While being hugged tightly by little Philip and Marcy… a small but warm smile is drawn on my face…
Uncle Ben snickers at the three of us…. He lets out a whistle of disappointment…
"Never knew you were associated with dangerous people…" Uncle Ben plants a seed of doubt within the survivors….
"I don't know Najem—" I try to defend myself yet the murmurs grew louder at my statement…
"She knows his name—" the teenage girl shouts angrily
"And he came out of a portal—" another survivor says with a cracked composure
"I am dreaming right?" An elderly lady screams barley holding her sanity…
The exhaustion and fear of the unreal situation finally hitting the people… this was supposed to be another mundane Monday where we get yelled at school or work… yet somehow reality merged with fantasy bringing dragons and goblins and whatnot into the modern landscape… tearing the sky open and staining it crimson red… this was never supposed to happen….
In the original novel I wrote the merge did happen but it was different it was slower…. Unlike now… where the top 500 warriors of the Abyss appeared out of nowhere claiming that his boss wanted me…
Does the king of the Abyss knows my truth?
If so… how?
The people continue to whisper between each other words of poisonous hatred towards me…
I shake my head and get up shaking the dust off of my trousers….. little Philip tugs my shirt and looks up at me with sparkling sea blue eyes….
"Jina… can I come with you?" He asks shyly as he looks around the crowd then back at me…
I met Philip just few hours ago….
I am not sure why he is this clingy to me….
Maybe kids are like that….
"Sure…" I smile softly then I help Philip stand up…
"Are you actually leaving…?" Marcy takes in her surroundings from the hatred and Uncle Ben's schemes to the undeniable resolve of me and Philip….
I nod…
"Take me with you…" Marcy looks at her uncle with an expression of pure disgust then at me her eyes sparkle slightly….
"Of cou—" I try to finish my sentence but the sly old Uncle cuts my words in half…
"No.... Marcy and Philip… you two… stay with us…" Uncle Ben emerges into the centre of the camp where me and Marcy and Philip are…
"The more the merrier" he laughs wickedly…
Who makes jokes in this situation?!?
My sky blue eyes widen at his statement I clench my fists then start to leave I look back at my two friends…
I never had friends…. I was always busy writing and daydreaming about becoming a writer…. Friends felt like a luxury…. Something I could never reach…
Yet I made friends in such a bizarre scenario….
Philip a character I wrote about…. is here in the flesh and bone…. I managed to make him look up to me…. Even though I am not that impressive….
Marcy a stranger I never knew existed is here supporting me and caring about me…. But she and I met only few hours ago….
All of this felt like a strange dream….
But it's real….
I am surrounded by people who despise me and are suspicious of me yet two of them believe in me and that's more than enough…
Philip glares at uncle Ben warning him not to hurt me or interfere in our friendship…. For the first time in Philip's life he felt a sibling bond with somebody… a bond that changed him….
Marcy just stood there contemplating on what to do next… she always had her uncle plan her life for her but this time she wanted to be the one in control of her own story… she smiled one last time at her abusive uncle then she held my hand…
I took in the sight of the furious scheming uncle….
I chuckled softly….
As the three of us left the camp of survivors the sun setting down the horizon we could hear uncle Ben cursing under his breath….
"What will we do now ?" Marcy tilted her head slightly closing her brown eyes as the last rays of the day hit her face…
"We need answers" I hold her hands softly…
"But… for now…" I look up at the crimson stained sky….
"We live…" I add with a smile…
"we need a base… right?" Philip asks enthusiastically…
"I know a place…" I nod…
«THE MIDDLE»
is a kind of hotel like building….
It's a safe haven in the beginning of the book…. In which you can find a place to sleep in and eat…
It's located downtown….
We moved quickly in order to reach our destination before nightfall….
And here it was a peaceful building that haven't been touched or destroyed by the merge…
"You don't pay money to enter…" I whisper quietly to Marcy and Philip "you pay with painful memories… you need to remember them and feel the pain again…" I warn as we step into the building…
As we enter Philip and Marcy disappear and I am left alone in a dark void….
Suddenly I remember the times I was bullied as a teenager the resurfacing memories pain me…. Yet I stand strong…
Then…
I get back to Philip and Marcy…
Philip was wiping tears… while Marcy looked scared…
We entered a fancy looking hotel reception room with many intelligent creatures roaming around…