Gavin Youngblood's Story

The red stilettos made a distinct click-clack noise against the hardwood floor of the hallway. “Where are they…” she muttered to herself, while turning around to walk the way she had just come. Dr. Leblanc was prone to pacing when she got nervous. And anyone knew better than to disturb her when she was in one of these moods. Not that there were many people left to bother her anymore anyway. Today was a very big day, and she was extremely nervous. She had no idea what was going to happen over the next few days, but the world hung in the balance. Humanity hung in the balance. Pretty much everyone else in the station thought she was absolutely nuts. That was fine with her.

Dr. Leblanc had done her research. She had found ten young minds and bodies who all had something to hate about Maya Virtuele. She hoped it would be enough to help them end the virtual world for good. Not that it should be extremely hard to do so. All they would have to do was find Dr. Holloway. And her boss was extremely smart, and would know that when the kids explained how reality was falling apart, he’d make the decision to shut down Maya Virtuele. He was truly a good person, and never intended that his invention would completely make the world fall apart.

If anything the fact that his invention was so successful was just a testament to how brilliant his mind was. He had made the virtual world so beautiful and alluring, that people didn’t want to leave. But it was time for it to be stopped. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps approaching from down the hallway. Her head pricked up, instantly on alert. This had to be them. The ten she had personally asked to save the world. A big responsibility, but they were her only hope. And then her saviors rounded the corner, in a straight line, escorted by four of her trusted assistants. They lined up in front of her, some looking confident, others looking nervous. She knew each of their faces by heart. Noah Rosenthal, Sailor Westfall, Jesse Kent, Avery Harding, Wesley MacKnight, Ainsley Brooks, Johnny Abington, Chloe Ferguson, Gavin Youngblood, and Serenity Winters. She felt tears come to her eyes at the sight of them all, but held them back.

“Welcome everyone, and thank you so much for coming,” she began, smiling. “You all know what is at stake here, so I’m not even going to mention that. Please, if you could all follow me, we’ll get this started.” She turned and walked the opposite way the kids had come, hearing the shuffling of their footsteps behind her. She led them through a few turns before arriving at a set of double doors. She had arranged this room just for the ten of them. She swept the doors open and gestured for each of them to have a seat in one of the white chairs.

The room was completely white, looking almost sterile, but had soft carpet, and pops of color from art on the wall and decorations around the room, making it look slightly more homey. The chairs looked like slim recliners, and were very plush. There were complex mechanisms hooked up to each one. Each of the ten took a seat, and she turned to face them all. “Your job is to find Dr. Holloway, and convince him to shut Maya Virtuele down. I really don’t think you should have many troubles. He is a good man, and in no way would want to destroy the world.”

She took a breath before she continued. “However, just in case you run into trouble, I have been working on a surprise for you all. Everyone else is ruled by Dr. Holloway, and has to follow his guidelines. Basically they are no different than themselves in reality. However, you will not have the same problem. Your abilities will be seemingly limitless. Anything you can imagine, you can achieve.” Dr. Leblanc was proud of herself for writing this code, and had been working on it for weeks. She had never been inside Maya Virtuele, and didn’t know what to expect. While everyone spoke of it as paradise, she didn’t know what would be waiting for the ten individuals in front of her. She wanted to give them every advantage she could.

“There are of course limits to these abilities. You won’t be able to change your physical form, you will look exactly as you are now. You also won’t be able to change anything in your surroundings, or the land. After all, you are still in Dr. Holloway’s world, and his imagination.” She had begun pacing again, becoming extremely nervous for the ten lives in front of her. The time was close. “I will be monitoring everything from here. I can track your progress and communicate with you. However, you will not be able to communicate back. I will only be able to see where you are heading, not what you are saying.” She walked over to a desk, picking up a tiny, round device. “Each of you will have one of these devices in your ears. This is how you will hear from me. And should you get separated, you can also communicate with each other.”

She placed the device back down, and walked back by the door. She pressed an intercom button, and spoke into the speaker. “It is time.” Within seconds, the doors opened and ten of her assistants entered the room, and each took a spot next to a chair. She nodded, and they instantly began working. The recliners began to recline, lying each of the ten back into a comfortable position. She kept talking as her assistants worked. “While you are away in the virtual world, you will be fed and get liquids through an IV. It’s the only way we can keep you alive.” She looked towards the ten chairs. “Hopefully you aren’t afraid of needles…” she said quietly, more to herself. She then began pacing and talking once more. “You will be deposited on the shores of Annafaire Ocean. There should be adequate transportation there for you, as well as a map of Maya Virtuele. Dr. Holloway is located directly in the center of Maya Virtuele, which should be accessible from a trip across the ocean.”

The assistants backed off, meaning the ten were ready to enter Maya Virtuele. Slight bands had been placed around their foreheads, with a set of glasses that dropped down to cover their eyes. “If you ever get scared, just know that I will be there with you throughout the entire journey. And I will do everything in my power to make sure you succeed.” She walked over to a panel, and took one last look at the saviors of Earth. “Now sit back, take deep breaths, and relax.” She pressed a button, and they were gone. “I hope to see you again very soon…” Dr. Leblanc stood watching them for a few minutes, then left through the doors to head into an adjacent room, where she could monitor their every move.

