DYCLAND SEBASTIAN

Chapter 22. Unwanted Freedom

    THEY sat in silence next to each other on the bed. Dycland is worried about Cassia. She’s not saying anything and he can’t tell by her expression what she’s thinking. Raven, on the other hand,  is drawing on the dirt with a stick he plucked from the bed. He looks so serious as he makes lines and shapes on the dirt like completing pieces of a puzzle.

    Dycland can’t open the topic about their escape because everyone is caught up in their own world. 

    How did he discuss plans with the pack again? He can't remember.

    His worries pile up; he can't think straight anymore. 

    In times like this, there was always Jack who aides him and gives him advice even though his advice was not helpful at all. But, still. He wished his friend was here to help him. 

    Dycland mentally hit himself. This is not time to be depressed, he castigated himself. I need to make a plan on how to get Cassia out of here. She’s not safe here. That crazy bastard says Cassia will die after giving birth. What is he planning to do? 

    Raven’s drawing is getting bigger. Some lines were almost touching Dycland’s foot. He moved his feet out of the way to give Raven some more room to scribble. 

    What’s this guy doing anyway? Abstract?

    Dycland examined the lines and shapes Raven had drawn on the dirt. The outline was a circle and inside it was a group of triangles and squares. there are curved lines, and more tiny circles. He can’t make it out at all. Thinking it was just a scribble, Dycland doesn't think too much about it anymore. 

It was only when Cassia spoke, leaning on him to look at Raven’s piece of art, he got the idea.

“Raven, is that a map?” she asked curiously.

 Dycland eyes bulged out. A map? This scribble?

He tilted his head to see how it is exactly a map. All he sees are shapes and lines atop one another.

“Yes. The map of the Dome C from the bird’s view,” smirked Raven, proud of his own inside joke.

Cassia snicker. “Right. So, why are you drawing that?”

Raven draws a straight line then adds short branches like lines attached to it. “Since everything’s a mess, we’ll leave tomorrow night. After scouring the whole dome for months, I found the best way out. Here–”

Raven circled a tiny bit on the outline of his drawing.

“This here is where the exhaust fan that keeps the weather here controlled located—”

“Is the weather here being controlled?” Dycland exclaimed in surprise.

“Shush, Dycland,” Cassia said, hitting him on his legs.

“Yes," Raven answered him graciously. "All domes are man-made: man planted and grew all the plants here, made the falls, lakes, ponds, cave, hills, and yeah, even the weather. They use big, complicated machines like the exhaust fans." 

Dycland blinked his surprise. He did not expect that this place was fake. It looks genuinely like the forest jungle. 

"What about the rain?" He asked.

"They make clouds. Ask more later. Now's not the time," said Cassia dismissively.

Dycland blinked. He's now curious as to how this place works. Thinking about it, this place has a glass roof and thick cement walls. The sunlight and moonlight pierced through the glass roof, shining onto the plants. About the rain, he never thought that it's artificial. Picturing the dome's roof, it is truly impossible for the rain to pour inside because of the tight knitted glass.