Lea woke up in a room far different from the one she went to sleep in. The black walls with worn out wallpaper surrounded her and the bright red light coming from the window gave the place an unsettling tone. She was laying on a velvet red couch that seemed a bit worn out by the passage of time. She looked at the ceiling only to find cracks, water stains and a lamp that seemed to be hanging by a thread. Her head seemed to be spinning and even though she was laying down she wasn’t able to position where she was in relation to the room. She tried reaching out, moving her hand away from the couch. Her hand came in contact with the crystal table at her left and she started to feel a bit less sick and more grounded. She looked to her left and was able to see the items on the desk. There was a small plastic bag filled with white powder, a worn out wallet with a pentagram and a pair of horns drawn on it and a turned off game console that seemed small enough to fit into a backpack.

Lea tried to make sense of her surroundings, still too dizzy and out of herself to actually take in and notice what was happening. She was trying to sit up straight on the couch when a sharp voice came from the other side of the room.

-Hey! You’re awake! Finally – The body of the person talking was shadowed by the lighting. Their voice was feminine. Lea couldn’t see almost anything of them. The mysterious figure started approaching her, the red light starting to shine on their clothes. Their military boots stepped into the crimson shine, followed by some fishnet stockings that went up to her thighs, covered by short black trousers with a chain on the right side and a phone hanging from the left pocket. Leas eyes widened as the red skin showing from her legs appeared in the light from the window. Covering their upper body they had a shirt with the silhouette of a cat’s head with a gag ball on it and a leather jacket covering part of the shirt. Around her neck there was a choker with little spikes around it. Lea started to feel lightheaded from the situation when the face of who she thought was her captor started to reveal itself. They had a small round face and a piercing on their upper lip, complementing their smile. Their small nose had a septum and their yellow and black eyes gazed down at Lea. Their white hair half-covered one of their eyes. On top of their head you could see their 2 black horns growing out and curving down to their ear level. The side cut of their hair revealed the base of their right horn and showed a tattoo around it – You’re such a heavy sleeper I swear not even throwing you on the couch woke you up! Name’s Noara by the way. Yours is Lea, right? – She said with a cocky smile, looking down at her.

Lea was unable to find words to come out of her mouth. The situation was too surreal for her to even accept and there were so many questions in her mind that she felt she was unable to even move. She could only sit in silence in front of Noara and try not to panic. Her breathing was becoming faster as she started to feel a clutching feeling on her neck, like a hand strangling her. Noara’s face became one of surprise and mild worry.

-Oh, fuck, easy now! Ok, maybe that was too strong of an entrance – She approached Lea quickly, without getting too close to her. She crouched down to get to her eye level – Alright, just breath. In and out, 3 seconds each – Lea tried to. She put a hand on her chest and tried to feel the air going in and out of her lungs. She could feel her heart beating so fast that it could burst out of her chest. A million questions in her head forming into anxiety that made her unable to do anything but try to control how she breathed. Lea’s glassy eyes looked at Noara’s, which in turn looked at her with a tinge of worry and confusion, like she didn’t know why she was reacting like that – Well – She paused for a second and stood up straight – Now that you’re a tad bit more calm, do you want anything? Maybe just a cup of water? You know what? Don’t say anything, I will just bring you water. Fridge is almost empty anyways.

Noara turned around and started walking towards the kitchen that was connected directly to the living room. Lea had her hand still on her chest, clutching the dress that she hadn’t taken off before going to sleep. Her breathing was slowing down and going back to a more reasonable pace as her heart stopped racing. She let go of her clothes and, still confused, she started to look around the poorly lit room. There was a door on the left of the room that led to a bedroom with clothes scattered everywhere. Left to that there was another room that Lea concluded that had to be the bathroom. Apart from that, there wasn’t a lot else. This calmed Lea a bit, since she’s always liked small spaces rather than big houses with lots of rooms.

She then heard the door of the fridge closing and looked back to the kitchen. Noara had a jar full of water and 2 glasses with her. She put both on the crystal table and poured some water into them. She swiftly left the jar on the ground and picked up her glass, sat on the couch and turned to look at Lea, who was a bit less frozen in place than before. She grabbed her glass of water with both hands, her arms stuck to her sides as if she was trying to look as small as possible. Noara put her elbow on the back of the couch and smiled at Lea.

-So – She started but stopped thinking about what she was going to say – Welcome to hell!