The Broken Ones

Chapter 10

Taylor:

Okay. I am not dead. I am not dreaming. I am not going insane. Well, the last ones possible, but at this point, who knows anymore. Felix and Kat walked beside me, behind Tyson, who refused to tell us where we were going. For all we knew, he could be leading us to our death. The sky was gray, introduction to the upcoming storm, and the grass beneath our feet crunching. I was extremely on edge. A few minutes later, thick with quiet and the smell of rain, my eyes landed on something. "Is that . . ." Kat's voice trailed off as we approached the sight.

Trees. Trees upon trees, upon trees. It almost looked like a border to another dimension, like the kind of forest you would see in a story. A green, thick roof, dark underside with a chill I could almost feel from here. The sky above didn't help with the eeriness of the situation at all. It was amazing, but terrifying at the same time.

I felt something beside me brush against my hip. It startled me for a moment as I quickly glanced down, then finding it to be Felix's hand. His fingers were twitching, switching to digging into his skin, then tapping against his leg, or shaking. I knew what was happening to him. The withdrawals. The lack of smoking seemed to affect him more than the average person, considering that was his tool of escape. It was scary. Every now and then, he would run his hands through his hair, or lick his lips, or take a sharp breath in. I wanted to help, to stop it. But all I could think of doing at the moment was taking his hand and holding tight onto it without letting go. He immediately grasped back, almost desperately, staring at me with an unreadable expression. "It's okay," I smiled, which felt weird on my face. Smiling was alien to me.

"We're here!" Tyson yelled cheerfully through the increasing wind. He spun around on his heels and held out his arm. "Welcome to the Enchanted Forest!"

Kat snorted.

I bounced on the balls of my feet and then looked behind my shoulder like I was expecting an ambush at any moment. "We're not going in there, are we?"

He skipped around in a few circles, pausing, skipped some more and stopped in front of us. "Why, of course."

"Yeah, no," Kat said.

"You want to save the world or not."

I guess we're superheroes now. We all stayed silent as Tyson starred us down. The glasses magnifying his eyes made it hard to take him seriously, or even be intimidated by his staring match with us. Something like five minutes went by, the wind still growing, Tyson still staring, and Felix finally said, "You good?"

"Fantastic!" he shouted gleefully, prancing around in circles once more. We all took a few steps back in surprise as he sprinted our way like the insane person he is. I noticed the urgency in his face was more defined than before, the oncoming rain seeming to affect it slightly. His features grew more pronounced, especially in his eyes, with every word that he spoke. "You have to do this. You three were sent here for a reason. This forest is the center of all time, the center of all history, and the core of every fate, every destiny, that has been put forth upon us. If what I fear is true, and it is being eaten away at by some darkness, then we are damned. As in we, I mean everyone ever to live. History won't even be a thing."

We all listened with intent without fully reading into his words. However, without a doubt, it was scary. The thought of not even existing sounded worse than death in some way. The skepticism in me was going wild, the curiosity going head to head with it in a full-blown battle. It was exhausting.

"I sound crazy," Tyson said.

A small chuckle escaped my mouth at his remark. "Ya' think?"

"Taylor. Taylor Taylor Taylor." He walked straight in front of me, holding his face too close to mine for comfort. I tightened my grip on Felix. "I know you."