The Journey

by Arnav Koppala

  I try to understand the point of barging into the dark tower, but I stand clueless. I guess, only one could conclude so many factors but my trying to come up with a reason would only leave me with more questions than answers, so I will just let it be. Aunt Glalie explains to us that the dark leader has a teleporter that works because since he feeds power to Sakuta, then his teleporter goes to work. One thing is for certain, Aunt Glalie always interceded at the right time.

  Based off what Aunt Glalie said, we basically have to do the hardest thing in the universe and that is use the dark leader’s teleporter and not be held captive. This seemed like the only feasible way to teleport to whatever planet we could get to and work our way to Kalamine X from there. Great. Just great. We search the dirt around the tower. It was like a going on a treasure hunt without finding gold.

  We look for any signs on the pillar next to it. If we had a magnifying glass to do this, it might have been beneficial, but we didn’t. We look for any holes, indents, and anything related to getting us inside the tower and find five holes. What we needed was some sort of a sign that we were close to finding something. I put all of my fingers in the hole and wait for something to happen. All of my fingers fit in the spots. It was kind of cool to me because from the thumb all the way down to the pinky just went right in. It was like a suction cup or something grabbed ahold of my fingers and they seemed to be locked in place.

  Should I have done that? Right away, something started to prick my skin and I yelp. The first time, I tried to pull my fingers a loose, it was like the grip got tighter. I mustered up all the strength that I had and pulled and pulled, pulling my finger straight out watching my fingers bleed. All I could do was watch the little droplets of blood like I had gotten a vaccine shot. I had to elevate my fingers by using my other hand.

  I look closer at the hole and something looks funny. A part of me wanted to get down on the ground and peer through the holes to see what was down there. It might be something lurking and I didn’t need to lose my eyesight. I look at Amelia and ask her if she can send a white glow down each of the holes. “Sure,” she said. She nods as she scrunches her fingers together and puts it in the hole before taking them out quickly trying not to have her fingers fate be disastrous. “Please do not let your fingers end up like mine, Amelia.” I said.

  The holes are slanted and a small circle with what seems to be some kind of sensor. I put my hand back into the holes but this time I let the blood drip on down the into the hole. I did my best to try and look past the excruciating pain I felt every time them pins kept pricking my skin over and over and finally it stopped. Oh, the pain that I felt. Right about this time, a first-aid kit would have been what I needed but I did not have that. I was in need of my fingers being healed.

  The holes opened up and it signals my cue to pull my hands out and have Alex heal my hands before the Kalamanians sense out something is off about us. I was so grateful for Alex. Actually, I was more than grateful because he had the healing properties that I needed. A whole section of the tower starts to shift and open revealing a gallon of plasma. It was startling to me because I could not even really grasp what I was looking at.

  We were all just sitting there idle with shock running through me and everyone else. This was like I had donated blood in a way. In fact, I should be on the floor now, but I feel perfectly fine. It was a good thing that I was not anemic.

  Even though, I feel fine, I am not at all fine with the tower taking away a gallon of my plasma. I was unaware of exactly what was going on in the first place. How was I still standing? As the section turns clear, we can see the bag of plasma travel up and then pour onto the metal. The metal shrieks and groans as it starts to open. The more the metal opened, the louder the moans and groans got. The opening itself was like contracting and became wider the more the metal expanded, revealing a secret pathway going to a place that only God knows for sure.

  Watching this was the one thing keeping my guard up and triggering my instincts. Well, I think it was obvious. I guess, that is why it was so painful when I first stuck my fingers in the holes in the first place. I did not realize what was happening when I stuck my fingers in the holes. I just thought my fingers were being scanned but they were being pricked in a way. Apparently, the living metal feeds on blood. How inconveniently convenient.

  I still stare in as the droplets disappear into the metal as it absorbs every last drop of the gallon of plasma. It was as if it was going to be its only meal for the day. What a surprise. If this was going to be the dark dimension, there definitely was not going to be a lock and key to get into the dark tower but I kind of was surprised.

  All you had to do was give your plasma. This place is worse than I thought. Actually, worse does not even describe this, but it will have to do. The section opens up and we walk inside the dark tower. The more we started walking, it was like it got darker. This has me on edge thinking we might get trapped in here.

  As we walk inside, we see a sign that says to the entrance of the dark chamber. As if the tower was not dark enough, it read proceed straight ahead to the dark chamber. The sign led us to a stairwell. Even the stairs made this creaking noise. We walk down the stairs and with every step we take, exercise extreme caution because we do not even know what would be around the corner. I was just expecting for something even more dark than what we had entered into to happen. What was there that awaited us?

  It could be the way to the teleporters or it could not be the way to the teleporters. It could be a trap or it could not be trap. What if this caused us to be trapped forever and never able to get to the center? We could go on like this till the end of time because the fact still remains we do not know much that is the one thing that always bothered me, which was not knowing much about the situation and wisdom can’t help you understand every situation. Every day, I would know exactly what my day would be like or an outline of my day. It was not like that here. It made me very uncomfortable. I can even do impromptu speeches if I know a specific date of the impromptu speech.

