The Wanderland: Rewritten

Chapter Seven - A Hunt For A Bracelet

Chris and Alex packed their backpacks full of water and food, because they didn't know how long they would have to spend on their journey. The ship's fridge was full of sandwiches ("They are easy and cheap to make!" said the captain), so Chris and Alex took as many as they could. It was easy to fill bottles with water as well, because the sea was right next to them, and the captain had some kind of a filter machine, that would filter out the non-drinkable stuff from the water. "Are you sure this machine works properly?" Alex questioned. "It's all we have, so I'd recommend you to believe that the machine works perfectly." the captain said. Alex stared at the captain but stayed silent. The captain was right. It was all they had. Chris and Alex had finished packing, so they walked up on the deck, and were about to leave the ship. "Hey! Boys!" the captain yelled downstairs. He quickly ran up the stairs, with a backpack on his back. "Did we forget something?" Alex asked. "No, you didn't. But I thought... I'd ask... If I could try to find the bracelet with you?" the captain asked. Chris and Alex both looked confused. "You?" Chris asked. "I knew you wouldn't accept me. Well, I'll just spend my day fishing then-" the captain said before Chris interrupted him. "No! I didn't mean that! I was just confused. Of course you are free to come with us. We trust you." Chris said. "Great!" the captain said, and all three of them jumped out of the ship. The captain would've had a better day, if he really chose fishing instead of what was coming up next.

It was a cold evening. Well, in The Wanderland, it was never truly cold. But at least way colder than it is in the daylight. Chris, Alex and the captain walked through the now empty town. Some houses had lights on, but nobody was hanging out outside. Chris and the captain were talking about the day Chris and Alex had just had. They talked about the history of The Wanderland, and about the meeting with Jane and Mary. At one point, Chris realized that Alex had slowed his walking speed. "Alex? What now?" Chris asked. "I saw him again. The hooded man. On top of that house. Ran away." Alex said. "What hooded man?" the captain asked. Chris and Alex told him about the figure that Alex had seen earlier that day. "You know, there is quite a lot of people here that tend to hide their face. Most likely you didn't even see the same person twice." the captain said calmly. "Could be..." Alex said.

It didn't take long until they reached the temple. They had met a small group of tourists, that kindly told where the temple was. The temple was around twenty minutes to north from the town. "I'm starting to understand your sand-in-shoes problem." Alex said to Chris. "I should've stayed in the ship." the captain said. "Well this is nothing compared to the terrors inside that temple right there." Chris said. The temple was big. There were some odd carvings on the temple walls, but Chris couldn't understand them. "Isn't it kind of weird that the gate is open." Alex said. "Someone has already been here. Someone has opened this gate." Chris thought. "Are we really going to do this?" the captain asked. "There is no going back now." Chris said and pushed the gates open. Suddenly, a message appeared in air, right in front of Chris. "After you take the next step forward, there is no way back. Are you really sure you want to continue?' Yeah, I think we've thought about this earlier. It's all or nothing." Chris said and walked through the message. Alex and the captain followed.

The hallway in front of them was almost completely dark. Only a few small torches were lighting the hallway. Chris, Alex and the captain started walking through the hallway. "I guess we are going to need this." Chris said and picked up a torch that was attached to the wall. "Let's go." he said and led the way while trying to light as much of the hallway with his torch as possible. After they had walked for a while, they arrived at a big door. Chris pushed the door open. The door was heavy and opened very slowly.

