The Case Of Ali

Chapter 9. The Door

Cynthia had to go back home to Chicago to get her life in order before she moved in with Ali. She begged Ali to stay away from her mother and not to eat anything from the woman. Cynthia was very superstitious and suspicious of everyone.  After what happened to her husband and now her son. Ali understood why Cynthia did not trust anyone. 

Ali  decided to take  a leave of absence from her job.  She could not be in the same space as her mother anymore.  Her father  suggested that she worked from home and Ali said that she would consider it.  But Ali just wanted to concentrate on the baby, getting Jake home and guard her sanity.  There were times when she wondered if she was going crazy but then she would pull out Jake's  oddball letters and she knew that she was not crazy.  It was all real.  

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On the way back from picking up some of her things from her parent's home, Ali stopped by Alex's office at the college for a surprise visit. Alex was not in his office but his bag that he carried everywhere with him was there, sitting on his desk.  Ali figured that he couldn't be gone far or be gone long, so she decided to wait for him. There was a door toward the back of the room, and Ali wondered if  Alex  was back there. Should she or shouldn't she go knock on that door? What if she interrupted something? She thought. Then she heard something.....coming from the other side of the door.  Ali thought that she would give him another five minutes and if he didn't show, she would just push her head in so he knew that she was there waiting for him.

She waited a few minutes and when Alex still did not show, Ali decided to checkout what was going on in the other room. Ali knocked on the door, then slowly opened it.  The door opened into a passageway.  And at the end of that  passageway there was  another door.  Ali thought that  it was probably connecting  two buildings.  That was not uncommon at the school.  Ali followed the passageway to the other door.   Again she knocked then gently opened the door.  And to her surprise  there was another passageway with a another door at the end.  How weird.  I feel like Alice in wonderland.  

Ali again followed that passage way to the third door and gently opened it.  She was blinded by what appeared like fog. She was shocked still as if she was paralyzed. Then the fog cleared and she could see people moving about. What the hell .  There was just too much for her to take in. As she looked out beyond, she could clearly see the backdrop of a beautiful city....with skyscrapers, much like Manhattan skyline, only not. What was this place? People were wearing  futuristic clothing  that she had only seen in  movies.  And there were dronelike crafts moving meticulously throughout the sky above.  Was it a movie set or a secret futuristic military base?  Ali was in awe; what had she stumbled on here? Her attention moved to two people standing  below  where she stood. Were they returning from a mission or leaving on one? One of them removed his head gear. Ali gasped. "Alex?" Why was he dressed like that? Why were they all dressed like that? And who were all these people? Were they playing out a movie scene? But Alex  was not into films or plays.  

Alex  looked over and saw Ali and he smiled and beckoned her to come. Ali was about to move forward to get to him, but she couldn't move forward.  It was as if her feet weighed a ton when she tried to walk to Alex.   Then  she distinctly heard Jake's voice, said 'Ali don't; go back' She looked at Alex as he continued to beckon her to him. Ali decided to listen to Jake's voice and not go to Alex.   

Ali stepped backward with ease, no feeling of weight to her legs as she stepped back  into the passageway. As she retreated, she looked up and on the wall, the date flashed as if in neon, Nov 23, 2103.  Ali  kept stepping back and back,  scared, puzzled and confused.  Suddenly she bumped into somebody  which sent her heartrate through the roof; she turned to see who it was and find herself looking into the familiar dark  blue eyes of Alex....then everything went black. She must have fainted because when she came to she was lying on the couch in Alex's office and he was bending over her and calling her name.