Letters From Across The Pond

LFATP’s first original Shared Story – from Carla’s first beginning to it, letter 46: dated 15apr08 to Ben’s ‘end’ of it, letter 109, dated sometime in june.  It’s over 17,000 words!  When the paragraph’s begin with pink, they were written by Carla.  If they begin with blue then they were written by Ben.  Enjoy!

She looked around, drinking up the sight around her. She hated it already. She never wanted to move to this rotten town and would continue to be crabby until they moved back. Little Genevieve was asleep next to her in the cab, unaware about the injustice that was happening. Finally, they stopped in front of what looked like a torture chamber. Her mom gleefully clapped her hands and shouted, “We’re here! Home sweet home!”

The house was old. Too old, she thought. Bine stems scored the sky, tangling amongst themselves. Ivy crept up the sides of the house, infesting the cracks. The paint was peeling and the porch left much to be desired. She looked at Genevieve who had woken up next to her.

“What do you think, Genny?” she asked, looking at her little sister.

Biting her lip, she awaited her little sister’s answer. If Genny didn’t like the house, there was a chance they might move back. Oh, who am I kidding, she angrily muttered underneath her breath. I’m never getting out of this hell hole. She glared at Genevieve, wishing she could be so free and clueless about the world around her. “Well…” Genny started, glancing at her sister, “it’s… great, I guess.” She didn’t get to say anything more before her mom broke in with an enthused chatter of words that were strung together so quickly, it was impossible to actually understand what was going on.

Carla grabbed her satchel and looked back at Genny.

“Thanks a lot,” she said, glaring at her. Genny looked offended and Carla felt a pang of guilt. Don’t apologise, called a voice in her head called conscience. She gritted her teeth and marched into the dusty house. As she trod up the crumbling path she saw a glint in what would soon be her bedroom window.

That’s odd, she thought. None of our stuff is here yet…

She shook off the thought, threw her bag into the house and stormed in.

She claimed her room and sat down on a musty old bed. Tomorrow would be her first day of school, and she was not excited. At all. Genny walked past her door and stopped, giving her an evil glare. Carla opened her mouth to mumble an apology, but no words came out. Instead, she put in her headphones and blasted the music. She laid there for a while, thinking the same thing: I hate this, I hate this, I hate this. She thought about calling Chelsea, a friend from home, but rendered it pointless to do so, as it would be late over there. “Stupid timezones..” Carla thought out loud. Upon checking her watch, it had been two hours since their things were missing.

Carla sighed and began to unpack her little satchel. She had packed extra carefully, just in case the removal vans had lost her stuff. She tugged out her pajamas and a note slipped out onto the floor. She picked it up and had to bite her lip to stop herself openly sobbing.

“Miss you more than you’ll ever know! x”

She recognised the handwriting as Chelsea’s and sat herself down on the bed. She closed her eyes and fell back. It was there that she fell asleep with pajamas in hand.

She woke up to the sound of a screeching alarm clock, along with Genevieve jumping up and down on her bed saying, “Wake up, wake up! It’s time for school!” She moaned and turned over, causing Genevieve to have to change her attack method. When feeling a soft repeated pressure on her legs, she saw Genevieve punching them with what strength she had, trying to use this tactic to wake her up. This little girl was so happy, dressed in a little pink plaid dress with ruffles at the bottom and mismatching socks. Carla groaned and checked her watch, 5:30 in the morning, and this little girl is already this energetic. She moaned and threw her pillow at her energetic sister.

“Stop it!” Genny cried, “Mom said to get up because she has a surprise for you in the kitchen!”

Genny got off of her sister. Carla dragged herself out of bed, grumbling. She trudged into the kitchen and saw a brown-haired boy sitting at the kitchen table, drinking water from a plastic cup. The kitchen was basically bare, thanks to the lost furniture and Carla, looking at the neatness of this strange figure, felt dirtied in yesterday’s clothes. Her mother walked out from behind the fridge, from where she was unpacking groceries. She looked exhausted after a bout of early morning shopping.

“Hey honey,” she said, smiling. “This is Ben. Ben, this is Carla.”

Carla was puzzled as to why this “Ben” was here so early. Her thoughts travelled through her mouth, and Ben replied: “I live just down the road, actually, and my mum thought it might be a good idea if I came and said hi. I know it’s an inappropriate time but-”

“Inappropriate? Not at all! We’re going to have to get used to waking up this early, I’m sure all you Brits wake up this time, right?”

“No, actually-”

“Ben said he’d come back in about two hours so you two could get the bus to school together. I thought it might be a good idea if you had some company for your first day in a strange city,” Carla’s mother told Carla.

She warily watched Ben, who was looking around their bare kitchen. Their eyes met, causing Carla to become extremely self-conscious. She quickly muttered an excuse that she had to “freshen up” and ran to her room. She knew she’d hate this town. It hadn’t even been one day and already had she embarrassed herself. Throwing on some new clothes and putting her hair up in a quick ponytail, she sighed, hoping this stranger would be gone when she went back into the kitchen.

Ben had gone when Carla walked into the kitchen. After he had left the front door, he made an immediate right up the street. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and began to think about this new girl.

How long will it be till she finds out about it? Maybe she won’t. No, there’s something different about her. Definitely. I could pick her out from a crowd. She has… a… quality. She’ll notice. She’ll definitely -

Ben’s thoughts were interrupted by a removal van tearing down the street. The driver stopped in the middle of the street and unwound the window.

“42 La Crescent Road?” the driver asked.

The driver pronounced it Creskent and Ben had to smile to himself. He covered it up quickly as a grimace of thought. Quickly, he pointed at Carla’s house. The driver thanked him, and tumbled on.

The minutes seemed like they wouldn’t go by quick enough. Two hours? That’s so long! Even though Carla had felt embarrassed in front of this new kid, something was different about him. He was way different from the guys back in her hometown. It wasn’t that he dressed different, looked different, or even talked different, it was just that there was something… different about him. She couldn’t figure it out though and was insanely eager to meet him again.

After redressing, showering, getting everything she could possibly need for her first day of school, Carla sat defeated. At least their home didn’t look so bare, now that their stuff had finally arrived. She continued to stare at the clock as the minutes trudged on by. Genevieve didn’t have school for another 2 hours and was sitting on the couch watching early morning cartoons. Finally, the doorbell rang, and Carla’s heart beat fifty times faster than it should’ve.

Ben padded up the doorstep and gently nudged the doorbell. His bag was slung over one of his shoulders, weighing him down with a couple of books and a pencil case to start the school year. The door eased open and Carla, the new girl, stood there before him, blushing and embarrassed.

“Oh! Forgot my bag!” she said, and dashed back inside.

Ben laughed politely and stood on the doorstep waiting for her. He glanced down at his knees and almost swore when he saw the mud caking his jeans. He did his best to brush it off but Carla walked out, catching him in “the act”.

“Where’d you get so dirty?” she asked, pointing to the flaking bits of dirt.

Ben’s mind whirred with life. I could tell her. I could actually explain to someone. She’s different! I said it myself she’s-

“I dropped my bus pass into a pipe earlier,” he said, covering up. “Had to get on my knees to fetch it back.”

It wasn’t a very convincing lie, but Carla seemed to accept it. She shrugged and shut the door with a click.

“So, shall we go?” she winked.