  But anyways, this was one of those situations where I just completely and utterly despise. Yet, part of being a guardian, is actually being in these situations and trying to solve it in the quickest and safest way possible. The only problem is, you don’t know what situation you are going to come face to face with. Did I ask for this role? No. Do I want this role? Maybe. Do I have a choice? No.

  In everything I do, I have to give it my all. This time was no different. I use my spirit vision again trying to scope out the area where we were traveling. Nothing. Absolutely no spirits whatsoever. The thing about spirit vision is that, it allows you to be able to see things that are unseen around you. There is more than just the seen reality, so it was beneficial, to say the least.

  We reach the end of the staircase. It seemed like we were never going to make it down the stairs it took so long. Directly in front of us, there is a door. Normally, we would open it, but the thing was that this was part of a dark tower and there could be dark stuff, along with other dark stuff, and more stuff with the combination of all of them are somehow magically to take us, but what other choice do we have? One was with the possibility of safety and not living in this dimension forever, because that is one thing I will never do.

  Now, who was going to be brave enough to open the door. All gazes of everyone’s eyes were staring directly at me. I felt the heat from all the cold stares. I slowly opened the door as I peered through the crack and tried to scan the room. I tapped back into the spirit vision. It actually looked like an ordinary room with couches, and a tv, and all sorts of furniture that could be in the living room. I had to keep watch for spirits because this was unfamiliar territory for us.

  We all walk inside and the door shuts by itself. It was more like a slamming shut on its own. We all stopped abruptly and looked at the door as if it was going to somehow magically open itself back up. Amelia tries to open the door and what a surprise when the door appears to have been locked. I scan the room a
nd try to look for a way out of here. Certainly, there was nothing by the door so how did it lock itself? I kind of got the feeling that we were in this room and we were under surveillance. Were we being watched?

  I look at the door. Just when I thought we might have been locked inside from the outside, I spotted something. There is a keyhole, so clearly there must be a key that goes inside the hole. “Hey. Look for the key everyone.” I said. Right there in this room, everyone scatters to look for this key. “Let’s search the room for a key or anything out of the ordinary.” I declare.

  I keep searching more. I kept looking at the key hole so that if I spotted the key that I know that was it. Amelia finds this cryptogram with some letters on it. I examine the cryptogram more carefully especially to the fine detail and the carvings made into the letters. Everyone was still searching as if on a treasure hunt. I realized that they were English letters. There seems to be 4 four sliding cylinders, so we needed to search for four-lettered words hidden anywhere or even in plain sight. This kind reminded me of the board game Scrabble. The unique thing about all of this was each one of us came up with something different. At least, we did not all come up with the same word all at once. That was not going to do any of us a bit of good because only one word was going to work anyway.

  All of us found different words. I got veil. Amelia got vile. Go figure. That looked like a suitable word for her. Alex got live. Last but certainly not least, Jack got evil. The cryptogram was like a puzzle and we all deciphered words, but only one word would work to open it up. Now, here came the moment of seeing whether or not what was deciphered was actually going to work. There was no telling what we would discover once it was opened.

  Skeptical, we passed the cryptogram to one another as we each tried our word. I should have known that Jack would be the first one to go. What was he thinking. This was not going to work, I thought to myself. Everyone just watched intently. Jack put in his word and it opened. You cannot be serious. How in the world did Jack who was the first person to try have his word work?

  Suddenly, I did not have a good feeling. I felt a huge lump in my throat. Was I the only one that saw the word that Jack had. Why would the cryptogram have evil on it? Besides that, this place was the embodiment of evil. I felt as if some evil was in store for us. I did not even want to think about what we were up against. Of all the words that would work, it had to be evil.

  We slowly open the box inside the cryptogram and it reveals a key. Something did not seem right at all. This seemed spooky. What if—on second thought, I will leave the what if alone. I wanted to snatch the key but was too slow. Everyone eyed Jack and sure enough our intuition was right.

  We try putting the key into the lock and…yes! The key fits in the hole and it turns. This all is too good to be true. Everything was opened and unlocked without any hindrance at all. Hmmm… It kind of made me wonder deep inside what the other words were capable of. Just then, the door swings opens as we walk out the other end. I proceed cautiously as all the others made a quick dash out the door. Something was not right.

  I still do not understand. Why was the escape room right there? What was the importance of the escape room? Wait! Z Kalamanians are not organized. We searched the place with a plan. It all adds up. He knows we are here. “It’s a trap!” I scream to the top of my lungs. Unfortunately, it was too late.

  The floor opened up beneath us and we all fell into the cold darkness. It was cold too like an iceberg. Looking up for a glimmer of hope that this was not a trap and watching as the torches that once lit up the corridors start to flicker. The flickering became dim with every passing second and slowly but surely fade away. I know I am not unconscious, but everything is black. I was right when I said it was a trap.

