Across Time and Worlds

Chapter Five

The burns did not really hurt that badly. Oh, they did claw at my body, but I barely felt that compared to the pain in my head. It felt like an atomic bomb meant to kill off Antarctica had just landed and crashed inside my skull.

Images kept flashing in my head. Of things that I knew I had never seen before. I had thoughts that I had never thought before, yet they felt familiar. I knew, somehow, that I was seeing everything through somebody else's eyes and mind, although I could not have said how.

A cave. I was seeing a cave. Somebody was walking into it and looking around. I got the sense that they were scared by how large the view was and that they kept looking around and jumping at every shadow.

Something is here. I just have to find out where. I need to find my brother.

They continued to walk on, leaving my confused brain to follow.

The cave was dark, but the stick continued to walk on, melting into the shadows. Now I could not see anything, but I could feel their heart pumping. Their palms were sweaty. Their mind was everywhere, thinking about everything from peach pies to old fables, anything but the fact that they were in a cave.

Get out of my mind! I shouted. I flinched when I heard my own words echoing in the cave. Was this really me walking in a cave?

I groped around me and felt the coarse grass rub harshly against my fingers. The dry, brittle dirt felt warm around my skin. But most importantly, it told me how I was here, on the ground, and not in a cave.

My head continued to feel like it was  exploding. The stick in my mind continued to walk. Their body shook with every step and matched what I felt right then: fear.

Suddenly, the stick lost control over direction and I felt myself lose touch with the ground. Stop! I cried out, trying to feel the dirt again, but it had vanished. I screamed, feeling like I was falling, not sure whether to trust the air whooshing past me or the knowledge that I was not in a cave. Around me, I heard my scream echo back in the rocky cavity.

I heard the hiss of the air as it streamed past my body, chilling me as I screamed until I had no air left. Inhaling, a sudden force crashed into me and what little air I had escaped me. Groaning, I felt the burn intensified and saw white dots in my vision. I lay there on the cold stone, panting, trying to ward them away. The lights danced around for a bit then finally, slowly, left me back in complete and utter darkness.

I carefully un-fisted my hands, letting my body relax before I shakily stood up. Looking around, I still saw nothing in the cave, so I took a few steps forward. Raising my arms, my fingers brushed across the smooth rock wall.

This was built for a reason. These walls are too smooth.

I could practically hear my heartbeat inside the cave. Thump, thump, thump. It rang through my ears and pulsed in my veins. Anybody within a mile of me would be able to hear it.

Now, where would that chest be, Hunter?

My mind blew up again. This isn't me, I am not in a cave!

Then where the heck am I?

I felt like screaming again, but as I took an inhale, I remembered that I would hear it in the cave, and I stopped. If I am not here, why can I hear my scream?

Opening my mouth, I let out a tiny squeak. The cave copied the sound and a trail of goosebumps ran over me. I tried it again. And again, the cave mimicked me.

So I went for louder. Then deeper. Then longer. Each time, I would hear my sound rolling around in the caves.

I couldn't handle it anymore. I shut my eyes, curled into a ball, and screamed long and loud.