Sam quickly turned around and whispered to me, “remember our signals, and use your wrist transponder to message me if you find something.”
I looked at my wrist, unknowing that I had a walkie on my arm. I turned back around and walked forward, inspecting up and down the fence, and the under bearings and ground below it.
It was too quiet for KS. There was no wind, and it got darker and darker. The ground glowed a bright white like a black light had been lit, and it seemed that the little life that inhabited KS, emerged from the high trees, and brown chocolate like dirt.
“Luis?” the voice came from my arm.
“Yeah?” I replied.
“I found a spot, it is soft, it seems like something tried to dig under it, I’d like to say like a rabbit, but I hope they don't have giant rabbits being on foreign soil or anything,” the voice said.
I quietly laughed, “I’ll be right over.”
I crept to the right where I had remembered parting from Sam, to begin with at the black fence. The sky lurked over me, and I didn’t flee. Pressured to hurry.
“Where are you?” I quickly whispered into my wrist as it had felt like I had been walking for too long. I got nothing.
“Sam?” I asked again, more and more worried. “Sam?” I got no reply.
There was nothing around where I thought she had been that would lead me to believe she had been taken.
I quickly tapped away on my transponder to Anthony, “There is an emergency, Sam is gone. I don't know where she is. Are the cameras jammed for sure?”
He quickly replied, “they are jammed. Head on back. We will see if maybe she came back. She sent me a picture of the entry point.”
I typed back, “is that all she did?”
He replied, “yeah.”
I replied, “I don't think we should use this location. I don't think that was Sam that sent you that message.”
I said to no one, “she wouldn’t have a reason to run off, she wouldn’t have a reason for just leaving me here and heading back alone. She wouldn’t tell me where she was if she was going to stay there. She would respond when I called.”
In a moment of anxiety, I ran back into the brush, and I swatted the tall things away from my face.
I hurried down the hill and saw that the “sun” quickly rose again turning the sky bright orange.
I saw the little old house of Mae’s sitting still in the silence of it all.
Like rumbling emotion, the world seemed to shake in anger, until I finally reached the porch I had left just an hour prior. Everything was silent, as before but more so.
I touched the handle, cold it was. I turned the knob, finding myself inside of an empty desolate house. I returned to my room, hoping to find Tommy, he was not there.
“Shit!” I didn’t even try to message Anthony.
He wouldn’t leave without telling me. I knew something had happened. Like someone had come and taken them away.
I grabbed my bag and Tommy’s bag and I headed back outside to his car.
I grabbed the straps with my hands, ignoring the bruises from my prior injuries from the train incident.
I pressed the key into the initiator, turning the Cadillac on, with a quiet rumble, I sat there and wanted to cry.
Before I could even begin, a loud tap came from the front passenger window.
I quickly looked up. It was Tommy! I opened the door releasing the lock.
“Where is everyone? Hello!” I yelled.
Tommy replied, “I have no idea. I barely even know what happened. One moment I was sitting on that bed, the next I shut my eyes, and I woke up in a field of flowers and walked and walked and walked until I finally found myself back here.”
I shook my head into my hands, “well, Sam is gone, Anthony is gone, they are all gone from the house. The house is dark and no one is there, there's like nothing there.”
Tommy just kind of sat there in the seat and shrugged then said, “I mean, it seemed too easy. Something like this was bound to happen. I mean maybe what happened to me happened to everyone else, but I really do feel fine.”
I asked, “where should we go? I know a motel we could stay at. It isn’t fancy but it is better than nothing.”
“Do you want to have it drive us there? I don't know how to work this thing,” I asked quizzingly.
“I guess. Let me sit in the driver's seat. I can input it. I hope it is still there, and lowkey as it has always been. It will probably be on the edge of the city like this, but further away from the strange flowers that suck everyone into Dunshop,” Tommy said.
In my mind, I trusted Tommy. In mind I trusted him, and I felt like him and I needed to get out of the situation because, in reality, we really didn't belong in the ring that Anthony had put together. It’s not like we were destined to save the world. The world was as it is, it was just KS and not Earth.
“Okay. Let's do it,” I said.
I just wanted to get out.
The car was moving and moving, and it seemed like everything was fine. I just ignored the fact there were so many problems.
Again, like a black bear in the middle of a snowfield, the car drove in open and plain site, and I admired that it was true that it had been too easy all along to be so open in a heavily watched and monitored area.
18
Tommy was driving down this long road at the edge of the city. Like the edge of a border fence, we patrolled for any possible police units, but there was nothing.
The car rumbled from the unevenness of the rocky roads. We kept a slow pace as we thought that the more movement there was the easier it would be for someone to spot us.
No one showed up. Like Tommy said, “it was too easy”.
It seemed like everything would play out in front of our eyes.
Nothing did.
When we finally had reached the motel, it was quaint, with blue siding, made an L shape with the front office in the bottom of the letter, and a sign that read “Rose’s Motel”.
“Do you know a Rose?” I asked Tommy.
He said, “No, I wish I did because if there was a girl named Rose, I bet she is pretty.”
I remarked, “I don’t think that this particular Rose is going to be pretty. It is a motel, not a fancy urban hotel that just opened by some hip teenagers.”
