Dimension Travelers

Chapter 4

Once I was dressed, I got my stuff ready and went downstairs to go eat. I was still a bit jumpy from last night's dream. My heart was still pounding in my chest. So when Chloe came up behind me and tapped me on the shoulder, I jumped so high I almost hit the ceiling. If I was a cat, I would've been stuck to the wall.

"Ah!" I jumped and turned around.

Chloe titled her head. "Something wrong? That doesn't normally spook you."

I just shook my head. "I'm fine."

Then the image of her in chains flashed before my eyes. I quickly walked on and tried to remain calm. I put on my "tired" face. I was not going to let one nightmare affect my whole day. (But, sadly, it didn't work too well throughout the rest of that fatal day...)

At school, just about every noise or movement would scare me. I was looking all around each time I heard a whisper or footsteps I thought were coming for me. I tried to act normal,!as if nothing was wrong. But it didn't work very well. Chloe noticed as we walked to school.

She said, "Are you sure nothing's wrong?"

"Huh? Oh, uh, no. Nothing's wrong." I said quickly. I could hardly look at her because, when I did, I would see her in chains with the blood and the glass.

"Are you sure? You're acting weird today. Well, weirder."

Normally, I would have been offended by that. (But that day, I didn't care; I was still out of it.)

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me." I lied. I know that I shouldn't have, but I couldn't tell her what I saw...not then; later, perhaps.

She gave me a look. "Seth, you know you're a bad liar right?"

I didn't say anything. Although, she was right. I was a bad liar.

She continued, "If something's bothering you, then tell me. Unless it's personal and I don't need to know."

Tell her! My mind screamed. Tell her now while you have the chance! However, I pushed that voice aside. (I still don't know why I didn't tell her. As I write this, I can't remember exactly everything that was going through my mind. I was still in panic mode.)

"I-it's not personal..." I said.

"Then tell me." Her eyes were pleading with me. Chloe was practically pleading with me to get it off my chest. (But I didn't listen. I ignored the fact that I was not ok.)

I looked away. "Doesn't matter. I'm fine."

She sighed. "I don't understand you. But ok. If you won't talk, I won't make you."

The rest of the day was the same. Chloe kept giving me a look that said, "There's something going on with you. Please tell me," but I would just keep on walking. During study hall, she came over to me.

"Seth, what's going on with you? It's driving me crazy. I want to help you if I can." She sat down next to me.

I looked up. "Fine...I'll tell you. But not out loud."

She looked so relieved.

So I wrote my dream down:

You were falling. Not to your death, but falling into different dimensions. You were screaming. I was running to you but couldn't keep up. We entered a room that was a giant mass of purple swirls and glass. Then you were swallowed up by a purple Shadow. All that was left was a pile of shattered glass at my feet. I tried to find you but there wasn't anything I could do.

I looked in the glass and saw you in chains and bleeding badly. I tried to get to you but there was a force field built into the glass. I was screaming my head off. You looked at me with sad eyes. You held your hand up against the glass. I put my hand where yours was. Then you disappeared into thin air. The last thing I saw was glass falling on top of you.

When she was done reading, she looked at me.

"So that's why you've been so jumpy! Don't worry so much, I'll be fine." She said.

"I can't help it. And you won't be safe. Don't go, Chloe." I pleaded with her, but it still didn't have any effect on her.

Rick suddenly appeared. "You're not gonna take me seriously, are you?"

We both looked up at him and I tensed up. In fact, I remember getting up and pinning him to the wall. No one noticed. After all, they had more important things going on. Good, I was going to have a nice little chat with him; man-to-man.

"What are you talking about?" I asked angrily.

He wasn't scared. He was completely calm. "Relax, Thomas. And you know exactly what I'm talking about."

"Stay away from her. Or you'll answer to me."

"I was just warning you! You think I want you guys to get Lost?"

"I don't know what to think, considering we don't know you." I was itching to give him a black eye.

"I understand that. But don't do it. Tell Chloe that."

"Like I said online, I'll worry about Chloe. You need to worry about not getting on my bad side."

"I'm not scared of you, Seth. I've heard about your temper, though. You have that ginger temper, right?"

I didn't say anything to that; although, it did make my blood boil.

"You don't have the guts to take me on." Rick said boldly.

I shoved Rick to the ground and stood over him.

"You wanna bet?" I asked.

Then he pulled me down and I hit my head. He stood over me and got in my face.

"You don't want to mess with me. I'm more powerful than you think." He left.

Still, no one noticed anything.

Chloe came and helped me up.

"Are you ok?" She asked me.

I rubbed the back of my head. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"I've never seen him do anything like that before...have you?"

"Nope."

We both sat down.

"Chloe, I'm going to say this one more time. Please don't go. I would never forgive myself if you got Lost."

She smiled. "Thanks. I really appreciate you saying that. But if I do get Lost, it won't be your fault."

"Chloe..." I gave up. She just wouldn't change her mind.

"Don't worry, ok? I'll be back before you know it."

I looked away. "You're making a big mistake."

She didn't say anything. She just worked on her plan.

The rest of the school day was a blur as always. But I was constantly thinking things like, I have to go with her. Or maybe, I should stop her somehow. I was dreading tonight. I knew I had to do something. When school was done for the week, I raced home. Chloe didn't bother to come with me. I had to find a way to stop her. I thought that she would listen to me. But no, she didn't. This morning, she talked with my dad; still no luck. I knew that there had to be another way. When she got home, I was laying on my bed trying to think. I had given up about an hour ago. She came into my room after dinner. She changed into black jeans, a silver shirt, a black leather jacket, and combat boots. I sat up and looked at her. She sat down on my bed.

"Hey, can we talk?" She asked.

"Sure. Whatcha need?" I said.

She hesitated. "Well, remember your, um, dream or whatever?"

I nodded.

"There's this, um, dimension that I've heard about. It's like what you described: purple with lots of glass. There's also this supposed evil lurking around. It traps people inside and--"

"Are you trying to give me a heart attack?!"

I had almost fallen off the bed.