Was It Just A Dream

Chapter 6

I sipped my tea, while Lillian stared at me.

"What is it dear? Do you need something?" I gave my sister a sickly sweet smile. I was on my bed, and she was sitting on my floor in the famous criss-cross-applesauce fashion. I felt like I was telling a small child a story, not my sophomore of a sister.

"What happened next? Was it Mr. Roads? And how does time work in the place you're at? Why didn't I notice you were missing?" Lillian's questions flew out of her mouth, and I couldn't help but smile. We rarely talked, and, ever more uncommon, was her getting excited about something.

"Questions, questions. Those questions will be answered in due time, my friend. But I have geometry homework to do, and I completely forgot how to find a circle's arc length." I was teasing my sister, obviously. I hadn't even gone to school, so I had no idea if I had geometry homework or not. I just wanted her to beg me to keep telling the story. I hate to admit it, but I loved the attention.

"Mira. Homework can wait. Continue the story. Now." Lillian demanded. I sighed dramatically, exasperated.

"What will you do, if I don't? Huh? Huh?" I taunted her, raising my eyebrows.

"I'll tell Mom you skipped school today." My mouth dropped open at her words. "You thought you pulled a fast one, huh? Sure, Mom and Dad didn't notice. But I did. Did it have to do with your story?" Lillian's last line came out eagerly as if she really did want to know.

"Fine. I'll continue. And yes, it did have to do with what happened... But if you went through what I went through, you'd probably want to skip school for the rest of the year..."

                                                                                               ~

The man didn't move as we approached. He sat still as stone, not even bothering to look up. Finally, when we were just a few yards away, I called out to him. 

"Hey there! Can we ask you a few questions?" I waved, trying to make him look at us. He wouldn't. Jimmy and I glanced at each other. I was starting to feel terrified now, but I pushed it down, trying to suppress any feelings of terror.

"Hey! I know you heard her! It's rude to ignore people! At least that's what my second-grade teacher Mrs. Yam told me." Jimmy shouted, walking towards the man. He, on the other hand, didn't seem nervous at all. Good Ol' Jimmy seemed to be having a grand time, grinning at the creepy guy who wouldn't give him the light of day.

I could now see that he was old, with a white beard and a cane in his right hand. He was sitting on a log by his campfire, staring into the flames. 

"Jimmy," I shout-whispered at him, who was a few steps ahead of me. "I'm not sure about this. We should go back."

Jimmy turned his head to look back at me, and at that exact moment, the old man stood up. It was so sudden that I almost fell over, my knees feeling weak. He turned to face us, and I gasped.

His eyes were silver, a silver that glowed through the night, almost as if he had the headlights of a car in place of his eyes. He looked at us with an expressionless face, as if he was examining every detail etching into us. Then, suddenly he spoke, his voice deep and smooth. Both Jimmy and I stumbled backward out of surprise.

"You do not belong here. Who brought you here?" His face did not change as he spoke, the empty expression remaining to stare us down.

"I-I don't know..." I stuttered out quickly. "Are we still in America?"

"Do you know a Mr. Roads? Cause the guy abducted us, and we ended up here. Not cool at all, in my opinion." Jimmy grinned nervously. I gave him a look. Couldn't he at least try to seem serious?

"There are others," The old man said after a moment. "More of your kind on this beach. Collect them, and bring them to me in the morning. Then, I shall answer questions." He sat back down and turned back to his fire.

"O-Okay. We'll be back, sir." I said as fast as I could. I turned on my heel, trying to take deep breaths. I attempted to count down from ten in my head, but at five I lost it. I started to sprint back to the white room, with Jimmy trailing behind me. If I was in a track race, I probably would have gotten first, no matter what event. Even thinking of it now, I remember the fear coursing through my veins as I ran. I had never run with such a sense of urgency, or desperation. The safety of the white room was so far, and even then, the white room wasn't really a comfort. It was more daunting than ever, reminding me of how I had no idea where I was or what was to become of me.

"Mira, wait!" Just before I reached the white room, I heard Jimmy call out to me. I slowed down and turned to let him catch up.

"We," He panted, catching his breath. "We shouldn't tell them about what just happened. We should just pretend we never left camp, and tell them to go to the left down the beach tomorrow. Or even better- We could leave the beach."

"I don't know... What if he follows us? He really scares me, Jimmy." My voice cracked. I knew I was close to tears, after everything that happened today. But I pushed it down. I wasn't going to cry. At least, not yet.

"M. He knew that we weren't the only ones here. He knew about Cali and Lincoln. He's been watching us."

"Then we should leave now, and not wait for morning. If he's watching us, then leaving is the only choice." I sighed, trying to keep calm.

"Guys?" A sleepy Lincoln was standing by the white room, rubbing the back of his head and yawning. "What are you doing up? Aren't you tired?"

Jimmy and I looked at each other, not sure what to say. And then Jimmy, with a serious look I've never seen on his face before, said, "Lincoln, we have to get Ms. Cali the Creep out of that stupid room. And then we have to run."