I looked at the empty bed that sat in the room. Oscar and Lili looked confused. They looked at each other, speaking with their eyes.
"Oh," Oscar said sheepishly," that siren would've been for the three hour mark. Three hours to the start of güvenli hafta that is." He and Lili laughed it off and put their doctors uniforms back into the small storage cupboard and we walked back into the living area. Everyone was staring at us with intent eyes.
"So?" Allegra said, expecting another newcomer to be amongst us.
"Umm, yeah, about that. I just realised that that siren was to signal three hours 'till güvenli hafta." He pointed to the small clock on the wall that read 9:03 as he said it. Everyone laughed at his mistake, but I was still feeling like a bear just stuck his hand into a bee hive. Very nervous about tomorrow. Even if it was meant to be safe, I still wasn't sure. Soon after everyone had a laugh, we all went back to the dining room to discuss our tactics. I sat down again in the same spot and felt tired all of a sudden. They all talked for a while, pointing at the board and discussing tactics, but I dazed out as soon as they started talking...
***
I must've fallen asleep in my chair because I woke to someone nudging me in the side.
"Go away Austin..." I mumbled as I rolled over on the wooden table.
"Austin? Who's Austin?" He said with a laugh. I sat up quickly and remembered that I'm not in the hostel, and Austin isn't next to me. Way to make it awkward. I ignored his questions and instead asked my own.
"How long have I been out?" I said as I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes.
"About an hour and a half. Its good though, because you got more sleep than anyone." I stopped running my eyes and looked around the room to see everyone standing around waiting with backpacks and hiking gear.
"Are we leaving now?" I asked in disbelief.
"Well, you can stay home if you want, or you can come with us now."
"How much longer 'till the start of güvenli hafta?" I said, too tired to even read the time on the clock.
"Well, it starts in about four minutes."
"Really? Wow, that came quickly."I mumbled to myself as I got up.
"So are you coming?" He asked," We're only going out into the woods to do some exploring, and then we'll be right back."
"Umm, yeah, I'll come."
***
We were stalking through the cold midnight air. The final siren had only just gone when we were leaving. The thick pines trees that surrounded the clearing hadn't changed since my last encounter.We pushed through the dense trees and all was silent apart from the deceased pine needles crunching under our feet. The only people who didn't come were Rachel and Autumn, they said they were staying back because they would want to have breakfast ready for when we came home, but I think they were just acting pusillanimous. No one really talked unless it was Oscar who gave us orders to go this way and that. As we walked deeper into the forest, it seemed to slowly and subtly change from a pine forest to a rain forest. How I didn't see it change immediately, no one knows. It was only when Oscar and Lili pointed it out that I finally realised. The atmosphere was a completely different one. Rather than having the soft coo of pigeons and other birds, you get the loud cawing off toucans and parrots. Rather than having little squirrels and field mice running around, there are spiders and snakes. It's quite a scene change. The eventually block out the loud general buzz of the insects and try and focus on where I'm walking. There are vines and roots all over the ground and it's rather humid. We all stop to have a break on a very large root and catch our breath. But that gets quickly interrupted when we find an anaconda wanting to join the group. We slowly back away from it and hope for the best. It just looks at us and slowly slithers away. We feel the humid air getting hotter as we see the break of dawn on the horizon. That's when we decide to go back. Until I realise that I'd been bitten by a spider when I sat down. Great. I felt lightheaded and fainted just in time for Oscar to catch me.
YOU ARE READING
The Ringmaster's Keeper
Fantasy"This year's challenge," Claudius said as the medieval bridge lowered behind him, "is them." He took a step to the side and gestured towards him. Austin. When Beth is sent to a magician's mind to retrieve her boyfriend's memory of her, she finds o...
