X-Marks: Rising Shadows

Odd

"Valen!" I heard someone shout my name.

The dim light of the room filtered through in painful sparks.

"She shouldn't have been under that long," Mr. Dous said.

I lurched away from the chair of the machine and opened my eyes.

"I know where -," I shouted as a dry cough stopped my words short.

"What did you see Valen?" Nate said, his hand on my shoulder.

"He's here," I said, looking behind me, "He's right here in the next room."

"That's fantastic news, Valen," Dimitri said as he began to unstrap me from the machine.

I stood up, my head as high as the ceiling and fingers cut from split wood of the chair. I stood up from the machine and walked towards a long white wall behind me.

"There, there should be a keypad?" I said to myself in a panic.

"Are you sure you saw a keypad?" Dimitri said.

"I'm sure," I said and put a hand to my dizzy head, "I'm supposed to enter a code,"

"Found it!" Nate said, and slid a nearby shelf to its side, revealing a hidden keypad.

"Do you know the code, Valen?" Nate said with his fingers hovered over the keypad.

"Um, it's um -" I said, trying to ground my aching head, "Wait I've got it - 4-72-7-6!"

Nate entered the numbers like the keys were made of slippery ice.

A break in the wall began to slide to the side, revealing a small black room on the other side.

It took some time for the faint light to find it's way, but there in the corner just like how I had seen, there was Mat. I raced towards him. My legs shaking as he flinched further into the back of the small room.

"Mat," I cried out, "It's us."

Mat parted his stringy hair from his face and stood from the corner of the dark room. I wrapped my arms around him and nestled my face into his black t-shirt.

"Valen," Mat said and wrapped his arms around my shoulders, "Are you oka-"

I leaped on to my toes and pressed my lips to his, letting them linger for a while as the knots in my stomach released into my light head. Mat held my shoulders tighter and pulled me closer at my waist.

"I thought you were -" I said.

"It's okay," Mat said and ran his thumb against my wet cheek, "I'm okay."

"Where's my mother?" Mat said and turned to the others with a raspy voice.

"She's safe Matias," Dimitri said with an odd smile, "There is no need to be alarmed."

Mat let go of my waist and too my hand instead.

"We have to go -" Mat said and gripped my hand tighter.

"On your way already?"

The air of the dim room tightened at the sound of her voice.

I turned to see Gen's silhouette standing near the door.