Curious

Chapter 10: Down the Rabbit Hole

CHAPTER TEN: Down the Rabbit Hole

"AAAAAHHH!"

Simon jolted awake. His heartbeat increased exponentially and though he was sleeping in a cold, hard cave, he was sweating. He felt like he had just woken up from a nightmare though his mind somehow recognized that it wasn't his scream.

He looked around. Hai Lun had let him sleep in his little cave tunnel alongside him. He reached in the darkness for the lit candle and looked at Hai Lun. His face was contorted in pain and he was very hot and feverish. It was obvious that his dreams weren't of sunny skies and meadows. Simon wasn't sure if he should wake him—he knew that waking someone up from a dream could actually have even worse consequences and his time in the army and his own PTSD reminded him that it wasn't a good idea.

He sat up and leaned against the rock wall, resting his head on the wall, and closing his eyes, calming his heartbeat. It was true that he had way too many scares these past few days. Now that he thought about it, he wasn't sure how he was still alive.

He couldn't go asleep now—Hai Lun's scream had woken him up for good. Now he could not possibly sleep for another two hours. Simon wondered what time of night it was. He got up, feeling his way through the rock and stumbled blindly in the tunnel to the main cave. A bonfire was breathing its last few breaths, sputtering incessantly. Simon grabbed some wood that had been piled somewhat haphazardly in the corner and added a few logs to the fire. He stoked it, bringing it back to full life once again, and sat down by it, staring into the films, letting the heat warm his face and enjoying how the flames captivated his eyes.

He had about two minutes of peace, before he heard another scream. This time it was clearly a woman's. He rushed down the tunnel that led into the Scottish woman's (Ellen) chambers, but just as he was about to enter her little cubby, he heard another male scream echo down the cave tunnels. He stopped, conflicted on what he should do. Then as he was still deciding, he heard all three of his cavern roommates scream at the same time. A chill ran up Simon's spine—this was by far the creepiest he'd seen so far in his adventure in this crazy world. He remembered Hai Lun's words: "we are all insane." The truth of those words struck Simon with such an intensity that he felt compelled to sit down and dwell on the meaning of life for a considerable amount of time. Resolving that there was nothing he could do about each of his roommates nightmares, he went back to main cavern and sat by the fire. His only company were the eerie screams that echoed across the cavern walls. There were three other people in this cave, in this place with them, but he was then struck at how alone he was.

He needed to get out of here, before he turned into one of them.

A week went by. A routine was agreed upon, albeit reluctantly on Simon's part. Every morning, around six am (Simon guessed that this was the time though with no clock he could not clarify), he would be woken up by Hai Lun and they would go out to fish in the morning. The Scottish woman, whose name Simon discovered was Ellen, would go out later in the day and hunt. If they were lucky, they had both fish and hare for dinner. Usually it was one or the other, though Simon remembered a day where they had to resort to berries.

The other guy who lived with them, the one who always drew infinity triangles, Maddock was so off his rocker that the others just assumed he would do nothing but draw infinity triangles all day. He would occasionally take a break, usually to eat with them, but his hand would always be in the continuous motion of drawing a triangle, even if he had no surface to imprint it upon.

The Scottish woman was never in a good mood. Or rather her good mood was like Simon in a good mood—just barely tolerable. She had a fiery temper that matched her fiery red hair and her anger was very easy to spark. Simon tried his best to stay away from her as much as possible, but he couldn't avoid a few confrontations, especially when Simon messed up a task that someone had given him to do. During lunch till dinner, they all went their separate ways and did their own thing for a while. Hai Lun would usually take a nap. Maddock would continue drawing his infinity triangles. Ellen would go into her private chamber and do things Simon neither knew nor did he dare ask. Simon used that time to explore the forest around him. He was still trying to find a way out. He didn't want to stay here when every night he was woken by the screams of the gang. There was something they had all gone through that had traumatized them past eternity. Simon didn't know what it was and he didn't much want to know for fear that the affliction they all had was affecting him too.

One day, ten days after Simon had come, Hai Lun went out to walk. It started to rain and he didn't come back until after dinnertime. Ellen, though she pretended to be her normal self, was obviously very worried and understandably. Simon had been out in the woods and he knew how dangerous it could be, even though he knew it a lot less than Hai Lun did. When Hai Lun finally returned, he had a gash in his arm, he was soaking wet, and the next day he went down with a case of pneumonia. Ellen and Simon treated to him and he recovered soon enough. Simon decided to stay long enough to make sure that Hai Lun recovered fully.

About four days later, on the day that marked Simon's two-week anniversary staying with Hai Lun and the Gang Unwanted, Hai Lun finally recovered fully. Simon now thought about when to tell him, as Hai Lun was the one he was closest to from all the gang. He didn't know exactly where he was or exactly what he was doing for the matter but he knew that he couldn't stay with the Gang Unwanted. He didn't want to join them in their nightly screaming fest.

But he did owe the Gang Unwanted some credit. Their insanity showed Simon how sane he still was, despite everything he'd been through lately. He just didn't want to stay with them long enough to see how insane he would become.

Hai Lun knocked on the rock wall by Simon, jarring him out of his thoughts.

"Hey!" Hai Lun smiled. "Want to go for a walk?"

"Sure," Simon said, thinking this would be the perfect opportunity to break the news and tell Hai Lun of his plans to try to find his way back to reality.

They walked out of the cave, down the stairs, and strolled through the woods for ten minutes in silence. Hai Lun led the way and Simon let him as Hai Lun knew the way of the woods more than Simon did, and also Hai Lun had made it a habit of showing Simon cool things in the wilderness.

The silence was companionable, comfortable. Still, Simon knew that at one point or another, the silence would have to break, unless Simon didn't tell Hai Lun that he was leaving.

Finally, Hai Lun spoke. "So."

Simon assumed that was his cue. "How are you feeling?"

"Better. But I still hate pneumonia. It's such a hassle, especially in a place where the only proper care is a Scottish women from backward times and a hell of a temper."

"Yes," Simon agreed. But he couldn't say more. He didn't feel like saying more. He lost the courage to say what he needed to say.

They fell into silence once more, only this time Simon noticed it was more stilted.

He wondered if the awkward silence was just on his part or also Hai Lun's. He studied Hai Lun's posture and body language. Hai Lun seemed tense. Simon wondered if he knew what Simon wanted from Hai Lun and wasn't quite ready to hear it. It was strange.

But as always these things could not be put off. And Simon knew that his time was up.

They entered a clearing in the woods, another meadow.

"Hai Lun—" Simon started, resolving not to lose courage this time. He could do it. He had to do it. He had no other choice unless he actually wanted to stay in this crazy wild with Hai Lun and his gang of crazies—which also implied that he would also become a crazy himself. He sighed then. Confrontations were never really his forte. "Hai Lun," he began again, "I need to tell you some—"

Simon stopped. In the meadow in front of him stood I. I who Simon hadn't seen in two whole weeks and had almost forgotten about (though really, how could someone forget about me? After all, I am the one who drives this story). He glared at me and I just smiled faintly, waiting. He would come to me.

Hai Lun also stopped and turned to Simon with his face in pleading gesture. "I swear I didn't have a choice. I had to do it."

Simon turned to Hai Lun in shock. He couldn't believe that a friend could betray him like that, though as he didn't have the complete information, he couldn't possibly know how many times it had happened before.

"I had to do it," Hai Lun repeated. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Simon turned back to look at me.

I smiled at him and gestured him to come closer. "Come," I said, "we have much to discuss."