Across Dimensions (ONC 2020)

Chapter Sixteen: The Danger Isn't In The Dark

Pain pounds in the back of my skull, bringing with it my awareness. What happened? When Maximus went through the portal in the recording he stayed conscious the entire time. Why did I pass out? Maybe I hit something on the way out? No, I blacked out while I was in the portal, something grabbed me.

"Grayson? Are you here?" I ask sitting up to look around.

We got separated, he probably ended up somewhere else. I can just use the communicator to reach out to him. I reach for my knapsack, but it's gone. Patting around my whole body, I sigh with relief, scolding myself for unnecessarily panicking. It's just underneath me. I move my body slightly to the side to pull it out.

It's wet, that means the water bottle exploded, how hard did I land on it? Oh crap, crappity, crap, please tell me the communicator didn't get fried.

I reach in yipping when my fingers come in contact with something sharp. Opening the bag wider, I glance inside, seeing shattered glass. The wires of the communicator are exposed and soaked in liquid. "Dammit!" I cry, tossing the useless bag aside.

It impacts with metal, drawing my attention to my surroundings. My eyes grow wide, I'm inside. Is this place friendly? Or dangerous? I just threw the bag super hard revealing my location to anyone within hearing range. I'm a moron.

The structure around me is metallic, and looks to be primarily support beams. Perhaps I ended up in a place where they are working on expansion, that means it's possible for it to be abandoned at least temporarily. I stand up, squinting in the dim light. There's nothing to indicate which direction I should go, but it's obvious no one is here but me. A small slice of light far ahead catches my attention. That's most likely to lead to a way out, I  just need to be careful and not get spotted by anyone.

Movement to my right makes me jump. I squint, unable to see far in the darkness. It happens again to my left. Swallowing I start to walk forward, hearing it follow after me. I break into a sprint going towards the sliver of light, my way out, or at least a way to see whatever is in the dark.

I need to find Grayson, and my parents. I can't die now by some random thing in a basement! Or at least, it looks like a basement. Please don't eat me, please don't eat me, whatever you are. The light grows closer, but still seems like an eternity away.

Closing my eyes I run faster, I can't stop now, I need to reach it.

Tears temporarily blur my vision, but I push them away. Now's not the time to let my fear of death take hold. I'm not going to die, I am going to get to that light and escape from here. Then I will find Grayson, and make him take me to the main facility where they will be holding my parents. There will be hugs and tears, and more hugs, then we will go home.

The light is only inches from me now, a panel slightly off kilter is the source of it. I quickly push it up, reaching up and grabbing the sides of the floor to pull myself up just as whatever followed me catches up.

The blinding white light from the new room stabs at my eyes from the contrast to the darkness below. A blurry claw - like thing reaches from the hole I came in through. I kick the panel back over it, stomping on top of it until the now visible razor sharp claw disappears beneath it. Looking around, I see a desk. I run around to the side of it, and push it on top of the panel to guarantee nothing will rise from it to devour me.

Panting from the sprinting I just did, I sit down for a moment, pushing my back against the desk. Water would be nice about now, if not for the stupid portal making me land on it and crush all of my gear! I don't even get any snacks. Not that snacks are of the upmost importance. What matters is finding  Grayson, he will be able to tell me where I am.

"I prepared your coffee just the way you like it professor, two sugars with a dash of the secret spice we don't mention at work." A young woman dressed in an incorrectly buttoned lab coat declares, stepping into view before I am able to move.

I stare at her with wide eyes, what do I say? There's got to be some sort of explanation she'll believe that won't get me killed.

"Hi, Ally" I say eying her name tag and standing up.

"I'm with the creature exterminators, you've got a wild one under this place. We're going to need more people and proper weapons to take it out. The professor went out to lunch while I was inspecting... things." I state, hoping that for some reason she will believe me, no matter how unlikely it is.

Her mouth drops open, and she hits a button on a bracelet I didn't notice till now. Ear piercing alarms sound, and lights flash like a party. But not one I intend to stay at.

"Well, I hope the professor likes his coffee, but I really must go." I say slipping past her and running down the hall.

Why does there have to be so much running? I've always hated running. I should've taken track like mom kept pushing me to, I just didn't see the use it had in life until now. Maybe she knew that this was bound to happen, and chose not to tell me. No, she would've said something. Her capture was unexpected, someone stabbed her in the back.

Behind me, I hear several booted feet in pursuit. And in enters security, greeeeat. This place is so big, they really should make maps to direct people when they plan on escaping. It's quite rude to make me run endlessly about like a headless chicken. If Grayson were here he'd probably know exactly where the exit is. But he's not, it's just me.

I'm alone.

My eyes scan my surroundings, but I'm unable to stop moving to assess anything. There isn't time to stop, or they'll catch me.

Sharp pain in my neck grabs my attention. A weak, dizzy feeling passes over my body. My knees buckle, and my eyelids drop heavily, until I fall asleep.

WC: 28, 275