The room in front of them was big. It was a big hall, that was completely dark. Only the light from Chris' torch could let them see in front of them. "Wait!" Alex yelled and grabbed Chris' shoulder. There was a huge drop down in front of them. "Holy..." Chris couldn't finish the sentence. The floor down below was filled with massive spikes. Chris wasn't far away from dropping down to his death. There was a long wooden bridge in the middle of the room, that would lead the travelers from one side to another. Alex walked forward and looked down. "There is no way that I am going to walk on that bridge." Alex said while looking at the very unstable looking bridge. "There must be a trick here. I doubt that we can just walk on this bridge without anything happening." Chris said calmly. Chris went down on his knees and tried to examine the bridge without stepping on it. "I don't see anything suspicious about this bridge. But at the same time, I know that there is something wrong here. If many people have died inside this temple in the past, I know that there is something here that will try to kill us." he explained. "Looks like we don't have a choice. We have to walk on the bridge." the captain said. "So, who's going first?" Alex asked. "I will. I brought you here, so I am responsible of everything that happens to you. If something happens to me while I walk on that bridge, and I don't make it out alive, I want both of you to leave this temple instantly, and go home. Understood?" Chris said. Alex nor the captain said a word. Chris turned around, and was facing the bridge. He closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. Then he opened his eyes, and started slowly walking forward. One step at a time, Chris was crossing the bridge. It went well until he reached the middle. Suddenly, the bridge started shaking, and the ropes that held it together started to snip. "AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH-" Chris yelled as he started to fall down towards his seemingly inevitable death. As he fell, he tried desperately to grab onto anything he could reach. He felt something on his fingertips, and grabbed it as hard as he possibly could. He was hanging on a plank that was attached to what remained from the bridge. Alex and the captain were just staring, it all happened so fast that they couldn't react. The bridge had snapped in half! "CHRIS!" Alex yelled and looked down. There he was, hanging on a plank. He was alive. "Alex! You told me back on the ship that you and Chris broke into your old school by using a rope! Do you still have the rope in your backpack?" The captain asked while trying to control his panic. "Oh yeah!" Alex took off his backpack, and found the very same rope that he and Chris used to get over their school's wall. "CHRIS! CATCH THIS!" He threw the rope into the pit. Somehow, Chris managed to get a hold on the rope. "Pull me up!" he yelled in panic. "Help me, Howards!" Alex yelled, and the two pulled the rope up as hard as they could. As Chris finally got up from the pit, he instantly fell to the ground, and just laid there for a while. Alex and the captain were both just looking at him. "I... I knew something was up with that bridge..." Chris finally said. "Glad you're here, buddy." Alex said. Chris stood up. "Welp, we still have to cross this pit. Any ideas?". "What if we tried to throw the rope across the bridge, and then we could use it to cross the gap?" Alex suggested. "Works in theory, but I doubt any of us can actually throw the rope so well that it attaches onto something." Chris said. "Let me show you, kids." the captain said and took the rope from Alex. He tied a loop on the end of the rope, then aimed carefully, and threw the rope across the pit. It landed perfectly on a small pillar that was holding the bridge. Then he tied a loop on the other end of the rope, took a big rock from the ground and placed it on top of the rope. "How did you-". "When you work with ships, you need to know how to do all kinds of things with ropes. A very useful thing to learn." the captain explained. "Oh, wow, that was great. How are we going to cross the gap, though?" Alex asked. "Don't you get it? You climb on the rope and cross the pit. Like this." the captain went on his knees, and grabbed the rope. Then he swung his legs around the rope, and started to climb across the pit. "Oh, that's what he meant." Alex said. The captain finally finished crossing the gap. "Your turn!" he yelled. "I'll go next." Chris said and went down on his knees. He did the exact same thing as the captain did, and crossed the gap successfully. "Alex! Your turn!" Chris yelled. Alex went down on his knees. He stared at the giant spikes that were waiting for him if he fell. "Chris... I- I don't think I can do this..." Alex said. He was shaking. "Oh, come on! We have to go!" Chris yelled. "Wait! I have an idea!" the captain said. "Alex! Stand up and grab the rope as hard as you possibly can." Alex did as he said. "Now, I will count to three. Then you will jump." the captain explained. "WAIT, WHAT?" Alex yelled in panic. "Do as I say! Three, two, one!" the captain yelled, and Alex jumped. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-" Alex crashed into the wall that was under Chris and the captain. "Ouch..." Alex said as Chris and the captain pulled him up. "That hurt..." "You didn't give us a choice." the captain said. Suddenly, they heard a weird noise. The bridge fixed itself! "What the-" Alex asked. "I guess the bridge fixed itself just to surprise the next one that tries to get into this temple." the captain said. "We have to move on." Chris said and pulled Alex up from the ground. Another door was in front of them, ready to be opened.

It was another dark room. Chris didn't have his torch anymore, as it fell to the pit. "I can see absolutely nothing." Alex complained. "Stop complaining, we can't see anything either." Chris said.  They quickly noticed that the room was a lot smaller than the first one. And there was no big gap in the middle. "Are these levers on the walls?" the captain asked. "I think so." Alex said. "Don't do anything yet." Chris said. "What is that light coming from... well, from over there!" Alex asked. "It looks like... torchlight?" the captain said. All three of them started walking towards the light. "Wait... this is the exit door that should lead us forward?" Chris said. "The puzzle has already been solved." the captain said. "Someone has been here before us." Chris stayed silent. He grabbed a torch from the wall. "If there really is someone in here with us, we have to catch up to them quickly." They started walking down the corridor, until they found another door. The next room smelled. "What the hell?" Alex asked. "Ewww, I think I'm going to faint." Chris said and covered his nose. There was a giant, some sort of a big troll laying on the floor. It was dead. "Are you serious? Were we supposed to fight that thing? Well thank god that there was someone here before us!" Alex said. "Let's get the freak out of here, before I'll actually faint!" the captain said and ran to the door. Chris and Alex followed as fast as they could.

The final room was a big, round room. There was a hole in the ceiling, that led light into the room. Under the hole, there was a pedestal. "This is it..." There was a bracelet on top of the pedestal. "Finally... we made it?" Alex was surprised. "There is something off here... if that one puzzle in the second room was solved, and the troll was killed in the third room, there has to be someone here with us. Why haven't they taken the bracelet?" Chris questioned. Suddenly, they heard an unknown voice from behind; "You're a clever boy. Now turn around slowly and put your hands up in air. That bracelet is mine."