He was dreaming of Serenity. She was back home again in their apartment, with her beautiful, flowing platinum blonde hair. He really missed running his hands through that hair. Her smile lit up the entire room, and she ran up to him, throwing herself in his arms. He spun her around, just like in the movies. And when they kissed, he felt fireworks, just like the first time. Everything was perfect… until he woke up.

Noah wasn’t in his apartment with Serenity. No, he was with nine total strangers in a virtual world. He never expected to be in this situation. Yet here he was. And as much as he didn’t want to admit it, it was all for one girl. The love of his life. Serenity. If he went and saved the entire human race from dwindling to nothing, she would see so much in him. She would most certainly want him back. And then he could go back to being happy again. When he was completely honest with himself, he didn’t like the person he had become. He was bitter and angry most of the time. He had lost most of his spice for life, and had resorted to just kind of going through the motions. He worked more hours than he could count, came home just to sleep and eat, and then went on repeat. Even his weekends weren’t filled with fun.

He wasn’t going to treat this mission any differently. It was work to him. Even though this virtual world was supposed to be the place of dreams, he didn’t want to get swept up in it. He wanted to get in, get the job done, and get out. He was afraid that he would find Maya Virtuele too appealing, and wouldn’t want to leave. He would almost say he hated his life. The only reason he would never enter the virtual world was because he felt he deserved to hate his life. He had driven the love of his life away. And so he chose to live with his guilt.

It was hard every single morning to get out of bed. Noah wanted more than anything to just leave his problems behind. Working so much helped get his mind off of his depression and Serenity. But when he came home, the emptiness was almost too much. He couldn’t look around without remembering her. They had made memories there, and then she had left him.

He sat up, noticing that most everyone else was still lying in the sand. Yet one other had already woken up, and was standing in the water, staring out across the ocean. She was wearing white, and he looked down to notice he was wearing a similar jumpsuit, only his was a dark gray. He stood, heading immediately to his left towards the rocks. He didn’t feel like being social, and wasn’t going to bother the girl who was staring out at the ocean. No, he wanted to stay out of the way, and observe everyone else.

He couldn’t see their faces, but he had gotten a glimpse at each of them back at the station. He had surprisingly seen Gavin Youngblood, his best friend back when he was younger. But they had fallen apart, so to speak, when he had begun dating Serenity, his step-sister. He wasn’t exactly sure where that interesting turn was going to lead. It could go well, or extremely bad. Other than Gavin, however, he hadn’t recognized anyone else. He certainly would have seen the beautiful platinum blonde hair of Serenity if she would have been there, but she wasn’t. He was disappointed.

Noah stood against the rock with his arms crossed, watching the others, and simply waiting.

Wes tapped his foot impatiently, observing as the others woke up and started to introduce themselves. Was this their group? He was hardly impressed. Now, he liked the women, mind you. But to save humanity, they didn't look the part. He could only hope they had hidden talents that their looks didn't betray. Wes clapped loudly, attempting to get everyone's attention.

"Alright, alright." Wes said loudly, not bothering to wait to see who was paying attention. "We can become friends later. I think we need a game plan; we are, after all, trying to save the world. Why don't we start off with introductions? I don't know any of your names."

He continued in his gruff voice, "I'm Wes MacKnight."

Avery hadn’t budged, even though she began to hear the voices of others. As weird as it may seem, she was more frightened of having to interact with her nine other ‘teammates’ than anything else she’d have to do in Maya Virtuele. She had a feeling she would do something wrong, and then all nine of them would want nothing to do with her anymore. She would once again be alone, even though she was amongst a group. It was the story of her life. And especially since Brody left her, she had lost any confidence he had given her.

A girl named Sailor came up beside her and introduced herself, however a guy named Jesse approached her and they began having a conversation amongst themselves, and Avery was once again temporarily forgotten. She half-listened to their conversation, hearing why they both wanted to save the world and whatnot. It was all great, but she was completely focused on the mission. She had no doubt she would get to know the nine of them over their journey together.

Dr. Leblanc had specifically said there would be transportation waiting for them when they arrived. They were on a secluded beach surrounded on three sides by jagged rocks. There was only one way transportation could come, and it was the way she was staring, towards the ocean. Yet she saw nothing except water. She was confused, honestly. Her thoughts were momentarily broken up by a red head coming up beside her and lightly nudging her. ”Chloe, Chloe Ferguson…CJ actually,” she said, almost proudly.

Once again, Avery was going to respond when someone else beat her to it. Johnny, he said, or a bunch of other random nicknames. He seemed quirky as well, but in a likeable, funny way. Not in a quiet way, like her. She sighed softly, turning back towards the ocean. Everyone seemed to want to talk with everybody else… except her. She pushed the thoughts out of her head. She had to stop feeling sorry for herself. It wasn’t going to help.

