Smoking Power

Chapter 21

By the time the box's lid is fully open, my ears are ringing. My ear drums feel like they've been bursted open again and again. How can opening a lid cause so much pain? Something warm trickles down my face. Blood's coming out of my ear. The whole world seems to be buzzing quietly. The pain stabs me to a point where I'm wondering whether or not I'll ever be able to hear again.

Gulping nervously, I try my best to forget about my ears and check what's in the box. When I go to lift my leg, it doesn't move. I frown in confusion, trying to move again. My feet stay stuck in the same position. It's like I've suddenly been paralysed. Like my legs are no longer my own.

"What's happening?" Declans panicked voice makes me look up into his direction. His body is still slightly bent over the box, motionless. His eyes are wide and frantic. "I-I can't move. My head's the only thing that's working." I realise that Declan's right, the only part of my body that I can move is my head. "We've all been cursed!!" Declan shrieks in alarm. It seems that all Declans annoyance has bee replaced with raw panic.

"Declan, listen to me. We ain't cursed. None of us can move. You have to tell us what's in that box." Amber says slowly. But I can tell that underneath her calm commandments, she too is freaking out slightly.

"Umm, okay." Declan takes a couple of deep breaths. Slowly his eyes drift over to the open box. "It's empty, except for a silver sphere."

"Anythin' else." Amber asks slowly. I can practically see the gears ticking over inside her massive head.

"No. The inside of the box is all bronze. Like the outside." Declans voice shakes a bit.

Amber nods her head slightly, "Describe in heaps of detail, exactly what the silver sphere looks like."

"Well, it's about the size of a tennis ball," Declan begins, "it's got a couple of holes in it, and it's got some flashing lights on it."

"What colour? How fast are they flashing?"

"Neon yellow and green. They're flashing every two seconds."

Amber sighs, "Okay, this is high tech."

"You know what it is?" I ask at her. My arms are in an awkward position in front of me, the first pricks of pins and needles race from my fingers to the tip of my shoulder.

Amber nods slowly, "I think so. I've never actually dealt with this stuff before but I have a good idea of what it is."

"Well can you stop it? What's it doing to us?" Declans eyes seem to of widened drastically as he stares intently at Amber.

Amber hums in a thinking tone, "Well it sounds like a BWD, a Brain Wave Disrupter. They're incredibly rare and expensive since seventy percent of it is made out of rhodium."

"Rhodium?" I question Amber.

Her eyes dart up to mine, nodding slightly, she continues. "Rhodium, is one of the worlds rarest metals. Sellin' at ten thousands dollars for every thirty kilograms, you can see how it's hard to get ya hands on somethin' like this. Rhodium is mainly used in cars but it can also be used in glass and jewellery. Not much rhodium is used in it though. Rhodium is known for not corroding away and can protect things easily."

"Well that's fascinating, but what is this thing?" Declan nods his head towards the mysterious device Amber called the, BWD.

"The BWD sends out inferred signals that interfere with ya brain signal. Each one can be programmed to mess up different parts of your brain signal. In this case, I'm pretty sure it's stoppin' us from movin' everythin' except our head and neck. That bronze box was stopping the signal from hitting us, but now that it's open, the waves are directly hitting us."