Blaze World

{Chapter 4}

Chase's eyes grow wide and the color drains from his face. I look at him in confusion but he doesn't notice because he begins to pace. He stops and begins to massage his temples. I smirk at the way he is freaking out. He looks at Lauren and his facial expression turns to determination. No, resolve. He runs through the cave opening and darkness swallows him up. Lauren doesn't look impressed with my presence.

"Uh, and who are you?" she scoffs.

"I'm, ah, Erica. Nice to meet you," I say politely holding out my hand for her to shake. She looks at my outstretched hand in disgust and bats it away. She moves closers to Noah and puts her hand on his shoulder.

"How are you doing with everything happening?" she says, batting her eyelashes. I looked at Noah to Lauren and back. I snort and cover it up with a cough. "What?" demands Lauren.

"Oh, um sorry I just had a little tickle in my throat," I say, motioning to my throat. She rolls her eyes and looks back at Noah. "Well I'll give you two some privacy then," I mock, with a little wink.

"No!" shouts Noah. "I mean, ah, it isn't like that. Right Lauren?"

"No, of course no," she says. I can hear the disappointment in her voice. I can't help but feel bad for her.

"No, no. Go on. Why don't you two go for some coffee of something?" Lauren looks at me blankly, furrowing her brow. I shove my hands into my pockets to find something smooth between my fingers. I pull out two small strips of paper. "I have coupons," I say, encouragingly. I honestly have no clue how they got there.

Noah smiles at me. "Oh, alright," he says, snatching the coupons from my grasp. "Come on then Lauren," Noah leads her away but she glances back at me and mouths a thanks. Once they're gone, it hits me. I have no idea where I'm going. "Ugh, smart one, dumb one," I mutter to myself. I walk through the cave, leading me to an entire city.

People were everywhere. I wander through the city in awe. I find myself in a little market centre. There are little stalls set up all around me. There's a huge Ferris wheel peeking over the whole city. I slowly make my way over to it. There was no line, so I step up to the attendant guy. "Hey pretty lady, how many tickets for today?" He asks.

"Um just one thanks," I say, rolling my eyes and scoffing as he hands me the ticket. I step into the carriage and the guy closes the door. I turn my back to the door listening to it lock shut. I look around at the atmosphere. It's so hazy, but beautiful. I hear metal banging together and I spin watching the guy from before work the lock.

He swings the door open and I watch as a man steps onto the carriage. His face is covered with a piece of black fabric. He sits on the bench and I can feel him watching me through that stupid black thing. The guy closes the door and locks it. I watch him pull the lever and press a button on the control panel. The hinges creak and the ride begins to spin. I turn around and look around at all the people getting further away from sight. The guy behind me clears his throat. I refrain myself from looking at him. I hear the seat shifting and I flinch a little. I grab the metal rails of the carriage as the man behind me moves closer. I tense my body and press against the cage I'm trapped in with a complete stranger. A hot, meaty hand clenches around my arm. I swallow hard trying to remove the burning sensation from my throat. I move before I speak. I spin around and kick the man with a lot of power. Maybe just a little too much.

The cage drops and we pummel toward the ground. The carriage stops falling because the wires are holding onto it. We are nearly at the top of the Ferris wheel. Falling from this height would not be very fun. I hear a male voice groaning from behind me. I turn slowly afraid to move because of the wire.

"Who the hell are you?" I hiss. The man lifts his hand and removes the fabric. I stare at the person in front of me. The amused eyes staring at me, the dark hair falling across his forehead is so familiar. I haven't kicked a stranger across the carriage because the man who stands before me is none other than Chase.