The Fourth World: Ch4 Part 3

I don’t know what I was expecting. A witch’s cackle echoing as I walked? Birds falling dead from the sky?

Instead I feel as though I have entered inside a labyrinth. Tree behind tree behind tree is standing in front of me, with hardly any room to walk in between. The green above acts as a blanket to hide the forest from the sun and the sky. There is absolutely no light, no thin rays of sunshine peaking out from small cracks in between the leaves. The only reason I am not collapsing onto the hard soil or banging my head against one of these huge tree trunks is because of Sky’s blonde hair, his golden aura lighting the path in front of him. Now I’m certain of it. He must have been here before. More than once. How does he know the way so well?

After being deep into the hollows of the Infernal Forest, knowing there is no way I could ever possibly go back without him, I realize what it is that’s been sending constant shivers tickling up and down my spine all this time.

There is no life.

Where are the animals? No birds chirping, no crackling of leaves as they crumple underfoot. I start looking around me in quick glances while my feet follow Sky. Green. Dark green. More green. Where is all the colour from the flowers I’m used to seeing in the Greenhouse? It is like watching the life of someone in black and white, with no happiness or joy. Somebody with their light switch turned off. It is like seeing the white wall behind the bench in the Greenhouse without the glowing fuchsia bougainvillea to bring it to life.

Goosebumps start prickling all over my arms and legs. I look ahead of me, concentrating only on the direction in which Skylar is heading.

He slants slightly towards the right, just enough for me to look further ahead than his head. Not too far in front, I see a single ray of light which managed to escape from the forest’s hard cage.

We are moving towards it. As Sky’s pace is slowing down I hide myself behind the trunk of a tree, which is twice as wide as my body. He comes to a halt.

It is like his legs suddenly disconnect from his brain, and they sink all of a sudden onto the grass beneath his feet.

I step away from the tree, wanting to run for him, wanting to scream for him.

But something stops me.

I look at him. His head is turned away from me so I cannot know if he is in pain. I realize I don’t know what he is doing. He starts bending his back closer towards the grass. Is he praying? Crying? Should I go comfort him?

I stay still where I am, my eyes widening as I pay closer attention to what he is doing. It is times like these where being taller would be such an advantage. I can’t see exactly what he is doing but I know he is moving his hands…stroking the grass? No. It is more as if he were moving his fingers. Before I can know for sure he straightens his back, still without standing up.

I feel my lips part forming an oval.

Before my eyes I see what just a few seconds ago was dry grass on soil rising slowly above the ground as if it were a door into a new world. Again, I am at a loss of words. My mind still hasn’t registered exactly what is going on and while my brain is working at full speed I catch a glimpse of that familiar blonde head disappearing beneath the darkness of this entryway.

I run towards it. Towards him. I quickly look at this piece of land moving slowly to open itself. The only thought which comes to mind is, It must be really heavy to be so slow. I notice what Sky must have been using his fingers for before opening this door, on the ground, hidden beneath a rock is a type of scanner which reminds me of the ones outside our homes. But it’s not. It has buttons with numbers on them. A combination lock, I guess.

I don’t waste too much time debating whether to follow him or not. Before the mechanical door starts to close itself again, I jump down into the emptiness below.

***

The chute is quick and I almost feel nothing except for a sort of vacuum force pulling me down. When I land Sky is nowhere in sight. There is a loud clunk and as I look up I see the piece of land is now back in its place, the door closed.

On my right and left, glued against the mud walls are infinite zigzags of metal tubes and pipes. I find myself stuck in the narrowest corridor I’ve ever stood in, the metal clanging against my body each move I make.

Suddenly I feel my face go white. Two hands grab tightly onto my shoulders. All the muscles in my body tense, and then I feel them go numb, too scared to do anything. More hands take heavy grips all over my body, forcing me still and clamping my mouth shut. I take in a deep breath and hold it as darkness falls upon me.