Akina's Reflection

XII

Even though we were only driving a short distance, I stared boredly out the window.

"We finally figure something out about that weird stuff Merry was talking about, and you just stare out the window in boredom?" Antonio asked.

"I'm bored." I say, flattly.

"I think this is pretty exciting." Antonio replied.

"I'm bored." I repeated, pulling the truck window up and down.

"Tell me a story."

"Fine. Once upon a time- Oh! We're here!"

Antonio pulled up along the side of the road, and got out of the car.

"Well, won't you look at this, Sayoki? It's a huge barn! I could see a dozen entrances fitting here!"

I also get out of the car, and look up at the barn Antonio mentioned.

It was huge, and old looking, most probably abandoned. It was almost abandoned, for on the door was a clean, shiny padlock.

"That was probably put there to keep strangers out." Antonio said, examining it.

"Then how do we get in?" I asked, puzzled.

Antonio walked around the barn, then finally stopped.

"There, Sayoki." He said, pointing. Up, about halfway up the tall barn, there was a small window. It looked just big enough for a person to crawl through. Near by, there was a convenient old hay stack, which Antonio began to climb.

"Antonio!" I whined. "What if you fall?"

"Pphhtt, I won't fall, Sayoki, come on."

I looked up. It was a long way up, and I was not the best with heights. Neither was I a very good climber, and that has always made me a burden in these situations.

Antonio made it to the top, and climbed through the window. It wasn't a very large window, but Antonio did not get stuck. There was a large crash, once he got through.

"Antonio! Are you okay?"

Antonio groaned.

"Hard landing," He replied, "Watch yourself, are you up yet?"

"Um... No..."

Antonio sighed. I know I have to get up there, He is waiting for me.

I put one foot down on the hay, and slowly began to climb. The hay was soft. If I fell, it would cushion me, and I could easily push my foot into it for an easy foothold. This isn't that bad.

Until I looked down. Below me was about ten feet.

"Ahh.... Antonio, I'm so high up..."

"That isn't that high, come on, Sayoki." Antonio said from inside. "I think I could see you through the window, but you will have to jump, okay?"

I peeked through the window. Antonio was below me, pretty far below me. The inside of the barn was dark, so I could barely see him.

"So high, so dark, Antonio..."

"It's not that bad, I only groaned because I fell the wrong way. Jump already."

My feet were dangling over the edge, but I couldn't bring myself to drop. I was scared, even though Antonio encouraged me from below.

Antonio stayed silent after a while. I couldn't see him in the dark anymore.

"Antonio?" I asked the darkness.

"Antonio? Are you still there? Antonio? Toni?"

Antonio's voice then came out of the void.

"Sayoki," He said, in a lower voice.

"Sayoki, there's, there's a spider on your hand. I, I could see it from here, so I'm guessing it's pretty big..."

I was quiet, but only for a second, for next I screamed loudly, letting go of the edge and cringing. I fell, and screamed once more the short way down. I fell on my back.

"Oww! Antonio, is it gone? Is there a spider on me?"

Antonio took out a flashlight, and pointed it at me. He was chuckling.

"No, there never was a spider, but I knew it would make you come down. Ha! Can't believe you fell for that!"

He laughed at me. My face became red from embarrassment, and a little anger.

"You, You're such a big, fat, stupid, dumb meanie!" I cried.

Antonio laughed some more, then began to calm down.

"Yea, I guess you're right. Besides, now let's go look for that door."

He handed me a hand flashlight, then began to search the immediate area.

"You check the other side." Antonio told me. "If you get in trouble, well, you scream pretty loud, like a girl."

"It's not funny." I whined back at meanie pants Antonio. I walked to the other side of the barn, looking for...

I didn't know what type of entrance this could be. Aubrey refers to them as 'entrances,' but that does not quite fully mean they are doors. Antonio and I are just going to hope that they are doors.

There was a lot of things in this barn that make a good promise of a sort of door. Some of the stuff appears to be old machines or something like that. They looked pretty dangerous, and scary.

There were boxes full of notes, posters, and other such papers, old stacks of books, abandoned cars and vans, strange chairs, and medical equipment, lots of medical equipment.

"I wonder what these were for..." I whispered to myself.

"Sayoki, I think you should see this." I heard Antonio say from across the barn.

I made my way over to Antonio, who was standing in front of something large. I put my flashlight beam on it, and gasped.

In front of Antonio and I, was a massive door. A huge, metal door, with a lock in the middle.