They walked out. Carla was glad to have Ben escorting her to school, for she would have a hard time finding it all on their way. She knew the general way to the bus stop: you go down the street, make a left, and turn right three blocks past. Still, it was nice to have someone show her where to go. She felt awkward walking down with Ben, yet couldn’t help wondering how he gotten the mud all over his pants. The lie he told her wasn’t convincing, but she didn’t let on. She was determined to find out.

“So did your bus pass fall down very deep?” she inquired. Carla could tell Ben was looking nervous, and she silently cheered at her what soon would be a victory. She was going to say more, but realized that they weren’t going the right way. They missed the corner they should have turned at by four blocks, but Carla, absorbed in their conversation, hadn’t noticed until now. She began panicking.

Upon voicing her opinion to Ben, he only replied, “I know a shortcut.”

Carla knew that was a lie.

They turned the corner again and Ben could sense Carla feeling uncomfortable. Civilization was fading behind them as the path became less and less beaten. Mud replaced rock, and soon they were under the shady canopy of the woods. Ben could sense they were coming closer. Carla looked as if she wanted to turn around and run.

“This isn’t a shortcut, is it?” she said, speaking before he could.

Ben swallowed. He looked at her brown eyes, and for the first time since this morning – they connected. It felt as if two old friends were joining for the first time in a while. The initial awkwardness had faded, and Ben relaxed a little and then shook his head.

“I need to show you something,” he said, and the connection that he had felt strengthened, and he sensed he had Carla’s trust.

Carla’s heart was in her throat. She gulped, imagining the horrible possibilities of what he was about to show her. What if he’s a mass killer, and I’m really going to die? But that look they had just shared rid her of that thought. Do I trust him? Carla thought to herself. She quickly concluded that she must’ve, otherwise she wouldn’t be with him right now.

As if he could read her mine, Ben suddenly asked: “Do you trust me?” Without waiting for her answer, Ben whipped out more questions. “Can you keep a secret? Can I trust you?”

Carla felt her palms get sweaty and had to take a deep breath before meekly answering, “Yes, yes, yes… but are you going to hurt me?”

Satisfied, Ben started walking off, leaving Carla frozen in her spot. He stopped and turned around, grimly telling her, “I promise you will not be harmed, but you must stay exactly where you are. Do not be afraid. Promise me you will not be afraid.” Ben didn’t wait for Carla’s answer before running off, leaving Carla alone in the woods.

The forest floor crunched under Ben’s feet. He told himself he would not glance around to see how Carla had reacted. Best to leave them shocked and stunned was his personal philosophy. The gradient of the forest was descending now, and the floor folded downwards into a dip in the woods. He descended and his feet landed on the muddy floor, sodden from years of collecting rainfall. Behind him, a small stream trickled its way downwards, lapping up the dry dirt. He began to walk to the right and the stream slowly became thicker and thicker as did the dip in the forest. The sides of the stream had been dug out, so it made a contraption in mud that looked something like a half pipe. In the middle of this channel, water fell into a hole covered by a metal grille. Ben had assumed the first time he had come down here that it was an old water tank or well, but he was not interested in that. He got onto his hands and knees and felt the cold water rush around him. He clenched his jaw as he began to scoop mud away from the sides of the grille. Once he could see at least two or three inches of cement he began to edge the grate off. At first it was difficult, cement rubbing against cement, but once he had passed the rim it peeled off easily. The water began to drain furiously into the hole. It was about a three or four feet drop, and the water was shallow. He got up again and ran up the stream.

He soon reached Carla, who looked dejected and angry. She was glancing at her watch.

“It’s ten minutes until school starts. Do you have any idea how angry my mom’s gonna be?” she said, getting up and rearing herself to her full height. Ben could sense she was usually very proud.

“School doesn’t start until tomorrow,” he said, quite blankly.

“Oh, so you came to my house at some ungodly hour to take me into the woods and murder me?” she asked, her tone rising. Ben excused her anger for exhaustion.

“No. I brought you here because you don’t know anything about me and therefore you trust me,” he said. “Now come on.”

He reached out his hand to heave her up. Carla didn’t take it for three or four seconds, but let it float there. She gritted her teeth and hoisted herself up.

“Prepare to get dirty,” Ben said, and began to squelch off where he came from.

Carla reached the grille just after Ben. I think she’s persuaded now, Ben thought. He indicated for Carla to get down on her knees like him. She did so, and for a moment Ben could see that fierce pride he had sensed before, in her eyes. She looked down into the shallow water.

“You want me to go down there with you?” she said, as if it were all some mocking joke.

“No, actually I just wanted to show you the great view of this town. Look! Look all around? You see that tree it’s famous for- yes, I want you to come down with me,” he jeered, ever the cynic. “I just…I just need to show you something.”

Carla looked up at him.

“What kind of thing?”

“Do first,” he explained, “ask questions later.”

Carla sighed, and began to tug off her shoes and socks, which were now sodden. Ben stopped her.

“Keep them on,” he said, sternly. “Rats.”

She nodded.

She’s really something, Ben thought. Any other girl would have run home screaming. I’m probably more scared than she is.

Carla swung her legs over into the hole. Ben grabbed her hands. They had only met this morning and she was out her, getting sodden, dirty and lied to. Really something…

“Ladies first,” he called, and lowered her in.

“As you wish,” Carla replied and jumped down, feet first into a foot deep of water. Ben quickly appeared next to her, leading her on deeper into what seemed like a tunnel. Carla tried her best to not act scared, and because of her adrenaline rush, it appeared she wasn’t. She thought to herself, Wow, he must really trust me if he’s showing me something nobody else has ever seen.

Ben lowered himself in, and grimaced as his feet touched the water. The smell was an almost unbearable concoction of dank and rot. He stretched out his arms and felt them slap against the sides. It was impossible to see, so feeling his way around was the only way of advancing. The only light came from that reflecting off Carla’s hair, and scattering against the water.

“This way,” he whispered, feeling his voice ricochet off the walls, “follow my voice.”

Carla blindly followed him, hoping to reach their destination soon. The smell was giving her an awful headache and she was positive she could hear rats shuffling around in the water at her feet. It took all her willpower she had to not scream and run away.

Every now and then, Ben would say something, asking if she was still following. Eventually, his voice stopped calling and she was walking just in front of her, groping her way through the darkness. She ended up bumping into Ben, and he shushed her before saying anything more.

“Just through this entryway, and we’re there.” Carla could see Ben’s face more clearly now, and could tell his eyes were filled with excitement. She could almost read his thoughts; they were written so clearly all over his face. Carla still wondered where they were going.

“So what exactly is it… a secret place , or something of the sort?” she pondered aloud. Ben covered her eyes and lead her through the entryway.

“And here it is: thing I’ve been wanting to show you. My secret is now revealed.” Ben uncovered her eyes and the only sound heard in the room was Carla’s gasp.

Ben laughed again, taking his time in his reply. “Did you like it?”

“Like it? It’s amazing! Why are you keeping it a secret?” Carla looked at Ben through curious eyes, seeing he was having trouble responding. Oh no, she thought, he must’ve stolen it. She silently swore at herself for trusting a criminal.

Ben must’ve seen her thoughts on her face, because he quickly chimed in with, “I didn’t steal it… if that’s what you were thinking. And the reason I’ve been hiding it… is, well,” Ben sighed, “it’s sort of a long story.”

Carla laughed, not letting Ben put it off with this excuse. She was going to find out everything. She looked at him coyly, “Well what are you waiting for? We’ve got plenty of time. Spill.” With that, Ben began to tell the story of his adventures.

