《A Hidden World》 Chapter 1: In the Beginning One can only image a place outside imagination, outside dreaming, but that is all we can do; imagine it. No one knows for sure. There could be a whole world waiting to be discovered, but too afraid to show itself to civilization. There could be creatures of unknown species, or hidden magic so powerful that no human can control. But as humans we will never know. Until Now. This is where our story begins. ¡®Wait, what am I doing here? I was just helping my little brother get ready for his first day of high school and then I ended up here. Wait. Where is here anyways?¡¯ I looked around and saw darkness everywhere except at my feet. So I sat up and saw light coming into the small cave like place I was in. I crawled out, to try and get a better view of where I was, when all of a sudden a gust of wind pushed me back to where I was. The wind blew so hard that it whistled in my ears and caused me to go blind momentarily. I tried to look outside of the cave but the wind made it impossible to see anything. As I waited for the wind to die down I curled into a ball and attempted to make myself warm. The day slowly became night, it was hours before the wind even attempted to stop. Not knowing how long I would be in this strange place, I decided to go to sleep and to try and forget that I was taken away from my little brother. The air was cold, so it was hard to get a good night rest, but somehow my shivering made me feel like I was back home. My brother and I aren¡¯t the wealthiest people so our house doesn¡¯t have heat, which sucks during the winter, but we wrap ourselves in blankets and cuddle each other to stay warm during those cold, cold nights. I missed my brother so much that my eyes started to build tears. Since our parents died he has depended on me to look after him, and we have never gone longer than a school day without seeing each other. So I was starting to feel devastated that I didn¡¯t know when I would get back to the only family I had. After tossing and turning, for what seemed an endless amount of time, it was finally morning. When I opened my eyes the light blinded me at first, but after I rubbed my eyes they adjusted to it. I crawled out of the cave to stretch out my stiff body, and to see where exactly I had been transported. The ground was coated in layers of white sand. The sand was so thin that every time I took a step my foot would sink into it. The tiny grains of sand sept between my toes and felt soft against the bottom of my bare feet. Just below the surface of it the sand was cool and was a nice contrast to the almost burning sense that the top layer had. I began to make my way through the sand, in an attempt to find something; whether it was a person or an abandoned building I didn¡¯t care. The wind blew through my long brown hair as I walked, pulling it this way or that way. On occasion the wind was so strong that I would loose my balance and fall, or it would cause me to walk completely sideways, when I was trying to walk straight. Sometimes my hair would blow in my face or get stuck in my lip gloss, which was annoying, but I would just sweep it aside and continue walking. With the wind came a small gust of sand, which cause me to stop momentarily so that I could shield my eyes. When I was able to look up I noticed that the sky was unlike the blue sky I was use to; in fact, it was quiet the opposite. I couldn¡¯t tell where the sky ended and the sand hills began. The sky was covered in a dark smog and there was no sign of the sun; anywhere. There was also a tinge to light brown in the sky, it made me think of the only science fiction movie that my brother and I had seen together. With that thought in mind I began to wonder, ¡®Maybe I¡¯m in some kind of science fiction universe or something. Although that can¡¯t be possible. Besides bad things always happen in those movies and nothing bad has happened to me.¡¯ I threw back a laugh and kept on walking. It was nearly nightfall, although with the sky being constantly dark it was hard to tell the difference, so I knew I had to find a place to sleep. It was hard to make out but I could have sworn that right in front of me was an abandoned war-like truck. However, as I moved closer the image began to disappear, and I knew it was just my imagination playing tricks on me. With my exhaustion slowly growing I began to stumble my feet, which lead me to fall on my face. As I fell the wind started to pick up and I was blown down a sand hill. I rolled and rolled and rolled. My hair wrapped around my head, thankfully so I wouldn¡¯t get blinded, and I crossed my arms over my chest to it hurt less when I rolled. When I finally reached the bottom I was in so much shock that I just laid there stared at the sky wondering if I should just sleep where I was. I felt like I was on air, because the ground below me was so light. Stolen story; please report. Ultimately, I decided that I would be too cold so I stood up, brushed the sand off of myself, and kept searching for a place to sleep. In what seemed like no time at all I found a tiny, broken down house, that looked like it had been destroyed by the weather for years. Most of the roof was gone, the wood door had been blown off and the outside of the house had very little detail to it. ¡®I guess it¡¯s better than nothing.¡¯ So I made my way into a room and got as comfortable as I could on the hard, cold, floor. Throughout the night I could hear the wind ripping at the house and the sounds of wild creatures calling to those in a far off distance. After being constantly startled by the wind, it eventually became a calming noise and helped me get to sleep. I hadn¡¯t been asleep for more than a few hours when I heard a different noise, coming from inside of the small house. It sounded like footsteps made by a four legged animal. I rose abruptly and scanned the room to see if I could see where the noise was coming from; however, all I could see was darkness. So I laid back down and attempted to go back to sleep. Nonetheless, as soon as I closed my eyes the noise started up again. I stayed still and hoped that the noise would go away. But it didn¡¯t. In fact, it became louder and louder. Tick tick tick tick tick tick, like claws hitting hardwood floor. When the noise began to echo in the room I sat up and looked into the doorway; and there it was. There was maybe four feet between me and the beast. It had green glowing eyes, its head was completely covered in a thick fur and thankfully it didn¡¯t show its teeth. They were probably long and ferocious, perfect for eating humans with. Its legs were skinny and also covered in a thick fur, and at the end of its legs were big paws that were bigger than my hands. Attached to these giant paws were long claws that could easily slit my throat, if it was given the chance. I could not see the body of the beast, but from where I was sitting I didn¡¯t know that I wanted to. Against the shadows, behind the beast, it looked ginormous, both in height and in length. I was petrified. I didn¡¯t know what to do. ¡®Do I just sit here and stare at the beast? Do I try to fall asleep? Do I try and escape and hope for the best?¡¯ I slowly attempted to stand up, thinking that I could escape and find somewhere else to sleep. The moment I took my first step the beast cried and broke the last remaining window in the room. Now the wind blew straight into the room making it impossible to warm up, if I were to go back to sleep. I knelt down and sat on my knees, not taking my eyes off of the beast. As I did that it sat down as well. I stood up again and the beast followed my actions. Not wanting to irritate the beast again I sat down on the floor, just below the window, and hugged my knees for protection against the wind. The beast just sat in the doorway and stared at me the entire night. I couldn¡¯t go to sleep because I was so afraid that the beast would attack or eat me when I was most vulnerable. My head drooped a couple of times, but I suddenly picked it up trying to stay awake. I could see the beasts head doing the same thing. So giving into my tiredness I gently placed my head on my knees, and trusting that the beast would not attack me, I fell asleep. Chapter 2: Charlie When I lifted my head in the morning I noticed that the beast was gone, leaving me all alone in the room. I stood up and stretched, while yawning. I turned around and noticed that the sand was still outside of the small house and I was still in this strange world. I turned back towards the doorway and began to search the house I was in; when all of a sudden I heard a creaking noise above me. I looked up at the faded and stained roof and wondered who else could be in the house. I slowly began to creep out of the room and I kept as quiet as I could, as I looked for stairs. Each room I found was more faded or worn down than the last one. There was one room I found that had: no windows, the wallpaper had completely faded and parts of it had even fallen off, there were holes in the floor and water stains covering the ceiling. There were no lights in the room, and there was a whole in the ceiling where the light should have been. When I exited the room I noticed a small door, that could be big enough to fit a staircase, in front of me. So I opened the door and saw a staircase leading upstairs. While I climbed it I noticed that many stairs missing; however, I was still able to maneuver my way up to the top. After I opened the door at the top of the stairs a thick gust of dust blew into my face. It¡¯s as if nobody had been up there for years. On the floor I could make out small feet imprints within the dust. Still keeping as quiet as possible, I followed the foot prints into a corner filled with cardboard boxes. ¡°Hello.