Stuck in a Dream

What's Behind Bars

On the scary scale, I rate this a 3/10 for intense fear. This was just odd to me. Any age should be able to read this without being scared. There is one iffy scene, but I do not go into detail. 

I walked through the halls of my school with a rush of kids surrounding me. My keys swung effortlessly around my fingers as I walked. I could feel the moisture in the air signaling a thunderstorm which just fueled the energy from the other students. I felt like I was about to start shaking from the energy around me. Through the doors, I could see dark clouds covering the sky and making the world go dim.

When I walked out of the school, the humidity sky rocketed, but the air remained cool. The teenagers flooded around me, throwing themselves into their cars and recklessly driving out of the large square parking lot. I walked down the middle row of cars and saw the line at the light to get out of the school get backed up. I threw my stuff into the back of my car and opened my door to hop in, but a guy approached me with a smile. I familiarized myself with him as a good friend. (Let's call him Jesse)

I shut the drivers door to my car and smiled at Jesse as we met each other half way. "Bit of a mess huh?" He stuck his hands in his jean pockets and stood lazily as if he had all the time in the world. He was wearing a black leather jacket and black jeans. His brown hair was nicely styled and his face was cleanly shaven.

"I guess. What shall we do?" My teasing tone made his smile broaden. He leaned on his car and looked at the growing traffic. The air was thicker and I had to lean on my own car to help coach myself to take deep breathes.

"I have an idea. Want to come? It may or may not be dangerous..." He opened his passenger side door and looked at me with a raised eyebrow. I smiled and hopped into his lifted truck. He turned the car on and with a rev of the engine, he took off towards the side of the school where a side road appeared. He tore down the street to downtown. He pulled into an alley and parked the car.

He guided me down the stone street to the only store. Rain started to softly fall and I was getting antsy with the odd feeling I was getting. We were walking onto the wet sidewalk when Jess turned me to face him and looked directly into his face. "Alright, stay by my side. Do not leave me. I can't protect you if you aren't by my side. They will listen to me, but I'm afraid you are of little importance to them. Promise me right here you'll listen to me" There was no teasing glint in his eyes. He was serious.

"Where are we? Why do you have to protect me?" I was nervous from his speech.

"Our location is not for discussion. Do not ask me why I am the only one to protect you. That information is not for your ears. I want to keep you safe, but that can only happen if I have you the whole time. This will scare you, maybe even terrorize you, but this is a part of me. Do not ask why" He closed his eyes for a moment trying to choose his words correctly. "Promise me" He muttered. "Promise me you will listen and stay by my side no matter what I do" He opened his eyes, still holding gently to the sides of my face.

"I promise" My whispered words made him let out a breath and he pulled me by my wrist towards the store that now read 'Bank'. We walked in and Jesse approached the counter. My stomach was doing a marathon of flips. I could feel something was off. The bank's lights were almost completely off. The man at the front desk looked intently at Jesse and I. A smile spread onto the mans vile face and he gave a nod of his head to his left. A hallway, darker than the bank ran a few feet back before slamming into a metal door.

"Stay close" Jesse whispered as he opened the door and revealed a hallway made out of stone from floor to ceiling. The right wall was made up of cells. The cells had no lights except for the dimming torch on the wall. "This is where the worst of the worst are kept. There are seven of us, sometimes they put us in here as punishment if we get too bold" I turned towards the cells and back to Jesse when I saw something. My back was almost completely against the metal bars as I gave Jesse a strange look.