(Chapter One)
(Chapter Two)
(Chapter Three)
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Leo.
‘Take a seat,’ the Lieutenant-Colonel said, beckoning to a seat facing the wooden desk. He himself sat down in the padded one behind the desk and took off his cap.
Leo sat down.
The Lieutenant-Colonel’s office was small and mostly bare. Apart from the oak desk that lay between the two of them, there was only a shelf, which was full of books, and a cabinet, which was half-full of books. A large window took up much of one of the walls. Natural light flooded the room, thankfully destroying the illusion that they were underground. Outside, Leo could see a couple of trees and a few shrubs arranged in a sort of pseudo-garden.
‘So, what do you want to know?’ Leo asked.
The Lieutenant-Colonel leant forwards. ‘I suppose the first question is the most obvious one: what were you doing in the forest?’
‘I don’t know,’ said Leo. ‘Next question.’
‘That’s not an answer, Mister Thornton. No one gets into a restricted area without trying, and no one tries to do anything without a reason.’
‘I don’t even know how I got there. I don’t know why I was there. Something … happened.’ He wasn’t sure what to say. He didn’t know what had happened to him or why he had suddenly been there. He realised then, for the first time, that he wouldn’t be able to explain what had happened without sounding crazy.
‘I don’t understand what you’re trying to say.’
‘Look,’ Leo said, ‘one moment I was, you know, living my life, and the next thing I knew, I was in those woods of yours.’
‘And what exactly were you doing before you realised you were in the forest?’
‘I don’t know. I can’t remember.’ Inwardly, Leo flinched at his own replies. The more he spoke aloud, the more insane he sounded to even his own ears.
‘Interesting.’ The Lieutenant-Colonel was silent for a few moments. Then: ‘Do you take any sort of drugs?’
‘No.’
‘You can be honest with me, Mister Thornton. Nothing said here will leave the room if you don’t want it too. I just want to understand what happened.’
‘I don’t do drugs,’ Leo said.
‘Okay then. Any history of mental illness in your family?’
‘Not that I know of.’ He scratched his cheek. ‘And for what it’s worth, I’m pretty sure I’m not crazy.’
‘It’s worth more than you think. Okay, so you can’t remember what you were doing immediately before you were in the forest, so tell me, what is the very last thing you do remember before you were in the forest?’
Leo leant back and thought for a moment. It wasn’t a matter he had really considered before, but thinking back now, he couldn’t really say for sure what his last memory was. Everything from the last few days was all jumbled up, and he had only flashes of those days: walking along a road on his way to school, waking up, walking home along the same road, listening to a teacher’s droning voice, brushing his teeth, reading George R.R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones whilst sat in bed, seeing his little sister’s crying face, eating a roast dinner with his family, playing Metal Gear Solid, laughing with a friend over a forgotten joke, walking to school, waking up, sitting in class, walking home, telling a joke to a friend, walking, laughing, sitting, talking.
It was all disjointed. What came first and what came last?
He shrugged. ‘I don’t know. It’s all … sort of muddled up.’
The Lieutenant-Colonel was thoughtful for a few seconds. ‘Okay,’ he said, ‘I’ll accept that.’
‘What, just like that? No follow up questions?’
‘None for now.’
‘So, we’re done? You’ll contact my family and they can come pick me up?’
The Lieutenant-Colonel gave a sad sigh. ‘Mister Thornton, I’m sorry, but no. We can get you a room for the night though.’
Leo sagged. The Lieutenant-Colonel had implied that if Leo answered his questions, he’d let him go home, but now it seemed he was going back on his implicit word. Leo felt cheated. Bastard, he thought. ‘Screw the room. I need to go home. My parents’ll be freaking out.’
‘I’m very sorry, Mister Thornton,’ the Lieutenant-Colonel said, standing up. ‘I’m going to do everything I can to help you, and right now that means getting you a room.’
‘You don’t look sorry to me,’ Leo said. He made no effort to rise.
The Lieutenant-Colonel looked down at Leo. ‘You’re not going to follow me to a room, are you?’
‘No, I don’t think I will.’
The Lieutenant-Colonel slumped back down again. A pained expression crossed his face as he massaged his eyes with his fingers. Leo watched, interested. This was the first time the Lieutenant-Colonel had shown any sign of weakness. ‘You bastard Gavial,’ he muttered to himself, ‘why did you insist on giving this position to me? It should’ve been you.’
He sat up straight again. ‘Fine,’ he sighed. ‘Fine.’ He opened a draw in his desk and drew out a black walkie-talkie. ‘Private Rasoon?’ he said into it.
A few seconds later, Leo heard Rasoon’s voice cackling back: ‘Yes sir?’