¡± There was silence, the only sound was the wind blowing outside. I crouched down and softly said, ¡°Hello¡± again. I just stayed where I was and waited for a response. Fearing that I might scare the child I sat down and didn¡¯t make a single sound. When my back started to hurt I inched my way towards the wall and leaned against it. Trying to keep myself busy I stared outside and watched the sand as it danced in the wind, as it blew at different speeds. The sky was a bit lighter than it was yesterday; however, the dark smog was still visible in front of the sun. Just when I was about to take a nap I heard a slight whisper. I couldn¡¯t make it out what the person said, so I waited to hear the extremely soft voice speak again. I didn¡¯t make a sound while I waited again. Just then I heard the voice whisper, ¡°Are you still out there?¡± In the softest voice I could make I answered, ¡°Yes.¡± Just then I could make out movement coming from behind the cardboard boxes. When the noise stopped a small boy¡¯s face peaked out from behind one of the boxes. His eyes had a scared look in them and he cautiously shifted his eyes from side to side before he spoke again. ¡°D-Did he follow you?¡± Not knowing who the boy was talking about I asked, ¡°Who?¡± ¡°Charlie. He¡¯s been trying to find me. I can¡¯t let him find me or he¡¯ll take me away.¡± Playing along with the boy I looked towards the door and said, ¡°I didn¡¯t see him, but I¡¯ll go look to make sure he doesn¡¯t find you.¡± As I stood up the boy stayed silent. I looked out of the window and didn¡¯t see anything but sand. I turned away from the window and began to cross the room when I heard the boy say, ¡°Be careful, if he finds you he¡¯ll take you too.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be sure that doesn¡¯t happen.¡± When I reached the staircase I looked down them and didn¡¯t see or hear anything. But just to make the little boy trust me more I made my way down them. Avoiding the holes, I silently made my way down the staircase. At the bottom I looked both ways and didn¡¯t notice anything out of the ordinary, so I turned around and went up to the second floor. The boy looked relieved when he saw me come through the doorway. ¡°D-Did you see Charlie?¡± ¡°No I didn¡¯t. We are safe.¡± I crossed the room and stood in front of the pile of cardboard. ¡°A-Are you sure?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± The little boy popped his head back behind the cardboard boxes and didn¡¯t make any sound. There was a moment of silence and then the boy crawled out from under the boxes, to the side of the pile. He stood up and stayed close to the wall, unsure if I was someone he could trust. He had sandy blonde hair and dark brown eyes. When he looked at me his eyes made him look like a puppy that got abandoned by its family. He wore baggy blue jeans and a grey t-shirt that was slightly too big for him. On his feet were white, black and green skater shoes. He crossed his arms, as if trying to block himself from me. Not moving I faced the little boy and asked, ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. The boy looked down to the ground and quietly said, ¡°Sam.¡± ¡°Nice to meet you Sam, I¡¯m Adisson.¡± Trying to make him feel more comfortable I said, ¡°You know what Sam? I have a little brother. He¡¯s about your age. Our parents died when he was a baby so it¡¯s just the two of us living together. Do you have any siblings?¡± Keeping his head down Sam softly shook his head back and forth. ¡°Are your parents still alive?¡± Again Sam just kept his head down and just shook it side to side. ¡®No siblings and no parents, what a poor child¡¯ I thought. In an attempt to change topics, I asked, ¡°Do you know where we are?¡± Sam shot his eyes up and had a blank look on his face. He then began to tremble, as if he was afraid of what he was about to say. ¡°C-Charlie said it¡¯s a place where people go to die.¡± ¡°What else did Charlie tell you?¡± I asked with a curious tone. ¡°The people found have to find their way back, but those who aren¡¯t found die here.¡± I crouched down and looked up at Sam. ¡°You¡¯re found; you don¡¯t have to worry anymore. Charlie won¡¯t take you. I will make sure you make your way back.¡± Slightly looking up Sam asked, ¡°Promise?¡± ¡°I promise.¡± Being convinced by my promise Sam slowly began to make his way towards me and when he reached me he gave me a tight hug around my neck. I was so overwhelmed with joy that I hugged him back. In an instant the sky turned completely black, the wind became so powerful that it began to shake the house and just outside Sam and I could hear the sound of howling growing louder and louder. Sam immediately let go of me and ran under his cardboard boxes and hid once again. ¡°Sam what¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°H-He¡¯s here.¡± ¡°Who¡¯s here?¡± ¡°CHARLIE!!!!¡± Not sure what to expect I ran towards the cardboard boxes in an attempt to hide from whatever was coming. I got onto my hands and knees to enter the cardboard pile when Sam said, ¡°Get your own hiding place.¡± So I backed up, stood up and quickly walked to the staircase leading downstairs. Thinking on my feet I closed the door behind me and I waited on the black steps for what was approaching the house. I sat down on the step behind me so that I could spring at whatever opened the door; in order to protect Sam. I passionately waited for someone or something to approach the door. Nevertheless, after waiting a considerable amount of time, I quietly crept my way down the steps and cracked the door open just enough to see out. There was nothing there so I opened the door a little more. The door creaked as I opened it enough for me to get off of the staircase. I walked into the closest room and look out of the window. The blackness was gone, and the sky looked the same as it did when I first woke up. The howling noise had disappeared and everything appeared to be back to normal. I decided to check around the house just to be sure that Sam and I were safe. I softly walked from room to room and peaked in them just enough to see that they were empty and then I moved to the next one. Once each of the rooms were looked at I started to make my way back upstairs. After I made three steps I heard a Thump coming from upstairs. In a panic I ran as fast as I could upstairs to make sure that Sam was alright. As I ran up the staircase I didn¡¯t even think about being careful, or if I stepped in a hole, I just stepped on every second step and hoped that the step was there. When I pushed the door it flew open and slammed into the wall behind it. I sprinted across the room and threw boxes aside as I tried to find Sam. But he was nowhere to be found. ¡°SAM WHERE ARE YOU!!!!