One by One

Chapter 8

Justin was still half asleep when the realization started to kick in; this wasn't his bed. What he was laying on was cold and hard, and as he opened his eyes he realized he was surrounded in darkness, in what felt like a small cave. He turned around and saw the opening was inches away from him. He crawled out of the tiny space and was amazed at what he saw.

 Trees. Everywhere he looked he saw trees. He was in some kind of forest, yet he had no idea how he had gotten there. Well, he knew some of it. He remembered talking to MJ, but what had happened after that? He racked his brain trying to remember the details, and it all came back to him in a flood of realization. At this point, despite the massive amounts of questions that were running absently through his brain, he had only one coherent thought: Siobhan.

 He had to get to her, had to make sure that she was alright. He frantically ran from tree to tree, yelling for help as he did. He had to do something, anything to get out of here; he had to get to her before something horrible happened. But where was here? He had no time to think about it. He would have plenty of time to think about it when he knew Siobhan was safe.

 Not too far from where he had started, he saw a note hanging from a tree. It was in a long white envelope addressed to him, and he opened it eagerly. Inside was 2 page note:

Dearest Justin,

 I'm so sorry I had to do this to you, but you left me no choice. I'm sure you have many questions, and I promise I will answer them all. Your first question, I'm sure, is "Where am I?"

You are in another dimension, one that I created specifically for your friends, and, unfortunately you. Your friends are in here with you, although I must warn you it is extremely unlikely you will ever find them. You see, this forest is never ending. You could walk it forever and never come to end; which brings me to my next point:

You are not in any danger here. In fact, this is probably the safest place you could ever be. You cannot die in here; you will never die in here. You do not need food, or water, and you will not age. You are in a computer dimension, completely alone, and perfectly safe.

Your next question, "How do I get out?"

Well, there is a way. Like I said before, you are surrounded by trees, trees that go on forever and ever. They are all ordinary, and none looks much different then the other, but one will take you home. One tree in this infinite number of trees will transport you back to the exact time and place from which you were taken, all you have to do is find that tree. But like I said before, all these trees are ordinary, including that tree. To find it, you have to go to every tree you see and hope for the best. You may search for 100 years and never find it, but you have as much time as you need.

As for your friends, the ones who still remain at home, they will join you too, eventually.

This may seem like an impossible task, but if you think very hard (or, perhaps, not that hard at all), you will find it is actually quite simple. The answer lies close to home.

All my love,

MJ

Justin couldn't believe this. This was impossible. He wanted to just sit down and think about what was happening to him, but still there was no time. He had to get to Siobhan. He had to find this tree and get back home to save her, before she ended up in this place. He moved quicker now, trying desperately to reach as many trees as possible. He ran around for what felt like hours, and had covered at least 10 miles since he started.

Tired, he leaned up against a tree and buried his head in his hands. He let himself realize how hopeless this really was. He was not going to get out of here, at least not anytime soon; not in time to save Siobhan before the same thing happened to her. He felt hopeless and alone. Despite what the letter said, about him being perfectly safe, he was more scared then he had been in his entire life.

He didn't think about the fact that MJ had caused this. MJ, who he had loved so much, and trusted more than anything. What had he been thinking? He didn't know, but he couldn't let his mind go there, not yet.

He lifted his head up from where it had been resting on his hands, and saw another note tacked on to the tree in front of him. It looked the same as the last one; a long white envelope addressed to him.

He picked it off the tree and began to read it.

Justin,

If you are reading this note, which I’m sure you are, than you did as I suspected you would. You didn’t listen to my advice. I told you to think, that the answer was right in front of you. I meant this literally.

I gave you this clue, a clue I denied to the others, because I knew that you would be too naïve to listen to it; although I so hoped that you would. You had the ultimate advantage in this, an advantage I’m sure your friends would have taken heed of.

If there is one thing I hope you get out of this, Justin, it’s that you learn to think more rationally. I had hoped that after being with me, you had learned this. I tried to show you the right way to live, and if you had listened more closely to me, then you would be at home right now, safe and sound, in the arms of your lover, because you see, the tree that you arrived in, is the one and only passage back home.

 Justin looked around desperately, trying to remember which way he had come from. He began to walk back in the direction he believed he had started, but it was no use. Even if he were to find the tree, he would never know it. They all looked the same.  He could be standing next to it right now and have no idea. It was useless. He lay down on the ground to rest, engulfed in hopelessness.