‘I’d like you and Private Jaffe to bring Miss Taylor up to my office,’ the Lieutenant-Colonel said.
‘Sir? Now?’
‘Yes, now, Private.’
‘Yes sir.’
The Lieutenant-Colonel put the walkie-talkie down on the desk and sighed. ‘You’ll get your answers soon enough.’
‘Um,’ Leo said, ‘I don’t want any answers. I’m the guy who wants to go home, remember?’
‘I wasn’t talking about you,’ the Lieutenant-Colonel said.
‘Oh,’ Leo said. Nutter, he thought.
The next few minutes passed in awkward silence. The Lieutenant-Colonel picked up one of his books and absorbed himself in it, a frown never far from his lips. Leo had nothing to do but to just sit in his chair. He passed the time by staring out the window at the half-wild shrubs and trees.
Then came a knock at the door. The Lieutenant-Colonel looked up, put down his book, and said, ‘Come in.’
In came Jaffe and Rasoon, Jaffe with his neutral stare and Rasoon with his scowl, and with both of them was a girl. She walked in behind them, holding one wrist with the other hand, her expression a curious mix of the two men’s, bordering somewhere between neutrality and displeasure. She was dressed like Leo, in simple grey fatigues, although Leo noticed that she wore no shoes or socks.
And she was hot, he decided. It was clear she hadn’t showered recently, as her blond hair fell in greasy lockets down her face and neck, but she was good looking despite it. High cheekbones and a defined jaw line gave her a look of haughtiness, and the glower she wore only added to the effect. She was tall for a girl too, probably of a height with Leo. She struck Leo as the sort of girl who, as well as being beautiful, was well aware of the fact.
But what’s she got to do with me going home?
Despite her obvious displeasure, she held her head high as she walked into the room. ‘Well,’ she said, glaring at the Lieutenant-Colonel, ‘what do you want?’
The Lieutenant-Colonel motioned to the seat beside Leo’s. ‘Please, sit down.’
Looking uncertain, she did so.
‘And you two,’ the Lieutenant-Colonel said, turning his gaze to Rasoon and Jaffe, ‘please stand outside. Don’t let anyone enter the room.’
‘Sir,’ the two men said. They saluted, and did what he asked.
‘Right then,’ the Lieutenant-Colonel said, ‘this isn’t going to be easy. Nor pretty, I’d imagine. I-’
Leo raised a hand and said, ‘Why is she here?’
The girl scowled at him, but said nothing.
‘What I have to say concerns both of you,’ the Lieutenant-Colonel said. ‘It’s … I don’t know exactly how to say this. You’re both-’ He clenched his jaw and didn’t say anything for a few seconds, his thin lips twisted into a grimace.
Leo watched silently, intrigued.
The girl, meanwhile, snapped, ‘Spit it out already.’
The Lieutenant-Colonel let out a sudden bark of a laugh, making Leo jump in his seat. The man’s mad, he thought. Bonkers.
‘“You’re not in Kansas anymore,”’ the Lieutenant-Colonel said. ‘That’s what he said to tell you. If that makes any sense. You’ve left Kansas behind. You’re … you’re in our world now.’
A beat later, Leo said, ‘And you’re the Wizard, right?’ He supposed he should be afraid, being locked in a room with a madman, but, really, he was more interested than anything.
‘What?’ snorted the girl. ‘You’re saying we’re in Nania?’
‘Oz,’ Leo corrected her.
‘It sounds crazy,’ the Lieutenant-Colonel said, sounding more sincere that he had for the entire past twenty minutes, ‘but so does the story you were giving me a few minutes ago, Leo. What happened to you - what happened to both of you - you’re not in your home any more. You’re in a different world.
‘And I’m sorry. I’m very sorry. But there’s no way back.’
No one said anything for a few seconds. In the silence, the Lieutenant-Colonel’s last words roared their significance.
Then Leo said, ‘What, not even if I click my heels together?’
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Author Notes:
-- Chapter Four. Really, it’s the second part of Chapter Three, but whatever.
-- I’m not a fan of this chapter. The whole “you’re in another worldz!!1!” conversation had to come up sooner or later, but I wasn’t looking forward to it. Haart’s uneasiness wasn’t in the plan, it’s just how I was feeling when I tried to write this. It’s … icky.
-- As per usual, this is a first draft, which I plan to edit quite heavily later. I’ll of course be referring back to all the advice and suggestions you guys give during the editing process.
-- In particular, I’m interested in hearing yours thoughts and suggestions on the whole ‘other world’ conversation thingy at the end. But as always, all advice, suggestions and thoughts are equally welcome. =)
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Chapter Five.
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