A loud noise startled her, and she jumped with surprise. ”Alright, alright, we can become friends later. I think we need a game plan we are, after all, trying to save the world. Why don’t we start off with introductions? I don’t know any of your names.” He paused, and she turned to look over her shoulder. He spoke again, ”I’m Wes MacKnight.” She paused for a second, watching him. He seemed like the bad boy type, and he was strong, and extremely handsome. There was something about him that just drew her to him. He was totally different than her, seemingly the complete opposite. Yet she turned away, knowing there was no way he would ever be interested in her. And there was still Brody.

Everyone’s attention was focused on each other, so they didn’t see what Avery saw. On the horizon, a small dot appeared. She leaned forward and squinted, making sure she wasn’t daydreaming. But it was getting larger. Her breath caught in her throat. “There!” she exclaimed loudly, pointing her finger towards the growing object. It was obviously some kind of ship, and it was most certainly heading straight for them. In all her excitement, she didn’t even realize she had spoken. Once she did, her cheeks reddened with embarrassment. That most certainly wasn’t like her.

The ship got larger, and it looked to be some kind of high-end yacht, which surprised her. And it looked big. That thing had to cost more than both of her parent’s salaries combined. It stopped a ways off from shore, the white hull gleaming in the sun. She watched with great interest, noticing there seemed to be movement from the ship, and then something small entered the water and began speeding toward them. It was coming relatively fast, and she backed up out of the water and moved to the side to give it room. Shortly, it reached the shore and stopped. It was a simple, small wooden life boat, probably just big enough for the ten of them. She walked towards it slowly, examining it from one end to the other. “Well, that’s just odd…” she commented, noticing there was no motor, and nobody piloting it. She turned towards the others, and gave them a simple shrug of the shoulders. This was truly a mystery.

Noah just watched as the others began to wake. One by one, they began to introduce themselves, and he just stayed to the side. He noticed one other guy seemed to do the same thing and just watch instead of communicate with the others. He saw Gavin wake up, as well as a brunette next to him, and the two began to talk. It seemed the two knew each other. Of course, Gavin could have met many new girls over the past few years, but it seemed strange that both of them had ended up here, saving humanity together.

He took his eyes off Gavin and the brunette and decided to study the rest of the group. He was within earshot, so he heard all their names. Their was Sailor, a thin brunette who seemed to be tougher than she looked. Jesse, a guy that seemed genuinely too nice. CJ, a girl with sass and spunk. Johnny, an interesting guy that he had no idea what to make of. There was still the girl who hadn't spoken in white, absentmindedly staring at the ocean. He wondered if something was wrong with her. And then there was Wes, who seemed to be attempting to be a tough guy, and the apparent self proclaimed leader. Noah didn't move, even though Wes was trying to herd everyone together.

Noah's eyes darted back to Gavin and the brunette again. Something just seemed off to him, but he couldn't place it. Suddenly, his vision was blocked off by a blonde, the last of the group to wake up. He looked her up and down, noticing she was attempting to look as pleasing as possible. He was a guy, so he took full advantage of it. "Ainsley Brooks, and you are?" she asked, and he gave her a little grin. He quickly wondered why she was trying so hard to get attention. She wasn't bad looking at all. Actually, she was one of the most attractive girls he had ever laid eyes on. Except Serenity. He was about to respond to Ainsley when it all clicked in his mind.

Instantly, he pushed past Ainsley and walked straight over to Gavin, and the brunette. Who was Serenity. He stopped in front of them, and focused on her. She had brown hair, but it was most definitely her. He took a step back, not knowing what to think. She had avoided him for so long, it seemed like a dream. For a moment he wondered if thinking about her so much had magically made her appear in Maya Virtuele. Yet that wasn't possible. This may be a virtual world, but it wasn't magical. "Serenity?!" he asked in disbelief. She looked good, almost better than she had when they were together. The brown hair suited her, although he still preferred the platinum blonde.

His disbelief turned into anger quickly. He had tried so hard to find her, had even gone to Gavin's place. He had lied to Noah. She had been with her step brother all along. He wanted to scream at her, to ask why she had put so much effort into avoiding him. He loved her so much, and had wanted to spend his life with her. He was going to propose. He balled his fists, squeezing so hard that his nails dug into his skin. This was unbelievable. Words escaped him.

Noah stormed away from them, not knowing what else to do. He wanted out now, but knew it was impossible. He barely heard the exclamations of the until then silent girl, as well as the yacht appearing on the horizon. Serenity was here. It was as if the entire world was crashing down on him. He was lost. Then he looked up, and saw Ainsley still standing where he had left her. An idea came to him. If she had any feelings left for him at all, he would make her hurt as well. Ainsley was the perfect vessel to use to make Serenity extremely jealous.

He approached her, putting his suave mask back on. "Sorry about that," he said, grinning at her. "Ainsley you said?" he asked, reaching forward and running his fingers through her hair. "I'm Noah."