He stood, basked in the darkness and took a breath.

“There’s not really much to it,” he began. “I think it was about four weeks ago. Half way through the summer holiday. Yeah, I think it was then, because it was just after I went away… Nine o’ clock? I think that’s when it was. Well, it was late. Late-ish. It wasn’t dark though, being the middle of summer. So, I was walking through here with my iPod plugged in and I see this enormous flash of light. At first I thought it was a camera, or something, because it really was this huge flash. Like as if the paparazzi were here or something. Naturally, I walk over to this very spot, just above us. I don’t see anything at this point, and the light is starting to go now. I begin to walk away again and there’s another huge flash, but this time it comes right under my feet! I kick away a couple of leaves and through a hole in concrete I can see a little channel of water. Being the amazing guy I am, I pretty much figure out immediately that it’s the old water tank. No one’s been down here in about three years. Some kid fell through the concrete, and they had to re-do it all. Nowadays people stay clear from here.

The next day I got some stuff and came down here and found this thing. That’s all I know. Except I think there’s something more to it. I think it’s linked to the disappearances.”

He paused, allowing Carla to take it in.

“What dissapearances?” she asked, allowing her natural curiosity to invade her speech.

Ben checked his watch.

“We’ve got a couple of hours before you have to get home,” he said, “I’ll show you.”

He began to wade through the water, making sure Carla was following. As they clambered out of the deep hole, Carla began to ask him more and more questions:

“How often do you come down here?”

“A couple of times a week. The light changed two weeks ago, and it got me interested. I usually take a spare change of clothes, but today was sort of spur of the moment.”

“Spur of the moment?”

“Well I was originally going to take you round town, you being new and all…but, I guess I just felt something different in you.”

When they had climbed out of the tank, Ben took out his bus pass.

“You got any money on you?” he asked.

Carla shook her head.

“Why?” she inquired.

“We’re taking a trip…”

Carla was excited, but still couldn’t help voicing her suspicion, no matter how much she trusted Ben: “With these disappearances and all… You don’t think, I mean,” Carla struggled for words, “Like, well, I’m not going to disappear too, am I?” Her voice cracked at the end of the phrase and Carla immediately regretted saying anything.

“Well I’m still here, aren’t I?” Ben gave her a stern look, “Weren’t you listening to what I said before? I promised you that you would not be harmed and I fully intend to keep that promise.”

Carla took a deep breath and searched her bag for any money she might have. Luckily, she had packed ten pounds and some random change. Carla hoped it would be enough for… where ever they were going. When she showed Ben her money, he nodded and told her to keep it someplace very safe and close to her. Carla was almost positive he enjoyed not telling her everything, leaving her hanging on every word that came out of his mouth.

Well, she thought to herself, I always did like mysteries…

They walked in silence for a while until they broke onto the road. They got on a bus for the town centre. Carla broke the quiet after about ten minutes.

“Is this an adventure for you?” she asked. “Because it’s not fun for me. If you think you’ve ensnared me in some little trap you’re wrong-”

“No!” Ben cut across. “Of course not. I just want to show you some articles. I wanted to make it a bit more interesting, but if you must know-”

“Oh, so now you want to talk?” Carla was testy. He could sense her blood was rising. “You try and keep this enigmatic front and once you’ve “gained my trust” you-”

“A couple of kids our age, probably a bit younger, started disappearing in the summer, round about when I found the light,” he continued, ignoring Carla’s mood. “I read something in a couple of newspapers that didn’t make sense to me. A couple of the kids, before they disappeared, said something about a light… and… well… I got scared. I got scared because the first time I saw that light, the first thing I wanted to do was run. It was that energy, you know? It had made me… just want to get the hell out of town. I felt I could do anything. I felt I was destined for something. I was really considering it, too. The day before you came, I thought I was going to do it… to run. But I didn’t. And then I when I met you… something clicked. It was just like… you kept me grounded or something. I bet you felt it too, didn’t you? I think that we’re in this together now. However deep it is. Whatever the fuck that thing is, we’re going to find out together. Even if it turns out to be some nuclear reaction gone wrong… we’ll find out together. As friends.”

There was a pause after that.

“What if I’d have run off? What if I’d have felt that same urge?” she demanded.

“What if you had?” Ben said, blankly. “You’ve got to start having faith, Carla.”

He stopped, and gazed out of the window.

“Every time you question yourself, and I don’t mean you, I mean you plural, you’ve wasted another second of the only time you get to live. I’ve learnt to stop questioning myself, and just do. So what if I end up dead in a gutter? At least I gave it a shot, huh? One for the history books. What do you say?”

The bus rolled to a stop, and they clambered off.

She stood at the stop, waiting for everyone to get on. Once nobody was around, she looked at Ben, thinking hard about this. This could be a once-in-a-lifetime thing, the adventure she had been searching for with Chelsea. She felt a pang in her heart as the thought about Chelsea, and knew that right now Chelsea would be telling her to take it.

Finally, Carla reached a decision. “Alright,” she said, “as friends. But if we’re going to end up dead, let’s at least because famous.” She skipped on ahead in a direction she hoped was the library, only to be directed by Ben that she was going the complete opposite direction. Giggling at her mistake, she ran up to Ben. Between breaths, she asked him, “So how come I’m so different? Why did you choose to show me that ‘light’ and not someone else? Why was I the first one to know?”

The answer rolled off Ben’s tongue as if it had been rehearsed many times. “There’s no good way to explain it,” he began, taking his time, “you’re just different. You’re trusting, but know when to be cautious. You’re brave, but you’re not afraid to show when you’re scared. You’re definitely not like the girls around here,” Ben paused, allowing Carla to understand the meaning of his words. “Plus,” he continued, “you’re way too curious for your own good. Even if I hadn’t shown you, you would’ve found out eventually.”

Carla felt herself heating up with the compliments but was unsure of how to thank Ben. She just guessed she would have to make it up to him someday. They walked a couple blocks down more and finally reached the library, an immense building with long white pillars in the front. Carla’s jaw drop, immersed in the beauty of this building.

“Carla,” Ben softly spoke into her ear so others couldn’t eavesdrop, “we didn’t come here to look at the building, we came here to find out about the disappearances and maybe discover some insight on what this thing may be. Now c’mon!” He grabbed her wrist and pulled her inside.

The library was a grand building and had an incredibly stuffy atmosphere. Everything was polished and clean, and leather chairs were clustered in circles inside alcoves of books. A computer room lay to the right, and a meeting room and study room were to the left. Ben walked to the front desk and smiled sweetly at the woman behind it. She was pretty in a middle-aged sort of way, and Ben noticed a ring on her finger – glittering innocently.

“Hi,” he said, remembering to keep his voice down. “I was just wondering if I could have access to the news archives? It’s for a history project, me and my friend are doing.”

“Is school back already?”

Ben knew the school project excuse was a bad one.

“Uhh, no. But we’ve been working all summer on it, and we’re sort of behind. It’s in on Friday,” he said, covering his tracks.

Carla raised her eyebrows at this.

“Of course,” she smiled. “Our archives go back to 1920 if you’re looking at the World Wars.”

She opened a draw and drew out a jangling set of keys. She pointed to the relevant devices:

“This red one is for the draws to the left. The blue one is for middle shelves, and the silver one is for draws to the right. It’s all colour coded. You’ll understand,” she recited.