¡± I heard a creak behind me so I sharply turned around and found Sam asleep inside of the mouth of the beast I encountered the night before. I tried to yell at it but before I could make any sound it tore down the stairs and out of the house. I suddenly knew who the beast was. It was Charlie. Chapter 3: The Burning Village I ran downstairs and towards the front door, in an attempt to catch the beast. But when I opened the door I wasn¡¯t greeted by sandy world outside of the old house. Instead I was forcefully pulled out of the house and I fell on my hands and knees. When I looked up the only thing I saw was a single full length mirror, in a room full of darkness. My reflection seemed to mirror the same image I always saw when I looked into a mirror at home. I stood up and spun, on my heels, around the room slowly. There was nothing around me except for the mirror. A voice inside of me told me to touch the mirror. So I slowly raised my hand and gently touched the mirror with the palm of my hand. Underneath my hand the mirror cracked little by little. I took my hand away, but the mirror kept cracking. Just then the mirror shattered sending pieces of glass towards me. I sharply turned my upper body away from the mirror and covered my face, with my bent arms, as a way to shield it from the glass shards. Once I couldn¡¯t hear the glass hitting the ground anymore I turned back around and uncovered my eyes. Where the glass should have been sat a blue spinning object, much like a black hole, only it didn¡¯t pull objects into it. Not knowing what I would find on the other side, I decided to take a chance. I stepped through the mirror and hoped for the best. For a moment everything went pitch black and then a bright white light surrounded me and blinded me. When I was able to make out the scene in front of me it was horrific. It was worse than where I had come from. In the near distance I could see tall, thick, wall of dark rocks that just barely hiding the roaring fire behind them. The sky was covered with so much ash that it was no visible, and with the amount of ash and smoke blowing through the air it was hard to breathe. In front of the wall of rocks was what appeared to be pavement, or it could have even been hardened sand, but it was covered with so much ash that it was hard to make out which of it, it was. The orange flames lit the sky up just enough to allow me to see where I was going, and the crackling of the fire was the only sound in the air. I began to walk through this new environment interested in what the fire was burning. The more I walked the blacker my bare feet became, from the amount of ash on the ground. I had my eyes locked on the fire in front of me. I was determined to find out what was on the other side of the wall of rocks. I held my hand over my mouth so that I would not ingest the ash blowing through the air. Coughing every so often allowed me to, get whatever ash that did make it into my lungs, out so that I would not die. After coughing more than I usually do my eyes began to water and my lungs hurt from forcing them to cough so much. With my other hand I held the bottom of my rib cage so try and help with the pain. But not soon after my lungs were so sore that I was not able to cough, so I had to cover my mouth as tight as I could, ensuring that very minimal ash got into my body. Once I crossed the solid ground, my feet were covered in ash and I could no longer see any skin whatsoever on them. I placed my foot on an indent on a rock and hoisted myself upwards with my arms. I cautiously placed my foot, wherever possible, and I climbed to the top of the rock. Not wanting to make myself too obvious I only stuck my head high enough so that I could see over the top of the rock. There below me was a small village being consumed by devouring flames. Every building, no matter how big or small they were, were falling due to the power of the fire. Most of what appeared to be houses were flattened on the ground and in the middle of the village stood a wooden church. The fire within the church had just started to work its way through it. The fire burst through the stain glass windows, causing even more smoke to be exposed, and it slowly made its way up to where the bell was held. In what seemed like no time at all the church collapsed and the bell made a giant ringing sound as it slammed into the ground below it. I took my eyes off of the buildings and noticed that there were people running from their homes. From where I was they just looked like ants scattering to any shelter they could find. When I listened more closely I could hear people crying and yelling for help as their homes came crashing down on top of them. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Not knowing how much help I could be, I stood up and stepped over the top of the rock wall. Very carefully I made my way down and onto the other side. The ground on this side was much more soft, like sand, so my feet molded right into it. Pretty soon my feet were covered in a thick, heavy, black clay and it was difficult to make my way towards the middle of the village. Ducking under fallen objects and painfully pulling my feet out of the clay and over pieces of buildings that had fallen into the clay; I was finally able to get out of the clay and onto solid ground. I took both of my hands and peeled the clay off of my feet so that it would be easier for me to move. Once my feet were free from most of the clay I covered my mouth with my hand and ran, as quickly as I could, to the nearest person screaming. After running past four houses the screaming got louder and I could hear it coming from inside the house next to me. The door was completely damaged so I was quite easy to enter the house. The smoke became very thick the further into the house I went. Between coughs I yelled, ¡°Hello, is anybody in here?¡± I waited for a reply but all I could hear was the cracking of the fire very close to me. I called out again, ¡°Hello, is anybody in here?¡± Just then I heard a tapping noise coming from the back of the house and a girl¡¯s voice saying, ¡°Back here.¡± Avoiding holes in the floor and falling boards on top of me I was able to maneuver my way to the kitchen. The broken windows were able to let out some of the smoke, which made it a bit easier to see the girl, but I still wasn¡¯t able to take my hand away from my mouth. The girl was sitting on the ground, against the wall, rocking back and forth in terror. I bent down in front of her and said, ¡°Honey, we have to go. If we stay here, we¡¯ll both die.¡± However, the girl didn¡¯t move she just kept rocking back and forth. I stood up and placed an arm around the back of her neck and knees, in an attempt to carry her out but when I went to lift her she jumped out of my grasp and ran towards something. I turned around and noticed that she was hugging a body that was laying on the ground under a thick piece of wood, that must have fallen from the ceiling. I ran after the girl again, trying to get her out of the house but she wouldn¡¯t leave the body. ¡°Honey is this your mom?¡± I asked in a sweet voice. The girl didn¡¯t say anything she just looked up at me and started to cry. I took that as a ¡®yes.¡¯ I looked at the body and then back at the girl. From the way the body was positioned and the amount of blood that was under the head I knew that her mom was dead. But not wanting to freak the girl out I asked, ¡°Can you let go so that I can check to see if she is still alive?¡± Again the girl didn¡¯t say anything, she just nodded and took a step backwards. I crouched next to the body and placed two fingers on the neck, but I couldn¡¯t feel a pulse. She was dead. I stood up and slowly turned around. I guess I had remorse on my face because as soon as she could see my face the girl started crying uncontrollably. Knowing that this was my last opportunity to escape the house I tossed the girl over my shoulder and ran out of the house. Once we were safely outside I placed the girl on the ground and I held her back as her house feel to the ground, crushing her already dead mother. ¡°MOTHER!!!!¡± The girl tried to break the force of my arms, as I held her tight to me, but no matter how hard she tried she wasn¡¯t able to break my grasp on her. Chapter 4: The Unexpected Child I picked her up and threw her over my shoulder as we attempted to leave the fiery hell in front of us. Running as fast as I could I jumped and swerved out of the way of falling buildings. The smoke caused me to be momentarily blinded, the closer I got to buildings, so I tried my best to stay away from them. Not only that, I didn¡¯t want any embers flying off of buildings and onto us, potentially setting our clothing on fire. The solid ground became clay ground, which made it harder to run away; however, I still pushed every being in my body to get through the clay as quickly as I could. When we got to the rock wall I placed her down behind me and told her to climb and that I would be right behind her. ¡°But I don¡¯t want to go. My mother is back there.