Tommy laughed.
The car pulled into the parking lot out of the motel. It came to a brief stop, lowered down, and then the doors opened. We didn’t grab our bags, we just made our way to the office. Tommy led the way since I figured he must have had a connection with the motel in some way.
Observing the motel was a strange thing, at least for me, looking at it made me feel like it was lost in time as if it did not belong in this world or any other.
Tommy smiled big and then waited for the man to reply. The man was tall, skinny, with red hair and a bright smile. A curious looking man he was.
“Tommy? What are you doing here?” he asked, quickly walking out from around the desk to shake his hand. “It has been so long, I haven’t seen you or your family in ages. It feels like too much time has passed. What brings you to the motel?”
Tommy responded, “we are just trying to find a place to stay. I remember you told my mom that if we ever needed anything we would be more than welcome to stop by."
The man finally shook his head and looked at me, “are you the young Fleet Commander Phillips’ boy?”
I replied, “yes I am.”
“Your parents have been looking for you all over. You need to tell them that you are okay, they have been all over the television,” the man said.
I thanked him and said, “I guess I’ll go ahead and call them. I told them I would be going out, I guess they didn’t know for sure.”
He gave me a stare of assurance, however, and said, “good. I am glad they will be hearing from you. In the meantime, I am Mr. Van, I am very pleased to meet you. Young Tommy and his family have been friends since, I don’t even know.”
He
stopped speaking and looked at Tommy, when he interjected, “since my dad was in high school.”
Mr. Van continued, “yes, a very long time. Too much time really. After their tragic passing through, we practically checked in and took care of Tommy whenever we could. I’d be glad to let you boys stay in one of our rooms. Perhaps at the very end unit in 8B, it is one of our largest. Two queen beds, a holographic upgraded television, a bathroom with lots of space, heated floors, and a waterfall shower. It is quite nice.”
Tommy replied, “that would be fantastic! We were with a few friends, but we couldn’t find them, so we thought we might be able to stay here until we figure out what our plans are,” he lied.
“Quite well, and may I ask, what is it you and your friends are doing?” Mr. Van asked.
I was quick to suggest, “we have been working with an agency of my fathers to help gather data on students in the city. You see, my parents really didn’t want me doing it because they worry from all the blackouts that I might somehow manage to get lost, but I think I am perfectly fine so I left after telling my mom where I planned on going. We were at a hotel, but then we had checked out and got separated, but the hotel staff insisted we leave in Tommy’s car so that more space be permitted for guests. So here we are.”
Tommy continued smiling and nodded his head, and also said after me, “we sent out a message to our organizer from the Agency where we were so that we could continue typing up our research. It is a fascinating thing you know, demographics and all.”
Mr. Van remarked, “I think that is quite a thing to do. I always say if you can contribute anything to society, contribute! Don’t let anyone stand in your way, but that doesn’t mean there are limits. Always reminder that. Let me get you the key card for 8B, and you guys can get settled in. If you need anything, anything at all, don’t hesitate to call me at extension 200.”
Tommy made his last note, “of course, in all openness, I must say, if anyone who comes looking for me and Luis, and it doesn’t include a girl of about our same age with blond hair named Samantha, please don’t tell them that we are here. Once we have spoken and interviewed the students in NYC, we must act in full confidentiality so that we don’t bias our reports.”
Mr. Van smiled, “in the sense of contribution to the community, I won't say unless there is someone here that you know for sure is a part of your group. Stay as long as you need, we don’t get many visitors or anything like that.”
He handed Tommy the black key card, shiny and small with the alphanumeric 8B engraved in gold.
We walked out of the office, and back into the clean air. For once, it seemed like it was clean. Strangely enough, I couldn’t really tell if we were anywhere but Earth, I didn’t even remember what Earth was like. This was all a sick trick to play on such good people.
“Mr. Van seems cool. Do you think we can trust him?” I asked Tommy.
“I think so. What is it with you and trust anyway? It seems like the first question you always ask, and to me, don’t they say, “one who asks who can be trusted can be asked whether or not they too are trustworthy?” I asked.
I thought seriously about that in the back of my mind.
“While you get settled in and get our bags out the car, I am going to sit down on this bench and take a breather.” I said.
Tommy replied, “okay man. Take your time.”
I sat there really wanting to read a book or watch an old movie, something that was forbidden both on Earth and on KS. Something that both societies didn’t want people to see.
In a way, I thought to myself of how much alike the two societies were. Both were controlling of the people. Both had corruption in government. Both had people on different sides much like Anthony. Both sought to militarize their own planets, and both look to brainwashing their children to be future war heroes. It all seemed very wrong to me, and for the first time ever sitting on the metal bench, it was all wrong. It all seemed the same, how did I know this wasn’t Earth, and how did I know I was on another planet in the first place.
My mind swarmed with ideas, quickly closing in on me, quickly and quickly closing in, that I began to sweat, I felt my heart rate speed up, and then all of the sudden everything went dark.
Not in my mind. It was a blackout. The lights shut off. The sky grew grey, the sirens went off, and Unity came on.