Ben thanked her, and, with Carla, walked to a door in the back of the library.

“Good save,” Carla said, laughing while entering the back of the library. It wasn’t as complicated as Carla had expected, but there was a lot to go through. I hope Ben knows where the information is… she thought to herself. Luckily, he seemed like he went there often enough to know that the articles he searched for were located for the shelves in the right. Knowing she couldn’t help, Carla sat down at a table and because tracing the knots in the wood. After a couple of minutes, Ben returned with a pile of newspapers which he then dropped on the table, inches from Carla’s face.

“These are the articles on the disappearances, but they were only reported in two newspapers. I’ve found all the ones that I could remember reading. You can grab any one you want and search for an article, they’re all on the fourth page, except for the yellowish looking one which features the article on the second, the ripped up paper on the sixth.”

Carla picked up the yellowish newspaper, which read The Biscuit Gazette. She dumbly reported to Ben,
“I’ve never heard of these newspapers before.”

Ben rolled his eyes. ”Obviously, because up to a couple days ago, weren’t you living in the Americas?” Carla’s cheeked turned red. ”Plus,” Ben continued, “that is more of a local newspaper.”

Sighing, Carla searched through the newspaper and found the article. She began reading:

A couple days ago, a mysterious disappearance occurred. Two boys, with the ages 12 and 15, respectively, were found missing from the beds where their mother had tucked them in the previous night. Upon questioning, the mother reports that the boys had been babbling on about a “light” they had seen a couple of days ago. ”I didn’t really think much of it then,” the mother explained to The Biscuit Gazette, “I figured it was just some nonsense they were saying, trying to prank me as they usually do. I don’t think it would have been linked to their disappearance.” While detectives are still investigating whether or not this ”light” could have been a cause of their disappearance, everyone is told to keep a lookout for the boys. Phil Deslite and William Bryant attended the school of Birmshire, a private school located in…

Carla became uninterested, and stopped reading. Glancing at their photos, something seemed familiar. The names, the pictures, it all rang familiarity. Carla came to a realization, desperately hoping she was wrong. ”Ben,” Carla started, her voice hovering just a little above a whisper, “You know those boys that disappeared? I’m pretty sure… well I think I kn-” Carla was interrupted by a loud explosion in the front of the library.

Ben nearly let out a cry, but Carla screamed before he could. People were yelling out front in shock. Ben started to smell smoke, which was now trickling under the door. People were crying now, and he could hear footsteps and the sound of roaring flames. The door was metal, but the flames were creeping under the crack. Carla was frozen in surprise. Ben looked behind him at the articles on the table, and made a split-second grab for them. He grabbed the key on an impulse, grabbed Carla, and kicked down the door with his foot.

It clanged open, and smoke invaded them. The smell reminded Ben of burnt steak. Meat. Meat, raw meat, that’s what we are. He coughed his way through the smoke, and pulled Carla along – who was still dazed. Flames were crawling around the library like wounded men. Ben thought, as he glanced around, that for a moment he had seen someone being burnt alive. No one trapped here, he thought, don’t be stupid. But he knew he was just trying to persuade himself. Volumes of books were being swallowed by greedy tongues of yellow and orange. They licked and slobbered at the shelves, grabbing and crackling at everything they could see. Ancient tomes were lost in an instant and suddenly Ben realised the danger he was in. His eyes were stinging, his vision was blurred. His skin was starting to singe from the intense heat he was feeling. The flames were closing in on him. He could see them circling him as if he were the centre of some ritual. The building was collapsing around them. They weren’t going to make it. Carla squeezed his hand and began to sob. Ben was sure he was going to be roasted alive.

Then, a burst of light shattered through everything. It swarmed around both Ben and Carla, and when they looked at each other – it seemed to be coming from their eyes. The light was silvery-white, and it was twisting around them, fending off the flames. The light danced nearer and then wrapped itself tightly around the two of them. It felt solid, like a warm bandage. Like a blanket. Maternal. Comfort. Thoughts raced through Ben’s mind as it touched him. He could still feel Carla’s hand as the light began to squeeze them. Suddenly, there was a burst of gold and Ben felt his ribs cracking and his pelvis being crushed against his muscle.

The feeling stopped. Ben opened his screwed up eyes, and heard Carla yell behind him.

“Where the hell are we?” Carla screamed, as the two of them looked into a thick tangle of jungle before them.

Ben felt a tear drop from the corner of his eye.

“A million miles from home,” he gulped.

“No surprise there, I was already far away from home.” Carla let her bitterness of her move bleed through her voice. Ben gave her a pleading look, then shrugged and cautiously began his way into the jungle. “Waaiiitt!” Carla called after him. She was so confused about what just happened and wanted to find solace in Ben’s words. He stopped and waited for her to catch up. “Ben,” she spoke slowly, “today has been the most confusing day of my life. I want answers. Now.” She tried to sound intimidating, but her shaking hands gave her away.

Ben sighed, putting his hands on Carla’s shoulders and shaking her a little bit. “How many times do I have to tell you… I have no clue! I’m just as clueless as you are. I have no clue why that light came or why it saved us or why we are here right now. If I knew something, I would tell you. I promise I won’t keep information from you.” Carla quieted and stared at the ground, feeling remorseful for accusing Ben. “Don’t worry,” he continued on, “if I were you, I wouldn’t even be here right now – that’s how scared I am.”

“Well, in that case, let’s see what we can find in this jungle rainforest thing.” On that note, she set off into the woods, determined to make herself useful.

The jungle was dense, and populated with huge, terrifying trees that dangled to head-height. The air was thick, and smelt of mud. The ground underneath them buckled as they walked, crunching in aqueously. Carla pulled off her jumper as she walked, and realised it was still slightly damp. Ben did the same. Birdsong cackled around them, jumping behind their ears – tauntingly. Carla walked behind Ben for security, yet Ben felt that he would have to rely on Carla if anything did happen to them. He picked up a large stick and thrust it, one hand on each end, against his knee. It didn’t break, and remained firm. Ben nodded and continued walking.

“What’s that for?” Carla asked.

“Instinct,” Ben grunted and they continued in silence.

Gnats buzzed around their head. The jungle was turning to swamp now as the ground became more and more sodden. They had been walking for at least an hour now, and neither Ben nor Carla had said a word. Ben found a dry patch and sat down. He out-turned his pockets, and found coins and his bus pass in there. He looked up at Carla, who was still holding the stick in her hand. As he looked into her eyes, she burst into tears.

“Where the hell are we Ben?” she sobbed. “We’re fucking lost! We’re going to die out here! I’m going to fucking die of thi-”

She couldn’t continue. She broke down in tears. Ben hesitated for a moment, before rubbing her back.

“Carla,” he said, biting his lip to hold back his own tears, “if we die. We both die. We’re together in this.”

Carla nodded, and screwed up her eyes. As they sat there, there was a crack of twigs nearby. Ben froze, and Carla grabbed his hand for security which he could not lend. A small, mousy figure rose from behind a tree. It was a boy, who was dressed in pajamas and mud, from head to toe. He was clasping a water bottle, and Ben immediately recognised him as William Bryant. One of the boys who had gone missing. The boy stood there for a minute, glancing around, and then broke the silence with an urgent:

“Did the light get you? Did you see the light? You need to follow me, no time for any answers. You’re lucky to be alive!”

This was said at a rapid pace. Ben did not even glance at Carla, before running to follow the boy.

