I scoured the city until my feet bled, calling Chloe's name in every alley and shadowed street. Each shout echoed back, hollow and empty. The first night I searched, hope was my only lantern. Surely, she was here somewhere, lost and scared like I was. But then the night turned to day, and the sun climbed and fell again. The crowds shifted, faces turned to blurs, voices faded into noise. Chloe was nowhere among them.
Four days, three nights. No sleep. Exhaustion clawed at my mind. I forced myself on. Every hospital, every police station—I left no stone unturned. I begged strangers, grasped at threads of hope that unraveled as quickly as they came. No one had seen her. No one knew her. The world pressed in, heavy and wrong, as if reality had tilted, its rules now unfamiliar and cruel.
On the fourth night, I sank onto the curb of a silent street, my limbs trembling. That's when I finally understood: this was not my world. Somehow, impossibly, I had crossed a boundary that could not be uncrossed. Everything—the sky, the city, even the language on the street signs—felt subtly off, as if I were living inside a dream shaped by unfamiliar hands. I was a whole dimension away from everything I had ever known. A decision pressed against the edges of my mind, urging action. I needed guidance in this strange place.
Looking around the deserted street, I spotted an old phone booth at the corner. It stood out like a relic from another era. I dragged myself over, hoping for instructions, hoping for answers. Inside, the stale air weighed heavily as I rifled through a directory of unfamiliar names and numbers. Pages turned under my fingers, each name a potential guide in this new world. My heart raced with possibilities, fear, and hope.
With a deep breath, I tore out a page, crumpling it in my fist as a token of my resolve. I was going to find someone who could help me navigate this reality and uncover the truth about why I was here. I would not let desolation take root. Action had to follow understanding, and so it would.
I let the city swallow me, silent at last, the search over. All I could do now was survive—and pray that, somewhere in the infinite tapestry of worlds, Chloe had found her way home.
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[sorry for the short chapter, the next one will be longer]