Lost

	You find yourself in a pitch black room. Frantic, you try and make your way to a wall. Several minutes pass and you feel as if you have been walking for hours. Tired, you decide to sit down and rest. You hear an alarm go off in the distance. Scurrying to your feet, you start sprinting in the direction you hear the alarm. As you sprint faster and faster, each step becoming more frantic than the last, the alarm grows louder. Thud! You feel an intense, sudden shock to your gut.

	You feel your eyes open and see that you are on the ground. You can still hear the alarm, now seemingly blaring. Looking up, you see a nightstand made of mahogany. You scurry to your feet and find the source of the alarm. A digital clock. You turn the clock’s alarm off and hear a giggle.

	Not too long after, the giggling stops. “Good job, hero. You managed to fall out of the bed,” a female voice playfully teases. You look over in the direction you heard the voice come from. You are greeted by the warm smile of your beautiful girlfriend, Veronica. “I couldn’t sleep last night,” she says with a warm glow. She turns around to head down the hall, but before she leaves she says, “Good luck with that project.”

	“Another sleepless night,” you think to yourself. Thinking about this, you don’t feel like you have gotten much rest yourself. Going about your daily routine, you start to wonder if it’s possible that your girlfriend could have a slight case of insomnia. After brushing your teeth, you hop in the shower and just let those thoughts go down the drain. It’s another day and you’re ready for work.

	You put your suit on and grab something to eat. As you finish up, Veronica walks into the room with your suit jacket. She puts it on you and gives you a kiss. Afterwards, you start to head out. As you leave, you start to think about how comfortable your house is for its size. It’s only one story and has four main rooms. A bedroom, a bathroom, a living room, and a kitchen. Of course, there is a basement but you mainly use it for storage. Before you realize it, you have arrived to your office.

	From what you’ve seen, your office building isn’t very big either. You work at a robotics company, but your job is to gather information about other companies and their products. Other than that, your job is not much different than other white collar office jobs. “Mornin’ James!” a gruff voice says, as you walk through the door. It’s Eddie, the Chief of Security for the offices. He’s also been one of your friends since high school and the person who recommended that you work here.
“Hey, Eddie,” you cheerfully reply.
“Uhhhh,” Eddie mutters, with a concerned look on his face.
“What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue?”
“No, it’s just, uh. James, your nose is bleeding.”
You put your right index finger under your nose. He’s right, your nose is bleeding. “Come with me,” Eddie says, “I should have some cotton balls in my first aid kit.”

As the two of you walk down to the Security Office, you explain to Eddie what had happened. Just like in high school, the two of you crack some jokes and share a laugh. “I’ll see you later, Eddie,” you say to him as the two of you part ways. You go to your desk and begin working. Within the first hour, you have already found all of the new information you could find. You decide to go back and re-read some of the older information to help pass the time. After a few articles, you glance at the clock. It has only been five minutes. You look around your desk for something to occupy your time. You notice a folded piece of paper on the corner of your desk. Upon opening the paper, you realize it is a note. It’s addressed to you.

	“James,
		Go to the Security Office. Do not let anyone know that you have 
		been given instructions and do not let on that you are not supposed
		to be there.”

	You follow the instructions and go to the Security Office. You slowly open the door and let yourself in. You see Eddie lying on the floor. You go up to him but notice a phone and another note lying on his desk. You pick up the note.

	“A GPS Route had been set up for you. Drive there. Your friend is fine.”

Against your better judgment, you leave your office and walk back to your house. Your wife’s car is gone, so she probably already went to work. You go inside the garage and get in your car. You begin your adventure to this unknown destination.

	After driving several hours, you find yourself on a bridge. You had gotten out of your car so you could get some fresh air. Off in the distance, you see a small village not too far from the end of the river. You look at your phone. You notice that there is no reception and that your location on the map has not been updated for the last 500 meters. Looking down, bile starts to trickle into the back of your mouth. You are starting to feel woozy from vertigo. You decide that you should get back in your car and continue onwards. As you start walking back, your vertigo starts to go away. Every step you take is accompanied by the sound of either dead leaves or small twigs.

	At the door of your car, you struggle to find your keys. You shuffle through all your pockets twice and still cannot find them. Panic starts to set in. “What if I left my keys in the car?” you begin to wonder. You hear a thud in the distance and it makes you stop and snap your head to the direction it came from. You see a pinecone fall and hear the same thud as before. Looking back at your pockets, you start to search again. You put your phone in your jacket’s front right pocket and begin to search the inside pocket. You find your keys there. A sigh of relief is let out as you begin to unlock your car and enter it. It’s noticeably quiet inside your car and you realize that the smell of pinecones has disappeared. You put the keys in the ignition and turn them. Your car roars to life. You crack open the windows a bit to allow the scent of your surroundings to enter. You make your way back to the main road and continue along where your set path should be. You know that this is only the beginning of a long, strange journey. You decide to put your phone on the dashboard just in case you are able to get reception again. You notice something on it that you did not see before. 

“Property of Long Orbital Space Technologies Inc.”

This was a company name you were familiar with. They had been buying products from your company and had also managed to acquire some of your company’s employees.

And one such employee lives with you…