That was my first dream of the strange glowing door, and it didn’t stop there. I continued to dream of it, almost every night. It almost became a routine to me.
This time was different though. The door had seemed to speak to me- call to me… it had never done that before. Usually I could just see it from some distance, and not up close like that night’s dream.
My alarm’s blaring interrupted my dreaming. I almost got up, but then I remembered that it was Saturday. Groaning, my head slumped back onto my pillows and I dozed for another half-hour, but I knew I wasn’t going to fall back asleep.
After getting ready for the day and eating breakfast, I decided to walk to the library. It was always warm and cozy in there and they had tons of soft armchairs that were perfect were perfect for sinking into and getting lost in a story. Gathering up the last books I had checked out of the library that I was now finished with, I slung my purse over my shoulder and headed out the door. I didn’t bother leaving a note for Sarah; she wasn’t going to be up until noon.
Ten minutes later, I was at the library. I returned my books, and looked around awhile before checking out a couple new ones. Then I went straight to my favorite chair; sinking into its worn out fuzziness, I got comfortable and opened my book.
I had been reading for a good half hour when I heard someone calling my name. Startled, I looked up and glanced around me. No one was even turned in my direction. I listened for a little, but nothing happened, and so I went back to my book. Then I heard it again.
“Sienna,” It was almost like a whisper, yet loud enough that it could be coming from the other room. I couldn’t stand it anymore. Grabbing my books, I left the library. I didn’t know if someone was playing a prank on me or what, but it was too creepy for me to stick around.
Walking down the sidewalk, I turned back towards the library. Something seemed to be pulling me towards it. Almost running back across the grass, I tripped and my books went flying. Immediately I was back up, leaving them strewn along the ground. Looking ahead, I saw that I was going towards the back of the library.
Nothing back there except trees, right? I thought to myself. Trying to stop, I narrowly avoided tripping again. Resigned, I gave up and followed whatever was forcing me in that direction.
I wasn’t too far into the trees when my feet slowed and I could control my own movement again. Glancing around, I rubbed my arms in bewilderment. I had no idea what had gotten me here, but it had me completely freaked out and I really needed to get away. I turned around to go back home, but something seemed to be stopping me. Every time I took a step away from the woods, it was like an invisible wall was right in front of my face, pushing me back.
Turning around, I finally noticed what had appeared behind me. Gasping, I raised my hand to my mouth in unbelief.
It was the door- the very same door I had been dreaming of for weeks. There wasn’t a crack or marking on it that had changed. In complete awe, I took a step forward without realizing it. I felt a slight pull towards the door; not as strong as before, but it was definitely there. Coaxing me- hypnotizing me. I stared at it, searching the wood for something that I didn’t recognize. Taking another step towards it, my eyes fell on the knob. After all these nights of dreaming, I was ready to grab hold of it. I wanted to know what was inside the mysterious door.
Holding my gaze on the knob, I took one last step. I was face to face with it.
Upon closer look, I saw that it had tons of strange symbols etched all over it. I couldn’t read them. All the words were a language I didn’t recognize; and yet I did. The words had a familiar feel to them that seemed to be grasping at my memories. Faintly, I felt as though I had spoken the words before. It was like a part of me, and yet it wasn’t. Try having someone read a book to you that’s written in French, and then tossing in random English words.
I was mystified. Running my hands along the rough wood, I felt every dip and scratch. This door felt like it had existed since the beginning of time.
My hand found the knob, grasped it, and began to twist it. Somewhere in the back of my mind, the calm, rational part of me said not to do it. But I ignored it, as I always do. I just knew I had to see what was behind the door, what had been haunting me for weeks. My hand had stopped, but then it began again. Slowly, the knob turned. Then the door opened, and I looked past the glowing light. I took a step.
Immediately, I felt tons of different things at once. I shivered in the freezing cold, but then it was unbearably warm. I was falling down a black hole, and then flying toward the stars-close enough to touch one. I tried to scream, but the sound got blocked in my throat. It seemed like I was being pushed and pulled in every direction possible. Then, just as fast, it was over. I was lying on the damp earth, breathing heavily and wondering what had just happened.
“Wait, damp earth?” I squeaked. I sat up, and looked at my surroundings. Then I blinked, rubbed my eyes, pinched my arm, and looked again. I was in the middle of a rainforest. Stunned, I stood up, and walked a few steps.
I could hear all sorts of things-the air wafting through the leaves, the trees slightly swaying, birds chirping their stories to each other. In amazement, I turned a full circle around myself, staring at the sky and the ground and everywhere else possible. It was beautiful here.
