The Test

Chapter Nine

Surprisingly, I had no nightmares last night. I must have been too tired from my awful sleep pattern these past 48 hours. I flutter my eyes open, gradually letting them get used to the sunlight. I roll over onto my back and stretch my legs out, immediately feeling the soreness spread throughout my muscles. Propping myself up on my elbows, I realize the fire went out on it's own last night. I stare at the black remains and listen to the only sound I hear: the wind. It's calming, and I want to savour every moment I have of peace before we have to continue on. After about a minute, I realize just how oblivious I can be. Why didn't I notice the absence of the river when I first woke up?

"Guys, get up!" I yell, jumping to my feet.

"What? You're too loud..." Erik mumbles.

"The water's gone!"

"No way," Nathan says, joining me on his feet. "Come on, Erik. We gotta go. There's a time limit, remember?"

"No. Go back to sleep... five minutes... I need a pillow. My neck is... ugh," he manages to say while tossing from side to side on the ground.

"Erik, now," Nathan says. I'm glad he's authoritative, or else we'd be stuck here until Erik finds it in himself to wake up.

"Fine, whatever." Erik mumbles something else about "no respect" and "stupid early birds," but he's not making enough sense to form actual sentences.

We cross the rocky ditch that was covered with water just hours before. The cherry blossom trees continue on for a bit, then stop suddenly. In front of us stands, a wall not unlike the one we emerged from at the beginning. In fact, the only real difference is the single carved out door-like shape as opposed to the three from the first wall.

"What do we do?" Erik asks.

"Not sure," Nathan says, approaching the opening. He stands inside and scans the walls, probably looking for any weird screens or buttons. "I think you guys gotta come in here too."

"Why?" I ask.

"Well... nothing's happening. Maybe it'll turn something on? It's worth a shot."

"He's kinda right," Erik agrees, walking over to join him. I'm left with no choice and follow him inside. The moment both my feet are inside, I go blind.

"What the hell?" Erik asks.  It takes me a moment to realize that I didn't actually lose my vision, we're just encased in darkness. Then, without warning, our little black room drops, almost like a broken elevator. My stomach turns and I frantically try to grab hold of something to steady myself, but the walls are smooth rock.

Before I can really start to panic, everything stops. The room is still again, though we still can't see.

"Okay, seriously," I hear Nathan say. "What was that for?" He seems to be directing the question at neither me or Erik, so I assume it's for the people who put us here, whoever that is. Suddenly, two walls of the rooms slide up, revealing two other rooms, one on either side of the one we're in. They're exactly identical and each have a door opposite their missing wall. As the three of us are trying to figure out what we're supposed to do, A bright green "ONE" lights up above one door, a similar "TWO" above the other.

From out of no where, we hear that all too familiar Asian voice again. "You have passed Trial One. If you wish to continue, please step into Room One. If you wish to leave the Test, please step through Room Two."

We're silent at first. "This has to be a trick," Erik says. "There's no way they'd just let us go."

"That's what I was thinking," Nathan agrees. "But... I mean, why would she lie? This doesn't make any sense."