A small wet sensation dropped on Liam’s cheek as his consciousness slowly returned to him. He felt something hard and flat pressed against his back and head. Muffled noises started to enter his ears, but he wasn’t able to tell what they were. To him it sounded like he was underwater.

Liam tried to sit up but struggled to do so. His muscles were sore as if he had run a marathon to the point of collapse. He tried to open his eyes but regretted it as a sharp pain stabbed his head causing his vision to swim around. The feeling was akin to a strong hangover. He kept his eyes shut as he forced himself up.

After finally sitting up he brought a hand to his aching head. His hearing finally cleared as he heard a voice say, “Take your time. The pain and disorientation will disappear soon.”

After waiting a few seconds, he was able to open his eyes again without any problems. The sharp pain had dulled greatly to a minor headache. He looked to see a female hunched over staring at him.

Liam was shocked to see this beautiful milk chocolate skinned young lady in front of him. Her glossy curly light red hair that flowed down pass her shoulders made her hypnotic ocean blue eyes stand out. Judging by the way she was hunched over, he guessed she was a little taller than him.

“Are you feeling better now?” She asked. Her voice had a charm to it, mixed with an accent he wasn’t familiar with, it made him want to hear her speak more. She reached out a hand to him and said, “I’m Ariyana. What’s your name?”

Liam took her hand and allowed it to help him to his feet. As he stood, he found he was right. Ariyana stood just a couple inches taller than he did. He went to speak, but had to clear his throat to say clearly, “I’m Liam. Thank you.”

Ariyana smiled happily as she replied, “You’re welcome.”

Ariyana’s smile drew his attention in and made him relax a bit, until he realized something he should have the moment he woke up. He was alone before passing out. Now he wasn’t.

Liam tensed up and got into a defensive stance as he scanned the area around him.

“Rule fifteen, getting distracted by pretty girls can get you killed, Liam,” Liam admonished himself.

The area he was in was a bit dark, but had enough light from five glowing stones to be able to see. Stone walls surrounded him, and it didn’t look like there was a way out. This made Liam feel trapped.

“Whoa!” Ariyana shouted as she raised her hands. “Calm down. There’s no need to freak out. No one’s going to hurt you.”

Liam stared at her. He could tell by her body language she wasn’t lying, but the whole situation still had his guard up. The fact that he was supposed to die in his apartment, that strange shadow creature that appeared before him, and then suddenly being teleported at the last minute.

“That’s right. I got teleported,” Liam quietly whispered as his tension slowly disappeared.

His memories of what happened slowly came back. Even with that question being answered he still had an uneasy feeling. The fact that he didn’t know where he was and why he was there was one of the reasons. The other reason was the fact that there were a few other people in the room besides him and this Ariyana.

There was a tall male leaning against a wall to the right of Liam. From a quick glance he looked over six feet tall. He had a bit of heft to him compared to the others in the room. He had short shaggy brown hair and olive-green eyes. His eyes expressed how anxious he was as he quickly stared at the ground after glimpsing at Liam. For a big guy he was kind of skittish Liam gathered.

Near the male was a much shorter boy. He looked to be about five foot two inches. His features looked a bit childish, with a slightly baby-like face still going for him. However, when he looked at Liam, he could feel the gaze of his brown eyes having a mix of cocky, but calculating feel to them.

The way he stood with his athletic build showed he had gone through much more than you’d think when first looking at him. His slicked back blonde hair didn’t sway as he glared and questioned, “What are you looking at?” His voice sounded a bit older than his body led on.

“Nothing,” Liam responded as he looked to his left.

Closest to him and Ariyana was a lanky and slender male. He had short curly blond hair and emerald, green eyes. His clothes looked more expensive than anyone’s so far, but still looked unfamiliar. Liam noticed a couple of rings on each of his hand as the male gave him a cheerful smile and waved slightly. His face was youthful and smooth making him look a bit younger than Liam.

Liam gave a slight wave back as he nodded in greeting.

Next to the male was another lanky slender figure that was sitting down on the ground leaning against the wall. This one was a female. She had short black hair in a pixie cut that was brought by her lightly tanned skin. Liam couldn’t tell what color her eyes were because she looked asleep. She wore black boots that complimented her cargo shorts and tank top. She didn’t have much muscle, but she was toned a bit more than the guy next to her.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Liam looked forward towards the final person in the room, who was staring back at him. It was another girl.

She looked a bit younger than he was. Her sharp facial features were complemented by her gunmetal grey eyes. Her long wavy hair looked midnight black, but the light reflecting off of it from the stone revealed it was a deep dark blue giving it a majesty look. She had a small frame with an athletic build you could see from the way her t-shirt and pants fit on her.

After assessing the people in the room, he noticed something different. Their clothing. He wasn’t a fashion guru or anything, but he knew these designs were foreign to him.

“That’s strange,” he thought before moving on to more important thoughts.

After assessing the potential threats in the room he decided to asked, “Where are we?”

“Don’t know,” Ariyana stated with a shrug.

“We all woke up here with the same questions and then waited for you to get up,” the girl across from Liam added. “I’m Avery.”

“I’m Mercer,” the male to Liam’s left said and then pointed to the girl next to him. “She’s Blair.”

