A World Beyond the Waterfalls

The Experiment Room

"Ryder?"

I open my eyes to a little girl standing in front of me. She has the same eager, green eyes and curly, black hair as Ryder.

Ryder looks up from his phone in the seat next to me, and his eyes widen. "Monica?!" He leaps to his feet and throws his arms around the girl, who I guess is his sister. He picks her up and swings her around, making we giggle.

"Where were you, Ryder?" She asks, her voice cracking with emotion.

"I was on Arrival Duty. I had to go to Icarus Falls Escape Room again. For the fourth time in a row." He answers. Monica grins, pulling away from Ryder. "Look at you!" He exclaims. "You're all better!"

She grins. "Mommy healed me with the water from Icarus Falls. I'm as good as new."

Ryder smiles happily, holding tightly to his sister's tiny hand. "I'm so glad you're okay."

At this point, I was so utterly confused. All I did was stand up and Ryder seemed to snap out of his trance. "Oh!" He turns to me. "Sorry, Dakota. This is my younger sister, Monica."

I shake the girl's hand, who looks up at me with big green eyes. "You're pretty." She says simply.

I chuckle awkwardly. "Thank you, honey." I say, smiling at her.

And that's when I realize that my entire body feels refreshed. I'm not tired. I'm not hurting.

Anywhere.

I tap my ribs cautiously, only to feel absolutely no pain. I lift my shirt slightly.

There's not bruise and it feels perfectly find. I twist a little, but there's no pain.

Whoa.

Liam walks up beside me, returning from wherever he went. "Dude," he says to me, "this place is so awesome!"

I laugh, pushing away my perfectly healed ribs. "Good, Liam. Because we may be here for a while. We can't go in to see-"

But I'm interrupted by the little girl. "That's what I came out here to tell you guys. The doctor says you can go in to see Dylan." She blushes cutely. "I already went in to see him."

Ryder rolls his eyes. "You and your obsession with boys."

I squeal and run down the hall, not knowing how he knew where I was going.

I arrived at 217 and threw open the door. Dylan was lying in a bed, probes and needles stuck into every possible inch of his body. His veins bulge from his arms, coursing along his skin like pulsing green monsters. His bare chest is soaked with glistening sweat and about ten different size needles are stuck in his chest.

I run to his bed side and rest my hand on his chest muscle, making his eyes pop open. Relief washes through me as Dylan seems to relax at the sight of me.

"Hey, Dylan." I say gently.

He smiles slightly. "Hey." He groans a little, closes his eyes, takes a deep breath and then opens his eyes back up. "Glad to see you got out okay. When Ryder took me from the cave, I was worried you guys wouldn't get out."

I smile warmly at him. "Liam and I are fine. Don't worry. Are you willing to do this?"

He grins. "Obviously. It means saving our world. And theirs. I'll be a major hero when-" he pauses to take a shuddering breath that's filled with pain, "-when all this is over."

I nod. "Just be careful, okay?"

He smirks at me, showing me the Dylan I know is in there somewhere. "And what do you care?"

My eyes widen and I rush to cover up. "I-I don't. I, uh, I just want you to, um, to be-"

He nods, still smirking at me. "Oh, that makes sense."

I make a face at him as Liam strides into the room, flanked by Ryder and Monica. "You suck Dylan." Liam says, making me laugh.

"Well, happy to see you're glad I'm okay."

Dylan takes a sip of a coca cola can in his hand. "Honestly, I didn't care what happens to ya, as long as my sister and I make it back to our world, safe from harm."

Dylan shivers, then smiles weakly at my brother. "Good to know."

Ryder looks around. "Okay, guys he needs some rest. Let's leave him to sleep."

I raise my eyebrows. "Sleep?" And that's when I notice for the first time that it's pitch black outside. "Oh, right."

"You and Liam can have a Cabin out in Sharnon."

Liam chokes on his next sip of coke. "In what?"

Ryder shrugs. "Sharnon. It's the name of one of the villages here. It's where Monica and my cabin is. The one next to ours is empty, quite conveniently. You are welcome to settle in there."

I smile. "Thank you. Will you drive us there?"

Ryder frowns and narrows his eyes. "Drive? What's....drive?"

I look at Liam suspiciously. His shoulders slump. "Well, these at gonna be a fun few weeks."