“Attention Citizens. Unity has issued a top-level blackout for the rest of the evening. Please secure your housing, shut all windows, turn off all power, and please remain inside until Unity has cleared the situation at hand. Please do not panic. This is a testing of our regulatory blackout system in case of an enemy attack. Please remain stationary until further notice. Unity.”
I barely could stand up when I had felt everything coming together. I stood up and quickly got to the door of 8B. I banged on the door, “Tommy, please let me inside.”
The door opened.
“Get in here, they issued a blackout. Did you hear the announcement?” Tommy asked.
“I did, man I don’t feel good. How do we know that we are really on KS? How do we know this isn’t Earth, and all this time I never left, and this all began as a takeover of our world or the government?” I asked.
Tommy tried to reassure me, “dude, this is not our planet. If it were, we would all have to be on acid to see the purple skies, the blue drops of rain, the strange trees that look like cotton. This is not Earth. This is KS.”
I sighed, “how do we know for sure? It is already crazy enough just to explain to someone how this is like, someone cutting New York City and the upper New York area, and then pasting it on a picture of the “Adventures of Alice and Wonderland.” This is one gigantic drug trip, I am so sure of it.”
I hadn’t had withdrawals from C4 The Councilor flooded my veins with until the moment after the blackout. Everything in the room began to spin, I slowly started to fall and collapse into Tommy. I heard the echo of his voice, as my mind seemed to disappear.
I woke up in what felt like a pool of black tar. The room was circular, white small square tiles lined the walls and the ceiling. I floated in the base of the room. I tried to move, but I could not.
A sense of lostness seemed to seep into my mind. It was quiet, and I tried and tried to move my legs, but it seemed my head had been stuck to the sticky goo enough that I couldn’t even try to see if I had legs.
“Tap, tap, Testing Auditory System. Good,” a deep man's voice came from all around pulsating into my ears, the pressure seemed to fill the room making it difficult to breathe.
It felt as if someone was manually pressing in and out the air in my lungs, that it felt like I had lost total control.
“You, my friend, you have returned! Welcome back, my friend. It has been a long time has it not, you seemed to think I was gone,” the deep voice said.
I tried to talk, but I could not. It seemed I continued to breathe, in and out, in and out, through my mouth facing the ceiling of the tiled room I was in.
The voice continued, “why, why, why, you haven’t forgotten? Boy, if you’ve forgotten, you’re dead wrong. Very dead wrong.”
He stopped speaking, and my eyes seemed to roll back into my head. I felt a jolting muscle spasm from all over my body. I jolted, as my eyes seemed to roll further and further, the whites of my eyes, black, my skin, seeming to feel like it was being shriveled up, the skin just collapsing in on itself, being sucked inwards, the blue vines not pressing against my skin, but being pressed between my bones and my tight skin. My legs finally appeared, and they too had become so thin, I could’ve stuck them through a pipe in a wall.
The voice continued, “boy, you can’t go nowhere. I followed you to this hotel, I killed your friend. He’s no more, and there's no one to help you. You’re mine now boy, you can’t hide from me. I knew you thought I hadn’t died, I knew you knew that the man in black would come back for you, but boy here you are, in my hands, and I’m wrapping around ya. There ain’t nowhere you can go, boy.”
It went quiet again, it was as if control had been given back to me. I tried to stand up in the thick goo, as I tried to reorient myself. The room seemed to be spinning.
The man in a deep creepy manner began to laugh, as it seemed it all went silent. I tried to shuffle myself over to the wall to see if there was a way out.
I began to scream, I filled with anxiety, “let me out of here! You fucker, you can’t let me stay in here! You can’t, you just can't.”
I let out a cry as I banged my hands against the wall.
Then, as I laid my head to cry, a loud shriek and obnoxious sound came from all around. A high pitch squeal, enough to make me quiver under the thick black goo.
I cried softly, “just let me out of here.”
I banged my hand on the wall one last time before it seemed as if I had come back from it all.
“Luis! Wake up, man! Luis, come on just open your eyes,” I was being yelled at by Tommy.
Everything shook, and in and out, it seemed one moment I was in the room, and the next, the man in black was there in the room of white tile cutting me with his knives and now white gloves. Just cutting and cutting, and then Tommy shaking me, then the man with his knife and Tommy finally just punching me right in the face.
“Alright, alright, I am fine Tommy please let go!” I yelled at last.
I rubbed my eyes, and looked at my hands first, then him and then my legs, then him and then my shoulders which seemed to be bruised from Tommy’s grip when he shook me.
Tommy asked concerned, “are you okay? You were out of it dude. So out of it.”
I replied, “I am fine, seriously I am fine. It was a nightmare is all.”
Tommy remarked, “that was more than a nightmare, you practically passed out and lost your mind.”
I replied, “they happen from time to time for me. I started getting them a long time ago when I disappeared from home. I get into these night terrors and can’t get out, and ever since they’ve gotten worse. I think it is from the chemical that The Councilor from KS used to pump through my handcuffs.”
I shuttered sitting on the hard bed, “I’m just going to take a nap, I should be fine. I think that this was just a onetime thing, and it’ll be better if I rest until morning.”
The World of Hope Page 13
