The Enchanted Realm: Contrasting Forces

Danger Calls

Jared woke up to nothing but the shrieking wind. It filled his mind. I gotta fix this window. He thought. The highschooler got from his bed, and walked to the window. Just as he gripped it, something flew in. Not a bird, nor a bat. A paper recreation of an airplane. Jared closed the window, and walked over to the paper. Haven't seen one of these in years. He reminded himself. The boy picked it up, and examined it. On the side, it read clumsily, "Open it up." Jared opened the paper airplane, and read its contents. "Dear Jared, meet by the abandoned warehouse by 1 AM." It didn't seem to have a name of who gave it to him. Weird. Jared thought. But, the note seemed important, so Jared opened his closet. He searched for more winter clothes, and found a pair of ski goggles. Wonder what poor soul forgot this? He wondered. Jared rummaged through the closet, and found a pair of winter clothing. He slipped the jacket on, as well as some insulated pants, and a pair of hiking boots. He zipped the jacket, then put a cap onto his head. The boy wrapped a scarf around his neck, and put the goggles over his eyes. Then, he snuck out of the apartment, and walked down the stairs, and out the front door. The boy pulled out his phone, and saw that he had 17 missed calls, all from the same number. 926 8375? Never seen this number before. He ignored it and pulled up directions to the abandoned warehouse.

It was well into the night when Jared had arrived. A group of ominous people waited by the entrance of the warehouse.

"Who are you?" Jared asked.

"You forgot us?" One of the people stated.

"I'll ask again, who are you?" Jared remarked.

"It's us, Jared. The guys from the Math Club?" Another reminded.

"What're you all doing here?" Jared wondered.

"We found something. I think it landed here a few days ago, by the looks of it." One stated. It can't be. Jared thought. "Come on." The people walked in, with Jared behind them hesitantly.

"Guys, I'm not very sure about this." Jared stated, looking around. The building seemed worse than last time. More rust, more broken metal, more snow. The group stopped in front of a large sphere in the ground.

"Here it is." One remarked. "We think it's a meteor." Jared crouched down beside it, and looked at it closer.

Crash! Something fell off of a shelf.

"Let's check it out." One of the boys said. While they were distracted, Jared pulled out his phone, and looked between a picture of a large, metal ball in the middle of the forest, and the sphere that laid in front of him. His eyes widened. Crap! I have to get them away from it! He ordered himself. "Figure something out?" The boy asked Jared from across the room. Jared put his phone in his pocket, and stood up.

"Nothing." He lied. Then, the phone vibrated rapidly. "I'm gonna take this call." Jared explained as he walked out of the building. He took the phone out of his pocket, and pressed the green phone button. "Hello?" He asked.

"She will rise again." The other person stated.

"Who is this?" Jared asked.

"Somebody you know quite well, dear boy." The other man answered.

"So, you're still alive after you crashed in that god-forsaken airship?" Jared suggested. No answer. The other person hung up, and left Jared wondering. How could he survive that? We were at least 56.8 miles up, which is more than enough to kill somebody! He thought.

"Jared, you good?" One of the boys called.

"I'm good, Brian." Jared returned. He walked back into the warehouse to meet his club.

"So, who was it?" Brian asked.

"Some weird dude who said that he knows me very well." Jared replied. He didn't want to give more information. "Anyway, I think I'm gonna head back home." He explained.

"Alright. See ya in a week or two." Brian stated. Jared nodded, and walked back to the hotel. He looked at the picture of the metallic ball.

What even is this anyway? He wondered. Then, it glowed. The metallic ball was glowing faster and faster by the second. Ticking fast. Almost like... A BOMB! Jared looked back.

Kaboom! Jared ducked into an alleyway as the warehouse blew up. Immediately, Jared called 911. "Hello, police? The abandoned warehouse! It-it blew up!" He exclaimed.

The next morning, Jared sat in the police station. He waited for a policeman to interrogate him.

"So." A man dressed in blue said. "What happened exactly?" He asked as he pressed a button on a recorder.

"My friends from Math Club told me to join them in the abandoned warehouse because they found something. That something was a giant bomb disguised as a giant ball of metal." Jared started. "I got a call from a guy who said that he knew me quite well. He hung up, and I told my friends that I had to head home."

"When did this all occur?" The policeman wondered. Jared shrugged.

"About 1:30 in the morning." He replied. "I was still tired. I started to head home, and then... then it blew. I hid in an alleyway to get away from the flying metal."

"And that's when you called?" The policeman guessed. Jared nodded. Tears formed in his eyes.

"I knew none of them wanted to blow it up." Jared stated. "They all opened up to each other daily, even I did." The policeman pressed another button on the recorder, and took Jared out of the room. Something isn't right. Jared thought. Then, he stopped.

"Hear that?" Jared asked the officer. The officer looked confused. "The ticking? Do you hear it?"

"No, I-" Then, the officer dropped lifelessly. Jared's eyes widened.

"Medic! Somebody get a medic!" Jared yelled. Another officer ran up to Jared and the dead officer.

"What's going on here?" He asked.

"He just dropped!" Jared replied. A man walked over with a kit. He didn't look like a medic. His dull, gold eyes stared at the body, examining it. Then, the man shook his head.

"I can tell he's dead already." The man stated. "No blinking." Jared punched the floor and got up.

What is going on around here! It's like something wants all the people around me dead! Jared thought as he walked out the precinct. Thoughts rambled around him. As Jared walked back to the hotel, something in the alleyway watched him carefully. Its piercing blue eyes gazed like an owl. Jared turned around, but nothing was there. He shook his head and continued walking down the road.