Elementary

Chapter Two

  Looking up, I see the top of the walls, allowing sunlight to reach within the walls. The vines might support my weight, but I also might be too heavy.

A loud continuing noise strikes my ears. It sounds oddly like a dog licking itself. I turn around quickly, only to see that the wall of the school is beginning to disappear. That is a weird noise, coming from a wall.

But it isn't the school that's getting smaller.

The sandy wall behind me is closing, and the wall seems to generate itself, as it leaves a small circle of the school left.

That isn't good.

Just before it closes all the way, I thrust my wrist inside, attempting to find a way to get back through again. In doing so, I feel pressure quickly embrace my wrist, and squeeze tighter. And tighter.

My wrist begins to pain, and I am trying to pull it out, with no luck. The only two possible lives play inside of my head.

I'm going to be stuck here until I die of hunger, or...

My hand is going to get squeezed off, and I'll be stuck here without medical care, food or water.

I'm so stupid. The only kind of people dumb enough to intentionally walk into a "magical painting" are the unrealistically vulnerable girls in horror movies.

Hey, look! A dark, scary house with excessive amounts of spider webs, and bugs! Let's go inside and either have fun, or (this as the more probable scenario to happen,) be eaten alive by creepy clowns!

Is that what people think of me? I did actually just pull a horror movie girl move.

The pain gets worse in my wrist, and my hand begins to throb. I can feel the blood rushing in my hand. I begin to scream, and begin to pull my hand as hard as I could, trying to get it out of the wall. The only bone in my body that I remember the name of is the "pisiform", the bone on the bottom and side of my hand that sticks out, is the one that hurts the most when I pull.

It hurts worse every second, but every second it gets tighter. If I stop, I might lose my hand. But it's no use. It doesn't work.

I'm doomed.

There's a rock next to the wall, about four or five feet away. If I could reach it, I could hit the rock against the wall, and try to make a hole that I can climb out of.

I begin to reach for it, and although my wrist is bending in an odd way toward it, I manage to grab it. Hitting the wall, it seems to take forever to make any significant mark, but it works. With only a small layer of sandy wall, I manage to thrust my wrist out, feeling dizziness flow throughout my body. Although my wrist is covered in open cuts and scrapes, I know that in order to get out of here and go home, I have to climb over the wall, and go back to the school.

I begin climbing, my cheeks pulsing. Using my rock, I dig holes that my hands can go in in order to pull myself up. Finally, I reach the top, and I wobbly stand up, trying not to be the klutz that I am.

Oh no. I expected the school to be there, but it's gone. There's nothing but a sandy maze, going as far as I can see ahead. I can see... What, twenty miles? I can't remember! School has never exactly been my thing.

I want to redo my life! Please, somebody, listen! I'll do anything!

God, if you exist, now is the time to show me! Get me out of here!

Trying my hardest to calm myself down and breathe slowly, I sit down on the wall.

Breathe in,

breathe out.

Breathe in,

breathe out.

Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out.

I can't go slowly!

The only thing I can do is die here. Alone. Hungry. Scared.

The next thing I see is some sort of mist. It's black, and its "strand-like" things are tripping over themselves, rushing toward me.

Why won't nature leave me alone?

It doesn't matter what happens to me; I'm going to die anyway. With that thought, I stand up from the ground, and walk toward the mist.

"You want me to die? Fine. Kill me."

I reach my arms out, and I shut my eyes as tightly as I can. I hear it tumbling in my direction, sounding just like wind, until it hits me.

No, I don't mean that I just had an idea, I mean that the mist literally hits me and goes through me. However, I feel power surging through my blood, and I have a weird feeling in my wrist. I grab down and try to itch it, expecting for it to hurt, but I feel soft skin where my wrist is supposed to be.

I snap my head down to look at it, and there are only scars where the cuts were. I widen my eyes, and I can't get a word out of my mouth, or a thought in my head, other than...

What?

My attention goes back to the mist. Suddenly, I realize something: I may have no clue what is beyond this maze, but there has to be something. Maybe even a way out of it.

As it corrects itself, and begins moving toward me, I use every muscle in my body to sprint as fast as I can in the other direction.

Hold on. If I sprint, I'll lose my breath faster. I slow down just enough to stay in front of the mist, that has a consistent speed. Just for extra measures, I speed up a little bit.

Up ahead in the maze, I see the option of turning right, or going straight. There's no time to decide. Just turn right.

Right before I get to the turn, a force pushes me back, and I sprawl on the ground. Everything in my body begins to feel tired. I feel a delicate hand pull me back up quickly. Trying to adjust my vision, I blink twice, and look at the person who ran into me.

A girl with blue eyes, pale skin, and black hair that looks like a mermaid's looks at me, her eyebrows furrowing, and pushing skin together on her forehead.

"Do you have a sense of direction?"

I realize that I recognise her. She was the girl that was swimming perfectly at swim practice.

"What are you, a mute?"

"What? No."

She pulls me behind the wall.

"Then why were you not answering me?"

"I- I'm sorry!"

"Well, are you coming? The mist is getting closer." She says, starting to move, but then stopping. "Did it touch you?"

"Um... Well..."

"Just say yes or no."

"Yes!"

"Well, let's get moving then." she sighs, and then runs back out from behind the wall. She doesn't turn, just goes straight forward, and starts feeling the wall.

"Are you coming?" She yells.

"Why are you just standing there? The mist is coming straight in your direction. You're gonna get cornered!" I yell back.

"Do you not trust me?"

"Nope!"

"Just freaking come!"

She startles me, so I hesitantly jog over, trying my best to keep my eye on the mist, still coming our way. The fatigue gets worse all of a sudden. The next thing I see is the girl, and then the sky, and the last thing I feel is the hot ground against my back.

Then it gets blurry.

And I don't know what happens next.