A Rule That Never Breaks

Chapter 5

I woke with a thud. The impact reverberated through my body in a wave of pain. It started on my left side and spread until it blanketed every inch of my body. I opened my mouth to cry out, but the breath was forced from my body before I could attach any sound to it. I settled for a low moan instead and rolled onto my back. The world looked hazy through the slits in my eyelids. I grimaced and forced them further open. Grey light flooded in. I blinked to push back the pounding in my head. Why wasn't it night anymore?

I blinked again. Thin, spindly branches took shape above me. The bark was unnaturally black, like it had been charred in a fire. I flicked my eyes back and forth, taking in my surroundings as best I could without moving. I seemed to be in some sort of forest. I wiggled my fingers to check if they still worked. Something like sand shifted between my fingertips. I pulled my hand up and held it in front of my face. I counted five fingers. Taking a stealing breath, I forced my elbows behind me and pried my back off the ground. I inhaled sharply as my gut twisted. I wasn't going to have a patch of unbruised skin left by this time tomorrow. 

I heard a rustling over my shoulder and turned my neck towards it as slowly as I could. A low tree branch swayed back and forth. Everything else was still. Where was the wind? I sat up and pulled my legs underneath me, which thankfully appeared to be working. My hands sunk into the sand as I pushed myself to standing. My head spun, protesting the change in position, but the forest gradually began to clear again.

I turned in a slow circle, taking in the forest around me. The trees were bare; black bark extended from their trunks like bony fingers. Grey light shaded the sandy ground, but it had no brightness to it, and certainly no heat. I looked at the sky through withered branches, trying to find its source. The sky was a uniform grey, cloudless, no bright orb shining through the bleakness. 

A branch snapped nearby.

My eyes widened and I dashed behind the nearest tree, momentarily forgetting my aching body. I pressed my back to the trunk and hugged my arms in tightly beside me. Footsteps came closer and then passed in front of me. I switched sides of the tree to maintain my cover.

Ari's tall frame was unmistakable. His shoulders were hunched over as he trudged through the sand. He looked exactly the same as when I'd followed him through the street. Heat rose up my face. That wind-summoning, god-idolizing jerk! Just where had he taken me– I paused with my foot in mid air, my brain catching up to my temper. The last Ari had seen me was outside my apartment. He'd told me to go home and this was none of my business. I hadn't exactly listened...

I chewed on my lower lip, trying to decide what to do. It would be mortifying to tell him I'd followed him, but surely it would be worth it to get out of this grey half-world, surely he'd help me. I stayed motionless as Ari got further and further away. He was wearing a large backpack that was cinched tightly at the waist, suggesting it was heavy. He hadn't had that on in the apartment. I remembered the wave of emotion I'd felt before climbing up to the balcony. That strange reverence, strong enough to pull me through the torrid whirl of feelings I'd felt when I touched his hand earlier that the night. I remembered blood pooling at his knees in the apartment. I took a step back. 

I didn't know Ari at all.

His body was partially obscured by the trees and becoming more difficult to see. He walked with purpose, slow and steady. As if he were at the beginning of a long journey to a place he knew well. When he was far enough away that his black jacket blended in with the trees on either side of him, I gathered my courage and slipped in behind.

***

I followed Ari for what felt like the better part of a day. With no sun to track across the sky, I had no way of telling exactly how much time had passed. The light was unchanged; a dull grey that blanketed the sky. I initially assumed it would darken to black when night fell, but I now realized my assumption was groundless. This place was like nothing I had seen before; I had no way of knowing what laws governed it. Outwardly it appeared to obey the same rules of physics as my world. When I picked up a handful of sand, it sprinkled through my fingers and back to the ground. A pebble thrown in the air reversed direction at its apex. If it weren't for the interminable light, I could almost be convinced that this place was normal. Certainly not in Illinois, but maybe somewhere foreign, like Europe. But then again, you didn't get catapulted to Europe on a raging wind. I suppressed a shudder. No, if I was being honest with myself, the only thing I was sure of was that this was not part of any world I knew.