  I do not know if I was imagining all of this or if it was something else entirely. This felt strange. I was floating around in this emptiness. I was in my body, but it was like I was out of my body. I could not tell the difference between the vision before and after closing my eyes. Without warning, my arms and legs are forced behind my back. It was an uncomfortable position to be in. I change to spirit vision, but I only see black everywhere. It was like I had been blindfolded and could not see anything.

  The only person who has a black spirit is the—an deviant laugh fills the air. The mocking laughter grew louder. I could just tell he was right in front of my face even though I was not able to see him. I just imagined Voldemort, except a thousand times worse, and just kept playing it over and over again in my head. I could see the others. They were faint, but I could see them. I could not make out who was who. I just saw vivid outlines of different people and their statures.

  The blackness went away. We were on tables lying face up, just so we could be able to see him torture us with all the needles that were sprawled everywhere. My biggest fear was happening right in front of my very eyes. Some of the needles has a liquid substance in them. The needles were all lengths. Wow. He did this all just to intimidate us. I tried to see if there was any way that I could muster the strength to maneuver and see more of what he was up to.

  He casually walks around us like any dark or evil person does as he looks at us as if we were his next meal. I try so hard not to throw up. I squinted to see if I could notice anything that was out of the ordinary besides the needles. There were parts of ligaments in jars. Wait. Did that hand just move now? It is alive and it is not even supposed to be. I glance over at everyone else and see that they can almost touch each other but not quite yet. I see some of them are tied up with some sort of rope.

  He turns around slightly. I shoot tiny specks of flame like arrows on a bow on the metal and it slowly burns but dissipates quickly. We could be able to touch each other now. Now, phase two, I had to distract him while Aunt Glalie got her teleporter ready. It was not working but not because of the machinery. It was because only dark power could power it.

  The dark leader walked over to me and touched my forehead leaving a very faint grey mark behind. I lit my hand on fire, but my fire had turned black. Perfect. Now, I assert everyone. We all hold hands and I shoot my black fire to Aunt Glalie’s teleporter. The dark leader screams, “Noooooooo,” as our particles disintegrate.

  I wanted to disappear away from it all. Everyone was lost in a trance trying to clear their minds from what just happened. The more I just try to get away from it all, I kept on hearing this sound that just brought me back to what all happened. I knew something was not right from the moment that we had left the bank to walk across the street to even get this ship.

  Looking back on it now, it was the way that the lady kept acting when she tried to let us behind the secured area. There goes the sound again. It kept messing with my mind for me to even think that all of this was a setup of a ploy someone to further keep us blocked from making it to our final destination. How could it be that we had just paid a substantial amount of money for the ship only to be ambushed later?

  It just reminded me of all the paperwork that Uncle Peter had lying around. Here came the sound again. I wanted so badly to call a meeting where I just went through all the fine print to see what exactly Uncle Peter signed for. Did he not know that we were responsible for returning the ship back in its original state? That was a part of the terms and conditions.

  That is why I just knew that no one could be trusted. We are all so caught up on how the ship looked that none of us stopped to think that just because something appears to be one way does not necessarily mean that it is. Why could I not get the thought of that lady out of my mind? I am almost for certain that she had something to do with it. I just only hoped that I never saw her again.

  My poor head was pounding. Better yet, as I placed my fingertips up on my forehead, it was bulging. I had to stop this sound. It was driving me insane. Back to the sound and then back to what was going on around us. I felt like I was losing my mind. Haven’t we all been through more than enough already? I could not control anything and that is what made me feel worse. I was always use to
being able to at least have some sort of control over my situation.

  I am sure that I am not even conveying this message in a manner that warrants me to try to describe what I am experiencing. I am trying. Can’t you tell? Now, I am just becoming infuriated because I cannot get my head to stop pounding and this sound is driving me insane. It was like my mind was spinning and the sound would increase and decrease. I have this vivid image of that woman in my mind on top of the fact that I was sitting there running my fingers on my temple in a circular motion to ease the pulsating.

  It was no use, so I just gave up. If we did not make it to the center soon, I was going to end up in a place that probably had no name. I just wanted to be back reunited with everyone how we once were. You never know what you had until you don’t have it anymore. How we had survived this far is unbeknownst to me. It had to be coming from an internal force rather than external because all of the odds were always against us.

  Somehow even though my thoughts and external circumstances were in agreement, and sometimes opposed to each other, I had to remain positive that everything was going to work itself out. The only way to grow though anything is that you have to remain optimistic. I guess, I needed to apply that to my brain. Was it the constant ticking or the constant pulsating?

  Come to find out the sound that I was hearing was an actual clock. It sounded like the clock that I had back home, but it was different. I am trying, and having a hard time trying to relate what is going on in this unfamiliar place. How do you try an explain something that you really don’t know how to—huh—I can only do it with what I am used to, and try to describe it, but it is not an easy task. So, what I thought I was hearing was the sound that I was used to. I drew closer and realized this gadget was pretty cool.