Lost

Chapter 3

The sound of my footsteps echo through the empty hallway as I walked. It was already a quarter to ten and I had to get to the back gate as soon as possible if I wanted to get some answers. I tried to remember which hallways to pass through to get to the exit. After passing through a couple of hallways, I finally found the Emergency Exit.

'Why is it so cold here?' I thought as I stepped outside. I quickly walked towards the back gate to avoid being spotted by the soldiers on duty.

As I was getting closer to the gate, I spotted a shadow of a man. I quickly hid in the shadows and started walking closer. I squinted my eyes to try to recognize the figure. In my luck, the man walked right under the light and I recognized him instantly. I started walking towards him and as soon as I was right behind him, I whispered, "boo!". He turned around so fast that even I was impressed. He was about to swing a punch at me but I dodged just in time to avoid getting hit. "I don't think it's very nice to hit old friends, do you?" I asked him in a humorous tone. "It's a good thing it was only you, Phoenix because if it wasn't, I would have killed you already," the man said whilst trying to catch his breath. "So you would have killed me if it was me who snuck up on you?," Ryder asked, suddenly appearing from the shadows, while feigning a hurt expression. "Stop teasing him,Ryder. He is already taking the risk of coming here," I said, trying to be serious but failed as I grinned slightly. There was a few seconds of silence then we all burst out laughing for some unknown reason. "This reunion was nice and all but we still need to know what dire situation has led you to call us here, oh mighty Phoenix," Ryder said with a hint of humor. "We should probably search for a more secluded area to discuss this," I said as they nodded in agreement. We searched for a discrete place and came across an abandoned shed.

The shed was half-buried in the ground and there was a rusting padlock on the door. "Wait here. I'll go and look for a metal rod," Ryder said. "Why is he looking for a metal rod?," the man asked me. "I don't know. The guy confuses me most of the time," I lazily said while shrugging.

Ryder finally returned, after a couple of minutes, carrying a thin metal rod. He began beating the heavy padlock but it seemed that the lock was unaffected by his pitiful attempts. After a couple of moments with him trying to remove the padlock and us watching in amusement, I finally had enough and grabbed the rod and threw it away. I ignored Ryder's protests and just grabbed the padlock and wrenched it free. It has seemed that Ryder failed to notice that the the padlock wasn't locked in the first place.

A few seconds of silence have passed and Ryder finally noticed his mistake judging from the blush that is spreading in his cheeks like wild fire. I just stared at him with my eyebrow raised as he awkwardly cleared his throat and scratched the back of his neck.

"We better get this- whatever this is- over and done with before the guards look for us," the man said, attempting to break the awkward atmosphere. "Best idea I've heard in awhile," Ryder sighed in relief.

We all entered the dark shed. Once we were all safely inside, the man (who still remains mysterious) closed the door. I began lighting up the torches that hung against the walls. The light that the torches had made cast eerie shadows that seemed to have blended well with the mood.

"Are you just gonna stand there like a fool or are you going to tell us what's been bothering you?," Ryder asked. I slowly took a deep breath and turned around to face them. It seemed that all the playfulness had disappeared the moment the words escaped from my mouth. "I know why they sent us here," I said in pure seriousness. "What?!," Ryder exclaimed. "I know you heard me, Ryder, and I'm not going to repeat what I said," I said in frustration. "Why did they send us here then? I mean, they never tell us why we are needed most of the time so, what makes this time any more special?," Ryder said with a hint of annoyance in his tone. "I can't tell you unless I'm one hundred percent sure of it but I Know it has something to do on why we are called the orb. For now, I want to conduct some experiments," I told them seriously. "And how would you conduct those experiments?," the man said, speaking for the first time since I had told them what I thought. "That's what I need you're help with and you have to swear not to tell anything about this to anyone, not even your commanders. They just looked at each other and shrugged. They turned to look at me and saluted. That was good enough for me so I saluted back. I took a few deep breaths and summoned the orb to me. The orb suddenly appeared in the palm of my hand and began floating around me. It began emitting an eerie glow that slowly surrounded me. In a blink of an eye, I was covered in flames but it didn't burn me. I looked at my two companions but they were staring at me in awe. I suddenly felt a sting at the back of my neck but I quickly dismissed it but the pain was slowly intensifying until I could no longer endure it. Then suddenly, as quickly as it came, it was gone. I slowly opened my eyes and grimaced at the concerned looks that Ryder and mystery guy gave me.

I just waved them off and said nothing as I tried to hide the back of my neck which I was sure that was where the pain started. I took deep breaths and looked at them seriously. "I called both of you here because this orb may change our lives forever,"