Ophenia

Chapter 3

I squatted in some bushes nearby and sobbed.
What's the point of living now? All I ever had or cared for is gone now.
Suddenly, I heard some footsteps. I got up, wanting to run, but a man grabbed my shoulder. I tried to scream, but he kept his strong hands on my mouth.

"Hush," he growled. "Stay quiet if you wish to live."

I could have preferred dying, but I felt so weak, even dying felt like it would be a strenuous task.

"I'm just helping you, okay?" he said, his voice cold and harsh.

The man pushed my back and forced me to walk forth. He kept his hand on my shoulder as if to remind me he was there.
The man was tall and muscular, with spooky, lifeless, grey eyes and messy brown hair. There was a scar across his left eye.

"Who are you?" I asked. "Why'd you kill him?"

"That," replied the man in a deep, hoarse voice. "Is none of your business."

We walked and walked, and I tried to keep track of the way we went, but I soon gave up.
What would I have done if I did get back there?
The man led me to a small, clapped-out car and pushed me into the back-seat. He then sat on the driver seat but didn't start driving. My head swayed. I suddenly felt dizzy and fell dead to the world.
I woke up again after about just five minutes. I peaked out of the window and saw the moon peeping back at me, from behind the clouds.

I looked at my watch and then at the man, who was now driving us away.

"Where are you taking me?" I asked.

"None of your business."

That time, I couldn't keep quiet.

"Excuse me," I said, suddenly feeling angry.
"This is my business. I lose my brother, who was the last person left alive in my family, and then a man comes out of nowhere, drives me away in a car, and keeps telling me it's none of my business!"

I looked at the man, his face expressionless. He continued to drive, slowly, for a while and then replied, "This is for your own good."

"Why don't you just tell me where you're taking me?"
This time, my voice was cracky, and I was actually begging him to tell.

"If I even tell you that, what will you do?"

Oh great. He's said it.
Now it really seemed as if he'd kidnapped me.

As if he'd read my mind, he said,"Don't worry. You'll be fine. I'm not gonna harm ya. Trust me."

The last thing I wanted to do was trust this cranky man. I lied down and cried silently. Rays of light started gradually falling on me and I realised that the sun was getting ready to rise.

A few seconds later, the car stopped suddenly and the man gestured me to come out.
I got up and jumped out of the car. It had been just fifteen minutes since I last saw my brother.

"What is it?"

"We're here," he said.

I looked at what the man had called 'here'.

We stood in huge meadow; grassy and green. I looked around me and it was grassy for miles. However, a little far behind the car, I saw a fence. Behind it, a little far away, was the land where the carnival had taken place.

"Is this a joke? What in the world is 'here'?" I asked angrily.

"See for yourself," he said.

And for the first time, I saw him smile.

I looked back at the meadow, and I gasped at what I saw. Three small metal tables, of different colours, stood a few metres away from me. They seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. I went nearer. Each one had an object on it. The red table had a bow and arrow on it, and a paper saying "You're dared to hit the target, you're warned not to fail." The blue table had a sea-blue coloured paper on it, which lay upside-down. And the third, green one, had a flower lying on it, and a paper beside it saying. 'Get the poor thing some water or it's going to die.'

I turned back to the man for some clues, but to my astonishment, he'd vanished. I turned around and saw something else. Behind the green table, on another table at a distance, stood a pretty vase. Behind the blue one, was a long pole with a button on top. And behind the red table, stood a boy, with a big, red apple on his head.

Am I hallucinating?

I stared at them for a while. Then I heard the man's voice.

"Go ahead," he said. "Choose one!"

I turned around to see him, but, surprisingly, he was not there.

"Move!"

I look at the objects again.

What if it's a trap?
But I have no choice.
Shall I run away?
No, this man seems too dangerous.
Then what should I do?

I look at the flower. Putting it in the vase would be easy.
But what's the point? What if it's a trap?

I look at the blue table. Something was written on a paper on it. I went closer. It said:
'Solve this puzzle, if you're smart. But don't fail!'
But what if I do fail? What will happen then?
And anyways, I'd never considered myself to be a smart person.

I turned towards the arrow.
I've always wanted to try that! But what if....

I pushed away my 'what-ifs' and picked up the bow and arrow. The little boy stared at me with his brown, innocent eyes.

I swallowed hard, aimed and let go of the arrow. I closed my eyes. When I opened them, the arrow had hit the apple and cut it in half!
"Yay!" I shouted, punching the air.
Then, all of a sudden, everything went black...