¡± ¡°Honey, you have to go. There¡¯s no other option.¡± ¡°Yes there is, I can wait here for my mother.¡± I bent down to the girl and said, ¡°Your mother¡¯s not coming. She¡¯s dead.¡± ¡°NO!!!¡± The girl yelled as she burst into tears. Wanting to get the girl to safety I hoisted the girl up on the rock wall and yelled, ¡°Climb!! Or I¡¯ll leave you there.¡± The girl didn¡¯t move so I placed my foot onto the rock and began climbing to the top myself. Once I got to the top I looked down and noticed that the girl still wasn¡¯t moving. However, unlike when I first hoisted her onto the rock, the girl was now frozen with fear; fear of never seeing her mother again. Taking pity on the girl I made my way down to her and said, ¡°Here, get on my back. I¡¯ll help you over.¡± With a worried look in her eyes the girl cautiously linked her arms around my legs and clung her legs around my waist. In my ear I could hear her heavy breathing and I could feel her body shaking against my back. As much as I wanted to comfort her, and make her feel safe, I had to focus on climbing the rock and not falling; for both our sakes. Once were both safely on the ground I lowered her to the ground. The girl refused to let go of me once she was firmly on the ground. I loosed her grip on me as I lowered down to talk to her. Unlike when I first saw her, I could now make out small details on her face and arms underneath a light layer of ash that covered her entire body. I raised my hand up to her face to wipe off some of the ash, but she flinched and wouldn¡¯t let me touch her. ¡°Okay I won¡¯t touch your face. Can I see your arm?¡± Being a little weary she stretched her arm out, just far enough away from her body that her elbow didn¡¯t touch her body. Even though it wasn¡¯t much I could see something under the ash. I gently took my hands and while holding her arm with one hand I gently brushed off the ash off the lower part of her arm. When her arm was clear I noticed an unusual pattern on it. I carefully lifted her arm closer and saw that the pattern wasn¡¯t like anything I had seen before. At first it just looked like she had dark spots covering her arm, but upon closer examination I noticed that the so called spots had spots within them. Each individual spot had a center that looked like crust from a fire and the outer part hand imprinted rings that grew bigger the closer to the edge it got. In fear of what this meant I took a giant step back and looked at the girl. Every piece of skin that was visible had these spots all over it. Seeing the fear in my eyes the girl took a step forward and while tilting her head to the side she sweetly said, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± I took another step backwards, while not taking my eyes off of the girl. Nonetheless, whenever I took a step backwards she took a step towards me. I finally stopped, to see what she had to say, but when I did her eyes glowed bright yellow and she kept coming towards me. I turned away from the girl and began to run away, because I didn¡¯t know what she was and I didn¡¯t want to stick around to find out. The solid ground made it much easier to run; however, when I looked behind me to see if the girl was following me I tripped and fell on a small rock. With quick reflexes I was able to land on my hands and knees. They scrapped on the ground as I hit the pebbles below me. Not knowing where the girl was I quickly got onto my feet to keep running. But as I got up there she was. Standing in front of me. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. She tilted her head to the side again and sweetly said, ¡°Where are you going?¡± As she took a step towards me she said, ¡°I thought you were taking me some place safe.¡± I clenched my fists and said, ¡°There¡¯s nowhere safe when there¡¯s monsters like you running around.¡± ¡°I¡¯m no monster. I¡¯m just a little girl who lost her mother in a fire.¡± ¡°No you¡¯re not, you¡¯re a monster!! You were probably one of the things that started that fire.¡± As I stood there she slowly she slowly walked around me. ¡°Okay you caught me. I¡¯m the one who started that fire back in the village. But you have to admit I had you going for a while there. Thinking I was a sweet, innocent child that needed protection from the big bad world.¡± ¡°It¡¯s because of things like you that make me want to protect those innocents.¡± ¡°Oh common, you have to admit I¡¯m not all bad.¡± ¡°YOU KILLED A VILLAGE FULL OF PEOPLE; INCLUDING YOUR OWN MOTHER!!¡± ¡°Pfff way to look at the negative side of things.¡± In shock I slightly shook my head back and forth and said, ¡°What other side is there?!¡± ¡°The side that doesn¡¯t make me look like a bad person. But a hero.¡± ¡°If that was your goal than you failed at it. Big time.¡± Being able to see her face now I could see a proud smile on her face as she said, ¡°I like to think of it as I saved those people from a lifetime of suffering. They were going to die anyways, so I just sped up the process.¡± ¡°That¡¯s so not that same thing. Dying naturally and being murdered are two completely different things!!¡± With a pout on her face she said, ¡°Now that¡¯s just mean.¡± In shock again I said, ¡°Really, murdering people is fine but comparing murder to natural death that¡¯s the line?!¡± ¡°What? I like creating destruction. I don¡¯t like waiting for it to happen.¡± I clenched my fists tighter and said, ¡°You¡¯re sick you know that?¡± ¡°I like to think of myself as a type of genius.¡± I couldn¡¯t take this back and forth anymore, so I lifted my right fist and swung around ready to punch the girl as hard as I could. But she swiped her hand sideways sending me flying to the side and hitting the ground. Before I could realize what had happened she walked up to me and said, ¡°That was rude. We were having a perfectly nice talk and then you go and do something like that.¡± She stood next to me and said, ¡°I thought you were better than that.¡± She waved her hand again and sent me flying backwards before I could think of a response. I attempted to get up but before I could sit up I was thrown back further and further back until I crashed into the trunk of a thick tree. My head snapped backwards, and I could hear my back crack under the pressure that was put on it. Unable to catch myself I fell on my face and I felt my nose snap. Not only was my nose now broken but my face was covered in bruises and dirt. In agony I couldn¡¯t speak a single word. All I could do was watch the girl come at me and I wasn¡¯t able to do anything about it. My eyes began to fill up with tears as I prayed that she wouldn¡¯t harm me anymore. I closed my eyes as tight as I could, not wanting to see what would happen next. Just then I felt my body burn, as if I was in the middle of a hell flame, and I screamed out in misery. When I opened my eyes I was back in the house that was falling apart, and I was next to the cardboard boxes where Sam was taken. Chapter 5: Leo It took me a moment to realize where I was. But when I remembered where I had seen the cardboard boxes before I shot open my eyes in surprise. ¡®I thought I was dead. How am I still alive?¡¯ The longer I thought about it, the more I began to believe that I was in my own person hell and there was no escape from this unknown world. The sky outside began to light up from the sun and it filled the house with bright light. I walked over the cardboard boxes and began to un-pile them while flattening them into a stack on the floor. Every box I picked up I looked inside to see if Sam left anything behind; but there was nothing to be found. At least not until the last two boxes. Which had a drawing for a giant creature carrying a person into a lair of some kind on the inside, and the other box had the name Charlie written all over the inside. After reading the name Charlie I remembered that I chasing after the beast that took Sam before I was pulled away. I dropped the box, with Charlie¡¯s name in it, and ran downstairs for the front door. Not wanting to pulled away again I opened the front door, before stepping outside, to make sure I was going to step into the sand world outside. Everything seemed normal so I slowly took a step outside and closed my eyes and waited for something to happen. When nothing happened, I looked at the ground for any clues at to where the beast could have taken Sam. I saw fresh human foot prints in the sand even though I knew that these foot prints couldn¡¯t lead me to Sam, because he