Carla ran along with them, struggling to keep up. Too much was happening at once for her, she could hardly stop herself from having another sobbing fit. She tried to call out them, telling them to wait, but whenever she opened her mouth, she only started crying again. Her vision blurred with tears, Carla hardly noticed that they were slowing down, until they stopped and Ben had to grab her, or she would have kept on running. The boy ushered them into a cave, shushing them while he stood watch. After what seemed like decades, he faced them.

“Sorry about that, but you guys must know that the light is very dangerous. Once you’re exposed to it, it plays with your head, as well as fate. You guys were lucky you didn’t die… we’ve had some close calls.” A look of remorse creeped onto his face, as if he was remembering a foul memory. Silence covered the room, until he broke it with, “I’m Will, by the way. Who are you guys?”

Carla had stopped crying by now, her tears swallowed up by fear. She managed to stammer out, “C-C-Carla… and he’s Ben.” She analyzed Will, taking in the sight of him. He looked to be a little bit taller than Ben, with a lean, strong figure. His blond hair was matted and clung to his face, and he was covered in dirt. Carla couldn’t help thinking that if Chelsea had been here, she would have been urging Carla to go flirt with him. Becoming emotional, Carla shoved the memory out of her mind and decided to ask if the boy knew where they were, when Ben let out a sickening scream, clutching his forehead with his hand.

Ben’s head exploded with pain. He could feel intense pressure on his skull, that felt as if his brain was expanding on himself. His eyes were being squeezed outwards and his throat was closing up. Will looked at him, absolutely shocked.

“Fuck! FUCK! FUCK!” he screamed, and began to run.

Suddenly, Ben vomited onto the floor, but instead of bile – light poured out of him, as if he had exhaled. It was not the silvery, gold light they saw before – but now an angry red light, that twisted like smoke – but still glowed. It rushed around the cave, and began to chase the fleeing Will. It buzzed, as if one hundred thousand angry wasps were near them. Ben’s hair was standing on end. The pain had eased, but his heart was pounding in his chest. The light twirled around Will, almost daintily, and closed in, like ropes. The noise of buzzing stopped and a noise like a drill began. Will was screaming. It was a scream full of pain, that pierced Ben’s ears. Ben’s eyes widened as he saw Will’s flesh being scraped off. Blood was pouring onto the ground and Will’s eyes glazed over. The light shot into the sky, like some kind of rocket. Will began to gag and tried to speak:

“Don’t…come…near me,” he choked. “It’ll come back…if you do. Stay in…the…ca-ca-ve for an hour…it will have fed…by then. Then…head…west. West… Towards the….brock…the bl…the…bruerock…the blue rock.”

He spat up blood. He didn’t have long left now. He took a huge breath in order to say his final command.

“There’s fifty…fifty or so kids up there. Ask for Tancred Turnbull…she’ll keep you safe…unless you-”

Will suddenly coughed. It was grating noise, and a huge pocket of blood flew out of his mouth. A trickle of red smoke left him. He was dead. Carla burst into tears, mourning the loss of the child she had known for just a few minutes.

“We’re going to fucking…fucking DIE!”

“CALM DOWN, CARLA!” Ben shouted, exasperated. She shut up. “We’re going to die if we don’t run, so we need to run, and we need to run NOW!” He shoved her out of the cave and began pulling her along. Carla blindly ran, not wanting to burst into flames. But that boy… she only met him, but he looked so familiar. The way he died too… she shuddered, the only thing she could do to stop herself from sobbing again. Rubbing her eyes as they ran, Carla wasn’t paying attention to obstacles on the ground until she found her face planted into the mud which she had been running on not too long ago.

“What the fuck was that?” Carla looked around, trying to find the source of her fall. She spotted a blue stone, shining brightly in the mud. “B-b-b-ben,” she stuttered, pointing at the stone. “Didn’t he say something about a blue rock?” She tried to shove the memory of Will coughing blood out of her mind.

Ben frantically looked around, knowing they must be close. He tugged at his hair, trying to think of where this ‘Tancred Turnbull’ could be. Unless this was a trap. He tried to voice his fears to Carla, but was interrupted by another outrageous headache.

Ignoring the pain, he grabbed Carla and shoved her onto the ground. The last time this headache happened, someone had died. He wasn’t going to risk it being Carla. The ground began to tremble beneath them. The red vicious light was ready to feast again, searching the ground. Carla felt her foot burning, the worst pain she had ever felt. But then it ceased – something was stopping it. She gazed upon a girl with her hands up, holding an object, yelling at her and Ben to get into a whole in the ground, one that hadn’t been there a few moments earlier. Knowing she was going to die either way, Carla willingly jumped into it, engulfing herself in a world of darkness.

Ben ducked into the hole next to Carla and the girl.

“Are you Tancred?” he whispered.

“Shut up,” she said, fierily. “Wait until that has gone to ask questions.”

The red smoke was twisting on the ground, writhing around like a fish out of water. It began to circle the area, and Ben could hear that buzzing noise, like angry wasps again. His heart thudded in his chest. How could it possibly see where it was going?

The red smoke began to disappear, rising upwards into the sky. Ben felt the dull thudding of pain leave his head as it moved. The girl next to him turned to them, somehow confident it wasn’t going to come back.

“Yes,” she said. “I’m Tancred.”

Though she was filthy, Ben could tell she would be very pretty normally. She had the cheekbones of a model, and the glaring eyes of a warrior. Her white blonde hair was crudely cropped short and she seemed awkward in her summer dress, torn and dirtied.

“I’m sure you have millions of questions,” she said, empathetically. “Now is the time to ask. Others will have just as many for you when you arrive.”

Ben paused. Carla began to play with the dirt beneath her.

“How did you know we were here?” Ben asked.

Tancred smiled.

“There are a few who the light or smoke, are connected with,” she explained. “It invades bodies, and uses them as hosts – like a virus. It only lasts for a few hours, but afterwards a connection is left. It’s a thin web, that connects us with it.”

Carla raised a hand to Ben’s shoulder.

“He-,” she began. “Ben… That thing came out of him.”

“Yes,” Tancred nodded. “The virus. It duplicates itself inside the brain. Severe headache? Thought so.”

Ben could feel a huge weight being lifted.

“So…there’s no more danger?” he asked.

“As long as there is no more pain,” the blonde girl replied.

“What is that thing? And why does it make that noise…like a snake?” Carla asked.

“We know nothing,” Tancred said, disappointingly. “It comes to feed each day. We fight it off if we can, but sometimes it takes a life.”

“How do you fight it?” Ben whispered.

Tancred opened her hand and showed what she had been carrying. It was an iPod. A piece of technology had scared away what had carved off the flesh of a boy.

“It’s terrified of electricity. It scatters when it sees it,” she explained. “And as for that hissing sound – what was your name? Carla… We all hear different things. It manifests itself differently for everyone.”

Ben suddenly felt glum.

“You don’t know anything?” he asked.

“I know,” Tancred said, looking up, with tears in her eyes. “And we’ve been here for three years.”

Carla tried to not let her jaw drop, but it was hard. “Three years?” She gasped. She thought about leaving her family, friends, everything, all at once with no warnings, no goodbyes. The bitterness of her move to London didn’t even creep into her thoughts as it usual did. Instead, sadness tugged at her heart. She hugged Tancred, trying to soothe her.

