Tempest [ON HOLD]

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"Tom?" I asked. 

"Hey! You figured out the riddle! I knew you could do it." Tom said, flashing me a grin. He looked from me to Ling and back again. A smirk of knowing crept onto his face. I wanted to smack it off. 

"I see you brought your-" 

"Why did you leave?" I interrupted him. The cold was beginning to make me snappy, and I didn't need Tom inquiring into my awkward love life. 

Tom's smirk faded slightly. "It's complicated." 

Like I was going to accept that bullshit answer. "Why lie?" I started angrily. "Why even-" 

This time, it was Tom who interrupted me. "Get on the snowmobile." He glanced over my shoulder to the old man who hovered patiently at the entrance to the general store. A look of understanding passed between them, and the old man retreated back into the safety of his shop. 

Ling had already thrown herself onto the snowmobile, but I was still upset with Tom. 

"Where are you taking us?" I asked impatiently. "I'm not getting on until you tell me the truth." 

"Narnia." Tom replied. 

"What the eff is that supposed to mean?" I huffed out a breath into the cold air. My charade of being a tough girl was wearing thin. It had begun to snow again, and the cold was getting to me. 

"It's a freaking safe house, Lily. Now get on the snowmobile." He hopped onto the seat, and I reluctantly followed.  

The engine roared to life, and Tom sped away into the snowy trees.

Cold wind lashed at my face and sliced through the thin fabric of my pajamas. The only source of warmth I had was Ling, who was sitting behind me and had wrapped her arms around my waist. Despite the stinging cold, I smiled. It felt nice to have her here with me.

I stayed in that state of comfort for the duration of the ride. A few minutes later, Tom turned the engine off. 

"It took you like thirty seconds to get to the general store, but over fifteen minutes to get back." I mumbled as my teeth chattered. 

"I was stationed at an outpost. We wait for refugees every day." Tom said, helping me and Ling off the snowmobile. 

I looked around. We were in the middle of a dense cluster of trees, and there was no safe house to be seen. 

"Where's the house?" I whined. I couldn't help it. I was beginning to lose feeling in my toes. 

"It's another five minute walk." Tom supplied. "I told you, this place is Narnia."

Tom lied. Nine minutes later, we reached another thicket of trees. I was ready to explode from impatience. 

Ling slipped her hand in mine. "I can't feel my face." She whispered.  

"I think we're almost there." I replied, trying to sound comforting. In reality, I wanted to punch Tom in the face.

Suddenly, Tom strolled up to an enormous pine tree and knocked on the wood four times. A small hatch opened in the trunk, and a keypad appeared. Tom punched in a code, the keypad disappeared, and right in front of my eyes the trunk split cleanly down the middle. It widened until it formed an archway that led to a flight of descending stairs.

This clearly was not a real tree.

"What the hell." Ling said, backing away quickly.

At this point, my black instincts were screaming at me to run away from the mysterious tree that led to depths unknown. The realistic part of me, however, knew that if I didn't walk into this tree and down the flight of stairs, my chances at survival would dry up. Fast.