had been gone all night, they were my best chance for finding him. They were coming from the front door and heading out into the vast sandy plain that laid ahead. I stepped side by side the foot prints, so I wouldn¡¯t miss it when they turned, even though the wind pushed me this way and that way I was still able to find and follow the foot prints. The sun was burning my back and my feet were sinking into the sand with every step I took, which slightly cooled me off. When the trail stopped, in the middle of nowhere, I looked around to see where the person would have gone, but there was no trace of them anywhere. The only thing around was an open field of sand slight sand hills in the distance. Something tiny caught my eye in the distance. Hoping that it wasn¡¯t another mirage I made my way towards it. Instead of only focusing on the object ahead of me, I glanced sideways every so often just to make sure that what I was looking at was real. No matter how many times I looked away and then looked back at it, the moving object was still in front of me. Which could only mean one thing. Whatever it was, it was real. Being excited to see something other than me I began running towards it. Once I reached a few feet in front of the hill I noticed that it was a person walking on the hill. Trying to be friendly I yelled, ¡°Hello.¡± The person stopped for a second but they didn¡¯t turn towards me, so I walked closer to the hill and yelled at them again. Being startled by my voice the person turned around so fast, and because they were standing in deep sand, their shoe slipped off their back foot. Not noticing that their foot wasn¡¯t in a shoe they attempted to sand down the hill with their other foot, and that one got caught in the sand as well. Which ended with the person rolling down the hill, due to loosing their balance. Trying to hide my school girl giggling I smiled as I watched him fall. Not being worried that they were coated in sand he stood up and said, ¡°Didn¡¯t anyone tell you not to yell at people when they¡¯re on a hill?¡± ¡°Ummm no.¡± ¡°Oh, well don¡¯t do it. Or else this will happen.¡± He brushed himself, on his front, as quickly as possible and then spoke again. ¡°What are you doing out here anyways?¡± ¡°I¡¯m looking for a little boy named Sam, and the beast that took him.¡± ¡°What did this ¡®beast¡¯ look like?¡± Thinking back, I said, ¡°Ummm it was grey. With a thick head and skinny legs.¡± Looking like he knew what I was talking about the man asked, ¡°Was its name by chance Charlie?¡± In amazement I asked curiously, ¡°You know it?¡± ¡°That beast took my wife. One moment she was perfectly fine, we were looking for artifacts in a nearby cave and then she started to freak out of this Charlie. She kept saying that he was after her and there was nowhere she could hide. I tried to calm her down, but nothing worked. After giving up on the cave I put my arm around her shoulders and we exited the cave. But little did we know the beast was waiting for us outside of it. Before I could even try to protect her, the beast knocked me out and took my wife.¡± Being sad all I could say was, ¡°I¡¯m sorry to hear about your wife.¡± A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. ¡°Ever since I woke up I¡¯ve been looking for the beast¡¯s lair to get her back.¡± Being thankful that I could talk to someone about this beast I asked, ¡°Would you mind if I came with you to find the beast?¡± In a joking voice he said, ¡°Yes I do mind.¡± He paused for a moment and said, ¡°Just kidding, of course you can come along.¡± He starting making his way up the hill, probably to retrieve his shoes yelled down to me, ¡°Before we go hunting for it we should load up on some weapons and get some sleep. Since we don¡¯t know how long it will take to find Sam and my wife.¡± I just stood at the bottom of the hill and waiting for him to make his way back down to the bottom. Being more graceful, this time, he climbed down the hill and once he was in front of me he said, ¡°Since we¡¯ll be traveling together we should probably know each other¡¯s names. I¡¯m Leo¡± I extended my hand out to him and said, ¡°Adisson.¡± ¡°Well Adisson, shall we?¡± Leo asked as he took my hand. I followed him away from the hill and we walked for a fair distance. We eventually ended up at the area where the foot prints, that I was preciously following, disappeared. I looked at Leo and asked, ¡°There¡¯s nothing here, why are we stopping?¡± Letting go of my hand Leo said, ¡°Just give it a minute.¡± Just then a big metal cylinder appeared from the ground and lifted up just enough to match Leo¡¯s height; who was slightly taller than me. One at a time we stepped into the cylinder, starting with Leo and then me, and once inside we were forcefully pushed downwards and into an open room below the surface. There was no cold air coming from the wind, and there was no trace of sand anywhere. I looked around the room and it looked like a hidden location that the CIA used to spy on people. There were big and little gadgets along one of the walls. On the wall in front of me were multiple televisions, of all different sizes, all showing a different location. Facing these televisions were two, tall, leather rolling chairs. The wall opposite the gadget wall had vests, I wanted to guess that they were bullet proof vests, and different everyday objects that could be used as weapons; such as a crowbar. ¡°Impressed yet?¡± I heard Leo say behind me. Still looking around I said, ¡°Yeah. How did you come across this place?¡± ¡°My wife and I were running from a blinding sand storm and when we saw the cylinder appear we decided to take the chance and climb inside of it. This place protects from all of the nasty weather and creatures that are outside.¡± Turning to face Leo I asked, ¡°How long have you and your wife been hiding here?¡± ¡°We¡¯ve been here so long that not only have I lost count of the days but I don¡¯t even know which week or month it is anymore. Besides my wife you¡¯re the first person I¡¯ve seen that hasn¡¯t turned into some kind of monster.¡± ¡°Well when I left my brother it was a Wednesday, but that was days ago. I¡¯ve been, to what appeared to be, a different time but once I arrived there I lost track of days as well.¡± ¡°The days don¡¯t matter that much, as long as you stay sane.¡± Leo walked over the stainless steal vault, that was behind him. When he turned the wheel on the door it opened. Inside was every kind of weapon I have heard of and many more I didn¡¯t even know the names of. Leo walked in and went straight for the guns. He grabbed a skinny and long gun, then he turned around and asked, ¡°Have you ever shot a rifle before?¡± Not saying a single word, I just stood there and shook my head back and forth. ¡°What about a shotgun? Or a handgun? Or machine gun?¡± I just shook my head again. ¡°Have you shot anything?¡± I lowered my head and said, ¡°No.¡± ¡°You¡¯re going to learn¡± Leo said as he handed me a small metal gun. ¡°Come with me. I¡¯ll show you how to shoot.¡± Being unsure I wanted to learn I quietly said, ¡°Okay.¡± I followed Leo to the back of the vault, where he knocked twice and then waited. The back wall slid open and revealed a place to practice shooting, among other weapon training. Chapter 6: Training for Battle As soon as we walking through the door it crashed shut, making a loud banging sound as it did so. Leo just kept walking. Not taking time to examine the room anymore I just followed him until he stopped. ¡°Give me the gun.¡± I held the gun low, by the bottom, and slowly passed it to him; not wanting to shoot him. He held the gun in his left hand, with his hand around the grip of it, and with his right hand he reached into his back pocket and a rectangle object; which he forcefully pushed into the bottom of the gun. He handed me the gun back. Not knowing how to hold a gun I grabbed the bottom of it and held it with a loose grip, and let it swung back and forth. Leo grabbed the gun from my grasp and said, ¡°For one don¡¯t be a chick about this, and two that is not how you hold a gun.¡± He held the gun in his right hand and as he moved his hand back and forth, in an exaggerated way, he said, ¡°You don¡¯t see me waving the gun around. Cause that¡¯s not something you do with guns.¡± He wrapped his right hand around the grip and placed his index finger near the trigger and said, ¡°This is how you hold a gun.