The panels flicker.
The projectors sync.
The floor shifts beneath my feet—not physically, but the illusion is perfect. The walls dissolve into something bigger, darker, dripping with shadow and tension.
A forest at dusk. A storm rolling in. Cold wind that I know is artificial, but still makes my skin pebble.
“Holy shit,” I breathe.
“You like?” Ethan asks casually.
“How is this even?—”
“Magic,” he says. “And money. Mostly money.”
He turns to me fully, lifting something off a nearby hook.
A hacker mask. Black, yellow accents, expression frozen in a smile. Terrifying in the way only a lifeless face can be. He slides it on, securing it behind his head, and my breath catches.
Ethan’s voice drops, distorted slightly through what seems to be a modulator. “Undress to your underwear.”
My pulse thunders. “Why?”
“You wanted a chase. Clothing slows you down.”
“Ethan—”
“Barbara.”
Just my name. Just that.
But my knees almost buckle.
Fine. Okay. I asked for this. I wanted this.
I pull my shirt over my head. Drop my shorts. Now I’m standing before him in mismatched underwear like an idiot who had no idea she’d be kidnapped for fantasy roleplay today.
Ethan’s inhale behind the mask is sharp. He takes what looks like a VR headset off a shelf, though it’s black, gleaming, way more high-tech than anything I’ve ever seen.
“Put this on.”
“What is it?” I ask breathlessly.
“You’ll see.”
When he places it over my head and tightens the straps, the world transforms further. Sounds grow sharper—the wind, cracking branches, rustling leaves. I swear I can even smell the earth. When I look around, I see what looks like an empty lumber yard. I know it’s fake, but it looks so real that a gasp catches in my throat.
“This is amazing,” I whisper.
“Look at me,” comes Ethan’s next command.
When I do, my jaw falls open. The hacker mask is there, yes, but he’s wearing matching black cyberpunk clothes and boots with glowing neon yellow lines. Incredible.
He steps back.
“You have sixty seconds,” he says. “Then I’m coming for you.”
My heart stops.
