Darkness, that's all she saw.

As she kept running into more and more of the darkness, the more lost she became. She stops running and then she hears it, a faint noise that keeps repeating itself.

'beep,beep,beep.'

She looked around her pitch black surroundings and the beeping kept getting louder.

'Beep,Beep,Beep.'

It got more and more loud to the point where the girl had to cover her ears.

'BEEP,BEEP,BEEP.'

And then all of a sudden a huge flash of light came over her.

 

 

'BEEP!' 'BEEP!' 'BEEP

Layla shifted and started to open her eyes. Staring at her celing in a daze, she recalled back to the dream she just had, after having it for the 5th night for a row. 'Wonder what it means' she thought briefly. She spent a few more moments laying in her bed before the alarm blared through the 4 walls of her bedroom. Layla groaned as she got up in her bed before moving to turn the alarm off on her phone. She checked the time on her phone to see that it was 8:15. Realising she had slept through nearly all the alarms that she had set, Layla jolted awake, all sleepiness evapouring out of her immediately.

"crap, mom's gonna kill me"

Layla jumped out of bed, her curly locks blocking some of her vision as she ran out of her room to the bathroom. She grabbed the brush on the sink and brushed the tangled mess out of her face, tying it up into a high bun. She took a look at herself, her brown, wide eyes analysing her face. She had unruly curl strands framing her face, her melanin brightening her features.  She looked nearly identical to her mom, in fact it was to the point that at first glance, people wouldn't believe she she was also half korean, let alone east-asian. 

She had a thin, pointed nose and arched, thick brows accompanying her long lashes. The only features that she got from her dad were his plump lips, the rosy tint complimenting her skin and his elfish ears, which stuck out a little compared to her mom's freakishly small ears. She raised her hand to brush it past her gold, ring piercing in the middle of her left ear. It was the result of a dare when she went to visit her cousins in London back 2 years ago. She remembers how her dad freaked out at the airport when she came back, with her mom complimenting it and saying to ignore her dad being a 'stick in the mud'. She chuckled back to the memory and then remembered that she was already running late. 

Layla brushed her teeth and washed her face, running back to her room with the hair brush from the bathroom to get ready. She untied her hair and grabbed the hair oil that was on her dresser, running it through her hair and then using the brush, she brushed the rest of the tangles out, which in result gave her hair a more wavy look. Satisified, she opened up her wardrobe and pulled out a yellow, long sleeved top, light blue jeans and a pair of black ankle socks. She closed the wardrobe with her foot before going to her bed, dumping all the clothes onto it. She changed out her pyjamas and into her outfit, sitting on her bed to pull the ankle socks on before grabbing her pyjamas, throwing them into the hamper next to the door as she ran out of her room. 

She made it down the hallway quickly, the stairs being at the end. She sped down the 2 flights of stairs before running through the living room and made it to the office room, where her laptop and books were for when she does her online classes. She opened the door quietly, peeking in only to be relieved to see that her mom wasn't there.

"Running late Layla?" A hushed voice said next to Layla's ears, causing her to scream and jump backwards. She turned to see her mom chuckling to herself. "That wasn't funny mom!" Layla whined at her mom, annoyed at how childish she was being. "Oh hush, you big baby." Layla's mom chided at her, "Besides, I'm not the one who showed up late for her lessons, AGAIN." Layla winced at her mom's tone. Not wanting to be scolded, Layla looked at her mom with her wide eyes looking tearful, her lips pouting a bit. "I'm sorry mom. You know I love you right?" Layla's mom gave her a skeptical look before sighing and moving to wrap her daughter in a quick hug. "Fine, I'll leave you for today." Layla hugged her mom back, smiling at her successful plan before moving away from her mom. "Go in and start your lessons, I'll bring you something to snack on." Layla's mom said to her before turning to head to the kitchen. 

Layla went into the office, sitting down at her desk before starting up her laptop. She logged into the school's system and started her 1st lesson of the day, which her maths. As she was reading a workbook on how to use a formula to solve a series of questions, her mom came in with a plate that had toast with butter on and a cup of red tea. She placed them onto the desk next to Layla, kissing Layla's forehead before leaving the room. 

As the hours went by, Layla did her math formula work, aswell as her 2 english essays and a few science worksheets, snacking on the various chocolate bars that she stashes in the desk's drawer during the day. As it got to 5pm, Layla was finishing up a history essay, typing up the last few sentences before saving a copy and hitting send. She closed her laptop and slumped back into her chair, her back aching. Layla got up and stretched her back and legs out, which started to become slightly numb from sitting all day, before she made her way out of the office and towards the kitchen, where her mom was nearly finished cooking a pot of rice mixed with chicken.

"Oh wow mom, its been a while since ive seen something that wasn't bulgogi or seafood." Layla noted while moving to the fridge, grabbing a water bottle and shutting the fridge. "I just missed eating this" Layla's mom said while stirring the pot she had on the stove, "If you don't want to eat this-" "No i do." Layla interrupted while walking over to her mom "Should i make a salad to go with it?" She finished saying, her back leaving on the counter next to her mom. "Oh yes! All the vegetables should be in the fridge" 

Layla and her mom moved around the kitchen in a comfortable silence, finishing up the food and setting the table up when they heard a door shut and footsteps towards the kitchen. They both looked towards the kitchen door to see Layla's dad walk in, still wearing his suit and holding his briefcase. "Hey dad." said Layla, shifting her attention back to her vegetables afterwards. "Layla,greet your father properly." Layla's mom said, hitting Layla on the back with a wooden spoon. A "Ow!" whined through Layla's lips as she put the knife down and ran towards her dad, hiding behind him. "Dad, mom's being mean again." 

Layla's dad chuckled as he ruffled her hair, "Sherihan darling, ease up a little." "I'm being easy on her Jaeho, believe me. My mom was 10 times harder than me than I'll ever be with Layla." Sherihan grumbled with her arms crossed, giving her husband and daughter a overdramatic pout. "Guess you guys think im nothing but a big bully." Layla and Jaeho both went over to Sherihan, giving her a hug with "Mom don't say that" and "Honey, we love you" pouring out of their mouths. 

"Hmmm, okay I'll leave you both, only because I made a lovely meal and I at least want someone to appreicate it." Sherihan said, trying not smile at her family's cheesiness as they let go of her. "Layla, finish making the salad and honey, go and get changed please." "Yes ma'am." They both saluted at Sherihan before moving. Everything went fine afterwards, with the three of them eating dinner, remarks and jokes flying around the table. Towards the end of the meal, Layla's parents gave each other a look, before turning to Layla. 

Sherihan spoke first,"Layla, there's something we need to tell you." Layla looked up from the remining pieces of chicken she left over to stuff in to her parents, who were giving her quite serious look. "Oh..okay.Is there something wrong?" "Quite the opposite actually," Jaeho said, giving Layla a small smile before continuting "See my company gave me a promotion to the head of international affairs." Layla became estatic over this, knowing how much her dad loved his job. After all, it's how he met her mom. "Dad, that's great! I'm so happy for you." "But that's not all. Because of the promotion, I've been transferred over to the main branch in Seoul." Jaeho finished with Sherihan grabbing his hand, both of them smiling at each other. "Layla, we're moving to seoul, where you're gonna do your final year of education in high school." Sherihan said, looking at Layla with a excited face, waiting for her daughter to match her expression.

Layla took a moment to process the infomation that her parents just told her, realising the huge life change that she's about to go through. She stood up from her chair too fast,causing it to hit the ground behind her.

"WHAT!?"