¡± With his hand still on the gun, he handed the gun back to me. I grabbed the gun with my left hand, and once I had it in my grasp I eased my hand around the grip and into the position that Leo had. ¡°Good, now if you pull on the rectangular shaft on the top that will allow you to start shooting.¡± ¡°Ummm, what?¡± I asked unsure. Getting irritated Leo walk up to me and slid the shaft back and let it slide forward. ¡°Be careful now, if you press the trigger it will shoot something.¡± ¡°Okay I wo¡­¡± Before I could finish my sentence the gun fired into the roof, causing a tile to shatter. Cautiously taking the gun from me Leo said, ¡°How about we take this away from you before you shoot one of us.¡± With a slight smile I said, ¡°Good idea.¡± Leo pulled the shaft again, on the top of the gun, and then placed it into his back pocket. He wrapped his arm around mine and pulled me a few feet sideways. When we stopped, Leo let go of my arm, and in front of us was a long gated area with a white wall at the far. Turning towards me Leo said, ¡°Before I give you the gun back I am going to show you how to properly stand when shooting a gun, this way you¡¯ll hit your target instead of the roof. Again.¡± Stepping aside he said, ¡°Stand in the middle of the gated area, so you¡¯re facing the white wall.¡± I stood where he told me and said, ¡°Okay, now what?¡± ¡°Spread your legs.¡± In shock I turned around and said, ¡°wait what?!¡± ¡°Just trust me, it¡¯s how you have to stand while firing a gun.¡± I turned around to face the wall and spread my legs so that I was almost off balance. ¡°You look like an idiot¡± Leo in a low joking voice, before he came up behind me and started kicking my feet together with his. Once my feet were shoulder length apart Leo stopped kicking my feet and said, ¡°Now for your arms.¡± ¡°What about them?¡± ¡°Raise them to shoulder height, place them together and then straighten them.¡± So I did what he instructed me to do. Next Leo came up to me and said, ¡°Stay exactly like that when I give you the gun. Don¡¯t pull the trigger until I step back.¡± I didn¡¯t say a word when Leo reached in his back pocket and took the gun out. He placed the gun between my hands and carefully wrapped my right hand around the grasp on the gun, so that my hand was on the gun properly. Leo stepped back and said, ¡°Okay, pull back on the top and then you can shoot.¡± After pulling back the top I closed one of my eyes and tapped the trigger. After a loud bang from the gun I opened my eye and saw a tiny black spot on the white wall. In excitement I let go with my left hand and I turned around then asked, ¡°Did you see that Leo? I hit the wall!!¡± With a slow sarcastic clap Leo said, ¡°Now do that until you hit that spot again.¡± I lowered my head and whined, ¡°Aww man.¡± Hours went by, and all I did was shoot at the wall the entire time. Each shot I got closer and closer to my original point. Eventually my arms began to get sore and I had to lower them. ¡°What are you doing? You aren¡¯t finished.¡± Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! In a tired voice I said, ¡°But I¡¯m tired.¡± ¡°Do you think Charlie will care if you¡¯re tired? NO! He will keep coming after you.¡± ¡°If I get tired I can just hide behind you.¡± Leo raised his eyebrow and asked, ¡°And if I¡¯m dead.¡± I tried to come up with a response but nothing came to mind. Taking my silence as a good thing Leo said, ¡°Just for thinking like that you are going to stay here until you hit your original bullet hole.¡± More time went by and my eyes began to feel heavy. My head slightly lowered and bounced up whenever the gun made a loud banging sound. Seeing that I was getting tired Leo said, ¡°Okay, you¡¯re not going to hit it this way. We¡¯ll go to sleep and keep practicing in the morning.¡± I lowered my arms and with a deep sigh I said, ¡°Oh thank god.¡± Leo took the gun out of my grasp just before I fell from exhaustion on the floor. My shoulder and forearms ached from being held up for hours on end; but I was too tired to do anything about it. So I just stand on the floor and drifted off to sleep. When I woke up in the morning I was in a big leather chair with a light blanket covering me and a small pillow under my head. I rubbed my eyes, sleepily, and looked around where I was. There was a brown area rug covering the floor, beneath the chair, and on the other side of the rug was a three cushion leather couch. The walls were bare and in the corner sat a little wooden desk, just big enough to place a small laptop if they existed here. I sat up and noticed that Leo was nowhere to be seen. ¡°Leo, where are you?¡± He peeked his head into the room and said, ¡°Oh good you¡¯re up.¡± He stepped into the room and said, ¡°Ready for more shooting today?¡± I swung my legs, so they touched the floor and said, ¡°I guess. But I have a question for you.¡± He stopped and asked, ¡°What is it?¡± I pushed the blanket off of my lap and asked, ¡°Did you put me to bed? I thought I passed out on the floor.¡± ¡°You did. But I wanted to practice my shooting, and didn¡¯t think you wanted to be woken up so I moved you out of my way.¡± ¡°That was nice of you, thanks.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t get used to it.¡± Leo paused and then asked again, ¡°Ready for more shooting today?¡± I didn¡¯t answer him, I just stood up and walked over to the doorway. I followed him until we were in the same room that we had been in the day before. Leo handed me the same gun that I used yesterday and stepped back. I readied my stance and right before I fired my first bullet I pulled back on the top. The training, for the day, continued until I finally hit the same bullet hole that I made yesterday. I turned to Leo and asked, ¡°Can I try a different gun?¡± With a sarcastic laugh Leo said, ¡°Let¡¯s just stick with this one.¡± I faced the wall and hit very close, if not exactly on point, to my original bullet hole. Days passed and it was endless shooting training after endless shooting training. Once I got a hang of handling my gun Leo got me to try different stances, and changed scenarios; so that I would be used to the weight of the gun. It also allowed me to try different movement, that would be helpful in fights. After, what seemed like months of hard work, Leo finally said, ¡°I think you¡¯re ready to fight the beast that took your friend.¡± He took the gun from me, for the last time and said, ¡°Go get some rest, we¡¯ll leave first thing in the morning.¡± I made my way to the room with the leather couch, and chair, and fell asleep as soon as I wrapped myself up with the blanket and laid down. In the morning Leo woke me up, earlier than I intended, and told me to get ready. We made our way to the room with the different guns and weapons, and began to gear up for battle. I grabbed the two hand guns, that I was used to, and strapped them to the side of my legs. I grabbed, and filled my front pockets with hand gun ammo. In my back pocket I placed a flat knife in one side and I left the other pocket empty in case. ¡°Ready to go?¡± Leo asked. He had a shot gun strapped to his back. Bullets crossing on his chest and hand guns strapped to his legs. On the opposite shoulder of the shot gun, he had a big black bag full of weapons and extra ammo. I felt a little unprepared compared to him but I still answered, ¡°Yep.¡± Chapter 7: The Killer I walked over to where the metal cylinder shot me into the room and waited for it to suck me up. I was forced upwards just as fast as when I entered this place. However, instead of being outside in the sand I ended up crashing on my back in front of the tree with the little girl standing in front of me. ¡°How are you not dead? I hit you with my most powerful magic?¡± As I said, ¡°Apparently your magic isn¡¯t as good as you think it is¡± I slowly reached for the guns strapped to my legs. Before she could say another word I pulled out my guns and shot at her, switching between the two guns. After four shots I stopped and looked at the girl, she held you hands in front of her core; preventing the bullets from hitting her. With a smirk on her face she said, ¡°Is that all you¡¯ve got?¡± I looked down to her feet and then back up to her face and said, ¡°Well if you put it that way no, no its not.¡± The girl lowered her hands, which made the bullets drop as well, and she said, ¡°Bring it on!¡± I jumped up and reached for my back pocket. With one swift movement I whipped my knife straight for her head. However, she was just able to avoid it, as she jumped sideways onto the ground. As she stood up to brush herself off she said, ¡°Aww your petty tricks are so cute, but they are no match for me.