And so it begins

Robert
It was a day like any other. Robert had returned to the scene of his accident for closure as he had done many times before. But suddenly as he stood there by the quiet roadside his surroundings seemed to change. He no longer felt the breeze blowing against him or birds in the trees. Everything was very silent and very still. It almost felt like he was indoors. There was an eerie silence before he heard a nearby voice. "Hello, is someone there? Can you tell me where I am? I can't seem to find my way out." The voice called, sounding distressed by trying to remain calm.

Eunace
Eunace was at the side of the road preparing to do some writing, but as she walked along the path something didn't seem quite right. She'd been walking for ages but she hadn't reached the end of the road. It usually didn't take this long. Looking back the beginning of the road could not be seen so she must have been a good way through the journey, but looking ahead the end of the road was not in sight. Come to think of it, no cars had passed in nearly 10 minutes. It was a quiet road, but today it was too quiet.

You may both proceed at your own pace...

"This road is strange..." Eunace thought, as she was going further and further, while writing. It seemed endless and dead, not changing, until everything became darker and darker, until the girl fell on the ground, unconscious.

"Uuugh, my head..." Eunace rubbed her forehead. "I really should stop walking while writing..." she moaned while slowly oppening her eyes.

"Where... am... I?" She thought.

Her surroundings seemed like an unknown house.
"Am I kidnapped? Then why am I not tied to something? What happened?" Eunace quickly stood in a sitting position.
"Hello?" she shouted, but quickly went silent.
"No! Better not cause noise. I better get out of here. This really is a good material for my article, though..."

Eunace was looking ofr a way out, yet she couldn't help but be impressed by the variety of the house. Soon, she started writing in her notebook while walking.

Robert looked around as he was now inside a strange house. . . He ran over to a door that he could see in front of him, it was metal and cold to the touch.

"No, no. . ." He started saying frantically as he tried the handle over and over, only to come to the horrible conclusion that it was indeed locked. He walked toward the voice he heard. He could have sworn however that he was still outside. . . But obviously he was indoors. Inside of a strange house. . . How many people were in here with him?

Robert looked around as he was now inside a strange house. . . He ran over to a door that he could see in front of him, it was metal and cold to the touch.

"No, no. . ." He started saying frantically as he tried the handle over and over, only to come to the horrible conclusion that it was indeed locked. He walked toward the voice he heard. He could have sworn however that he was still outside. . . But obviously he was indoors. Inside of a strange house. . . How many people were in here with him?

Eunace's eyes widened in alert when she heard a voice.

"Somebody's nearby!" she thought. "That's probably the person who got me inside... or just someone who lives here. I better find a way before this person finds me..."

The girl started to tip-toe slowly in the opposite direction of the voice she heard. Once she was several rooms away, she started running and slamming the doors open. After around half a minute she opened a door that led her to a brown-haired boy.

The person did dot say anything. He wasn't even looking directly at Eunace.
"What's going on?" She thought.

"Excuse me..." she spoke. Do you live here?

Apparently this person who named himself Robbie, was also a victim to this strange event.
"Eunace." the young woman shok his extended hand while waving her other arm in front of his eyes. "Let's find the exit!" she smiled.

There were two doors in the room they were in. One to the left and one to the right...

"So, Robbie..." Eunace called to the boy. "Right now we're in front of two doors. I came from the right one and it didn't have any exits. I suggest we go to the left one."

"Okay." Eunace held Robbie's elbow.
"The left door is over there." she carefully started walking along with him. "Soon we'll get out of here."

Both of them went trough the door.

"So, is Robbie short for Robert?"

This room was strange. The last room was bleak with plain concrete walls and floors but this was completely new. It was heated with painted pale orange walls and some sort of vinyl floor. But that was far from the weirdest part. The room was sorted into isles almost like a supermarket. The shelves were stocked with packets which on closer observation were empty but still sealed. It was like a mock conveniece store. Almost like a setting for a stage play or what children might use for playing make believe shopping. There was a cashier there too. An actual human being. He looked very nervous. He had short brown hair and blue eyes and was wearing a cashier's red waistcoat with a nametag. "Go." He whispered. "You seriously picked the wrong place to be." Then he changed his tone to that of a friendly cashier. "See anything you like?" He asked with a smile. "40% off for our sale today." Then he started whispering again. "The house can hear you. I don't know how but it can. Play along if you want to escape. I have a friend who thought he'd found a way out but we got seperated. If we can find him we might be ok." Then he returned to his mock cashier voice. "Would you like me to reccomend an item?"

The cashier picked up one of the obscure toy food packets. "Here you go. Free to all new customers." He then glanced in both directions. "Looks like my shift has finished. I'll be taking my break now." He said, nudging Robbie and pointing in the direction of the door they just come through. "We can talk out there. I don't think the house bothers listening to the starting room." He whispered.

"This house is so strange..." Eunace could only think once she saw the similarity to a market. "And apparently we're not the only people here..."

There was a cashier, or more like someone who pretended to be. He seemed to be in a similar situation, but with more knowledge about it.

"The starter room?" Eunace whispered back.

When they went trough the previous room the girl turned to the cashier.

"A starter room? Start for what? Are we in a videogame or something?"

"Not a video game, no." He answered, speaking more easily now they were back in the first room. "But I think it's a game for someone, whoever is controlling this place. I'll tell you what I know and then we'll try to find our way out." He said. "If I had to guess how long I've been here I'd say 3 days, but that's just a guess. It's hard to tell because I have had so little view of the outside world that my perception has become pretty scewed. I've hardly seen a window since I got here. Something you'll notice is you won't get hungry or need to use the bathroom here." He said. "That's why none of the food is real, or at least that's my theory. I have no idea how we got here. I was just taking a walk down the road, I stopped for a second and next thing I knew I was in here. My friend was with me at the time but I don't know where he is. We said we'd split up to find an exit but keep in contact with our phones but a couple of minutes later my phone went dead, like it had been deactivated. Every room here is completely different. I've seen a really fancy looking dining room with plastic food, a giant kitchen with a table so high you can't see what's on top and a bunch of others. Each room sets you tasks and makes you feel weird. Once you complete your task you're allowed to leave the room and start looking for an exit again." He said, handing over a slip of paper that read 'Play shopkeeper until you serve your first customer.'

"Gosh, and on the top of that who knows how many more people are in this situation! Let's not repeat the mistake with the separation! We must stick together! My name is Eunace and this is Robert." Eunace said. "Now where should we go?"