The Riddle Of The Future

The Future

Lucy was hanging off of a branch by her shirt, swinging precariously. The more I watched, the lower she slipped.

"Let her go!" I screamed at Mr. Than. It was then that I decided to do something incredibly stupid. I rushed at the man with as much strength as I could, planning on bowling us both over to the ground and giving him a black eye. However, before I could even move, Mr. Than snapped his fingers again and I felt invisible ropes start to tighten around my abdomen and arms. They were constricting my breath and I gasped, falling to the damp grass, struggling wildly. I screamed and screamed until my throat was sore.

Mr. Than sighed and snapped his fingers once more, rendering me speechless. I was unable to utter a single word. I glared up at the man hatefully, despising the evil smirk that was still playing on his lips.

"Isn't the silence wonderful?" he mused staring down at me. "You can learn a lot when it's quiet."

I stopped writhing and watched as Mr. Than turned his back to both Lucy and I. He lifted his arms up and with his palms outstretched, started muttering under his breath. I watched in bewilderment as something started to appear in front of my eyes. It was hazy at first but the more Mr. Than spoke, the clearer it became. A stone gateway was materialising out of thin air and I felt my body stiffen in disbelief. It was a large structure with strange markings carved into the material. I could also see depictions of what looked like magical battles. The people on the stone had their arms outstretched, sparks flying from their hands. They were aiming their magic at flying beings in the sky that largely resembled dragons that I had learned about in folklore.

Mr. Than stepped aside and I was able to see a part of the gateway that I couldn't before. My stomach dropped like a stone as I saw a portrait of myself fighting one of the dragons. It had to have been me. It was unmistakeable. My curly hair was flying out from behind me and I had my own hands outstretched. Beside my portrait was Lucy but her facial features were stern and hard. She was also battling a dragon but this one was incredibly scary, spikes coming out of its body. I felt a chill go down my spine.

What the hell was going on?

Mr. Than clicked his fingers and suddenly, the archway was filled with a milky, wavy substance and to my surprise, I could hear wind coming from whatever was on the other side. I was terrified again.

"You're going in there," Mr. Than said pleasantly. I was filled with fear and started writhing and struggling again but I was powerless. The man stood behind me and kicked me towards the opening of the gateway. I rolled helplessly towards the entrance, scrambling for any purchase on the ground but it was useless. My body entered the portal and suddenly, I was seeing disturbing images in my mind. My parents flashed before me, their bodies turning into cockroaches and crawling all over my body. I screamed and thrashed before the image changed again. I immediately wished it hadn't because now I was staring face-to-face with an indescribable monster. I thought for a second that I was looking at the devil himself. It was huge with insects crawling in and out of its mouth. For some reason, the monster was flickering in and out view, as if I was watching it from a bad reception. The monster lifted a giant arm and pointed at me. I screamed once again and closed my eyes, wishing that this nightmare would end.

*

I slowly opened my eyes and groaned as light flooded my vision. I shot up when I remembered what had happened. Where the hell was I?

I looked around and saw rows and rows of beds, identical to the one I was laying in. I looked down and was relieved to see that I was still wearing the same clothes that I had been last night. A door was situated on the opposite side of the room and I took note of it. The ceiling was high and covered in glass windows, the sun shining down on my face. At one end of the room, there was medical equipment and my first thought was that I had been in an accident and I was in the hospital. It was eerily quiet and sterile. Unease settled in my stomach.

A moan sounded from next to me and I jumped in surprise. I saw Lucy in the bed next to me and sighed in relief. I leaned in to wake her, shaking her shoulder gently.

"I don't want to go to school," she mumbled. I giggled. She always spoke in her sleep. I constantly made fun of her for it.

"Five more minutes!" she suddenly screamed and this time I cackled loudly. Lucy's eyes snapped open and she shot up, just like I had done. I watched as the expression on her face turned from surprise to incredulity.

"Alex?" she asked slowly.

"Yeah?"

"Where the hell are we?"

"I have no idea," I replied. Suddenly, the door burst opened and Mr. Than strolled inside. He looked exactly the same as last night and I felt the air in the room turn cold. A shiver ran down my spine.

"Get up," he ordered.

I felt anger bubble in my stomach. Why should I have to do what he says? He kidnapped us! I could report him to the police and have him thrown in jail! I was about to retort until Lucy caught sight of my face.

"Don't, Alex. You'll just make it worse," she whispered. Mr. Than had his back to us and was walking back out of the door.

"Lucy is smart, Alex. You may want to listen to her advice unless you want to end up in a sticky situation."

He was threatening me which made the anger turn into rage. I almost leapt at him but Lucy kept me in place by putting a restraining hand on my trembling arm. The nerve he had. I would just have to wait for my moment. There was no way Mr. Than was getting away with this.

Lucy and I got out of the beds and followed him out into the hallway. The air was chilly and I rubbed at my arms. The minute we stepped out of the hospital room, I noticed something was seriously wrong. The hallway was suddenly flickering in and out of view, as if this was just another vision in my mind. I wanted to ask Lucy if she was having the same problem but I dared not to speak unless Mr. Than decided that I didn't need to be alive after all. We kept our distance while we walked out of the building.

"Oi, Mr. Tan, or whatever," I called. "Why don't we just stay in there? It seems safe enough."

Lucy squeezed my arm painfully at the comment and I saw Mr. Than's back stiffen. I felt slight satisfaction.

"Because it's not real, little girl," he sneered. "I created that building to shelter you two while you regained your strength."

Mr. Than arrived at the building's double doors and held them open for us. Sunlight poured inside and we stepped through the entrance. The minute we were clear of the building, it disappeared. As if it was a mirage. My eyes widened and I felt my heart beat quicken.

"Holy crap," I breathed. "Where the hell are we?"

Lucy looked as astounded as I was. We gazed around at our surroundings in horror. It was as if we were in the middle of a desert. It was barren; a wasteland. There were no trees, animals or buildings in sight. We were completely and utterly alone. It was in that moment that I felt defeated. How were we supposed to get out of this situation?

Mr. Than hadn't stopped walking and I ran to catch up with him.

"Where are we?" I demanded. "There's no way we're still on Earth. The sand... even the air is different."

Mr. Than chuckled and stopped to look at me. "Don't worry, we're still on Earth. Just a future version."

Lucy and I gaped at one another. Our dream had come true. We had finally time travelled. But it wasn't how we had expected and this certainly wasn't the time to celebrate. How could this be the future? This was a terrible, desolate and sad place. The stench of death and decay was literally vibrating off of the sand.

"You're lying!" Lucy gasped. "This can't possibly be the future!"

Mr. Than suddenly wouldn't answer any of our questions and so we walked on in silence, leaving each of us to wallow in our thoughts.