Untold Fates: Secrets & Lies

13 | Black Hole

 I saw the light leave my mother's eyes. Words aren't good enough to explain how much I grieved after that. I could feel my soul collapse on itself. Just like a black hole collapses on its own intense gravity. My soul did too. It felt like my heart stopped thumping. Like my lungs stopped working. Difficult to breathe. Difficult to fight back every second, of every minute of my life. Difficult to keep standing. Difficult to hold on. Difficult to be doing any of this anymore. Difficult.

I turned to face the situation going on. There was a little door which had camouflaged so well with the rest of the wall. Blondie creaked the door open. There was no handle. Well hidden.

Right through the door, all one could see, was the sky. The sky was beautiful with its borderless flow of clarity: the vast sky stretched out to infinity. Myriad stars dotted the inky canopy. A gibbous moon hovered tenuously in the twilight firmament, bestowing a very dim light upon the land. It was a cool, windy night; the swaying of trees and rustling of leaves could be heard but not seen, as the encompassing darkness had blotted out all but the faintest light. The Virgo constellation could be seen to my left, up in the sky and the Aries constellation could be seen to my right, just above the horizon. They had taken their places for the night among a thousand other celestial constellations known and unknown, real and imaginary.

"What's the time?" I asked.

"O-four in the morning," he replied.

"That's Toronto time," Blondie corrected him. Then faced me, "O-three." I shook my head.

"Anyways, we'll have to slide down that thing," he said, grinning.

"Slide down what thing?" I questioned.

"An iron rod," he replied.

"An iron rod?" I scoffed.

"He's serious," Blondie voiced, crossing her arms. He walked up to the door and pointed to the side. I followed him. There was a little platform right below it and an iron rod that started from the topmost floor and ran all the way down to the very bottom. It maintained enough distance from the wall it ran along so that one could grasp it and slide down. I'd done this many times before while playing with my friends in the park. Even with Dad in The Adventure Park. But this time it was different. We were doing this to escape. If Mom was right, which no doubt she was, we were on the ninth floor. Nine floors down. Damn. It certainly looked daunting.

I placed my hand on the door for grip and bent forwards to see a shrubbery with tall pine trees near the inner boundaries of the compound, which spread across acres and acres. There were blossoms on either side of the pathways and they embellished the scenery. There was no other building to be seen for miles. Where were we? Wherever we were, it was absolutely astonishing. Nothing like the city of Chicago I knew a few days back. Not at all filled with houses. Not occupied by skyscrapers and buildings. Just free.

"I'll go first," Blondie called out. She placed her foot on the platform and stretched out her arms, grabbing hold of the rod. She pulled her other leg and placed it around the rod. Then looked back up at me, "Wait till I reach halfway down." Then, she held the rod tightly and shut her eyes and slowly, prudently allowed herself to drop. She then stopped, which seemed much less than halfway and signaled me to come. I stood on the platform, tiptoed, extending my arms towards the iron rod. After taking hold of it, I breathed a heavy sigh. Let go. I caught him focusing on me and turned away to lock my other leg around it. I let go, allowing me to swiftly fall down, feeling the cold of the rod. I felt like a bird, dropping to the ground, assured to take a steep flight once I reached near it, escaping the Earth and soaring in the sky. I kept my eyes closed, imagining. My perception of time distorted, everything slowed down. The air pushed against me. Falling was easy. I only had to let go and gravity did the rest.

I realized I was more than halfway down. Tightened my grip around the rod, wrapped my legs harder than before and stopped. Looked up at him, "Come on." I yelled. He grabbed the rod. I looked away. Let go again. This time my drop wasn't so smooth. I scraped my forearm. My skin peeled. I adjusted and moved around to the other side of the rod. It felt like a free fall. Just a plain drop. The earth was nearing. I saw Blondie waving to me, holding a revolver in her other hand. She wasn't waving to me. I turned around. There was a jeep approaching with quite a lot of people. It stopped near the bottom. I was getting closer. Placed my sneakers on the rod, trying to slow down, with the friction. I wasn't slowing down any. I came to an abrupt stop, my skin grazing against concrete pavement. Light shone into my eyes from the headlights of the fast moving jeep, making me see spots. I flashed a look at the jeep. There was no one but a tall, lean guy with honey blonde hair and eyes as green as the forest's night.

"Get up, kid," said Blondie in exasperation. Kid? Who's she calling kid? Jerk. She pulled me up and waved at the blue-eyed guy, signaling him to get down. I turned around to look at him, watching his sturdy hands tighten around the rod. He stopped about 8 feet above the ground and jumped down, landing firmly on the pavement, not losing his equilibrium.

"Nanya, where are the others?" he asked, brushing his hands. Nanya. That's Blondie.

"Miles?" she questioned, looking at the lean figure in the jeep.

"Amber and Zia are searching for the Liber, and Shawn and Adelaide are trying to take down Max," Miles replied, pausing, "What's the matter, Ethan?"

"Where's the guy from the cell?" Ethan asked, his pacific eyes gleaming in the morning mist.

Raffin. Great, we forgot Raffin!

How could I? He saved my life, I ought to save him.

I must go and get him. I can't- I won't leave him behind.

"It's Raffin. We have to go find him," I pleaded.

"Alright. Let's go," Ethan said, gesturing towards the building.

"Miles and I'll stay in the car. We'll wait for the others," decided Nanya.

Saying this, Ethan and I turned to face the daunting building that we just escaped from, ready to put ourselves in danger again.

***