The Hollow-Harper's Journey

Part 8

The next day, we left for the hills. I told Ms.Bee that I was invited on a camping trip and she allowed me to go. I hated lying to her but I had no choice.

I packed up four bottles of water, a few packets of crackers and three bananas. I met the others in front of Holy Donuts. "Ready?" I asked.

"We're waiting on Kai." Mira said. "And Davis and the helicopter."

Helicopter. Looks like we're not walking.

Just then, Kai ran up to us, panting. "Come on." he panted. "Davis is a block away."

"And you're out of breath for a block?" Vanessa asked.

"I had to run on the ground to direct him." Kai explained. "Also, he can only take us up halfway. That's how far he went before."

In the real world.

"Let's go then." Adam said.

We rode the copter up halfway, where Davis dropped us on one of the hills. "Are you sure that this is the best place for a hike, Master Kai?" he asked.

Master Kai? Reeve mouthed to me. I shrugged and chuckled.

"Yes, Davis." Kai said. "We'll be fine."

"Very well." We stepped a few steps back as Davis lifted off and flew away. "Let's go!" Kai exclaimed, starting up the next hill.

We followed, not questioning the direction. We all knew that we just needed to go up until we find a barrier.

A few hours past, us getting more and more tired and stopping more and more. I noticed how Adam had started to carry Kai on his back whenever he got too tired, making Kai's face turn red.

"Someone has a crush." I whispered to Reeve.

He looked flustered. "Kai." I clarified.

His face relaxed and he said "Oh, right."

"Oh, don't worry." I teased. "I already know about your crush on me."

"Oh, sure." Reeve said, stepping over a rock. "You know, you've been talking about me supposedly having a crush on you, but what about you having a crush on me?"

I felt my face heat up. "Who, me?" I laughed nervously. "No, no, want a cracker?" I tossed him a packet and ran to the others, leaving him to laugh and run after me.

A few more hours have passed and the sky had darkened. Kai lit up his hands and guided us up. It felt like a cult journey or something.

"Are we there?" Vanessa asked.

"I think a few more hills." Adam said. "...Maybe."

"Maybe." Reeve said mockingly. "Maybe. Then, Adam's totally right!"

Adam stopped to elbow Reeve. He laughed when, suddenly, Kai yelled "Ow!"

I looked up to see two things. One; we were at the top of the hills and, with the stars and moon, the view was beautiful. And two; Kai had walked face first into an invisible barrier, which turned purple when he touched it.

"Nice, Kai!" Adam exclaimed.

"Yeah, finding it with your face." Mira said. "Come to think of it, you've been finding a lot of things for us with your face."

"Shut up." Kai mumbled, rubbing his forehead.

Adam stepped forward, pressing his palm against the barrier. "What now?" I asked.

"We're near The Hollow game." Adam said. "Maybe we should call for Weirdy."

"Oh, the blue dude?" I asked.

"Yup. That's him."

"Let's try." Mira stepped forward and yelled "HELP, PLEASE!"

Pretty soon we were all yelling. In fact, we were yelling so loud that we didn't see Weirdy appear outside the barrier until he yelled louder than us. "Alright, ALRIGHT! I'M HERE!"

We stopped yelling. "Sorry." Mira said.

"It's been a while." Weirdy said. "What brings you kiddos all the way up here?" He spotted me. "Who are you?" he asked.

"Harper." I said. "I-"

"You're Harper." he asked, interrupting me. "Oh, I know what you guys are here for."

"You do?" Adam asked.

"Yup." He rubbed his hands together, then said "Okay, come quickly." And, just like that, he snapped his fingers and a small pass through the barrier appeared.

We all ran through it and, just as Kai slipped through, the barrier closed. "What to explain to us what's going on?" Adam asked.

"Let's just say something bad has been happening ever since you guys have started living in Hollow World." He chuckled, then sighed. "I'll show you."

He snapped his fingers, making one of his famous portals appear underneath us and, just like that, we fell through the ground to a room filled with computers.