever. I am lucky that my knees don't buckle under my weight. I bury my face in the palms of my hands, trying to will the headache to go away. However, it only got worse, so bad that I start to hear the blood that is pounding in my ears. My arms drop to my sides, starting to feel numb, my hands still shaking.

The nervousness in the pit of my stomach grows. I wonder why. My eyes drift to where Wil is lying and my breath gets caught in my windpipe. His head is lying in a scary pool of blood, even larger than what I thought I saw when I was still on the ground. I squat down, not to examine the damage, but to see if there is any way to lift him.

I take his arm and wrap it around my shoulder. My own hand holds his while the other wraps around his waist, holding him tightly. I straighten my knees in an attempt to stand, but his weight pulls me down, too much for me to bear. I stumble over his limp body and fall to the ground, my foot twisting in an awkward angle. A sharp pain shoots through my leg. I let out a pained cry.

"Just my luck," I mutter under my breath.

I push myself up, not willing to give up any time soon. However, the moment I place my weight on my left foot, it stings and starts to throb painfully. I immediately transfer my weight to the other foot before bending down to assess the damage on my feet. A bluish-black spot has formed on my ankle. A bruise. I groan, concluding that my ankle, at the least, is sprained.

I don't bother trying to pull Wil up with me when I stand, knowing that he's too heavy for me to possibly carry. Instead, I close my hands around his muscular arm and drag him forward. I barely manage to walk ten metres before collapsing onto the ground - both due to his weight and my injury.

I run my fingers through my hair, contemplating my next move. I lean forward, looking down at an unconscious Wil, my hair cascading around my shoulders.

How am I supposed to move forward? The answer is simple: I can't. I would have to wait until Wil regains consciousness - let's face it, I'd have to. I have no other choice, but who knows how long that would take? An hour if I'm lucky. But if I'm not? For all I know, he could have slipped into a coma. And, frankly, I don't have the time to wait. My time is ticking.

A tear rolls down my face, creating a wet trail on my cheek. I wipe away the moisture with the hem of my shirt. I pull my hair back, but once I let it go, it falls over my shoulders once more.

I bury my face in the palms of my hands, as I always do when I am distressed or trying to think. My fingers touch droplets of liquid on my forehead, presumably sweat. I close my eyes, taking in deep breaths of air every time I inhale.

Why do I panic so easily? And to think, I was supposed to be 'perfect'. Then again, that must be one of the flaws I possess which led to them declaring me - experiment 782 - a failure. That's probably why they were going to-

I push the dark thoughts aside as a chill goes down my spine. Now's not the time to be dwelling on the past. What's done is done. I have to move on. I have a much graver issue at hand to deal with.

I rest my head on Wil's chest. The sound of his steady heartbeat fills my ears and I bring a hand to touch my chest, where my heart is located. Our hearts seem to beat in the same rhythm. I close my eyes, resting my free hand on his arm.

"... here somewhere..." The low voice resounds through the tunnel.

My shoulders tense at the sound of the unfamiliar voice. I remain as still as possible, not daring to make a single noise nor a single movement.

"... experiments... hiding here... said so..."

Experiments.

That's us.

"... find them... bring... back..."

The voice is getting louder and louder, suggesting that the person - or, more likely, persons - is getting closer to where we are. If my suspicions are correct, they are on a mission to catch us and to bring us back to the labs.

I can't afford to let them catch us.

"Miri," someone else whispers. The voice is higher than the first voice I heard - clearly a female's.

I freeze. This is it. I'm going back there. This is-

"Psst. Over here," she whispers, the tone of urgency eminent in her voice.

Tentatively, I turn towards the direction of the voice, only to find myself staring at the darkness. My grip on Wil's arm tightens.

"What?" I mutter under my breath, slightly hesitant.

"Here."

A figure emerges out of the darkness. I gasp, releasing my grip on Wil's arm in shock, as she steps into the dim light, illuminating her just enough for me to see. Her jet black hair is streaked with dark blue. Her hair is swept to one side, a pin securely in place to prevent stray locks of hair from falling onto her face, her short hair framing her features. Her light blue eyes are glazed, as if her mind is elsewhere. She is wearing a tight, full body black suit with matching heels. The lack of light prevents me from observing the rest of her features.

She steps out and walks silently towards me. She snatches Wil's arms off the floor and drags him into the darkness so quickly that I barely have enough time to comprehend the situation.

"In here," she says, gesturing for me to follow her.

I hesitate. Should I follow her? I know I shouldn't. However, seeing as she has Wil, I have no other option but to follow her. She knows this - or, at least, she must have - and she walks on ahead.

"... find them..." The male's voice reaches my ears once more.

They must be close.

I swallow the lump that has been forming in my throat and sigh. I take a step forward and another and another and another until I am where the stranger - and Wil - disappeared into, completely consumed by the dancing shadows of the dark.

Hey guys! Yay I managed to post one chapter two weeks in a row! :D I'm trying my best to upload more regularly now, though I won't make any promises as I am a very busy person. Also, see that star button (on the upper right corner if you're on the computer and right below this A/N if you're using the app). Please click on it and VOTE for this story. :) SHARE it around, to your family and friends and followers. Sorry I had to put those in caps to (hopefully) catch your attention. Thanks so much! :D

PS For UGWT fans, I have posted a preview for the spin off. It's the very last part in UGWT. Go check it out. :)

HAPPY EASTER GUYS! CHRIST IS RISEN, SO BE HAPPY! :DD

Love, Angie