The Tower

Chapter 9

     This night seemed to continue forever. They got as far away from the mob and the other part of the city as fast as they could to get to the marked spot. When they reached the old house, Lin said her goodbyes to Stephen and Lin and they departed down into the cave.

     "You're sure that this is the cave?"

     "I'm fully sure of it."

     "Good. Then let's go."

     They went into the cave with slight hesitation in both of them, seeing as how they're both going to lose so much. Stephen was only here for about 5-6 days, but it felt like he was here for years. He already made friends with the people at the bar while they had their meal, but he knew he had no other choice. He already knows his 3 wishes, but he hasn't told anyone.

     The cave kept getting darker as they traveled further until the walls were no longer visible and all they could hear were their footsteps. Rose was oddly quiet now. She was very serious but looked slightly excited as well.

     "So, may I ask why you had to leave us?"

     "Research. On the Tower."

     Their voices echoed throughout the cave.

     "Oh. What did you find?"

     "Well, all we know is that the Tower grants 3 wishes, and that's it. That's the extent of everyone's knowledge. Sometimes the wishes will work but in a way, you wouldn't want it to."

     "Oh, that's not good."

     "I mean in theory, that's very rare to happen."

     "Yeah, I guess."

     Darkness and silence was the only thing they could see and hear again. The cave seemed to last forever. Stephen felt for walls but there weren't any. He checked for a floor and there wasn't any. They were walking on quite literally nothing but darkness for what was about 20 minutes.

     Stephen was a kind boy with a pure heart. He only had 1 brother and no sisters. He was a rare type of person who had a good sense of justice, a mix of determination and kindheartedness but a shy soul nonetheless. He didn't let people saying ' you can't do it' stop him from doing what he considered was right.

     His school life was mainly kids picking on him for only having a few friends. His three friends he adored the most were Jeff, Ethan, and Micheal. Jeff was his best friend. He would play with him in the schoolyard all the time and they just had a lot of the same interests, mainly because Jeff agreed to whatever Stephen had said. Ethan was another one of his closest friends. They would talk a lot, play together a lot, and even have sleepovers until Ethan had to move houses because a sister would come. Stephen didn't even get to say his final goodbye to Ethan when he moved, he was too late. Micheal had manipulated Stephen's kindness all the time but that still didn't stop him from being his friend. Stephen never actually learned to stop being friends with him until Stephen had to move schools and lose everything in grade 2.

     He had moved to a different school, all alone again, however, he had made friends with a large boy named Clement. They had talked a lot and came over to play video games, and would even play video games online, like Roblox and such. He had slowly made more friends than he had once again greatly cared for and saw them as family. His friend group consisted of Clement, Fenton, and Danny. Fenton had played a lot of the games and could just relate to a lot. Danny was the funny kid in the group. He always tried to make everyone laugh. However, Stephen had to move schools again and once again, lose everything. He didn't want to go to this new school. The only people that went there that he knew was one of his bullies and someone he occasionally played games with.

     This time, Stephen was a fool. It was almost as if he had lost all that shyness and taken it for false pride and made himself look like a fool in front of everyone almost always, however, luck was still on his side. He had made more friends and this time he genuinely felt a connection between them. He still acted like a fool and a humiliation in front of everyone by trying to act funny because he thought he was going to be funny and thought he knew what he was doing. In reality, he knew so little.

     It was in grade 8 when he met a girl named Linda. Stephen liked Linda and became friends with her. They found out they had so much in common and sooner or later, they started getting into deep conversations about a lot of things. He still acted like a fool early on when he met her. However, he slowly became more experienced and smarter than he was before. This girl had changed him. Then one day, she disappeared out of Stephen's existence, without Stephen even knowing that she existed. In the present, Stephen's glad he remembers who she was now.

     The walls and floor finally came back. All of a sudden, the cave was nicely lit, then the cave walls slowly got narrower and the walls turned into static. There they were, back in the void. In the darkness, a giant eye opened. A voice came and said:

     "I am no threat to you Stephen, I am just warning you that your friend Rose is not one you can trust."

     "I don't care what you say to me, Rose is a best friend of mine and kept me company throughout the entire journey! Do you think you're gonna make me turn back? Well, you're wrong. I lost my great friend Sally trying to reach the Tower! I won't let that sacrifice be in vain!"

     "Good. That is all, proceed then. I'm only warning you something terrible might happen."

     They arrived outside. The area around the Tower was beautiful. There was untouched grass, and trees, and such beautiful animals. But most of all, the giant metallic tower that towered over everything. They quickly took in the atmosphere while making the final walk to their destination all along. The Tower. They were right in front of it. It was the largest tower Stephen had ever seen in his life, and he lives in NY.

They approached the metal door. There it was. The Tower. The thing that had stood the test of time the greatest. touched by no hand, standing right in front of Stephen and Rose.

"Are you ready, Stephen?"

"More than ever."

END OF CHAPTER 9