¡± She raised her hands above her hands and clapped. It caused a shock that made me fly backwards into the tree trunk. Before I could stand up bent her right arm across her chest and then quickly straightened it, with her hand flat. I jerked my head backwards and squinted while I waited for something to happen. But nothing did. I slowly opened my eyes and looked at her. All she said was, ¡°Just give it a minute.¡± Thinking that she was joking I tried to stand up; nonetheless, my hands were stuck to the ground beside me. I drug my feet towards me, so that my knees were bent, but when I tried to lift them they couldn¡¯t come off the ground either. I looked from my hands to my feet and with sadness in my voice asked, ¡°What have you done to me?¡± As the girl slowly stepped towards me she said, ¡°Oh just a little spell to ensure that you will stay in one place while I hit you with my powerful magic again.¡± Before I could say another word she reached behind her and grabbed some foreign object. She placed it in her palm and then gently blew towards me. The air filled with a line of dust with some light green speckles in it. I tried to close my eyes, but before I could they filled up with dust. I momentarily went blind. All I could see were the light green speckles. My eyes burnt with agonizing pain. I clawed at my half opened eyes, but that just made the pain worse. They felt like they would explode out of their sockets at any moment. I could feel tears running down my face. The little girl stood in the same place and started laughing at my pain. ¡°You mortals can be hurt so easily. Why kill you with one powerful blow when I can torcher you until you beg to die?¡± Just then I heard the little girl snap loudly. The dust and light green speckles left my eyes, the only thing that was left was the pain from my nails clawing at my eyes. The weight of my arms and legs relaxed and I dropped onto my knees. I then covered my eyes as I closed and opened them repeatedly. The little girl tilted her head to right and sadistically asked, ¡°Have you had enough? I can keep going all day.¡± Once my eyes were able to adjust to the light again, I removed my hands and looked up. I noticed my knife laying on the ground just behind the girl. Not to attract attention to myself I looked up to the girl and made it look like I was about to get up. I even brought one foot in front of me and bent it, as if I was kneeling. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°I see you haven¡¯t given up yet. Good! It would have been boring if you gave up.¡± I put most of my weight onto my bent leg and began to rise. Before she could figure out what I was up to I dove forward and rolled past her. I quickly reached for the knife and in one motion I whipped around and stabbed her in back of the leg. Grabbing her leg, the girl cried out, ¡°You little fucker!!¡± She reached down and pulled the knife from her leg. Instead of throwing the knife at me, she just dropped it on the ground. I stood up and took long strides backwards, that way it was easy for me to avoid her attacks if I had to. In fear of what would happen next I just waited to see what my fate would be. The girl bend down to her leg and wrapped her hands over he wound. It was not even a moment later when she stood up and her wound was healed. ¡°That¡¯s better.¡± She took a step towards me and said, ¡°Now what should I do for you injuring me?¡± She paused for a moment resumed to speak, ¡°I know.¡± She clapped twice and then hit her thighs three times. She continued to do a weird combination of clapping and stomping, and when she was done she turned her back to me. With her right arm bending over her chest she sharply turned and pointed her finger towards me. Before I could process what had just happened the knife, that I previously held, was now gabbed into my abdomen just below my rib cage. I put both of my hands on the handle of the knife, but no matter how much force I had it still did not budge out of me. With happiness in her voice, the girl said, ¡°You can struggle and try all you want, but it won¡¯t be coming out any time soon.¡± I tried and tried to get the knife out, but with every pull it just seemed to be going into me deeper. So I decided to stop. The girl raised one of her arms and threw me backwards into the tree trunk. Thus, making the knife go all the way through my abdomen. When this happened I tried to gasp for air, but none seemed to enter my body. I just stood there holding the part of the body that use to hold the knife. No blood seemed to be pouring onto my hands; nevertheless, I could feel my head going dizzy and my consciousness began to fade away from me. I closed my eyes and the next thing I knew Leo was holding onto my shoulders shaking me awake. ¡°Adisson are you alright? Can you hear me? Adisson!!¡± I sat up and as I brushed Leo away from me, I answered, ¡°I¡¯m fine. There¡¯s no need to yell at me.¡± ¡°You scared me half to death Adisson, what else was I supposed to do?¡± ¡°No yell at me,¡± I said with a small smile on my face. ¡°This isn¡¯t the time to joke. You just collapsed for no reason and began gasping for air while holding your gut.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± ¡°That¡¯s all you have to say?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine. Look at me do I look hurt?¡± I put my hand up and said, ¡°Wait don¡¯t answer that. Trust me that¡¯s not going to happen again.¡± Helping me up Leo said, ¡°It better not.¡± Leo checked my weapons to make sure they weren¡¯t damaged in my fall and when he was done we made out way to the metal cylinder. ¡°You sure you still want to go through with this plan?¡± Without saying another word, I stepped forward and was instantly sucked upwards to the sand world above us. Chapter 8: A Loss of a Friend When I got out of the cylinder the wind was blowing so hard that I could not see behind my hair, although the wind was blowing the sand as well so I guess it was good that my hair was blocking the way. I stepped aside and waited for Leo to come up beside me. I heard a swoosh sound and knew that he would be close behind. Pulling the weapon bag over his shoulder Leo said, ¡°Do you have everything? I don¡¯t want to come back here if you forgot something.¡± Playing along I patted my shoulders then my stomach then my hips and said, ¡°Yep, I¡¯ve got everything.¡± ¡°Good because we have a long walk ahead of us.¡± He looked up at the bright sky and said, ¡°We have to go this way¡± as he pointed behind us. ¡°What makes you say that?¡± ¡°The wind always blows the opposite way of the beast.¡± ¡°How do you know that?¡± ¡°I was looking at my wife¡¯s tracking books last night and she thought that she was onto something with the beast. I am going to assume that this is the same beast that took her and your friend, but if its not than we¡¯ll be one step closer to finding them both.¡± Leo didn¡¯t respond. He just began walking and I was forced to follow him, as I didn¡¯t want to lose him in the sand storm. At first he didn¡¯t say anything, and when I walked next to him I could see determination in his eyes, but trenching through sand is only so exciting for so long so I decided to ask him questions to pass the time. ¡°So how did you and your wife meet?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Your wife¡­ How did the two of you meet?¡± ¡°We¡¯re hunting a beast and you want to pass the time by talking about my wife?¡± ¡°Umm yeah.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Leo paused and then stopped for a moment and looked around us. With a curious look I asked, ¡°What is it.¡± Leo held up his pointer finger to his mouth and said, ¡°Shhh.¡± I leaned close to his face and whispered, ¡°What do you hear?¡± ¡°Shhh.¡± I paused and listened to whatever is was that Leo could hear, but all I could hear was the wind blowing. I turned my head different way, in case I was missing something, but no matter how hard I tried to couldn¡¯t hear anything. So I took a step forward to start walking again. I made it about three steps away from Leo when he came running at me and knocked me over chest first. Trying to make a joke out of the situation I said, ¡°If you wanted on top of my all you had to do was ask.¡± With a confused look Leo said, ¡°What¡­ No¡­ There¡¯s something following us.¡± I lifted my head as high as I could and said, ¡°I don¡¯t see anything.¡± Leo rolled on his back and sat up. ¡°I could have sworn I heard something behind us.