Weekly Freewrite

But Only Once

     Edwin looked up and he was in awe.  He scrambled to shove his notebook into his bag without taking his eyes on the sight before him.

     "Hey fox boy" Alex said from the seat next to him "what are you...?" He trailed off when he saw the same view as Edwin. "This is definitely not what I was expecting"

     The bus pulled to a stop and row by row the kids were pushed to the asphalt outside.   The boys, who sat near the back of the bus, were part of the willing few and avoided the burns to their skin and forearms.

     When the last of the kids were pulled outside the bus driver got off and turned to the line of them "well well look at you all, lined up like ducks" the diver said.  He had an almost unnatural smile, even creepier was the scare trailing down his cheek from the corner of his eye to his lip. "Now before we start our little trail, if any of you want to leave, you are welcome to."

     A harsh fell over the line of kids, Alex looked like he was going to only for Edwin to grab his hand.  The person who did step forward was a girl no older the Edwin with curly black hair stepped from the line.  She walked up to the Monitors having a started smile on her face.  She started to make her way back up the gravel road.

     The bus driver's smile turned from unsettling to a wicked grin.  He nodded to one of the Monitors, the guards, who raised his gun and took aim and fired.   The sound of a girl falling to boiling gravel was heard.  "Well now that we've settled that allow me to explain the game." The driver started to pace as he spoke.  "The object is to get to the castle.  Inside there's food and you can write letter's to your family."

     There was a long draw of silence as the group looked over the landscape in front of them.  The asphalt gave way to black stone stone in a small thin bridge over a river of lava.  On the other side of the bridge was a large black stone castle that looked seamless in the light of the lake. "Now don't all go running at once" the driver nodded again to the guys from the front of the line.  The people on either side of him tried to keep him alive.  It didn't matter yo Edwin as he rushed off to the bridge.  His natural dexterity allowing him to keep his balance, even with his hand still linked to Alex.

     "So what?" Alex asked. "No matter what we do it's a death trap"

     "But if we make it to the castle..." Edwin started.

      "No, it's not worth it fox boy" Alex said as he pulled Edwin to a stop. "It's just another test.  Another round of drugs and trials and more testing.  Please.  I don't want to go."

     "But Alex, I can't do this alone" Edwin begged. "I....I think I love you."

     The roar of the lava seemed to dull and the screams became non existent.  The two boys starred at each other before their eyes looked to the lava below.

     "You can drink lava" Alex said as he stood on the very end of the bridge.

     "But only once"Edwin finished.  The two boys looked at each other and disappeared over the ledge.

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     "What happened to those two? I didn't see  any splashes in the lava"

      Cladwell smirked, "Down in the dungeon.  Did he forget we knew how to teleport?"