Paradigm Rift

Chapter Nine - Time to Wake Up

The crystal that just moments ago I held in my hand was now gone. Looking around I could not find Elena or Ivan. They were gone and I stood alone inside the crystal cave. That wouldn't be the case for much longer because the cave banished, bringing back the jungle and its hot air that hit against my skin.

This time, however, there was something else too. A sight I never thought to see with my very own eyes, dinosaurs walking the Earth. They were running all around me. I flinched as one of them ran right through me as if it was a ghost, or I was. In the distance I could see their destination, a large lake from which different types of dinosaurs drank water. Overhead I could hear sounds and looking up I saw flocks of pterodactyl flying about.

Everything seemed to pull away in every direction and then I was standing in the middle of traffic. Strange looking cars zoomed past me and no one seemed to notice I was there. I couldn't make sense of what was happening. The buildings looked different, I'd say they had this futuristic feel and robots walked alongside people.

Once more the scenery changed. A city stood half buried on a desert, the city's steel crumbling little by little. Although the sand had eroded most of what this city once was, something else had happened. A city like this could not have been built on a desert so the land must have been different, until it was changed. I knew it was San Francisco as my eyes locked on the baseball stadium half buried in the sands. Turning around, I saw the Bay Bridge, connecting both bays not over a mass of water but, instead, a mass of sands that dominated the landscape. There was no water; there were no trees, just sand as far as the eye could see.

There would be no time to figure out what had happened because everything faded away. I waved my arms around as I felt the floor beneath me disappear, leaving me floating in darkness. There was no world beneath my feet, only emptiness. My first impulse was to hold my breath once I realized I was in space. I did not know how, but I was. After I could not hold my breath any longer, I took in a deep breath and to my surprise it felt good. I could breathe normally. Around me, I could see no moon because there was no Earth to trap it in its gravity, and there was no Earth because there was no sun, just the stars bringing life to the cold, emptiness of space.

What does it all mean, I asked myself. In a matter of minutes I had seen the history of Earth, or perhaps different Earth's altogether. The crystal, it must have had something to do with it, but what exactly? Suddenly, I feel to the solid ground that appeared out of nowhere as my feet were overcome with weakness. Everything began to spin and I slowly drifted out of consciousness.

"Wake up, Adam," I heard a woman's voice say. As I slowly came to I noticed Elena standing over me. "Are you alright?"

"How long was I out for?" I asked as Elena helped me get up.

"You were in and out of it for a few seconds. What the hell was that anyways?" Ivan asked. He held the crystal in his hand and he stared at it, as if expecting something to happen; nothing did.

"I'm not sure. I remember grabbing the crystal then waking up on the ground." I couldn't tell them what I had seen because I wasn't sure myself. The visions felt strange, felt real, more than any dream ever could and I wasn't sure what it meant.

"We should probably take a rest," Elena said.

"No," I replied. "I'm fine. And we don't really have time to waste. Let's just keep moving."

"Good, I don't want to spend more time out here than we need to," Ivan said. He looked at the crystal once more and tossed it to me, "Here, have a souvenir."

I almost didn't want to catch it, afraid the visions would happen all over again. Yet nothing happened. The crystal didn't glow and I felt no strange sensations. I was relieved. By the look on Ivan's face he seemed to be disappointed.

After getting through the cave Elena began to gather the ingredients needed for the cure. I sat on a fallen tree trunk, twirling the crystal on my hand. It's a normal crystal, I thought. They must have been dreams after all. But I couldn't shake this strange feeling inside of me, a feeling I'd had since I touched the crystal for the first time. Closing my eyes I thought of the worlds I had seen and they were as vivid as then. I could still feel the heat of the desert against my skin and the chill of space numbing my senses.

Then it hit me. Back in North Star, Kai and I had been put in charge of experimenting with various crystals. Our job was to find out if they had any type of effects on rifts. Every experiment ended in failure. I always guessed they wanted to draw power or find a way to control the rifts, but mom never told us the reason.

We never quite understood the purpose and now this happened. I wondered if it had anything to do with that experiment or if it was only a coincidence. Crystals come in different shapes and sizes and they can be made up of different materials. Perhaps all we had needed was the right crystal and perhaps I was staring at it.

Elena finished gathering the plants she needed and we returned to the city before sundown. She gave everything to her grandfather as I checked on Iris. "How's she doing?" I asked Tara's mom.

"She's still running a fever."

"You look tired. I'll keep an eye on her. Thank you for looking after her." She stood and I took her seat.

"I can't help but feel responsible for what happened. It's the least I can do, which I realize isn't much at all."

"You've done more than enough."

A strange odor came from the small living room, filling the air as the old medicine man began to grind down the plants and mixing them. It didn't take long before he came with the medicine ready. "It is done. Remember, I'm not sure if the medicine is going to help her. It might not work at all."

I nodded. I placed my hand behind her head and slowly picked it up. "Drink, Iris. It'll make you feel better."

She seemed to be out of it, but it seemed she could still hear me. Slowly, she drank all of the medicine on the wooden bowl.

"Good. Now we wait," the old medicine man said.

With nothing more to be done, the medicine man and his grandchildren left. I alone stayed next to Iris and I would wait until she woke up.

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Here's the new chapter. Hope you guy like it. What do you think about what Adam saw. Were they just dreams or something else? Let me know what you think and don't forget to vote!