Dreamscape

Chapter 2: Through the Tunnel

The floor of the tunnel is soft, as I expected. However the carpet quickly changes to soft white sand under my hands.
I keep going for what felt like ages, but when I looked at my watch, had only been two minutes.
I stop as I feel something wet drip on my head. I place my hand on my hair, trying to feel for the wet patch. Another drip falls straight on to my hand, making me jump. It's cold, unlike the rest of the tunnel.
I examine my hand, and am relieved to find that it's only water that had dropped down onto me. I'm not entirely sure what I expected. Blood or some kind of goop maybe. I mean, that's what you normally find in a creepy attic tunnel which should not be in your house.
I keep crawling. I should be scared, or excited, but strangely, I'm not. I get the strange sensation that the tunnel is familiar.
Of course, it isn't. I'd remember if there was a mysterious tunnel in my attic which defied the laws of physics.
I am forced to stop again, when I encounter a wall infront of me. It isn't a solid wall.
It's a wall of water. Clear, fresh water, cascading down from the tunnel roof. It seemed to sparkle in whatever light was coming from the other side.
It doesn't look dangerous, but I stick my hand through first, just in case.
It's pleasantly cool as it runs down my arm. Nothing bad happens, so I take a deep breath and duck through the water wall.
                                                                         •••••
I gasp as the cold washes over me like a blanket, shocking me slightly, but as soon as I'm on the other side, it's warm again. I'm surprised to find that my hair and clothes are still completely dry.
I can now visibly see the end of the tunnel. The ceiling grows higher as I go, until I can stand as walk normally.
It takes me another two minutes to reach the end, where I find another door. This one doesn't seem nearly so clean as the one in my house.
It's still wood, and full sized, yet it has a more weather beaten and old look. Like a castle door, with light shining in from all the cracks.
The door handle, however, looks a lot more out of place. It is shining gold, identical to the other one.
I curl my fingers around the cold metal once more, and cautiously turn the handle. The door swings open silently.
Sunlight rushes in, blinding me momentarily and forcing me to close my eyes.
When I open them again, I find myself looking out onto one of the most gorgeous views that I've ever seen.
I can see the edge of a cliff, tufts of green growing out of the ledges and cracks in the rock. I can see purple and pink dots, flowers, growing as well.
Between me and the cliff face was a large harbour, filled with deep blue water. The water was almost still, calm, the sun sparkling and reflecting of off the surface.
Past the cliff was more of this calm blue ocean, with the occasional ripple of a wave, white water bubbling along the wave crest.
There is a path outside the door, leading round out of view. I pull the door closed behind me, then follow the path. I'm still looking round in awe at my surroundings, and am not looking where I'm going at all.
Which is why, when I walk round the corner, I do not noticed the other person walking along the path.
Instead, I walk straight into them, causing myself to fall over.
"I-I'm so sorry!" I say, looking up from the ground. I feel immediately embarrassed. "I wasn't paying attention."
The stranger grinned. "I can tell. It's fine, here, let me help you up."
I take the hand offered to me and climb to my feet.
"Say, I haven't seen you around before. What's your name?"
"Emily. Emily Davis. And you?" I say, brushing the dust of off my black leggings.
"Ryan Aidar. The pleasure is all mine."
I look properly at the person I crashed into for the first time. I'm surprised to see that he's a boy, my age. He has tanned skin and light brown hair, and eyes the colour of the sea visible behind him. "Davis, did you say?" He said, clearly thinking.
I nod. "That's my name."
"Your mother wouldn't happen to be named Lauralyn, would she?"
I frown curiosly. "How do you know that?" I demand.
The boy looked surprised by my shocked expression. "Well, she lives near me. Davis isn't exactly a common last name, round here."
I nod slowly. "And where exactly is here?" I ask, gesturing around.
"Wow, you aren't from here at all, are you? This is Dailon, and you are currently in the Walker region." He explains proudly.
I try to piece together the information that I've been given. I'm in The Walker region, where I've met Ryan Aidar. This place, Dailon, is clearly very different to Morayshire. I decide to keep my mouth closed as much as possible until I know a bit more.
"I hate to cause you any more trouble than I already have, but could you possibly direct me to where my mother's house is?" I ask, playing on politeness. Ryan is the only person I can see around, so I try to be nice.
"Sure, I'll take you there myself if you want. I'm on my way back from the beach anyway." He smiled.
"Thanks!" I smile gratefully.
As we walk, Ryan asks a few questions. "So your mother has lived here for years, yet you've clearly never been to Dailon before. How come?"
I don't want to tell him to much, since I don't know him. "I'm from Moray, in Scotland. My mother left when I was 5."
Ryan frowned. "Where is... scotland?" He asks.
"Oh, in the United Kingdom. Near England." I explain.
"A United Kingdom? Never heard of it. Wouldn't think that there could be such thing."
Ryan frowns again.
"Oh, it's a small place. Not many people have heard of it." I lie quickly. Never heard of the U.K.? I have no idea where I am, but I get the feeling that it's not the same world I was in ten minutes ago.
"Oh. That explains it then. So if your mother left when you are five, how old does that make you now?" He asks.
I breathe a sigh of relief as we get away from the last topic. "I turned fourteen last month." I say.
"Really? I'm fourteen as well. My birthday was way back in February though." Ryan says.
"Cool." I say. There's a bit of an awkward silence for a few moments.
"Well, here it is. The Davis home." Ryan says, stopping outside a huge house.
"That's where my mum lives? It's huge!" I gasp. The house walls were white, covered in little crystals. The roof however was a complete contrast, black like obsidian. The window frames were dark as well, though the door was a light brown wood.
"Yeah, the leading houses are usually bigger than the others in the region. You can see mine from here, just about." He points over at another building in the distance. It was just like the one in front of me, except the walls were blue.
"Nice." I say.
"Yeah, I suppose it is. My father is region leader, like your mother, but he doesn't live with us. He lives in another big house at the other end. It's the pitch black one."
I could just about see it, opposite the blue, at the other end of a long street.
"Well, I suppose I'll see you around." Ryan says cheerily.
"Yeah, see you." I nod. Ryan leaves and I turn to face the door. I was about to see my mother for the first time in 9 years,
I knew there was a possibility that it could be another Lauralyn Davis, however I had a feeling that it wasn't. Something about this place, Dailon, seemed familiar. The house in front of me, though huge in comparison to my dads house, still felt like home.
I walk up to the door and take a deep breath for the fourth time that day. I ring the doorbell and stand back on the step.
I can see the shadow of a person moving behind the colourful stained glass window.
I hold my breath as I hear the door click, and watch it swing open in front of me.
"Emily?"