Author's note: Sorry this chapter's so short, but it's important.

Lay wasn’t there when I woke up. I was completely alone in the darkness – or at least, as far as I could tell. “Lay? Are you there?” He didn’t reply. I waited for a while – to be completely sure – before I sneaked out of the shack.

The trees were gone – every last one of them. How was that even possible? Trees – forests – don’t just vanish into thin air (or thick air for that matter) overnight! I had woken up in a completely different place than I had fallen asleep in – well, except that the shack was still there.

There was no sign of a road, or even a footpath, or any people. I was alone. I was lost. And I was utterly confused. Oh yeah, on top of all that I had no signal. Wonderful.

Thirsty, famished, and shaking, I did the only thing possible: I walked. I walked straight to where the trees used to be and followed the path I would have followed had the setting not changed. If the landscape could change overnight, I didn’t doubt that it could change at any moment during the day too.

It felt like I had been walking for hours by the time I heard the sounds of gushing water flowing freely. Water. I needed water. I gradually grew close to the river – it was just a few meters to my right. I sat down on the bank and – foolishly without inspecting it first – cupped my hands and them into the water. I brought my hands up to my lips and sipped the water. I did this several times until I no longer felt I was dying of thirst. Drained of energy, I lay down on my back and closed my eyes, intending to have a nap. “Hey! You’re lonely, right? I’ll keep you company.” A voice said inside my head. Lay.

I snapped my eyes open. He was standing next to me, hovering above me, in such a casual stance that it sickened me. I didn’t bother answering in our heads. “Where the Hell did you go and where are the trees?!”

“Never mind that. Let’s play!” He giggled manically.

“No! I want to go home!” I went back to speaking telepathically.

“Fine. I’ll show you the way.” I was unsure about trusting him – ever since I’d met him the world had become entirely different. On the other hand, what choice did I have? It was go with him or starve to death.

Pain. All I could feel was immense pain. It started at my head and spread to other parts of my body.

Everything went black.