¡± This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.I sat up and said, ¡°Uh huh.¡± Just as I was about to stand up, I got flown back into a big sand hill and slid down it on my back. I decided to lay there for a while and let Leo handle whatever it was. ¡®I wonder what Leo looks like without a shirt on, if his arm muscles are any indication than he has to be pretty hot. No. Dammit Adisson focus, Leo is in trouble and all you can think about is how hot Leo is. I mean attractive. I mean¡­ Urg I should help him¡¯ I thought. I quickly got on my feet and looked in the direction that I was flung. I placed my head sideways on my forehead to block the sun from my eyes, but even with that and squinting I couldn¡¯t see him at all. The only thing that I could do at this point is walk towards him and hope that I would find him. The sun felt hotter than it was before, and I could feel my back burning under my shirt. Sweat ran down my face and into my eyes every so often. I would have to wipe it away, with my hair, just to see where I was going. The sand was so uneven that I would walk on one surface, then I would sink up to my knees and I wouldn¡¯t be able to move. I would have to wiggle myself out of a mini hole just to keep going. So when I finally made it to where we had previously been, it felt like weeks had passed and I was exhausted. Thinking that something bad had happened to him, I dropped to my knees and started digging and looking for anything of his. My arms started to slow down and the weight of them began to make it harder and more agonizing to dig. Just then I touched something solid and my body filled with adrenaline as I began to dig faster. After brushing it off the object I realized that it was Leo¡¯s bag of weapons. I don¡¯t know if it was the sand that got into my eyes, or thinking the worst had happened to Leo, but I sank on my feet further and began to cry. My hands began to shake with fear and my chest began to ache with pain of losing someone close to me. The strong wind began to pick up again, and I knew that if I had any chance of saving Sam I would have to pace myself. With no idea where I was going, I stood up, swung Leo¡¯s bag over my shoulder and began to walk in a slight left direction. I could feel the wind pushing me along, and I didn¡¯t care that I was going in the wrong direction; I just let the wind walk for me so that I used as little effort as possible in my legs. When the weight of the bag go too much I would switch shoulders and hold onto it as tight as possible when the wind came, because to me the bag was Leo and I could not have gotten this far without him. Sometimes the wind would pull the bag and I one way or backwards, but no matter how hard it tried I basically stayed on the same unknown path that I had started on. The sun began to lower and the wind began to die down. I didn¡¯t know if it was real or not, but in the near distance I could see a big white rectangular tent. Not thinking, I dropped the bag of weapons on the ground and began to run at the tent at full speed. I was so excited to have some fresh water and some shelter. The closer I got the more the tent began to disappear, until I was standing where I had seen the tent and there was nothing there. I sighed in disappointment and went to pick up the weapons bag that I had dropped on the ground; only to realize it wasn¡¯t there. In a type of panic, I turned around and tracked my steps to where I had come from, but I could not find the bag anywhere. I stopped for a moment and looked up at the sky, there was something odd about the way the sky was but I couldn¡¯t put my finger on it. A light breeze came and brushed some sand against my legs. I lowered my head and noticed that the wind had revealed something underneath a light layer of sand. I bent down and brush off the sand. When I reached forward, I picked up the object and noticed that it was one of Leo¡¯s shoes. Chapter 9: Confusion Suddenly the sand below me gave way and I began to drop, into what seemed to be a never ending pit. It became darker the further down I went. Just then with a jolt I stopped for a second and then I was sucked upwards. When I got to the surface the wind was blowing so hard that I could not see behind my hair, although the wind was blowing the sand as well so I guess it was good that my hair was blocking the way. In confusion I took a step forward and heard a swoosh sound behind me. A sense of familiarity passed over me and then Leo appeared in front of me. Pulling the weapon bag over his shoulder Leo said, ¡°Do you have everything? I don¡¯t want to come back here if you forgot something.¡± In shock I looked him up and down to make sure that he was real. When I could find the words I asked, ¡°Didn¡¯t we just do this?¡± ¡°Do what?¡± ¡°This conversation. About the having enough weapons to fight the beast.¡± ¡°Are you feeling alright Adisson? We don¡¯t have to do this if you¡¯re not feeling well.¡± ¡°No I¡¯m alright. Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Okay¡± said Leo. He looked up at the bright sky and said, ¡°We have to go this way¡± as he pointed behind us. With a sign I said, ¡°Let me guess, its because the wind blows the opposite way of the beast.¡± With a surprised look Leo said, ¡°Actually yeah. How did you know that?¡± Trying to come up with a realistic lie I finally just said, ¡°You told me during my training.¡± ¡°Did I?¡± ¡°Yep!¡± Leo shrugged his shoulders and said, ¡°I guess I did.¡± He didn¡¯t say anything else, he just began walking and I was forced to follow him. When I walked next to him I could see the same determination in his eyes that he had before, and I knew that something bad was about to happen. ¡°Hey Leo.¡± ¡°Shhh¡± he said holding up his hand. ¡°Uh-oh it¡¯s about to happen¡± I quietly said to myself. ¡°Did you say something?¡± ¡°Nope.¡± I cautiously took a step forward and I made it about three steps away from Leo when he came running at me and knocked me over chest first. In a sense of confusion, I just let Leo stay on top of me in order to see what would happen if I didn¡¯t stand up. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.Leo rolled off of me and said, ¡°I thought I heard something. Sorry.¡± He went to go stand up but I pulled him back to the ground by the back of his shirt. When his butt hit the ground Leo said, ¡°What did you do that for?¡± I put my head down and said, ¡°I just have a feeling that something bad is going to happen.¡± ¡°I think you need more sleep if you¡¯re this paranoid.¡± Leo stood up and held his hand out to me and said, ¡°Common. If we don¡¯t continue Sam and my wife don¡¯t have a chance against the beast.¡± I looked around us but I couldn¡¯t see anything, so I grabbed Leo¡¯s hand and stood up. However, I was flown back into a big sand hill and slid down it on my back again. In frustration I didn¡¯t bother saying on my back and I got up as soon as I could and began to run towards where Leo was. Just like before, the sun was so hot that I felt my back burning under my shirt and the sand felt heavy under my feet; I even sank in various spots. It took a great deal of effort to make it back to where Leo had been, but once again he was gone and all that was left behind was his weapons bag under a layer of sand. I took a few steps forward and dropped the weapons bag; just as I had done before. I took a few more steps then turned around and walked back to where I found the bag. I squatted down and once again I found Leo¡¯s shoe. I picked it up and started to look at it, to see if it would give me any clue as to where Leo was going, or what took him. Nevertheless, before I could get a good look at it the sand below me gave way and I began to sink into it again. I bent down and covered my ears as I yelled, ¡°NOOOOOO!!! LEO WHERE ARE YOU??!!¡± I was yelling so loud that I barely heard the voice behind me. It wasn¡¯t until I felt someone touching my shoulder from behind me that made me stop yelling. Being startled I jumped a bit before I turned around to see who it was behind me. I said, ¡°Leo I am so happy that you are alright¡± while hugging him as tight as I could. ¡°Of course I¡¯m alright. Why wouldn¡¯t I be?¡± I let go of him and said, ¡°Because of the thing that took you away.¡± He placed the back of his hand on the back of my hand and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know what you are talking about, but here why don¡¯t you lay down.¡± He took my hand and lead me to a small couch, inside our hide out; it was as if we never went outside.