Finding Finn Reed

XVII

I followed Atticus into the building. Upon entering, I took notice in all of its detail, and how it had absolutely no detail. The entire room was just about empty, and everything in it was white: the floor, the walls, the ceiling, and the only thing in the room, the door. "What is this place?" Atticus asked as he looked around. I shrugged, and kept walking towards the only door in the room. As I walked, I looked back and noticed how the door we came in from had disappeared. I sighed, and placed my hands on the white door and white handle. "Come on, this is our only way through," I said, "I'm betting whatever we saw went through here too." Atticus didn't say anything, and proceeded to follow me. As I opened the door, I was led into a hallway. When the door shut behind us, it disappeared just like the last door. "What the hell?!" Atticus shouted in reference to the disappearing doors. I ignored his angry outburst, and kept walking forward. The hallway seemed to go on for miles, but I could see another door at the end of the hall.

Once we opened the door, we were lead into yet another white room. Door after door, hallway after hallway, both Atticus and I always ended up in a white room. Eventually, we grew irritated. We began to run through each door in hopes that we wouldn't end up in a white room. "We're trapped," Atticus grunted, "We're stuck here forever." "No we're not, we'll find a way out, I promise" I said. "And if you don't?" he asked in an irritated tone. I looked around, and kept walking. "Then white will just have to be your new favorite color." Atticus scoffed at the mere thought of being trapped in such a labyrinth. "Look," I said, "I know were getting close, I can fee-", suddenly, a low sound of what appeared to be footsteps echoed through the halls, followed by foreign chatter. At that instant, I began to run as fast as I could. "Where are you going?" Atticus shouted. "I heard people, over here!" I replied as I reached the end of the hallway. I nervously gripped the door handle, and yanked it open. We were lead into another room. Only this time, the room was completely dark, except for two brightly lit doors in the corner of the room.

Atticus and I cautiously made our way over to the doors. What we saw had perplexed us to our limit. Each door had our name on it. The first door read: ATTICUS DONOVON, and the second read: MELANIE ABNER. I looked over to Atticus, who was studying the nature of the mysterious door with his name on it. "I think you're suppose to go through it" I suggested. Atticus looked at me with annoyance and said, "What if it's a trap? We don't exactly know what's going on right now." I looked down, and sighed. "I created this world, I don't think I'd booby trap anything." Atticus turned his annoyance into regret, "I'm sorry," he said, "Let's go through the doors." I nodded, and walked over to my door. Before opening my door, Atticus called out for my name. "Melanie, wait... What if we don't see each other after this?" his hands began to shake. I looked at Atticus, in case his words were right. I noticed how his face looked pale, almost like he was terrified of opening his door. His arms and hands were violently shaking, and his eyes looked like they were at the brink of tears. I quickly looked away, and looked back at my door. "In case we don't see each other," I said, my voice shaking, "Then I'm glad you told me the things you did, and I'm glad to have met you." I immediately opened my door, and leaped through it before Atticus could interject at my words.

I was greeted by a bright light. When my eyes adjusted to the brightness, I had a better understanding of where I was. I was at my old house, my parent's house. I quickly got up, brushed myself off, and called for my parent's name, but no one answered. Before I could do anything else, I saw a shadow cross my path, and make its way into my old room. "Wait! Don't go!" I chased after the shadow into my old room. My room had looked the same when I had left it before the evacuation. The walls were a light pink, and most of my belongings were scattered across the bed and floor, in such a manner that they looked messy. I took notice in all the things I had left behind. When they announced the evacuation, my parents had stormed into my room, violently woke me up, and took me with them. They took me into the heart of Intemilly, where everyone else was waiting to leave. When I told them I was going to stay, they had no choice but to agree. That night, I walked back home and cried myself to sleep. When I had woken up the next day, I remembered my parents were gone. I remained in that house for almost a year before moving into the town.

I saw the shadow bolt to the furthest corner of the room. It almost looked like the shadow was afraid of my presence. "Who are you?" I asked as I slowly approached the blurry shadow. As I walked over to the shadow, it began to jerk back and forth. "Don't be scared, I need help," I said in a soothing tone, "I'm lost, just like you." Suddenly, the shadow stood still, and began to take form. I stopped walking, and waited for the shadow to come to me. The shadow twisted and turned, it got big and then it got small. It went in all sorts of directions before deciding on a shape. I sat on my bed, and waited. When the shadow finished, I could clearly see what I was dealing with. A little boy, dressed in a sky blue shirt and jeans. My eyes widened with surprise as the little boy slowly approached me.

I motioned a little wave at the boy who looked just as scared as I did. The little boy stopped walking when he was just a foot away from me. "Who are you?" I asked. The boy looked sad, his face was soon filled with tears. "I'm lost," the little boy softly cried, "I want to go home." "What's your name? I can help you, if you help me" I kindly said. The boy wiped his tears, and looked up at me. "Only you can take me home" he said. "Where's your home?" I asked as I kneeled down to face the little boy. Suddenly, the boy began to cry again. "I don't know," he sobbed, "You created me!" "I created you?" I anxiously asked. The boy nodded and said, "You created me a long time ago, but now I want to go home." I looked around in hopes for a clear answer to the little boy. "What's your name? My name is-" "I know your name," the boy interrupted, "But I'm afraid to tell you mine." I sighed, and looked at the boy. He didn't look familiar at all, and I didn't remember creating a person. "Were you the shadow I saw enter the building?" I asked. "Yes, I'm looking for my way home" the boy replied in an impatient tone. "I'll help you get home, but first I need your help getting out of here. I need to find my friend, can you help me?" I asked. The little boy nodded, and took my hand while smiling. "It's this way" he said as he tugged me out of my room. The boy led me out of my room, and out of my house.

As we walked out of the house, I noticed a door in the middle of the fields that read: EXIT. The boy squeezed my hand, and ran towards the door. "You need to go through here, your friend is on the other side waiting for you" he said. "Great, let's go" I said as I reached for the door knob. When I opened the door, I noticed the little boy walk back into the house. "Wait, where are you going?" I asked. "I can't go through there, go and get your friend, then come back here and help me find my way home." The boy opened the front door and entered the house. I shook my head with confusion, and proceeded to enter the door.

The little boy was right, Atticus was waiting for me on the other side of the door. He was back at the park, sitting. "It's good to see you again" I said as I walked over to him. Atticus turned around, and shot up. "You're back!" he smiled. "Yeah, I am," I replied, "But I need to go back real quick." Atticus stopped smiling, and looked scared again at the thought of me leaving. "Where are you going?" he nervously asked. "It's okay," I said, "I need to take care of something, but I want you to wait here. When I get back, you can tell me what you saw through your door." Atticus nodded, and I went back to my door.