breaking the charm

Chapter 15: Doubt

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"Okay, we're not sure if they're actually dead though," I said, as I pick up my bags and start making our way off the rim of the tree, and we eventually come to a clearing, and we're are miles above the ground. We could see the Lab, its towering figures stretching all across the land. 

"Now that's going to be hard to break into," Heila says, and breaks off a branch. She throws it down and it takes exactly 15 seconds for us to actually hear it drop. That's how high up we were. 

"Well, we're all about risks. Because we're going to climb down this mountain, and also, try to find the village and get some food, at least." I say, as my stomach grumbles loudly. Heila looks at me with a pained look.

"Whaaat??! We're going down there, by FOOT?!" She said in a loud voice as she could hardly believe it. 

"How else are we going to get down?" I ask her, and she's out of ideas. The mountain is full of ledges, holes, and broken rock so it's easy to get through. There's a waterfall too, a yard away from us. 

"Maybe we should go through the waterfall, and if we fall, we'll fall into the water, not dirt," Heila says, and doesn't even wait for me to answer. She walks straight ahead.

"O-kay," I say, and I walk after her. Soon, we reach the enormous tall waterfall. The water is so blue, and the droplets sparkle. It's fresh too, and we fill our water bottles, and we gulp down the refreshing water. 

"We have to get going," Heila says confidently, and she starts lowering herself down, while her feet are fully attached to the ledges. She breaths hard, and starts sweating immediately. I give her a narrowed look, but she keeps going. I walk over to the other side and make my way down too. I get that feeling that I'll accidentally slip over and fall to my death, but I clench my teeth and I force myself to take another step. 

"How are you doing there?" says Heila, and her voice sounds a bit scared. I can relate, seriously.

I'm about to take another step but my foot hits something. Clank! It's like the sound of metal, and it's at foot level.

"What was that?" says Heila, and she strains her neck far enough to see where I'm at. I struggle to hold on but I keep going down. Soon enough, I find myself looking at a metal door. It's big enough to fit a toddle but I think I'll be able to fit.

"It's some sort of metal door," I say, and I knock on it. No response. I turn the doorknob but of course, it's locked. 

"Seriously? I'm going to get there, hold on." I'm able to crawl inside the hole that keeps me away from falling. I sit there, my legs dangling away from death.

Soon enough, I see Heila's shoes, and she also crawls inside the little hole beside me. She drinks some water and expands her lollipop.

"Um...what are you doing?" I ask her, and the lollipop expands a little bit more.

"Trying to bash the door open of course," Heila says, without any hesitations. She kneels next to the lock and starts smashing it. It loosens the lock, but Heila is already exhausted. 

"That's not going to work." I'm already tired, and I'm about to take a nap when Heila shakes me up again.

"What is it this time?" I ask her, and she takes a star from my pocket. She swings it at the rock wall, but it doesn't do anything.

"Why can't this thing work? It's not even working," says Heila, and she picks it up and passes it to me.

"That's cause it's supposed to be me that's using it. It doesn't work for anybody but me." I inform her and she looks at it with admiration.

"Really? Can I see it?" Heila's eyes sparkle, and she motions me to hurry.

I roll it over my fingers, and it floats just bout 2 inches above my hand. It spins, and it turns into a very dangerous star, spikes forming in every angle, side, and part. Heila claps, and she is in amazement.

"Wow!! Make it smash the lock over there!" Heila says with a very cheerful voice. 

"Not with this one, the spikes won't do anything. We have to set the mode of it." I say, and the sides immediately transform into razor-sharp blades. It spins and I wave it in the direction of the lock. It spins and shoots right at it. The lock smashes and the door opens.

"Your little stars are very handy," Heila said quietly, and she goes through the door. In there, was a huge staircase that led to darkness.

"Yeah, I'm not sure about going down there. Maybe it leads to the cages of all the monsters my mother created." I look worried, and Heila scoffs.

"Chaden, don't worry. Sydney won't store her creatures here. She would put them in a more beautiful place so that she could admire her pets, like in the Lab or something." Heila pats my shoulder and starts walking. I follow her, but I'm unsure what to expect. 

Approximately, we walk for an hour. Finally FINALLY, we reach the last step. Everywhere is black, and we can't see a thing. I dig through my bag and I feel the flashlight. I click it open, and the light shines on what's ahead of us. 

"Um...should we go open that door?" Heila points to the door in front of us. There was nothing else in this very small room, so I nod.

She pushes the door, and light comes in. There were vines dangling from above and we swept it aside. 

"So it was a staircase! Glad we didn't have to climb down a mountain instead." I said, relieved. Heila jumps around, and she is surrounded by bright grass. There was a very big tree, full of metal decorations. There were dangling decorations, and metal leaves. Heila squeals and runs over to it. I follow her, and we can see the village.

Food! Is the first thing that comes onto my mind. We'll be able to find some help, some sort of direction we're supposed to be headed. 

"Chaden, come quick!" Heila screams, and she looks cheerful. She points to a pice of paper stuck to one of the vines. I run over, and pull the paper open. It reads, "We're alive! -Jordyn and Clyde" 

"Now this is really great news. But what's that whirring sound above us?" I ask Heila, and she points at the sky. About 10 drones, attacthed with cameras are almost going to reach us. 

Good news and bad news do not go together.