Under Worlders

Three

I was running in darkness. I realised I must be back at home. I smiled to myself. Here, at least, I know about everything that goes on.

But something wasn't right.

There was a low growl. I'd never heard that kind of animal before. The ground shook slightly. This animal must be a large one. But then the ground shook harder, and continuously. The growling grew louder. Whatever this creature was, it was coming closer.

I began to run, jumping over some obstacles, dodging the rest. The creature continued to follow. The sounds of crushing rocks echoed and the groans of the creature repeated over and over again in my head. Finally, I stopped. I needed to know what this thing was.

And how to kill it.

As it came closer, I saw that it was not a creature at all. It was made out of a kind of rock that I had never seen before. There were lights also, illuminating the way. It's giant claw picked up a large rock than crushed it, without difficulty. I became afraid. Afraid for my life, afraid for my home.

I got up so swiftly that it startled someone. I looked over to see Dilan picking himself up from the floor and dusting himself off.

"I'm sorry if I woke you," he muttered, trying desperately not to look at her.

"You not wake me. I dreamed. I woke," I tried as hard as I could to explain to him that he was not the reason I woke.

"Oh, all right. There is food for you in the dining room if you want it." Dilan answered, with a matter of formality. "Oh, and you might want to put these back on. That is, unless you want your eyes to burn again." he passed me the eye things from earlier. 

"What these?" I asked suspiciously. 

"Sunglasses. They protect your eyes from the sun," Dilan explained. I still did not know what this sun thing was, but it sounded dangerous if I needed to wear something over my eyes to protect them.

I nodded and placed them as best I could over my eyes. Dilan chuckled but said nothing. 

Then he turned around and walked out the door. I assumed this meant for me to follow him. We walked for a long time in silence, and finally, we reached our destination. 

"Food." I muttered. My stomach growled at the thought. I realised I hadn't eaten or drunk anything for a while now. 

Dilan motioned for me to come with him. He brought me to a long piece of wood on several sticks. Beside this long piece of wood there were several smaller pieces of wood on four legs. Dilan went and sat down on one, leaving me standing there, unsure of what to do. I looked around. There were more people also sitting on this strange piece of furniture. 

The hairy faced man named Luke that I had met yesterday came up behind me and laughed his jolly laugh. "Don't worry, it's just a table. And the things they are sitting on, are just chairs. They won't bite, they're lifeless and made of wood." 

"I not afraid of anything." I snapped and Luke laughed, eyes twinkling. 

I sat down at the table, next to Dilan and Luke. They watched as I stared at the food in front of me. I had never seen anything like this before. There was a skinny piece of meat, a lump of mushy white stuff, and a small pile of little green balls and orange and yellow cubes. I went to try the meat, one thing I was kinda familiar with, but it was hot and I tore my hand away, checking for burns. Dilan chuckled beside me a little. I grabbed some of the little green balls and chucked them in my mouth. Instantly, I spat them out, the taste disgusted me. Luke laughed, saying something to the person next to him about 'she's like a little kid! doesn't like her peas!' I glared at him for calling me a child, and he just laughed again. I tried at the white mushy stuff, hoping this food would let me eat it. It was warm, and the flavour savoury, but I didn't mind it. My stomach growled again, and I shovelled more of the white stuff into my mouth, enjoying the feeling of filling it with food. 

Dilan touched my shoulder. "Your sausage should be nice now."

I wandered what he meant by sausage. I looked at him strangely and he sighed and pointed to the skinny piece of meat. I nodded to show I understood, and picked up the sausage and bit at it. The flavour flooded my mouth immediately. I loved this meat, it's flavour so much different to that of a dead rat. I looked at Dilan who was smiling, apparently pleased that I liked the meat.  

"Well, now that you are finished eating," Luke said as soon as I had finished the meat, "There is someone I would like you to meet." 

I nodded, and followed him until we came to a strange room with more tables, that were higher than the last and had no chairs beside them. I guessed that tables could be used for more than just eating. There were strange containers on top of the tables, that seemed invisible. They held coloured liquids, although some had water with little things growing inside of it. Luke motioned for me to come over towards him and I did so, unsure why I had to leave the little growing plants. 

In front of him there was a small scrawny women who wore glasses as I did, but they were clear in the middle so that you could see her big and curious blue eyes. 

"Iz dis da one?" she asked, her voice making me giggle a little. I had never heard a voice like hers before. 

"Yes, Zara, this is..." he stopped, and I realised why. I hadn't actually given him my name. And I wasn't going to. Where I had come from, your name was something you gave to the one you were to pledge your life to. I wasn't planning on pledging my life to either of these people anytime soon. 

Noticing that I wasn't going to fill in the blanks, Luke shrugged and tried again, "Well, let's just call her Spark, hey? Do you like that?" he asked me, and I nodded. I did not know what a spark was, but I liked the sound of the word. 

"Vell, it iz very nice to meet you, Spark." Zara said, holding out her hand as Dilan had done earlier, I did the same, but instead of laughing and putting her hand away as Dilan had done, she grabbed my hand and shook it. I tore my hand away, fearing she would shake it off. 

I felt Luke laugh silently beside me. Zara ignored him and just asked:

"Zo, zhall ve begin de experimentz?"