'I don't know,' Kirsty said. 'Nobody ever has.'
'Well, that's not helpful,' I snapped, my feet wobbling precariously.
As I did so, I looked straight down the line to the flat horizon. There was something at the end. As I watched, the unmistakable figure of a three dimensional man walked down as if he was walking on a tightrope. Rather than only standing on the line, he was moving along the two-dimensional surface with some sort of skateboard. The man looked much older than I was.
'Good morning,' he greeted me in an American accent. Even while trying not to fall off the two dimensional surface, there was something in his manner that made me uneasy.
'Good morning,' I said. Kirsty and her mum gave the man a look of surprised horror. 'And you are?'
'Cuinn Albertine. I'm with the CIA. Are you the Wattpad user known as ThePortalMaster?' the man snarled, and produced a handgun. I shook my head in shock as he showed me his warrant card.
'No,' I said, trying not to look at the gun. 'I think ThePortalMaster brought me to this dimension.'
'ThePortalMaster is wanted on charges of terrorism,' Cuinn said. Me and Kirsty both gasped.
'Terrorism?' she said.
'Yes, terrorism,' Cuinn said. Beginning to feel unstable, I leant against Kirsty's house so I didn't fall into the void. I didn't even know who this guy was, but hearing him I felt guilty! What if I had done something illegal myself?
'I was called in by my two dimensional counterparts in the CAI. Analysing his manifesto and his crimes, we believe that he is involved in a terrorist group on a mission to destroy the second dimension.' The CIA agent spoke in an authoritative tone.
'That doesn't seem plausible. How would you destroy a dimension?' Kirsty said. She was braver than I was.
'The portals are part of it,' Cuinn said. 'Plus, bombs.'
'His manifesto?' I said. ThePortalMaster had lots of books on Wattpad, but I couldn't remember a manifesto being one of them. Something told me looking at an interdimensional terrorist's Wattpad profile in front of a CIA agent wasn't a great idea, especially when standing on a two-dimensional road.
'Yes! His manifesto. He hid it in a book of rants about Wattpad. He called it 'Two Dimensional Characters',' Cuinn said. His voice was suspicious. I could tell he didn't believe me. I wondered whether I was going to be interrogated.
'I think I have read that,' Kirsty said. 'I had no idea what he was talking about.'
'You've viewed a terrorist manifesto?' Cuinn snapped, as a disturbed look formed on Kirsty's flat face. 'Aren't you aware that's a federal crime, and you have broken the law of the United States of America?'
'Calm down,' Kirsty said. 'We're not in America. And, at that time, I didn't know he was a terrorist. In fact, I didn't know other dimensions even existed.'
'Well, what did it say, darling?' Petal said curiously. At this, Cuinn looked horrified and enraged. His day was getting worse and worse.
'It was just a big rant about all the things he hated, Mum. It wasn't interesting,' Kirsty shrugged. 'Shall I send it to you?'
'No!' Cuinn yelled. 'He is a terrorist, and distributing what he wrote would be a crime against United States law!'
He leant forward to snatch Kirsty's phone. As he did so, he tripped over his feet and lost his balance from the skateboard-like platform he was on. He gasped and tumbled down into the void, screaming. We all gazed at him as he fell down the side. I didn't want to look down too long, the line was digging into my feet. I was having trouble keeping my balance.
'Should we try and help him,' I said, looking down as Cuinn continued his fall to infinity.
'Not a lot we can do now,' Kirsty said.
I looked around and a cardboard cut out like police helicopter was flying around in the sky, like a moving photo. As I gestured I felt my precarious balance falter on the knife-edge line I was standing on.
'No!' I gasped, slipping down from the two-dimensional ground. Kirsty tried to grab my arm. It was too late. I began a rapid and sickening descent.
There was nothing to hold onto. On one side, there were roots and stones in the soil but all completely flat, like a photograph or a child's drawing. I screamed and screamed. I looked down at the bottom, but there was no bottom. I wondered whether ThePortalMaster had a point, as I fell and fell.
Below me, the CIA agent was still falling.
Word count: 1500 words
Kirsty - Part 3 of 4
Start from the beginning