“Well, come on,” Tancred said, after she had gotten her emotions under control. “Let’s introduce you to everyone.” She hit the side of the hole in a special manner, and after counting to five, the dirt came down. It revealed a door, about three feet tall, causing everyone to crouch down to get through it. Once past, Tancred led them down a long tunnel, through more doors. Along the way, she explained the reason behind all of the doors.

“We figure we can keep out the light this way,” she said, her voice lightening up. “Each door is placed with an electric bolt – which is why I count to five before touching the dirt again – so that if the light came through, we would be perfectly safe in our home. The maze-like setting of the tunnels is to confuse intruders, and well, add to the cool effect.” Tancred winked at them, and they reached a dead end. She bent over and pulled up a worm-like string, creating another hole.
“Alright, jump in!” she said, excited. “The last thing to get into our home!”

Carla knew the routine, and slid down this hole. It curved like a slide, ejecting her into a pile of pillows. She immediately moved over, so she wouldn’t be crushed by Ben or Tancred. Carla sort of wanted to go again, but figured there would be more times to do so. Right now, she was so curious.

“Hey Tancred,” Carla began, “well, uhm, how did you guys build all of that stuff?” Tancred let out a hearty laugh.

“A good portion of it was here before we were, an old mine shaft. Our little genius kid, Matty,” she gestured over to a kid looking about 9 years of age, “helped us set up the electricity and trap doors and what not. It was nothing at first, but once you’re here for three years, you tend to get creative.” Carla still couldn’t get over the fact on how well made everything was. She gazed around the room, almost forgetting Ben standing next to her.

“So… who is everyone?” Ben tried to see where all the kids were, but everyone was scattered about the big room. Even though the floor, walls, and ceiling where made from dirt, it didn’t give off the appearance of being messy. In a corner there were a large heap of blankets, leading him to assume it was the sleeping quarters. Across the room was a long table, crudely made from a tree. Behind the table was shelves upon shelves of different varieties of food. On his second time inspecting the room, Ben couldn’t find where they possibly could have gone to the bathroom. He wasn’t sure if that was good or not. He looked at Tancred again, who was now in the middle of the room, ringing a large bell.

The room grew quiet, and everyone came to the middle, finally noticing their new guests. “Everyone,” Tancred said, a big smile on her face, “we have some new arrivals. This is Ben and Carla.” Names spouted out from different mouths, of various ages.

Carla tried to remember all of their names, but knew she’d remember them soon enough. Tancred continued with her speech, “They have also escaped from It,” Carla noticed she referred to the light as It, “and they’re going to need a place to stay. Now someone come up and explain everything to them while I start dinner.”

A girl of about 8 years of age walked over to them, and shook their hands. “I’m Adela,” she said, introducing herself. Carla felt a pang go through her heart, for Adela reminded her of Genvieve. “I’m going to explain how things work.” She grabbed their hands and pulled them around the room, explaining where they would sleep and what to do in case the light came. “Usually we stay down here, but we make sure we always carry something electronic with us at all times. Moving on,” she led them towards the kitchen, where Tancred had created a fire, heating up a big pot of water while she chopped vegetables, “this is the kitchen. Because we can only bring in so many Kepps from working, we only have two meals, sometimes only one. And when you have to go do your business, you go behind here,” Adela pointed to a curtain, “and take the tunnel straight down – it leads you right out to the deserted part of the forest. Any questions?”

Many burned through Carla’s mind, but she limited herself to asking only one of them, “Yeah… how do you guys get everything? And what are Kepps? Where are we?” Carla’s curiosity got the better of her, and she knew one question certainly wouldn’t do. Ben chuckled at her curiosity, but Carla knew she wanted to know the same questions.

Trying to remember the order, Adela answered, putting thought in each question, “Kepps are the currency here, and we buy thing from the villagers.” Carla wanted to ask a question about the villagers, but Ben squeezed her arm, quieting her. “Many of us go work at jobs to earn Kepps, and together we’ve been really lucky to get everything. And about where we are… well, I don’t know if I should be the one to tell you.”

Carla’s heart dropped to her stomach, and she felt Ben stiffen beside her.

“Why not?” Ben urged, trying to coax the answer out of their little tourguide.

Adela shrugged her shoulders. “Well… I mean, I guess I could…” Her resistance was fading against Ben and Carla’s eager faces. She quickly added, “Just don’t tell Remmy I told you.”

Carla bursted out, “Deal!” knowing it wouldn’t be a hard promise to keep, since she had no clue who this ‘Remmy’ was.

“Okay… well the thing is, we don’t know where we are.” Carla’s hopes plummeted. “But we’re think we’re positive of one thing…” Adela glanced at Tancred, “we’re not on Earth anymore.”

Carla’s vision blurred and everything grew darker and quieter, only hearing Tancred’s shout of “Dinnertime!” before she hit the floor.

The others shuffled off to dinner, only Adela paused for a minute to see if Carla was okay.

“What happened?” she whispered, kneeling down to help Ben pick up Carla.

“My guess is shock,” Ben said, sternly. He moved Carla carefully to a wall and asked Adela to bring some food over.

“Is it the right time to be eating?” she asked.

Ben frowned at her, and she scurried off quickly to get food. As soon as she was out of earshot, Ben shook Carla. He understood that she had merely fainted, and could be roused easily. Fortunately for him no one else did.

“Carla,” he said, awkwardly glancing around.

She opened her eyes, groggily and stared at Ben.

“What?” she asked, suddenly alert.

“Get up,” he said, talking at top speed. “We need to get out of here. Everyone is over there eating. We can climb out, up the tunnel and go find those villagers. Find some answers. I have a feeling the people in here are too scared to do any real digging-”

He was cut off by a coughing sound. It was Adela, holding a leaf full of chopped up fruit and raw, cured meat.

“You’re leaving?” she asked, making sure she kept quiet.

Ben shook his head: “No,” he replied. “We’re going to get answers. You can come if you want, but if you don’t you can’t stop us leaving.”

“I don’t know…” Adela said, softly.

“Don’t know what?” Carla asked, now standing.

“If I come… I’ll be at risk,” she began. “But if I leave you alone… then… I’ll have your deaths on my conscience. Forever.”

“It’s a toughie,” Ben said, through gritted teeth.

*

They were now clambering out of the dark hole in the side of the forest. Carla was behind Ben, and Adela was behind Carla – holding a camera in her hand. It was dark now, and swarms of mosquitos (or what would be mosquitos if we were home) began to flood around them. The air was thick, and Ben felt a rush of nostalgia. He was reminded of holidays and millions upon millions of private jokes he’d had back home. He swallowed and turned to Adela, who’s mane of curly black hair she was now untangling.

“Which way to the village?” he asked.

Adela pulled her hand down from her hair and stared at him for a second.

“Follow me,” she replied.

Carla and Ben tagged behind her, as she cut her way through paths and bends. Ben wondered if she had been here as long as Tancred (or is she even from earth? can we trust her? carla?). She knew the paths so well and seemed to know when to duck out of the way of a branch, or when to avoid a thick cluster of brambles.

Carla and Ben walked side by side. Carla had been devouring the food Adela had brought for ten minutes, and Ben had been fumbling with the coins in his pocket. Finally, Adela turned to them as they reached a tall hill. It was pitch black now, and very, very cold all of a sudden.

“Over the hill,” Adela explained. “is the village.”

“What are we waiting for?” Carla asked.