Then goose bumps rose along my arms. The initial glow of amazement and wonder had faded, now I was just well… afraid. I had no idea how I had gotten to a rainforest when I had been behind a library only moments before. I turned back around, expecting to see the door- It was gone. It was like the door hadn’t even been there in the first place, but that was impossible. I backtracked a few feet, thinking maybe I had gone forward without realizing it. Soon though, I had to face the fact that I was stranded in the middle of the rainforest. with no one but the mosquitoes to keep me company. Sighing, I swatted a few off my face and started walking, trying to keep the hyper-ventilating to a minimum.
There had to be civilization around here somewhere-At least a river or something. I walked for what seemed like forever, but it was probably only fifteen minutes.
Just when I was starting to feel like things couldn’t get any worse, I heard a distant rumble over my head. “Oh, rain- just great,” I grumbled to myself when I felt the first few drops on the back of my neck. I looked around for a big tree to sit under, and plopped myself under a big thick one with lots of leaves for cover-So much for storm safety rules. At that point, I didn’t care if I got struck by lightning. I just wanted to sit and think.
How had I gotten here? How was I going to get back home? Where was I? Was this where I was going to die- stranded in the middle of a rainforest, lost forever?
Although the tree should have provided sufficient shelter from the rain, I still found myself soaking wet in a few minutes. Wiping droplets from my face, I wrapped my arms around myself and glared at the sky.
Yet, even my unhappy mood couldn’t dull the beauty of the forest. Enhanced by the rain and sudden flashes of lightning, everything seemed unnaturally vivid and colorful. Water drops as clear as a diamond hung suspended from the leaves and shrubs, then dropped quickly and splashed onto the already soaked ground. The dirt was wet and moist and felt soft and squishy when I pressed my hand to it. Each burst of lightning lit up the forest in the kind of glow that stays in your eyes even when you close them. I was amazed-speechless. I didn’t know anything like this could even exist. Back home, the most beautiful thing I’d seen was a discount at the bookstore. No one could say that that was any special wonder.
Eventually, I got over the spell of the rainforest… or more likely the cold got to me. I sat there shivering, soaking wet, and again wishing the door would appear. No such luck. Just as the rain thinned, and then stopped, I heard a rustle in bushes behind me. I whirled around, wondering with scared anticipation what it was. I didn’t see anything.
“Probably just a… squirrel?” I told myself, turning back around, and then starting in surprise. Three people were standing in front of me-two men and a woman. I looked up at them, gaping at their tall frames and tanned skin. They weren’t wearing the usual Indian get-up you would suspect; they were dressed normally. Denim shorts, and t-shirts. Staring at the woman’s intense beauty, I noticed that her dark braid traveled all the way down her back.
Long, muscular arms and legs told me that they really knew their way around this place. Thinking that they could help me, I happened to glance down and noticed one of the men tightening his grip around a dagger.
I tried to swallow, but my tongue felt stuck in my throat. I took a few steps backwards, and in my haste tripped over a tree root. They moved closer. I shivered. From the ground they looked much more intimidating. Mustering my courage, I stood up. Their hostile glares were almost enough to make me sit back down again. Then one of the guys spoke.
“Who are you? How did you get here?” He demanded harshly. I cringed.
“I don’t know! I was at the library, and I walked behind it, and went through a door. Then suddenly I was here.” I rambled on, frightened. At the mention of a door, the woman’s head snapped up and looked at me. It was hard to ignore her pointed stare. The man grew impatient.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, but it sounds like lies. We’re taking you to the village to talk with Samuel.” He decided. Before I could protest, he grabbed my arm and began towing me into the undergrowth. The other two followed. Oh well, I thought to myself grimly. At least we’re heading toward civilization…
It wasn’t really the kind of civilization I was expecting. Based on the rainforest, I had guessed that the village they lived in would be extremely primitive, with not a decent toilet or Walmart in sight. I figured people would be gnawing on raw meat and practicing throwing spears at trees. I know, I have an overly imaginative mind. I also might have just been thinking that because I was the most scared and bewildered I had ever been in my entire life, so I was making stupid assumptions.
Well, the village definitely wasn’t how I had imagined. Yes, the houses were a little run-down looking. But at least they weren’t tiny wooden shacks. They didn’t have bathrooms inside the house, but at least they had one that was outdoors. Never mind the revolting smell that hung around it and I inhaled sharply as we walked by. They didn’t have a Wal-Mart, but I’m sure there was food somewhere. It wasn’t as bad as I had expected.
A couple of people were outside when we were going past them, and they stopped to stare at me-some with curiosity, some with anger and surprise. I stared right back. They all looked like they had been born and raised here, except for a select few that didn’t look as though they belonged at all.
Since I wasn’t really paying attention to where we were going, it was a surprise to me when we stopped. I bumped into the woman standing in front of me. She turned, glared at me, then whirled around and knocked on the door. Cringing, I waited for someone to answer.
The building we were standing by was big, bigger than all the houses I had been noticing. It was smaller than maybe… an elementary school, but not by much. Its looming black walls were like an omen to me. I tried to take a step back, but the guy behind me pushed me forward.
