The Maze of Existence

Episode 8: Compulsion

"Rowin, wake up!"

    My eyes snapped open. I saw Lincoln standing above me, holding his hand out to help me up. I took it.

    "We have to go, now," he stated, snagging his backpack from the ground.

    "What--"

    "They're here," he said.

    The way he said it sent chills down my spine as I glanced around. No one was in sight; nothing unusual caught my eye.

    "Who?" I asked.

    He grabbed my wrist and leaned in close to talk.

    "Concord. We can't go to camp, but we'll sneak into the city and try to find your family. Follow my lead."

    "Why would we go towards the very thing we're running from?" I protested as he began to turn away.

    "Because it's the last place they'd expect us to be. Hold onto your compass," he instructed.

    He looked around once more, then nodded to me, his gaze sure and steady. We began running, his grip still firm on my wrist as he took the lead.

    I couldn't help but wonder if this was a result of Eden leaving. Or if it had to do with the so-called deadly Antipode.

    I was terrified. I didn't really know anything about the city, other than it was run by a man who loved his power. Eden and I had tried to get in, but there hadn't a probable solution.

    Gradually, a loud pulsation filled the air, one that caused my ears to throb and my head to be filled with senseless noise.

    Lincoln kept glancing back at me as his grip tightened, an assuring smile on his face.

    The wind picked up, tossing my hair in all directions. I directed my gaze to the sky to see a huge plane of sorts. It was dark and menacing; a crane came off of it with a huge silver disk attached to its chain. The air around the disk was hazy.

    Whoom, whoom, whoom.

    The sound was deafening; I resisted the urge to let go of Lincoln in order to cover my ears.

    Suddenly, my arm was being yanked upward. I yelped and looked up to see Lincoln being pulled up by some invisible source, his eyes wide with fear.

    "Stay with me, Rowin!" he pleaded as my grip slipped.

    His backpack seemed to be wanting to tug itself off his shoulders, taking him up to the floating disk.

    Finally, my wrist fell from him.

    My feet hit the ground running as I tried to keep up with the way Lincoln was being pulled. His hands reached for me.

    "Hurry Rowin!" he shouted as I kept running.

    I looked up to see a steep hill drop off. It was now or never.

     I couldn't be alone. I couldn't survive on my own anymore. I didn't care if I was with a stranger or family. I didn't want to be left stranded again.

    So when I went to leap for his hands, I was desperate. I jumped with all I had in me, out of the tall grass, off the ledge, to him like he was my last chance at living.

    For a frightening moment, I was suspended in mid-air, willing myself to reach him. I allowed my eyes to meet his, the compass pressed against my chest, my ears throbbing from the sound.

    Our hands slapped together. We both held on like trapeze artists. Except, he was being pulled up into death's grasp and this wasn't for fun.

    My chest heaved up and down as I watched the ground grow further and further away. He stopped advancing into the air and slammed against the disk, his backpack keeping us up.

    Arms aching, I dared to look down as we were pulled over the warehouses and guards.

    Lincoln pulled me into his arms. I held around his shoulders as I felt his voice in my ear.

    "We're going to drop from here, okay?!"

    "We'll kill ourselves doing that!" I replied.

    I looked down and saw water glistening in the light of dawn, right against the buildings. It lazily lapsed against some of them; walkways were built between communities. It reminded me of Venice.

    "Ready?!"

    I was about to protest when I felt him slipping his arms out of his backpack. I clung to his shoulders, hoping he wasn't serious.

    Finally, he was hanging onto the backpack with one hand and holding me with his other. The wind howled and the pulsation was about to make me lose my mind. My heart jumped in my throat when I realized we were falling fast through the dark, toward the water below.

    I resisted the urge to scream as Lincoln held me close to him and flipped in the air so he would land first. He was smiling again.

    The buildings became bigger and soon we were descending beside them. I could only imagine how many people were watching these maniacs fall from the sky.

    I inhaled as he hit the water with a loud smack! and we were instantly rushing to the bottom. I slammed into his chest, releasing a precious breath. The water slowed us down as I opened my eyes and pulled away from Lincoln.

    He was floating beside me, quickly swimming in a random direction. I followed him, mind racing, soaked to the bone. He didn't slow down and didn't go up for air, causing me to panic. I didn't know how long I could make it.

    My lungs burned as I pushed my way through the water, my clothes weighing me down. Head spinning, I resisted the urge to surface. Lincoln would lead me somewhere safe. However, out of the will to live, I pulled in a breath, only to have my lungs hit by water.

    Chest burning, I thrashed around, trying to figure out which way was up.

    Black had started to creep into the corners of my vision when I was suddenly pulled out.

    Gasping, water ran off of me in rivers as I was let down on a bed of grass. I coughed and my lungs ached as my head spun.

    "Rowin?"

    I scrambled up to my feet, breathing heavily, expecting to face Lincoln.

    Surprise was my first reaction. She was dripping wet in the chill of the morning, slightly skinnier than I remembered her, and looked exhausted. But she was still herself.

    "Adria?"

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(a/n)

There is so much I want to tell you, but so many words left for you to read first. (:

I'm so happy right now, you have no idea. <3

As always, thanks for reading! Lemme know if you liked it in the comments and vote if you want to. Oh, and follow me on Instagram, because I've started posting more on there now! 😎 My username is rayne_abigail

You are all amazing, God bless!

-Abigail

{7.25.16}

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