The Journey [On hold]

Chapter 3- A mission (And near death too)

Sometimes I wonder what's it's like to die. Whether it will show if there's a real point to living.

No, I'm not having an existential crisis. At least, I don't think so. Maybe I am. Maybe the Journey is better for causing existential crises than it is for helping us become mature adults. Maybe having an existential crisis is part of becoming a mature adult. I'll stop rambling now.

I stared at the darkness in front of me, the thing that had caused my current thoughts. After I had entered the room in the town centre, I'd been instructed to sit down on a comfy looking chair and stare at the wall. Then I'd blacked out.

Slightly alarmed, I tried to take a step forward but found myself sinking through the dark floor beneath me instead. What in the world is going on? Is being alone in a pit of darkness with a sinking floor part of becoming a mature adult? Does that imply I should keep having my existential crisis too?

"Kayla. Don't panic." A monotone voice echoed all around me, making my ears perk up.

"I have hacked the system in order to talk to you. I need to warn you of something." The voice got just slightly quieter, as if whoever was speaking was trying to hide it. Would they get in trouble for hacking the system?

Well, duh, Kayla, I doubt the scientist let the system get hacked for fun.

"As you know, the council of cities for our part of the world will be meeting halfway through the Journey's maximum time. Your goal is to stop them. Before it's too late." The voice remained monotone, but I got the sense that they cared. Otherwise, why would they be telling her?

"I know you can do it, Kayla. Now go."

I almost threw up my breakfast as the world was swept away from beneath me. I fell through empty space, all darkness, until I hit a layer of white, and my eyes snapped shut from the brightness. As soon as they had adjusted, I opened them only to find I couldn't with the air rushing around me. The only thing I saw was a flash of blue- Was I falling through the sky?

No shite, Sherlock. That's what Danielle would probably say.

Speaking of Danielle- What would she do if she was falling at who-knows-how-many- kilometres through the sky? Panicking like me?

She'd probably have some complicated plan on how to save herself from falling to her death. Oh well. I'll just go limp and hope this isn't fatal.

Apparently this was a decent plan as I heard a shout, and suddenly I was suspended between two trees. Beneath me I felt the rough fabric of some sort of net, which immediately sparked a barrage of questions in my head.

With a groan, I rolled to the side and blinked my eyes a few times as I saw things more clearly. My head still felt a bit woozy from the long fall. Speaking of which, how had I even ended up falling from the sky? And before that, the conversation with the voice. Why would I, Kayla Wilston, need to stop the council of cities from meeting? What even was the point?

"Are you okay?" My first thought when I heard the boy's voice from somewhere below was 'Is this a meeting-your-true-love-by-them-saving-you moment?'. My second was that I probably looked like a complete mess, which wasn't very good for a first impression.

I muttered something along the lines of "fine" as I sat up enough to roll over to one tree and grab a branch.

"I don't think you're quite ready to go getting off of here on your own-" The boy stammered, but I was already swinging myself off the net and onto the branch.

"S'okay." I muttered, though I didn't think he could hear me. I saw a girl standing next to him, and couldn't help but think what an adorable couple they'd make. Maybe I could befriend her. Maybe I could set them up. Maybe they could help me with that objective the weird voice had given me-