The Maze of Realms

Chapter 28 ~ The Nightmare Realms

“Hey May, will you pass me the jello? I like jello.” Noah appeared to not even know that October was sitting next to him. He just smiled as the others talked over October, who felt a pang of panic each time he was ignored. “Guys?” October looked around at them. “Hey. Is this a game? Are you messing with me? Haha, okay. Very funny,” October laughed nervously. “I’ll get the jello myself.”

October had tried to talk to them a few more times, but realized that they would simply not acknowledge his presence. Shaking slightly, he began to feel like he was choking. Nobody would look at him. Nobody would talk to him. It was like he wasn’t even there, and they were happy. His being there meant nothing to them, which meant his not being there wouldn’t mean anything either. He had liked to think that he mattered to them.

After another few minutes of enduring this, October finally snapped. “Look at me!” he screamed. “Look at me, can’t you see me!” Nobody so much as flinched or glanced in his direction. “Why won’t you talk to me!” October sobbed, his breathing quick and uneven as he trembled and cried out in fear. “Please, look at me, please, look…” October trailed off, sitting on the floor and curling up into a ball. “Do you hate me?” he whispered. “I’m sorry.”

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It was completely dark where James had ended up. He noticed the darkness first and then the thick coolness of water. It was pitch black and he was drowning. In a panic, James flailed his arms around, unable to do anything to save himself. He couldn’t even see the surface. He couldn’t see anything. He couldn’t breathe. Though he was encompassed in water, his body felt like it was on fire. This was it. He was dying. His lungs burned. And here he had thought that Hell was made of fire, when in fact, it was dark and filled with water. James screamed, but barely made a sound.

Finally, James started gasping, gulping water and slowly giving up on trying to swim out of this place. He felt lightheaded for a while as he waited for himself to faint. However, James did not faint. He was breathing. It was difficult and a very strange feeling, but he was breathing underwater. Trembling, James sighed and leaned to the side. He jumped when his head found a hard surface. Pressing his hands against the surface, James was distracted enough to not wonder how he would get out of there. Glass? Was this glass? Gingerly, James ran his hand along the glass.

He stared forward into nothingness. Then a small light appeared. As it grew, he began to see a floor, a wall, and a chair. Finally, he was looking at a room. He looked up and saw the top of a tank. Scanning the area, James located a little button on the inside of his tank. He pushed it, seeing nothing else that he could do. Just then, the water began to drain out and he noticed that he could push the glass to make a little door open. As soon as it opened, he stepped out of the tank and looked around the room. He found another black realm exit, but this one was just a small rectangle.

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Frantically, Alex ran all around the house, opening doors wherever he went. He was at the house, but nobody was there. He then ran outside to find that nobody seemed to be outside either. Alex sprinted down the roads, looking for somebody. He knocked on some of the neighbors’ doors, even going into their houses and searching for a person. Somebody. Anybody. Alex searched the whole town as he fought the urge to fall to the ground and sob. Nobody was there. He knew this. He had run around the town and through all the houses for the third time now. Panting, Alex ran back to the house to see if anyone was there now.