Only a Page

Chapter 5

A/N: I've got a publishing schedule now!  It's every other Friday, so I have time for homework and all of my other commitments.  Thank you to everyone who's read my story!  You all are amazing!

The moment I leave the hallway, I begin to float. I feel a slight tug on my arm as Bella begins to drift as well. But strangely, Charles seems able to walk just fine. He continues through this world, an anchor to Bella and me.

The colors float around me in dizzying patterns. As I stare at them, I begin to lose all sense of time. Charles's footprints ring out ahead of me, echoing and reverberating infinitely in this strange and colorful dimension.

An aeon or a moment later, Charles speaks.

"We're almost there." Up ahead, there seems to be a break in the colors, a spot not filled with twisting and whirling. As I watch, the spot grows larger and larger, until we are fully suspended in space, all of the swirling colors left behind.

But then I notice something. All of the stars are moving. Not slowly, like you would expect stars to move, but fast, swirling arcs across the sky. I shut my eyes against the disorienting sight. The back of my eyelids flash hues of red.

Suddenly, everything is black. I open my eyes to see a thin bright line directly in front of us. All of the stars have disappeared. The line wiggles, then begins to twist around. It curves to meet its other end, and the two meet, forming a seamless circle.

In the blink of an eye, the circle twists like a dropped coin. Suddenly I can see through the circle, though the edges still glow brightly.

Beyond the circle is what appears to be a normal city street. Charles steps gently through the circle and onto the street, then turns around and helps Bella and me down. The moment I cross the line, gravity works normally again. I collapse to the ground, then stand up just in time for Bella to do the same.

"Welcome to Intherdome," Charles says. He smiles to himself.

"Woah," says Bella.

"What is this place?" I ask.

"Where your father worked. I said we'd come here. I wasn't lying."

"Yeah, but..." I trail off. "What was that?"

"That was how we get here."

"I must be dreaming," says Bella. "No way something like that could be real."

"Or you drugged us. Did you drug us?" I ask.

He laughs. "No, I didn't drug either of you. You're not dreaming, either. This is Intherdome, and, for lack of a better explanation, magic is real. This is where magic users live and work, for the most part. Some of them live or work where you grew up, like your parents, Carmen."

"So you are magic? And my parents?" I ask. I didn't think today was going to be that interesting, but here I am, standing in some sort of magic otherworld, learning that my parents were magical.

"Well, your mom doesn't have any magic, but your dad did. And yes, I do have magic. I was tasked with bringing you here, as a sort of test. This all may seem very confusing to you two, but I assure you both it's a lot less confusing if the right person explains it. Come on, there is someone I would like you to meet."

Charles takes off. As I follow him, I inspect my surroundings. When I first entered Intherdome, the street had looked like a normal city street. It could've even been somewhere in Boston. But now, knowing that it's nothing like anywhere I've been before, I keep seeing little things that mark this place as somewhere different, somewhere strange, somewhere foreign.