“Let me finish,” Adela continued. “When we get to the village, I need you to promise me not to make any sort of noise of disgust or shock. The villagers aren’t the type you’ll be used to.”

Ben was puzzled by this. (cannibals? aliens? murderers? natives?)

“I promise,” Ben said. “And I’m sure Carla does too.”

Carla nodded, and they began to walk up the crest of the hill. As they walked upwards, Ben could smell smoke. It was a homely smell, and reminded him of the country (why the nostalgia? don’t be fooled, ben!). He could see a trickle of smoke, rising up into the sky – black against the horizon. As it rose higher into the air, it was illuminated by the moon, and Ben could see it was red. It was the red smoke. It was It. Panic filled Ben’s head. (carla! DO YOU SEE THIS! oshitoshit!)

He had no time to run, for as they reached the top of the hill, Ben looked down at the village and saw carnage. (dead! DEAD! EVERYONE DEAD!)

“Oh no,” Adela gasped, staring at the carnage. “We need to get out of here, and fast. We must warn the others, It is vengeful.”

Carla nervously glanced at Ben. “Will it come for us?”

Adela studied the smokes path, twirling through the village before rising to the sky. “I don’t think so,” she said, still cautiously watching it. “It got what it wanted, whatever that was.”

Ben, who had been silent until now, muttered, “Then we must go find out what that is.”

Carla swore, forgetting the presence of Adela. “Are you fucking serious? Ben, we can’t go there! We’ll get eaten or killed, and we have families and –”

Adela cut in. “He’s right,” she said, in an eerie voice.

Carla glanced at both of them, convinced they had lost their minds. But she realized she had no other choice – it was to go with them and risk death, or not go with them and risk death. She sighed, defeated. “Let’s go then,” she muttered, and down the hill they walked.

They reached the village in a matter of seconds. The air was thick with smoke, and the whole place reeked of blood. It was a metallic, sickening smell that made Carla retch. The worse had not come though. As they proceeded through the village, bodies lay scattered about. Some had their skin peeled, so only the muscle underneath showed, like the underside of a grape. Others were burnt, and blackened as if they had been torched in some demonic fire.

The basic huts which the villagers must have lived in were destroyed, crumbling to the ground after the rampage. Adela’s eyes widened.

“That’s the storage hut!” she yelled, forgetting the scene they were standing in.

“And…?” Carla asked, her eyes closed.

“That’s where they keep It’s creator. In there,” she continued, “is who made It!”

Carla could not stand it any longer. She leaned to the left, and vomited on the blackened remains of a woman.

Ben wanted to laugh, if only the tone hadn’t been so solemn. Having nothing left in her stomach, Carla no longer could vomit at the sight of dead people. She knew it would forever haunt her, but there was nothing she could do about it now. They walked in silence, cautiously checking huts and searching in alleys, looking for this ”creator.”Growing frustrated, Carla interrupted, “How did he even make this damn thing?”This question had been bouncing in Ben’s head all day, yet he still hadn’t found an answer. He had a thought, and voiced it to Carla. She sighed, looking around once more before facing him. “So what your saying is that he just took credit for it? That he never made the damn light thing, but told the townspeople he did? I see where you’re coming from, but I think that’s hard to believe.” She felt guilty, after seeing the hurt look on Ben’s face. “I mean, it’s a good idea,” she added, “but I don’t think it’s logical. Why would we take credit for something this horrible? He had to have known what it was capable of doing, and how it thirsted to kill. Wouldn’t the townspeople kill him, for making the blasted thing?” She nudged him in the ribs, as a slight peace offering.

“Perhaps,” he said, refusing to surrender, “they were afraid of him. He may have said that he would set this thing on them. When someone died, he could have said they wronged him.”

Carla couldn’t contradict him… it made sense, in a way. She continued looking, on the verge of giving up, when she saw a locket. It was dented and scratched, seeming to be made of what looked to be fool’s gold. Carla tried opening it, but it wouldn’t budge. She held it up to Ben. “This might be a clue to something,” she speculated. “See if you can get it open.”

Ben tried, but gave up, knowing this locket wouldn’t open with just force. “It needs a key,” he muttered, twirling the chain around his finger.

Carla swore. “That damn creator guy probably has it.” She began to say more, when Ben fell to the ground and started having seizures.

She shrieked, trying to stop him. He yelled out in pain, and the seizures weren’t slowing down. Frantic, Carla looked around, hoping for something that may have triggered it, or something that would stop it. She tried to kneel next to Ben to calm him down, but he was moving around so much he almost hit her. Suddenly, a man ran out of a hut and shoved Carla aside.

“Shut him up!” he cried, trying to hold Ben down. “It will hear us!”

“I can’t!” Carla cried, striving to be heard over Ben’s screams. Tears were openly running down her face, thinking the worst. Ben’s eyes were fluttering, as he was spasming into unconsciousness.

“How did this happen?” The man was firmly holding down Ben, trying to clamp his jaw together, in a vain effort to silence his cries. Upon no response from Carla, he searched Ben for what could be causing it. It was then, that he found the locket. The chain had slip up to his arm, right below the sleeve, and had tightened. It sent surges of something that Carla knew was causing the seizure.

“We have to get the locket off!” Carla shouted at the man, hope building in her chest. The man looked at her dumbly. Then, a look of realization spread over his face, and he seemed to understand. He ran back into the hut he had came from, and returned carrying a small silver rock. It had a brilliant blue in different lines across the rock, as if little thunderbolts. The man shoved it at her, expecting she knew what to do.

She was dumbfounded. Carla had no clue why he had given this rock to her, but she didn’t have the time to ask him why. Ben’s voice was getting softer and softer as he inched towards death – she needed to act quickly. Acting on instinct, she did the first thing that came to mind and pressed the rock against the locket, where a dent the size of the same rock lay. The rock slid in perfectly, and upon feeling a shock travel through her, the locket flew off Ben. She heard it land a couple feet behind her. She glanced at Ben, who lay perfectly still on the dirt.

“We need to get him inside,” the man reminded her. “He needs to be woken up before he can sleep again, and for that we need cold water. There is also a wound we’ll have to take care of…” he said, pointing to the deep cut that had formed from the locket. “I may be the only one who may save your friend.” He started to pick Ben up.

Defensive, Carla slapped his hand away and didn’t let him touch Ben. “Not until I get some answers,” she stated firmly, refusing to budge.

“Alright,” the man sighed, “but hurry, we don’t have much time.”

Aware of this, she spat at him, “So who the hell are you?”

The man paused, expecting this question, but not wanting to answer it. He picked his words carefully. “I am a villager, who goes by the name of Lourde Zowe… but most just call me by another name. Here in this village, I am known as The Creator.” He said these words slowly, giving Carla time to soak it in as he picked up Ben and headed to the hut.

Lourde kicked the door with his bare foot. It crashed open, and slammed into the side of the hut.

She couldn’t bear the thought of glancing at the myst feeding. Those were people who were willing to take them in, who had let down their walls and protection so Ben and herself could have shelter, and Carla felt as if she had betrayed them. She hoped they would forgive her for bringing it to them. She walked swiftly, giving Ben support as he walked, still in much pain. Lourde had disappeared, but Carla continued following the path she hoped was the way out. He came up to them a couple moments later, pulling horses along with him.

