Ruins of what may have been a city were scattered all around Jasmine. The silver poles of scaffolding and shards of now dusty glass glistened in the sun's blazing rays. But there was no structure to any of this mess.
If it was a city, then the buildings had collapsed somehow and were buried deep beneath the golden sand and rocks. The horizon was evidently visible.
Jasmine gaped at the wreckage around her and was so intrigued that she almost didn't notice the hole behind her sliding shut.
Almost.
When she spotted the hard, rocky ground closing, she just watched it. But she knew she'd regret not trying to keep it open later.
A second after the hole shut for good, Jasmine cried out in agony as a sudden burning sensation seared through her right wrist. She swatted her arm around thinking the force of her hand against the air would stop the pain, but of course, it didn't.
After what felt like a horrifically long time, the pain stopped. Jasmine felt as if it hadn't even happened. As if the pain just walked through a door and instantly walked back out.
Confused, surprised and anxious, Jasmine drew her gaze upon her hand.
On the inside of her wrist was a bold, black word that looked new, but was so perfectly imprinted that it looked like she'd had it for years. Jasmine furrowed her eyebrows when she read it.
Externus.
She read it over and over. Again and again. Nothing clicked. Jasmine had never seen this word before, let alone have any clue what it meant.
"Externus," She said aloud, grazing her thumb across the newly written tattoo. "What the hell."
After trying to piece together everything she'd just been through, Jasmine decided she should try and look for civilisation or somewhere safer than out in the open of the deserted land.
She spied a hill of sand within a good distance and thought that if she could reach the top, maybe she could see what else was out in this stinkhole.
Jasmine began to run, her grey, baggy top blowing against her body as she did so. Her golden brown hair whipped behind her and with every step she took, she felt the sun's power.
Beads of sweat were already visible on her forehead and she'd hardly been running for a couple of minutes. Determined to reach the hill however, she continued to run, her worn out sneakers making a small impact against the ground.
Red-cheeked but barely out of breath, Jasmine made it to the hill. She fell onto all fours and began the climb up the sandy hill, dirtying her trousers and tee as she did so.
The grains of hot sand stung between Jasmine's fingertips, but that didn't stop her. She had to reach the top.
Finally, she made it.
However she didn't have time to pull herself up to her feet because she almost knocked into another person.
She gasped in shock and stumbled back, nearly crashing all the way back down to the hard ground. She would've smacked straight into it if the person hadn't caught Jasmine's arm and pulled her back up.
"Woah, are you alright?" Jasmine nodded wide-eyed, breathing frantically. "That would've hurt. It's not exactly plush down there."
Jasmine couldn't find any words to form and use. She just marbled at her rescuer.
They were female and looked scarily similar to Jasmine, except her hair was a lighter blonde, her eyes a radiant blue and her arms were coated in sand. She looked around fifteen or sixteen and had a nice, friendly vibe about her. Something Jasmine admired instantly.
"Urm, can you talk?" Jasmine snapped out of her daydream.
"Oh yeah, sorry. Thanks." She blurted out. The girl smiled at Jasmine.
"I'm Hannah."
"Jasmine."
Hannah nodded, her eyes glistening.
"So, what ya doing up here?" Jasmine shrugged.
"Looking for somewhere to go."
"Yeah, me too. You come up through a black hole?" Even though Jasmine knew there probably wasn't another way of entering this wasteland, she still felt surprised that this girl had appeared here the same way she had.
Thinking fast, Jasmine glanced at Hannah's wrist and under the layer of sand, noticed she also had a word imprinted on her skin. But it was different.
"You were in the black hole too?" Hannah shrugged.
"Guess there were two." Jasmine was more than confused.
"Who put us there? What is this?"
Hannah chuckled lightly.
"You ask a lot of questions."
"What does yours say?" Hannah diverted her eyes to her wrist then back to Jasmine before holding it up.
If the word was the same, the imprints would've been perfectly identical. Jasmine squinted slightly to read Hannah's wrist:
Fide.
"What's a fide?"
"I have no idea. Take it yours is different."
"Yeah, mine says externus."
"That sounds badass."
Jasmine shot the girl a confused look.
"Badass? It means--"
"I know what it means. But how can you say that if you don't know what externus means?"
"Well it sounds cooler than fide, don't you think?"
Jasmine couldn't think of anything to respond with. She was overwhelmed enough that she was managing to keep up a conversation.
Silence struck the two girls as they both pondered over what to say next. But as Jasmine's mind raced, her eyes diverted away from the blonde girl to over her shoulder.
Her jaw dropped when she saw an overly long, furry and menacing looking lion heading straight towards the pair. However, as it neared, Jasmine noticed that it only had the body of a lion. It's head was as lengthy as it's body and appeared to be in the form of an alligator.
"Shit."
"What?" Hannah shot Jasmine a confused look before following her gaze and landing on the odd-looking creature that was mere metres away.
"Run!"
Jasmine grabbed Hannah's sandy arm and yanked her with such force that they both tumbled down the hill. In sync, they groaned when their bodies hit the ground. But they were soon silenced when the creature emitted a vicious roar.
Then it snapped it's seriously sharp jaw and raced after the two girls. Without second glances, they leapt to their feet and ran. As fast as their legs would carry them.
Sand and rocks flew by their ankles as they ran. Scraping their skin. The terrifying mutant continued to snap and roar as it chased the girls further and further into the hot desert.
Sticky sweat was evident on both their foreheads due to the horrible heat of the sun and their breathing was becoming uneven the more they ran.
Every step they took, the mutant neared closer. And closer. And closer until Jasmine yelped as a pair of arms yanked her out of the creature's path and pulled her behind a gigantic rock.
The person crouched down and placed their hand over Jasmine's mouth, keeping her quiet. They were both out of the mutant's eyeline.
Hannah was gone too. She couldn't see her anywhere. Struggling to breathe through the person's hand, Jasmine tugged at it, but they didn't budge and just shushed her.
With wide eyes, Jasmine watched as the creature released a frustrated growl, pacing up and down. Then, out of nowhere, a thin, silver light slashed through the creature. It shrieked in pain as the light struck again and again until finally, silence.