I quickened my pace, my feet sinking more deeply into the sand. I had been carefully keeping Ari just out of sight; speeding only occasionally to make sure he was still in front of me. The trees and branches provided some cover, but I would easily be seen if I followed too closely. Ari had stopped a few times to eat a granola bar and drink some water, but otherwise there had been no rest. I was exhausted. Ari on the other hand, seemed well supplied. He appeared to know exactly where he was going and what he was doing. I imagined him perfectly content as he strolled along, everything going exactly according to his plan. I even imagined he knew I was following him. Oh there's Paige, following me as usual. I'll just ignore her. My strides turned to stomps as I played the scene out in my mind. I scanned the trees in front of me for movement, thinking about what I would do when I saw him. I really would catch up to him this time. I'd tap him on the shoulder, curl my fist into a tight little ball, and sock him right in the–

I stopped with my eyes trained to the ground. 

Where were the footsteps? I had been following Ari's steps in the sand for hours; it was how I'd known he was in front of me. But now they were gone. Smooth, unblemished sand stretched between the tree trunks and out of sight. Panic, which normally took a few minutes to build, washed over me. I was exhausted, my body ached from being jostled in a stampede of students and then falling into this unknown world with no beginning or end, and now I was lost. My knees sunk into the sand. I dropped my head into my hands as desperate sobs racked my body. I was alone.

I cried until my tears dried and my ribs ached. It was useless. Who was I kidding? I wasn't brave enough for this. I was in so far over my head I was drowning. There was only one thing left to do: find Ari and beg him to take me home. I staggered back to my feet. 

Find Ari...Find Ari...

I felt a little lighter with a clear goal in my head, even if I had no means of achieving it. I turned in a circle, trying to find some clue as to where he'd gone. Black trees and blank sand stretched in every direction. I stopped. The ground seemed to rise up slightly in one direction. It was hardly noticeable if you weren't looking, but it seemed to be the beginning of a hill. I would have a better chance of finding Ari from higher ground.

I started in that direction with renewed purpose. The ground seemed to gain incline the further I walked, and the space between trees slowly grew wider. The sand rose steeply in front of me until it merged with the grey sky, leaving no horizon to orient myself. The ground hardened underfoot and cracked into large plates with every step. I continued upwards, squinting to try and discern a lessening of the angle. My legs burned with each step. 

It wasn't the top of the hill I eventually noticed, but an odd shape that appeared behind it. At first it was only a dark object behind the stunted trees, but it soon grew to resemble an arrowhead. It stretched wider with each step upwards, until it dwarfed the trees in front of it and the top of the hill was visible against its grey stone. 

It was a mountain. 

The lower half of the mountain was covered with the same blackened trees, but its top half was entirely bare. The grey stone steepened to vertical cliffs near the summit, like rounded turrets. The summit was a wide, flat plateau, the chaotic jumble of stone momentarily suspended before it fell away in sheer cliffs running in jagged angles down the mountain flanks.

As I stood on top of the hill, I suddenly knew exactly where I was. My eyelids filled with tears. My throat clogged with something thick and heavy. This was not the first time I had seen this mountain. An artist's rendering of it was on the cover of my Classics textbook. Its ugly face had filled countless powerpoint presentations on ancient and awful deities.

'Mount Olympus,' I whispered.

I felt a pressure on my right shoulder and curling fingers spun me around. I was no longer staring at the terrifying face of Mount Olympus, but at Ari. His cheeks were bright red and anger lit his eyes. His jaw was twitching spastically, like he wanted to yell but didn't know what to say.

A sob caught in my throat and the dam holding back my tears broke. I flung my arms around his shoulder and buried my face in his neck. My shoulders shook as I cried. I was sorry to have followed him, relieved that I found him, furious that he'd taken me here, but mostly I was tired, so deeply tired. I felt Ari's arms close around me and my legs leave the ground. The last thing I saw was that terrible mountain looming over Ari's shoulder. Its jagged cliffs were like daggers running straight into my heart.