The Black Box

12

I open my eyes and turn my flashlight on my phone on immediately. I put the box in my pocket so it's safe. I put my guard up. So far I can't see anyone from the granite hill. I should face this. Not be scared. My eyes start to adjust and I see the horizon or what's left of it.

The "horizon" has crumbling buildings on it. There are cracks and ravines all over the ground. It looks like dozens of earthquakes hit. The trees have become overgrown and look like a mutated version of the ones at home. Maybe they developed trees that grow without sunlight.

"Hello Peter," a voice says behind me. It makes me jump so badly I dropped my phone. I pick it up and it has some cracks in the screen. Man, I bought this with my own money. I turn very slowly to see who spoke to me. Of course it's Christie.

"What do you want?" I ask. I sound scared. I have to be courageous. I stand up and face her. I'm ready to take a sword to the gut, but I really don't prefer that.

"Come with me, no questions," she starts climbing down the rocky hill. I start to follow her but the rocks are slippery.

"Where are we going?" I ask.

"I said no questions."

"Fine."

"Quiet."

Jeez. Does she ever come into contact with other people?

We climb down the granite hill and I follow her. We head toward the giant ravine to the left. She breaks into a sprint and I run after her. "Are you gonna get us killed?" I yell to her. She doesn't respond.

We run to the edge of the ravine. There's this strange monument thing near the edge. It looks like three cinder blocks stacked on top of each other forming a pyramid with a triangle on top of it. She lets me in front of her and attaches something to me. Then she pushes me off.

I fall through the air, the ground rushing toward me, like lightning. Then I hit the ground like a pancake. I don't feel anything at first but then I still don't so I'm wondering why. I stand up and I just about see her land gracefully on the stone. She runs forward and I follow her 'cause I have no idea where we are. She leads us to the end of the ravine. Then gets something from her pocket and slips it into a hole and it opens a secret door.

She motions me to follow her and I cautiously follow her. We are in a dimly lit hallway and the door shuts behind me. No escape. Great. Then she gets another thing from her other pocket and puts it into another hole and the hallway opens to a massive room.

The room has stairs, rock climbing, rope climbing and all sorts of stuff to other levels above our heads. They're like balconies with bridges between them. There are some lights on some, but for the most part the room is dimly lit. You can see straight up and see that it's a glass dome with vines and leaves above it. To hide it.

"You're sleeping on that," Christie points to one of the higher balconies, "You get there by climbing these," she says as we walk over to the rock climbing wall.

"Ok. Where will you be sleeping?" I ask her.

She gives me an interesting look and says,"Up on that one," pointing to the highest and farthest one to the back of the room, still looking at me. I guess people don't say where they are at night here.

She walks over to the wall that leads to her balcony and almost sprints up the rock climbing. She's up there in seconds, not even looking out of breath. It's not like she climbed 50 feet. But she did.

I turn to face my rock climbing wall. These aren't the usual plastic "rocks" at rock climbing places but are actual ROCKS sticking out of the wall. I step on the first one and grab onto another with my hand. I gradually climb up to my balcony and stand there. My hands were getting sweating the higher I got up and I slipped and almost fell to my death. Luckily mine isn't as high, maybe 30 feet. The floor's almost like bamboo entwined with the stone. My bed's like any other bed at home with a nightstand next to it with a lamp.

I look over where Christie is and see that she quickly walks away. Was she watching me? Observing me? I sit on the bed and overlook the room. It's really amazing. I can see the kitchen and the living room. She even has a TV. How do you get cable? Whatever. I think about heading home when she crosses a bridge into the kitchen. The bridge almost looked like it was about to break when she crossed but it didn't.

I take out the black box cautiously and flip the switch. I know where she lives now. Will I end up on this bed when I return or the granite hill? I can't get into this place without the objects she put in the holes. Oh well.