The door opened, and another creepy tall guy ushered us in quickly. We were hurried through a big, empty room, and then walked into a slightly smaller one. I blinked in surprise. It was like a mini rec. center. Tons of pool, ping-pong, and Foosball tables were lined around close to the walls, and a gigantic sofa made a square in the middle of the room. There was a big flat screen attached to the wall, and someone was playing a game on the X-box. It was turned down, but I could still faintly here the sounds of guns and explosions and men yelling coming from it. I heard cursing, then,
“Die, die! Take that! No one lives after meeting the exterminator!” The man standing behind me cleared his throat pointedly. The man sitting on the sofa looked up over at us, and then paused his game. He stood up and came over.
“Who is this, Napa?” He asked the woman. I sighed in relief. He didn’t seem angry at seeing me, just confused. So far so good, I thought. Napa bowed her head.
“We found her by the storm tree. She claims to have no idea how she got here.” She explained. He frowned.
“No idea at all?” He wondered. The man behind me said,
“Well, she thinks that she was at a ‘library’ and walked through some door.” He sounded as if he thought this unlikely, but the man who had been playing the X-box jumped in shock. Then he stared at me as if I were a ghost.
“Napa, Jacob, Marc, thank you. You may leave now.” He dismissed them with a slightly shaking hand. Napa made a face like she wanted to protest, but then left the room quietly with Marc and Jacob. I felt relieved when she left, but then scared to be alone with this strange man who looked at me like he knew me. I almost called out to them, begged them not to go. But I took a deep breath and turned to face the man. He was scrutinizing my face, just like I was closely inspecting his.
I once read a book where the author said you could tell a lot about a person just by reading their expression. Well, that’s what I was trying right now. I was examining every wrinkle, every scar, and every dimple. He seemed to be in his mid-40s or 50s. He had bright blue eyes, and thick brown hair that was somewhat receding. His mouth at the moment was formed into a severe line, but I could see his smile lines. Like everyone else here, he was very tan. I wondered where he spent more time- in here playing games, or outside running around in the sun.
I didn’t know what to think about him. He seemed like he could be equally evil, nice, vengeful, forgiving, and ruthless. His eyes seemed to be millions of years old, like they had seen the whole world and weren’t quite so happy about all that they had seen.
Just then, his lips curved into a slight smile.
“Trying to figure me out, are you?” He guessed correctly. “Just like I’m doing the same to you.” I didn’t know what to do, so I went with a shrug. He rubbed his chin, lost in thought.
“You look so much like her…” He murmured, probably to himself. I was instantly curious.
“Who?” I demanded. How could he know someone that looked like me? I immediately thought of my mom. Did he know her? I was going crazy. I had to know! And yet he stood perfectly still, lost in thought. I couldn’t wait.
“I don’t mean to be rude, but who are you talking about? Do you know how I got here? All I know is that walked through a door and was suddenly in the rainforest.” Now I was babbling. “It all started because I wanted new books. Wait, that’s not true. It really started with the dreams.” His eyes had glazed over while I was talking, but at the word ‘Dreams’ he snapped out of it.
“Did you say dreams?” He asked, eyes boring into mine attentively. “It all started with dreams?” I was a little nervous that he thought it was so important what I was dreaming, and I didn’t know if I should tell him. But he’d probably figure it out anyways, and I was still scared of those wicked looking knifes that everyone here carried with them.
“Yes,” I replied, trying to sound casual. “For weeks now, almost every night I’ve been dreaming about a door-the same door that I went through to get here.” I left out the part about it speaking to me… he didn’t need the details, and I didn’t need him to think I was any crazier than I already was.
He seemed to digest these words very quickly, but then they made him sick to his stomach. Don’t forget to chew. I thought, for some reason fighting the urge to laugh. After looking so confused, he seemed to finally sort through all his thoughts. He strode over to the door, opened it, and almost walked through until he realized I wasn’t with him. He looked back.
“Well, are you coming?” He asked, impatient. I hesitated, and then walked over. Although he seemed a bit eccentric, and I didn’t trust him yet, I knew he could give me some answers for a lot of things I was worried about.
He held the door open as I walked through it, and then let it swing shut of its own accord.
“We’re going to a different, safer room,” He told me suddenly as we walked up some stairs. “It’s very secure. No one can get in or out without my authority; if someone pressed their ear to the wall, they wouldn't hear a thing." He said proudly. I paled. Maybe it wasn’t as good an idea to be in a room like that with him as he thought it was. What if he tried to kill me or something? People around here seemed to like that idea a lot.
While I was thinking, he had gone ahead of me. Stopping, he looked back and motioned for me to follow.
“Well, here goes nothing!” I muttered, and then cautiously walked behind him.
Yes, I wanted answers. Little did I know that I was about to get more than my fair share, and I might not really want to know the answers after all.
