Far Away From Home

Part Five

When Caleb emerged from the forest, he was surprised to see leaves scattered on the forest floor, but no trees were around.

Everyone emerged from the forest, and just in front of them stood rolls of whistling pine trees, standing in a straight line on either side of an otherwise swept path. The whistling pine trees seemed like something that was being taken care of. Each stem of each whistling pine had branches reaching the top, while the bottom was devoid of branches. Pines were not scattered on the floors, and the area looked clean.

“See! I told you guys to stick with me.” Caleb said, as if he actually hatched the plan that made them cautious.

“Are you sure this is not the witch's way of welcoming us? Then she would have us for dinner.” Steph said, clinging to Jackson's arm.

Caleb rolled his eyes.

This girl is really stupid, unlike brave, quiet Renia.

But it occurred to Caleb that she hadn't said anything in a long time, and it got him thinking.

Is she pretending to be brave, or is this how she handles her problems whenever she's scared?

They walked down the path slowly, with Caleb taking the front and Tony taking the rear. For a while, everyone walked quietly, and then they heard the thunder before they saw the lightning. An owl hooted, and Steph automatically stopped walking, like she was scared. This made them halt and look around.

The clouds cleared, and the full moon appeared in the sky. Everyone noticed the full moon, but no one noticed the shift in the air except Steph.

She felt the air swoosh like someone ran past them. But she doubted that. She's surrounded by Jackson, Renia, Tony, and Caleb. To her, there could only be one explanation: they have entered another dimension. And that dimension doesn't seem friendly. She could feel a heartbeat in the air.

Water is her maturity. She had to hone her maturity because she had to have something she could use to protect herself. The molecules of water she felt on her skin shook to their heartbeat. They were faster than her friends' heartbeat, like the owner or owners were running. She doubted that they were, and if they weren't, they would be hungry. This made her tap Jackson.

“Did you feel that?” she asked quietly.

“What?” he asked. 

“The air is swooshing. It felt like we went through an invisible portal. We are not on earth anymore,” she said.

“How is that possible?” Tony said, “I didn't feel anything.”

“Neither did I.” Caleb said.

“Really? So, if neither of you feel anything, then what I felt was insignificant?” she asked.

“Pretty much,” Caleb said.

“I don't think we should ignore this. We should put it into consideration, guys.” Renia said.

“Really, Renia? Steph can't mature now. It's either she's pretending to be intelligent or she's pretending like she can control the weather.” Tony said.

“Probably.” Renia said.

“What?! Why are you siding with them?” Steph screeched.

“This is not the first time you have done that. But I think she's telling the truth this time.” Renia replied.

“Whatever. Let's just keep going.” Caleb said.

Then he mumbled, “I can't believe we stopped for this.”

As they walked further into the area, Steph could feel the heartbeat increase by a minute. The monster is waiting for them, she thought.

For a little while, the sky was clear. No clouds, just that brief second before the storm.

And what a storm that was.

Automatically, rain clouds filled the sky and brought forth rain.

Caleb shouted amidst the torrent,
“Let's find shelter.”

Together, they ran. Each of them ran without holding onto anyone. She could still feel the heartbeat of the monster waiting for them, and she knew that they were running straight towards the monster.

For a minute, she thought of turning away from them and running off into the night, but she couldn't do it. She felt like it was her responsibility to protect them.

If they died, what would she do, and how would she feel?

Before Jackson grabbed her hands, she felt eyes watching her, like they knew what her thoughts were. She was lagging behind and running slower than everyone, and she knew only after Jackson grabbed her. 

“Look! What's that?” he shouted.

“It looks like a house. Come on!” Tony said.

They ran towards the building. To Steph, the house looked more like a castle as they approached it. The others seemed to halt at the building. They were hesitant to run into the castle.

In many fairy tales, castles always accompanied dangerous things like witches and dragons. To Steph's surprise, she felt the rain falling on her, soaking her hair and clothes, but her clothes were not sticking to her skin like a normal cloth would.

She wanted to alert the others, but Caleb said,
“Come on. We should find shelter.”

Everyone followed him. He took the large doorknob in his hands and tried to open it, but it didn't bulge.

“Try knocking, Caleb.” Tony said.

With a sign, Caleb knocked on the huge metallic door. No one answered him.

“Do they have a doorbell?” Jackson asked. 

Everyone turned toward Jackson.

“What? Maybe they do have a doorbell,” he exclaimed.

Steph could feel the heartbeat of the monster that would eat them closer than before. It's closing in on them very quickly, and she felt it coming from the door. She took a step backwards in fear.

Renia whispered to her,
“Are you alright?”

“What do you know? They do have a doorbell.” Caleb said.

“Ring it.” Tony said.

Steph tried to steady her breathing as Caleb pressed the doorbell. What they heard frightened the hell out of Steph and, surprisingly, Caleb, the almighty, strong man. The doorbell went like a ding-dong bell in a manly voice.

Renia said,
“Funny doorbell. It's not really trying to frighten us, is it?”

Before anyone could reply, the metallic door opened to a friendly woman with a nice face, dressed in a white sari with her hair tied up in a hairdo. Steph was so surprised that when she felt the heartbeat from her, she swallowed a scream and covered her mouth with her hands.

“Good evening. How can I help you?” She said it with an Indian accent.