“Where are we now?”
“Behind that door is where the tests will take place.”
“Have you ever been here before?”
“No, Paige. You are the only female who is destined to be my soul bond. After today, if you live, I live; if you die I will gladly follow you to the next world. We were meant to be one.”
She quickly wiped a tear from her eye. Love or not, he was the only guy she knew who was willing to stand by her side. She had a few boyfriends in her short life. They cared, but not enough to deal with the fact she was different from your average girl.
Guess she didn’t have a choice about being different.
“When will the door open?”
“It opens when it’s ready, that’s all I know.”
“Where did you come from?” Paige frowned as she turned to see an elderly gentleman standing in front of them. He was leaning heavily on a gnarled cane made of wood. He was wearing a long purple robe with a hood making it impossible to see his features.
“You weren’t here when we came. I checked the area and I didn’t see you.”
“No one sees me unless I want to be seen.”
“Oh.” She turned her head to look at Cal who had been silent the whole time. “Then why are you here?”
“To look of course, Girly.”
“The name’s Paige.”
“Nice name, Girly.”
She stopped, she’d dealt with more than one ornery client. Nothing she did changed their mind once it was made up. She was going to have to deal with the name Girly for now.
“You like to see who is trying to soul bond?”
“I do, I always have a feeling about who will make it.”
“Really, what kind of feeling do you get about me?”
“You’re filled with too many doubts. Should I or shouldn’t I? Is this really the only way? You want to live, but at the same time you’re raging against a world that would do this to you.”
“What makes you think you know me or what I am raging about?”
“You wear your thoughts, emotions, and those all-important feelings on your sleeve for the whole world to tune into. You’ll have to learn quickly to walk on your feelings before they are used to deceive.”
“Tell me Mr.? What should I call you?”
“Call me Voyager.”
“Ok Mr. Voyager…”
“Just Voyager.”
“Tell me, Voyager, based on your experience will I fail or succeed?”
“You will fail, Girly.”
Chapter Nine
The door silently opened cutting off Paige’s reply. She followed Cal inside feeling small in the large space ahead of them. The terrain was bleak, the sky was cloudy, as if it were threatening to open up and spill its contents. The grayness of the air provided enough light just none of the warmth.
The door shut with a loud noise that reverberated through the space causing her to stop and look back. She shook her head not understanding how something that heavy could open silently but then close with such a loud force.
Turning back to look for Cal, she found him wrapped in vines while he hung over a pit in the ground.
“Cal!”
A vine covered his mouth preventing him from speaking. He squirmed trying to get lose. They released him, dropping him into the deep pit.
“What’s going on?” Paige asked as she ran to the pit stopping just in time not to fall in.
Cal was pushing against a smooth clear surface that reminded her of glass. She picked up a rock motioning him to move back, she would try and break it. After that she would find something for him to use to climb out.
He began screaming, his mouth opening wide, but no sound escaped the space; he was locked inside. When she cocked her arm he began to frantically wave his hands over his head and point upward. Looking up, she realized the vines were gone. In their place were more blades than she wanted to count, all poised to fall into the pit. Between the blades and the glass he would never make it out alive if they dropped.
Could she climb down there and look for an opening or a tunnel that would lead her to him? Picking up the smallest pebble she could find, she allowed it to roll into the pit. When it hit the clear surface a hairline fracture ran through it. It was definitely glass and it was pressure sensitive. She watched as the glass lowered a little. As it lowered so did the blades above Cal. It was only then she saw the orange band that circled the pit under the glass.
Coldness crept up her spine as she understood what it meant. When the glass finally reached the orange surface, the blades would drop. She didn’t know how much time she had, but her inner voice told her it wasn’t long.
“What do I do?” She turned to face Voyager who was sitting on a large boulder she would have sworn wasn’t there when they came in.