Lourde turned to them after around ten minutes and waved his hand. The horses which had Ben and Carla on, caught up with him immediately. Carla was still clutching the hand of the little boy, who was now sobbing openly. She hugged him tightly, for support and safety. They were cantering at top speed now, with the wind whistling through their hair. Ben pushed his head to the neck of the huge horse and looked backwards. Hills and countryside rolled behind him and the carnage they had left was now a smoking, bloody spot on the horizon.

An hour later they stopped. Carla complained of thirst, and Ben that his back was hurting. Lourde reluctantly agreed.

“You’re young,” he conceded, “I overestimated you.”

They sat under the shade of a lone tree in the middle of a perfect hill. Lourde pressed his hand to the tree trunk and soon a jet of clear water was trickling out. Carla hesitated for a second, before sipping the cool liquid.

“How’d you do that?” Ben asked, awestruck. It was something he had imagined forever. To have power like that.

“A simple bending of energy and matter,” Lourde smiled, lapping in the compliment. “Simple stuff.”

Carla finished drinking, and sat back again. She closed her eyes, and for a minute thought of sleep, before…

“Where the fuck is that boy?” Carla asked, sitting up, worried.

Ben sat up, sharply. They peered around them.

“Don’t move…” Lourde commanded, dropping his voice.

They sat in silence for a minute. Waiting for something to happen, until -

“I’m here.”

It took Carla a minute to realise it was not the voice of an eight year old boy. The voice was loud, and rumbling and low and echoed throughout the countryside. They rushed to the place of the voice and there, sitting on the crest of the hill was the boy. But it wasn’t the boy. It was the myst.

Red smoke was folding off him in waves, and his eyes glowed yellow – almost comically. There was no time to react, before the boy shuddered outwards in a brilliant crescendo of noise. His flesh ripped apart and splattered everywhere. The myst rose from out of him and puffed into it’s full size. It was huge and thick, and so dark that they felt enveloped in night. Ben grabbed Carla for comfort. Lourde seemed calm. The myst had now circled them, so there was only a foot between them and the horrific, buzzing smoke. Lourde smiled.

“Look, myst,” he smiled, talking to the beast, “it’s me. There’s no need to get so-”

The myst buzzed loudly, cutting him off. Ben could feel its anger and hunger coming off in waves, once more. It buzzed again. It seemed to be talking. Ben looked at Lourde, who seemed to be just as confused as he and Carla were. Lourde edged backwards.

“It’s more powerful than it ever was,” he whispered, from the corner of its mouth. “I think it realises it doesn’t need to keep me alive any-”

The myst buzzed even louder this time and suddenly it began to swirl around them. At first slowly, and then it began to pick up speed. With every rotation it grew darker and darker until it were pitch black. It hissed and buzzed and then a ripple spread through it and it changed shape.

“WHAT THE FUCK?” Carla and Ben cried in unison.

The myst was now in the shape of two hundred angry wasps. They were each the size of golf balls and Ben felt tears come to his eyes when he saw the size of the stingers. They were a furious shade of yellow. He barely had time to take this in before they dove in. They began to sting furiously at their skin. Lourde did his best to repel them, with pulses of energy. With each pulse they scattered, but Ben and Carla could do little to keep them away. Each huge sting caused violent boils to swell on their skin. Ben screamed in pain as the boils on his arms began to burst. Green pus oozed out and the pus burnt his skin, leaving angry welts. The pain was intolerable. Carla was doing no better. She was swatting out angrily at the wasps, forcing them to leave her. The sound of humming and buzzing was like a hellish choir. Lourde was now attempting to burn the wasps. He sent small plumes of fire at them, but each plume only incapacitated one wasp and every time a wasp fell, two smaller wasps appeared in its place. Ben was now crying with pain, as he felt four stingers plunge into the skin of his neck. He could feel their huge legs all over him and he suddenly felt a desperate want of a bath.

As Carla screamed at the wasps to leave her alone, she could feel a dull throbbing energy in the air around her. It was not alien to her. It reminded her of the energy she had felt when she had seen the light. It was the energy of this world. She pushed the energy away from her, and as she did the wasps moved. She was… bending. The world was spinning in and out of focus, and she found it hard to concentrate on the energy. When she grasped onto the new power, it felt as if she were shifting out of consciousness. Noises were now a dull throb and motion seemed to slow, but the pain still burnt as fiercely as before.

Lourde was now faring better, Ben could see, as was Carla. She had pushed away several wasps, but now she seemed to be in a daze. Lourde was now rolling plumes of blue energy at the wasps and engulfing them in death. It seemed to be working, but there were still more than a hundred wasps on them.

Carla collected the energy. Intuition had taken over. She could see one wasp, poised on her leg, ready to tear through her jeans. She focused the energy and suddenly felt a surge of… explosives ripple through her. It felt like a manifestation of her anger. It rumbled down her and suddenly the wasp on her leg exploded into nothingness. No smaller wasps spawned from it. It just… disappeared. She focussed herself again and this time curled the energy into her hands. She felt fiery rage burst through her fingertips and spasm out of her. A fiery blast rippled into the swarm of wasps. It had the power of dynamite and soon she was sending blast after blast at the wasps.

After five minutes, they had dissapeared. Carla waved out of the consciousness of energy and screwed up her eyes. Looking at her arms and legs, covered in welts, she burst into tears.

Everyone was in a weary calm. A heavy silence had settled between them, except for the occasional sniffle from Carla. Their last encounter had left them in fear of what could happen, and very wondrous about Carla.

Once Carla had stopped crying, Ben fought up the nerve to ask, “So… you have powers?”

Carla didn’t know how to answer. She didn’t know how she fought off the myst, or where the ”energy” had come to even do it. “I guess,” she said, now trying to get this energy again. “But I don’t know how it works or where it came from.” She glanced at Lourde, hoping he’d have an explanation.

“I’m not sure either, but I think I can teach you how to use it. We need to get going though, the myst may be back. And we need to find the boy.”

“But I thought,” Carla’s throat choked up on her, and she had to take a deep breath before continuing. “I thought… he was dead.”

“That’s what I thought at first, but the pieces of his flesh aren’t here. The myst wants us to believe he’s dead, so we’ll leave him behind. I know he’s here somewhere.” He whistled, calling the horses back from where they had run off to when the myst first came. He no longer had welts on him, as he had cured them all. “I’ll teach you how to get rid of them once we get going,” he added, to get them motivated.

Ben packed up his horse and searched the forest. He felt a pang of jealousy that Carla had powers, and he didn’t. He shook off the font and continued searching the area, almost missing the little cave beneath the hill. He glanced into it, seeing a little shaking figure. “Hey!” Ben yelled to the others. “I think I found him!” The figure stopped shaking and peered out, looking at Ben.

“Don’t hurt me,” he whispered, and then fainted. Ben carried him back to the others.

“Let him sleep,” Lourde said, once determining the boy was alright. “He’s had a rough day.” They saddled their horses and set off, once again, with no idea on where they were going.

They cantered for miles and miles, occasionally stopping to refuel. It was not until four days later that Lourde finally brought up the topic of Carla’s ability. They had stopped in what had once been a city, but was now mostly abandoned. Lourde explained that the area had been ravaged by war many years ago and powerful benders had changed the environment meaning no people could inhabit the houses any more. He stood up, and walked off into the middle of the street – just out of earshot of Ben. Lourde beckoned for Carla to follow, and she eagerly stood up. Ben felt a pang of jealousy run through him again and he took a rather over-zealous bite of a rabbit like creature that Lourde had cooked for them. He glared at Carla as she skipped over to see Lourde.