15th Century Girl

Chapter Two: The Basement

                That night we arrived in a familiar neighborhood, it was my own. "So I guess we'll be staying at your place" Carter said with a laugh as he dropped our luggage and sat down to catch his breath. We had been running the entire day and evaded capture; I just looked down at him, his brown hair was messy and his face was flushed and stained with dirt and grime. His shirt was torn in places and his pants were stained with water. The only thing that remained the same were his beautiful blue eyes, always clear and blue; somehow, just by looking in his eyes I felt like everything would be alright.

                He sighed and picked the luggage back up, reporting that he was able to start moving again, we slowly trudged up the street to my home. The once pearly white hearty board was now green and entangled in ivy, the windows were covered in a thin layer of dust and soil, and the yard was overgrown with weeds and dandelions. The black door looked weather beaten and the flap for the mail slot had all but broken off. I sighed and went to the window, quickly jimmying it open and climbing inside; I took the bags and threw them inside. Carter followed and I ran to the window, flinging it shut.

                "Wow" Carter said trying to look around the living room. The sides of the high ceilings were covered in cob-webs and dust laid in a thick layer upon the floor. The furniture had been covered with white sheets, and the television had been removed. I put my hands out in front of me and felt for the wall, my hands accidently rubbed Carter's chest; even though the lights were out, I knew he was smiling.

                "Oh, shut up and help me" I growled passing him and feeling the cold wall on the palms of my hands. Seconds later there came a click and a faint glow encircled us, Carter found the lights. I sighed as Carter pulled the sheet off of a purple, plush couch and set our bags down upon it. As he pulled the sheets off one by one I looked around my old home, searching for happy memories. I laughed as I found a picture of my father and I at a science fair, he was making a funny face and I was pulling at his ear.

                Carter walked over and smiled at the picture, and then he asked me what was for dinner. "I don’t know, look in the cabinets" I said walking to our old pantry and opening it. Almost everything was out of date, except four cans of raviolis and a pack or ramin noodles. For some reason they hadn't cut off the electricity and water to our house, like they normally do in cases like these; this caused me to wonder. That evening Carter and I sat and exchanged stories about our families, his were the best.

                Late that night, when I was trying to sleep I heard a sound like the clicking of something on an electric fence in the basement. I stood and turned to find that Carter was sitting up and watching my every move; I asked him if he heard the strange sound and he agreed that he had. We both silently made our way to the stairs and looked down, there was a faint, blue light coming from down there. I shivered and told Carter that I didn't want to go, that we shouldn't go, we didn't know what was down there and we had just gotten away from the foster home. He smiled and grasped my hand within his, the warmth of his hand made me feel safer than I should have been, I sighed and looked into his eyes; he then took one step down the stairs.

                I gave a shaking sigh and took a step down, this was repeated a few times before I would follow Carter totally willingly. As we reached the bottom of the stairs I clenched my eyes shut, afraid of what I would see; Carter gasped in surprise. "Percyla...you've got to see this...it...its amazing!" Carter said breathlessly. I opened one eye to see the state of shock and surprise on Carter's face, I then opened the other and beheld bubbling liquids, overflowing test-tubes, papers strewn about the room, insects flying around in a glass, and a giant contraption that looked like a portal. Carter pulled me to the portal-looking thing and started poking at it.

                "Stop it, Carter! You don't know what that thing can do!" I said pulling him away and bumping into a table, toppling that over and sending myself and Carter sprawling to the floor. Carter pulled himself up and helped me, still clutching my hand. Carter turned from me and ran to a beaker with a bubbling red liquid inside, letting my hand go. I stood for a moment and looked down, I then saw a thing that looked like a remote control; with my natural curiosity I picked it up.

                 There was a large blue button and a large red button, I smiled and pressed the red button, curious as to what it would do. All of a sudden the portal-looking invention started to give a whirring noise and kicked on. The large circle that was outlined in steel turned every color in the rainbow, before revealing a castle. A white castle bordered with trees, the white castle had a black roof and beautiful stained glass windows. "Wow" I whispered walking closer to the invention. Carter saw this and grasped the back of my shirt, pulling me backwards.

                "Stop it, Percyla, you don't know what that thing can do" He said mockingly. I sneered and turned my attention back to the castle. It was memorizing, the sky was a turquoise with white, cottonous clouds and a healthy, green wood all around. So different from my life; I walked forward with Carter still hanging on to the back of my shirt and touched the picture of the castle. The picture made small waves as water would do when you skipped a small stone. I gasped in surprise and pulled my arm back, Carter then reached out to the portal with the opposite hand, and the picture engulfed it up to his wrist.

                "What is this thing?" I whispered as I put my hand into the picture. All of a sudden I felt a strong tugging on my hand and then I was pulled off of my feet, Carter hanging on to me. We were both pulled into the picture and I screamed in surprise, I then felt Carter's hand leave my shirt and I yelled for him; he was nowhere to be found. I felt wind everywhere around me and I looked down to find that I was falling! Clouds flew past me and stars didn't stand a chance.

                 I discovered that it was night and the moon was waxing, the air was biting and the ground was coming ever closer. I tried to let out a scream but my voice box wouldn't let me, my heart had jumped to my throat again and my stomach was hiding somewhere in my pelvis. My arms were stretched to their full length and my legs were apart, my hair was flying behind me and my shirt was whipping my mid-section. I could now see details on the ground so I pulled my arms in front of my face and curled into a ball; I cannot remember impact, I just remember falling into a deep, deep sleep.