Blair gave a slight wave without opening her eyes.

“Artem,” The tallest guy stated before looking away from everyone.

“Roman,” the shorter individual informed as he stared at everyone.

Before anyone could say anything else, a monotoned feminine voice filled their minds saying, “Beginning assessment of individuals. Please wait.”

“What the…!?” Blair exclaimed as she quickly opened her eyes and shot to her feet. She got into a defensive stance ready for anything. Her icy blue eyes gave off a cold stare.

Liam felt a cold sensation wash throughout his body. It was the same feeling one would get when an iv drip entered their veins when donating blood or plasma. As this sensation washed over him a dim white light outlined his and the other’s bodies. The light grew brighter as the seconds passed until it disappeared.

“Assessment completed. Please proceed to the next area.”

“Next area?” Liam muttered.

“Um, what area?” Roman asked with annoyance. He gestured around with his arms and began to say, “If you can’t tell there’s no way ou…” He trailed off as a section of the wall next to Avery slid open.

Everyone swiftly glanced at each other before looking at the opening.

“Should we check it out?” Mercer questioned.

“Not sure,” Avery responded.

“Smells fishy to me,” Roman stated.

“I agree,” Blair commented still in a defensive stance. “Getting teleported to a random place without your consent, being scanned, and then being told to move to the next area sounds a lot like cattle being lured to their death.”

“You say that like it happens a lot to people,” Liam remarked.

Blair turned her head to give him a confused look before saying, “It has.”

“Are you serious? Teleportation and being scanned are a thing of fiction and sci-fi novels or movies.” Liam said sounding skeptical.

“Fantasy and sci-fi novels and movies? What the hell are you talking about?” Roman asked sounding just as confused as the others looked.

“Don’t you have teleporters and the like where you’re from?” Avery asked.

“No. It’s something that people looked into and tried to make possible, but it never came to be,” Liam explained.

“What part of Exlar are you from where they don’t have that?” Blair asked.

“What is Exlar?” Liam inquired.

“What do you mean? Exlar is the planet we’re on,” Blair answered.

“We can’t be. We are on Teslar,” Roman interjected.

“Wait, wait, wait…” Liam started as he placed his hands up. “I am from a planet called Earth. I have never heard of Exlar or Teslar. What about you guys?” He looked at the others.

“Kelora,” Avery replied.

“Hessia,” Artem continued.

“Goldaria,” Mercer added.

“Feltia,” Ariyana finished.

Liam placed a hand on his head trying to process everything. He thought about what had happened before waking up and then asked, “What happened before you guys woke up? My planet was about to explode from a meteor ramming into it.”

The others looked at him before saying in unison, “The same thing happened to me.”

Liam remembered his encounter with that abyssal creature and shuddered. “Did you guys have a creepy shadow thing appear and try to attack you before getting…teleported here?” It felt strange to Liam for saying the words.

Everyone gave him a puzzled look.

“A creepy shadow thing?” Avery asked.

“Yeah. It had a sinister aura and was floating. Its demonic looking red eyes felt like it could stare into your entire being.” Liam recalled.

Avery stiffened.

“Nothing appeared before me,” Mercer stated after thinking it over.

“Same,” Artem, Blair, Roman, and Ariyana said in unison.

After a few moments passed Avery added, “It never appeared before me either.”

Liam thought to himself, “Why would it appear before me if no one else saw it?”

Before anyone could say anything else a noise filled the room. It sounded like random idle chatter. At first it was a bit quiet, but then it grew louder as seconds started to go by.

“I know what that sounds like,” Liam began as he focused.

“What does that sound like?” Avery questioned as she gave him a confused look.

“That is the sound of panic, confusion, and uncertainty,” Liam said confidently as he looked at them. “I think there are others in the same predicament as us.”

“How do you know it’s not a trap? What if they want us to believe what you think it is?” Roman asked.

“Yeah,” Blair agreed.

“I don’t think, I know. When you spend as much as time as me hearing the sound of people panicked by the uncertainty of things happening from those trying to trick you, you can distinguish the real from the fake.” Liam gave them a look of certainty. “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m going to see what is going on.” He then walked out the door.

The area outside the room expanded into a huge cavern. The ceiling was high in the air and the walls were spread out far. The floor, walls, and ceiling were made of solid rocks giving the area a cavernous feel to it. Glowing stones lined the walls giving enough light around for people to see.

The crowd of people standing before Liam, filled up the area. In front of them was a stage made from wood. Glowing stones strapped to poles illuminated the stage from both sides.

“I’m curious to know what those glowing stones are,” Mercer stated as he walked up next to Liam.

Liam turned to him and nodded in agreement.

“It seems like you were right,” Blair commented as she and the others approached behind to stand next to him and Mercer.

Liam gave a slight smile as he looked forward. “Now if this is just like a novel then I’d say someone will appear up there to explain what’s going on.”

“What the hell!” someone shouted. “Where did it go?!”

Liam turned around to see the room-like areas had disappeared and turned into a solid wall. He then thought to himself, “That’s strange. I hope we didn’t just screw ourselves.”

“Ahem, if we could have your attention here, please,” a commanding, but soft voice called out.

The voice didn’t sound like it was yelling, but rather it was a talking to everyone like they were close.