Between Two Worlds

I open my eyes, and I am momentarily confused. What’s going on? Where am I? The last thing I remember is Altair telling me that Wolfe was dead. It was the middle of the day, and now it is so dark that I can’t see anything. I listen for the sound of Altair snoring, but instead, I hear insects and flying creatures. Have I gone blind? As my eyes adjust to the darkness, I realize I’m not completely blind. I can see what looks like the outline of trees. Why am I sleeping outside? And then I remember looking for Lou and disappearing outside the city. I am about to sit up and call out, when I hear it, the sound of singing. That creepy singing. I must have shifted, again. I am back in the other reality. Every muscle in my body tenses up at that sound. Where is it?

And then I see something that freaks me out, even more, a shadow moving against shadows. The thing is here. It’s here, not far from me. I’m about to die. Suddenly, the singing stops, again, just as quickly as it had started. I hold my breath as it moves closer to me. I get the feeling that it’s large. Much larger than the wild dogs and lions in the other reality. As it draws closer, I can smell it, a sulfur scent with the faint metallic smell of blood. The creature is panting heavily, like it had been running, recently, and it seems to have its head down, sniffing. I can feel the creature sniffing at my hair, I squeeze my eyes tightly shut. I know it won’t help but I don’t want to look at it.

I feel it’s hot breath on my face, it’s a horrid smell. Rotting flesh and something else, something I can’t quite put into words. All I know is that I want to throw up. And then I feel something wet drip onto my cheek. Drool. It’s drooling on me. I’m about two seconds away from wetting myself when I see it jerk its head up and turn away from me. I hear a low growling sound, and then it takes off running. Within a few minutes, the singing is back, and I listen as it fades away, into the distance. I don’t know what called it away, but I am grateful.

***********************

“Rain. Wake up. Rain.” A voice calls to me.

My eyes pop open and I sit up. I’m in a sleeping bag, lying on a patch of dark green grass. Who called me? I look around and see Kat sitting up in her sleeping bag and stretching. I don’t think it was her, she isn’t even looking in my direction. Must have been one of those strange half-asleep half-awake things, where the last bits of your dream seem to cross the threshold into reality. I shake it off and sit up, stretching. That’s when it all comes back to me, the scavenger hunt, finding the first two clues, going to sleep, waking up to that... thing.

“Did you sleep alright?” I ask, making conversation.

“I did but I woke up to that experiment in our camp. Did it wake you as well?” she asks, digging through our backpack.

“Yes. Freaked me out. It was nearly on top of me. I was sure I was about to become that thing’s next meal.” I say, shuddering at the thought of the thing, inches from my face. “It was so close to me, I could feel its hot breath, so close, its drool dripped onto my cheek.”

“Aw, man. I’m glad you are okay. I wonder why it didn’t eat you? So many Copaie soldiers were eaten by that thing, a lot of the soldiers were sound asleep.”

“I don’t know, exactly. One minute I’m contemplating death, and the next it’s taking off running. Something seemed to have caught its attention. And I am completely grateful.”

After we eat a silent breakfast, Kat pipes up, “so we only found two clues on the first day. We need to pick up our pace. The hunt ends tomorrow.”

“Okay. What’s our next clue?” I ask.

Kat digs around in the bag until she fishes out the piece of paper with the clues written on it. “When I’m young, I’m found in the dark. Once I’m old I come to the light. Any kind will do.”

“Young, dark. Old, light. Any kind? Hm.”

“That’s an easy one. It’s a seed. When the seed is young, it needs to be in the ground, which is dark. As it ages or grows, it bursts through the ground and is found in the light.” She says, putting the list in her pocket.

I stand to my feet and walk to a nearby tree. I dig around the base of the tree and pull out a seed. “Here we go,” I say, handing the seed to Kat. She opens the backpack and places the seed with the small rock and the egg. “That was easy. So, what’s next?”

“We are officially halfway done.” She pulls the list back out and reads aloud, “Number four, I have branches but I’m not a tree. You have to bring back something yellow and green. This one is a little more difficult. I am completely stumped.”

“I have branches but I’m not a tree. What could that be?”

“I don’t know, but I don’t think we need to just sit here. Let’s move around and see if that helps our line of thinking.” She says, pocketing the list.

“Shouldn’t we have a particular destination in mind before we go wandering through these woods?” I ask.

“We do,” Kat says.

“Where are we going, then?”

“To look for a river.”

“A river?”

“Yeah. I just thought of that. Branches are on trees and rivers. But the yellow and green is a whole different story. Come on, follow me.”

“You know where the river is?”

“I have a general idea.”

“Well, lead the way,” I say.