Random Bystander

Elsie immediately started feeling around until she grabbed one of his hands, and tried pulling him up.

"TERRANCE?"

"Well. It was weird." She said. "And, uh, are we gonna talk about what the voice said?

"Beware the traitor." Everything went dark. They were still on the small piece of field, but it had become impossible to see. "... The heck was that?"

"Yeah, I'd rather, you know, not be here." "Stop your march to the underworld. It is vanity." Elsie turned to Terrance, face betraying her confusion.

"Thanks. And fair enough. But I actually-" She was rudely interrupted by a voice. It was hard to distinguish, as if it was a million voices speaking together. Yet somehow, it seemed to almost not exist at all. "You should not be here, children."

She yelped, stumbling back, and almost over the edge into the void.

"Why do you expect me to know?!?!" She asked.

"I don't wanna fall into the void, and the land keeps vanishing quite suddenly. It's freaking me the heck out. Not to mention how ominous everything looks."

She paused. "...Terrance?"

"NOPE. Not today!" She said, backing away from the edge. She had only been backing away for about 2 minutes before she stepped off another edge. She shrieked, and barely managed to pull herself back up. Much of the field had disappeared. The sky, previously full of stars, was now a blood red that faded to black the closer it got to the void. She felt a spike of pure unbridled panic. What if more disappeared? What if she fell into the nothingness? She felt as if she would simply cease to exist if that happened, although she wasn't sure why.

Elsie wandered the sprawling field, occasionally calling out for somebody, anybody. She started to run as she became more and more frantic, and more and more alone. And then, she nearly fell off the edge. She skid to a stop as she noticed that the land suddenly stopped existing. She peered over the edge, and saw what she could only describe as the absence of anything. She quickly moved away from the edge. She needed to find a way out of there.

Elsie slipped into a dream. She was alone, sitting in the middle of an empty field. It was night, and the sky was clear and full of stars. "Hello?" She called, slightly confused.

Elsie just kept sleeping.

Soon, her head flopped onto his arm. She was out like a light, and didn't seem like she'd be able to wake up for a while.

Elsie started snoring softly.

"Mhm. Did. But... In safe place... With... With safe people..." She completely lost consciousness, and started snoring.

"I... Would've snapped... Eventually..." She mumbled.

Elsie shook her head. "It's not your fault. I'm just a bit of a mess right now." She said. Now that the adrenaline had worn off, her panic had obviously worn her out. She tried to keep her eyes open, but quickly failed, and drifted off to sleep.

She didn't respond to that.

"I don't want that to happen ever again. I thought I'd died."

Elsie just sat there in silence, looking slightly traumatized.

She looked at him, shaking. "H-hi."

It took a good three to five minutes, but eventually Elsie faded back into view. Her face was ashen pale, and she kinda looked like she was about to throw up, but she was visible again.

She paused, suddenly embarrassed at her massive overreaction. "Oh." She said, face bright red. At least no one could see it.