Monet

Chapter 4

Golden rays of sunshine flow onto the indigo lilies and periwinkle tulips surrounding the dark blue and grey path. Small yellow dandelions sprouted in between the narrow, worn down bricks. Half way down the path I could see the dark mysterious fog coming from the forest. The trees were skyscrapers as the blades of grass and broken leaves were people and the roads. From the other end of the path I could already tell the canopy is too thick in areas, some the size of football fields or larger, for light to penetrate and reach the ground.

Elias grips my hand tighter and pulls me closer to his side. I look up at him and watch him stare off into the distant, possibly life threatening forest adventure. Dare I say adventure? Is it really an adventure when you very well know there are areas unexplored and stories of people going in and never come back out alive? Is this really an adventure or is it a death wish for the both of us?

"Lyra?" I get lured back into reality when the faint seriousness of my name being called. I look up to find the face the voice came from, I see Elias. I am unable to respond, I am only able to look into his eyes and breathe.I watch Elias as he turns towards me and places his hands on either of my shoulders. He slowly starts shaking me back forth slightly, repeatedly moving his lips. I make out he is saying my name over and over again. I just stand there, unable to move or speak. I close my eyes and tilt my head back. I watch galaxies from around me, and the feeling of floating overcomes me. I hear voices, they seem as they are coming from all around me. I try to focus on one voice, it sounds familiar. No matter how hard I try I am not able to place who the voice belongs to. I am violently brought back to the real world with a ringing in my ears.

I look up and see Elias with tears in his eyes and red face. He lets his trembling hands slide off of my shoulders and onto my wrists. His hands are mini earthquakes wrapped around my now cold wrists. I open my mouth, expecting for a reasonable explanation to come out, but the only thing that does come out is, "H-hi."

"Hi? Hi?! That's all you have to say after scaring me?!" Elias says. I could tell he was intensely trying not to yell or get too upset. I don't know how he is able to stay calm in this situation, I would have already lost my mind by now.

"I.. I'm sorry. I don't know what happened.." I looked down at my newly bought shoes. Why did he buy this for me anyways?

"Just explain the best you can, please." He took my head in his hands and lifted it so we are looking at each other.

"Okay, I know this is going to sound crazy but.. It was like I was floating. I could see what looked like stars around me, They were all different colors and sizes. No two stars were the same, not even the shade of any two stars matched. Then I heard voices. They were coming from all around me. It sounded like a million different conversations were going on at once. It was like standing in the middle of a crowded room with a hundred extremely loud people," I stopped as I noticed Elias' facial expression change. "And by judging the look on your face you think I have gone mad."

Elias quickly looked away, after taking a deep breathe he turned back towards me. "No I do not think you are crazy, I am just trying to understand. I have never heard of this happening to anyone in real life. I mea-"

"Wait?! If not in real life then where?" I cut him off.

"If you would've let me finish then I would have told you." I feel the heat rising to my cheeks. Elias holds back a giggle with a smile before he continues. "I have only read about this sort of experience before in books. I never thought it was a real thing that could actually happen to someone."

"Tell me everything you know about it. I want to know what is going on with me."

"The only thing I remeber that is of any help right now is that there is only one other person who goes through experiences like this before. Or only one known person to have similar experiences anyways."

"Well where can I find this guy? I need to talk to him and find out what in the world is going on."

"Well first of all he is actually a she, and second of all she's in there." Elias said as he raised his hand and pointed in the direction of the forest.

"Okay, well do you know what her name is?"

"Jade. She is the one person who knows everything. She is commonly known as The One."

"The One? Why?"

"Because she is the girl from the prophecy."

"Okay woah, woah, woah. Prophecy? This is just getting more confusing so instead of reciting every word you read in the great book, how about you just give me a quick summary of this? So we can get going and try to figure out what in the ever loving world is going on with me." I said, taking a step back from Elias, annoyed.

A low sigh came from Elias. He turned towards the forest and began to walk. "How about I tell you as we get going?" He stopped a few feet in front of me and turned with an outstretched hand.

"That sounds good to me." I walked up to him and took his hand. He pulled me close to his side as we began to walk. I looked behind us for the first time since we left. Once we crossed the edge of the forest we would not turn return, at least not the same. We still have a chance to turn back. I still have a chance to go back, find the box under the tree, and go home. No. I will not go back. I can not. I refuse. I am happy here and I am not ruining all of that because of some stupid little fear. I want to stay here with him.

"I guess since we're moving I should probably get to telling you about that prophecy, shouldn't I?" Elias asked with a smirk on his face.

"Yes please."

"Oh well only because you said please. It is said that a girl with dark brown hair with purple flowing into blue underneath, brown eyes with golden swirls, and the amulet will be able to save her world. No one knows what she will be saving us from. No one even knows where she will be coming from. Some say she lives here, some say she lived in a different world and was transported here by magic, other say she's not even real. Everyone believes that Jade is The One but honestly I don't."

"Why don't you you think she is The One?"

"Well considering no one has seen her since she first was announced the girl from the prophecy. I just feel like she messed with everyone or something. I just have a bad feeling about her."

"So you don't like her because of a feeling?"

"Oh shut up. You can't say you haven't ever done the same thing. So yes I don't like her because of a feeling."

The conversation stopped short when we reached the edge of the forest. The fog was so thick I could barely see my hand infront of my face.I squeezed my hand tightly and still felt another hand. Elias is still next to me. Good, now I know I will not be alone.

"Elias.."

"Yes Lyra?"

"I'm scared.."

"I am too Lyra, I am too. You want to go?"

I stood, staring out into the unknown and unpredictable. I stood up straight and answered confidently, "Yes." And with that Elias and I took the step over the edge of the path and into the forest. The fog was gone, there was absolutely no fog anywhere beyond the end of the path. I looked over at Elias to see the same shocked expression that is on my own face. We had crossed into the forest and we were not going to be turning back, not like we could even if we wanted to later.