The Riddle

Black Zone

"1," Caleb said, holding my hand tighter so I wouldn't get away.

"2,"

"3."

Giving Marie one last smile, I closed my eyes. I felt the cold coming from the sky. This is it. The Black Zone. We either die or we find out what's really there.

I closed my eyes for a few seconds until I felt my feet being lifted off the ground. Without much thought, I opened my eyes to see what was lifting me up, panicking. It was like the Black Zone was pulling us in.

We were sucked into the hole and thrown around in circles like we were part of a tornado. I tried to hold on to Caleb and Marie but amidst all the twirling, I lost my grip. This meant that Marie and I were separated from the rest of the group.

Concentrating on my breathing, I closed my eyes again. I didn't want to watch myself die. This was it. I knew it was too good to be true.

It got colder as I was sucked in further. I began shivering, high up in the air. The twirling sped up and I was certain I would die from my head being flung from my body.

Almost immediately, I reached the highest point. Somehow everything became still and I fell from the Black-Zone and landed on something hard and I was gone.

***

When I woke up, I had no idea what time it was. I kept my eyes closed, afraid of what I might see when I open them. I was rested on hard ground and I ran my fingers over it gently, unsure of the safety.

It was hard and stony. I couldn't feel any sand. I opened my eyes eventually, to take in my surroundings. The light nearly blinded me.

When I stood up and looked around,
I realised we were in another world. It was bright and colourful. The thought seemed foreign to me. How could there be other worlds?

My mind soon wondered what happened to the rest of the group. I feared the worst but I kept walking, looking for any of them who might have survived the twirling and the fall.

"Marie!" I yelled, calling each name after the other.

After a few minutes of walking, my feet came against something soft... something plush. I looked down and it was green. Grass. That must be it.

In awe I knelt and touched it. It brought tears to my eyes and joy to my heart. My parents were right about grass. It was beautiful. Its scent was so refreshing, I would have chosen it over the oxygen in the air. There were dew drops on the grass, and I knew almost immediately that it must have rained.

I hadn't seen any dangers, so I was assured that the rest of them must have made it safely and were probably exploring this new land just like me. They must have a thousand questions too.

Could this be Utopia? Were my parents here? Why was the Black-Zone feared so much if it led to somewhere beautiful?

I layed flat on the grass and looked up at the sky. If they were right about grass, they would be right about stars too. To my dissapointment, there were no sparkling things in the sky. Only an endless wave of blue and a sun.

It would be better if I stayed still and let them do the searching, I decided. Eventually one of us would find the other. I let my fingers keep playing with the grass as my mind raced with questions.

Utopia. That was the only explanation for this beauty.

"Dana!" I heard and got up immediately. Marie and the rest were coming towards me. I ran to them and hugged her.

"I feared you were gone forever," I whispered with tears in my eyes.

She hugged me tighter before responding. "Me too."

I gave a brief nod of acknowledgment to everyone else, and it didn't look like it was welcomed. I wasn't ecstatic about their presence, mostly Pete's, but I was glad they weren't dead.

"So, where do you think we are?" I asked as I led them back to the grass. No one wanted to speak because they were admiring the area.

"Best guess is Utopia," I said when no one responded.

"Utopia doesn't exist," Pete scoffed.

I ignored his comment. If Utopia didn't exist, that would make my parents liars. They were not liars. The grass was proof enough for any sceptic.

"What do you think, Caleb?" I asked and he shrugged. As I looked to Hunter, he avoided my eyes and faced the grass.

The cold responses I was getting from them was beginning to unnerve me.

"Okay. What's going on here?" I asked, getting in front of them and crossing my arms.

"You let go of my hand," Caleb said bluntly. "On purpose."

"I didn't! Why would I do that? Do I look like someone with a death wish?" I asked in disbelief.

"You already tried to leave once before the Black-Zone came," Hunter shrugged. "Maybe you wanted to go back."

"And you thought the betrayal would come from me," Pete smirked.

My mouth opened to defend myself but soon shut again. There was nothing I could say that would help the situation. I wanted to say, 'I would never betray you like that' but then I did try to abandon them back in Riddle-land. I wanted to say 'my parents are the most important thing in my life. Do you think I would let this chance slip through my fingers?'  but then again I was prepared to when the Black-Zone was about to start.

I looked to Marie for help, and she shrugged.

"I don't know what you think of me now but I would never do something like that. What happened back in Riddle-land was because I was afraid and I'm sorry about that. I let my fear get the best of me. I know it was wrong. I wasn't thinking straight. But to say I let go on purpose is ridiculous. Why would I do that when we already came this far? When there was the possibility of death? I didn't mean to let go, okay? You could have asked first before accusing me," I said and walked away from them.
I was hurt that they thought so low of me.

A/N

So trouble in paradise 😒😒

Do you think what Dana did in the last chappie counts as betrayal?

Are they right to feel betrayed?

Is this Utopia?

Why didn't she see stars? 😏😏😂
So many questions ☺

Well, I hope you enjoyed this.
Much love,
-Becks 💛