Jack
I ran away from the boars, a sense of survival streaming in my veins and hoping that the others were following behind me. We didn’t have the time nor energy to waste fighting a pack of stupid boars. I stopped, still in my tracks as I realized that I couldn’t hear anything. This was a forest that echoed even a whisper and it didn’t make sense that I couldn’t hear the footsteps of my siblings.
I turned to look at them and scowled when I didn’t see them. Had they even been running after me all this while or I had run past them? That wasn’t possible. Quinn was a faster runner than I was and I couldn’t have gone past him. I sighed, realizing that I could have been faster than Quinn. He was closer to Mia and wouldn’t run fast and leave her behind. Moreover, he had the extra bag with him and that was bound to make him lag behind.
I cursed, rebuking myself for being selfish. I shouldn’t have thought of myself alone and ran for my safety without thinking of the others.
I decided to take a step back and look for them. I gasped as I fell into a hole. I winced as I kept tumbling deeper inside and knew that I wasn’t going to make it back up. It was too deep for me to try jumping out of it and I couldn’t even if I shifted into my wolf form.
It was not even advisable for me to shift to get out. I would be losing more than I would gain. I would have to leave my survival kit as I couldn’t carry it with my teeth if I was to jump out of the hole. I had already been selfish, I didn’t intend to do it again. The food for my siblings was also in the bag asides my own and I couldn’t let them starve. I would have to find another way to get out of his hole by myself without sacrificing anything.
I landed with a yelp and jumped back to my feet, steadying myself.
“John! Mia! Quinn!” I called, hoping that they would hear the echo and come to my rescue.
There was a rope in Quinn’s bag. They could use that to help me. No matter how deep this hole was, I knew that Quinn and John were strong enough to pull me out without getting tired.
I frowned as I realized that I didn’t hear any echo. Good. What a strange forest. It finally decided to keep quiet. I was all alone. It was now every man to himself. I couldn’t hear the others as well and hoped that they were safe. I knew that Quinn would be with Mia even if John was as alone as I was.
I was determined to walk out of this hole and join the rest. I saw a sideway opening in the hole into what looked like a cave and decided to go towards it.
I saw a staircase as I got to the edge of the hole and walked down it. I scowled as I walked down, breathing hard in the dense space. The stairs were much and I was beginning to wonder if I was ever going to keep climbing down. The air was dry and misty and it was getting hard for me to breathe. My lungs struggled for air, overworking themselves to keep me conscious. I knew that I would have passed out if I was human. This place was indeed fit for the supernaturals. A human being would have died within seconds if they were trapped here. It was little wonder that no human was allowed to see the door.
I was certain that Mia would survive because Quinn was with her. Even if Quinn couldn’t protect her from the forces here, I knew that she would fight through and survive. She wasn’t like any other human. She was our mate and had Quinn’s mark on her. There was a supernatural element on her body and running through her veins. I had no doubt that she would be fine.
I couldn’t believe I had been jealous when I realized that Quinn had marked her but at the moment, I was grateful that he had. That would be what would keep her safe in here.
I breathed in relief as I finally got to the end of the stairs.
“Now let’s see where this leads.” I told myself as I moved forward.
I looked around and realized that I was in a cave. Just as I had thought. I saw a spring in it and moved forward, mesmerized by it. It was sparkling and I moved forward to take a picture, glad that my phone was still on. I would have something to remember the adventure by. I could also spin the tale of being here in a way that would impress Mia.
I took the picture and smiled at it on my phone. I put the phone back into my bag and continued looking for a way that led out of cave when I saw a reflecting portal.
“Good.” I smiled to myself. That was my way out. I wasn’t a big fan of books but I had read enough of magical stories to know that a swirling mirror in a place like this was a ticket straight to freedom. It could be an exit or an entry depending on where one was going.
I was about to jump into it with eagerness when I noticed that the portal had suddenly begun to change colours. It stilled and became rigid as a board.
I squinted my eyes as I saw words begin to appear on it. I waited for the words to be displayed completely before I started reading.
If you want to go through the portal and move successfully through the Island of Death to get what you want, you have to battle your fears. You will be safe if you can overcome your fears but you will die here if you can’t win over your fears.
“My fears?” I asked myself silently.
I didn’t have to stress myself as images began to appear on the fixed mirror before I even finished reading the last words.
“No!” I screamed as I saw the images begin to move.
This was my fear and I wondered how the portal had known. Was it possible that we had shared a portion of our souls and opened an entry into our memories when we had stepped through the hidden door?
That could explain why the forest echoed all of our words because our souls were aligned with it. Could it be that we had moved away from the part of the echoing forest when we had run from the boars? Maybe this part of the forest that we were in had the ability to read memories and trap with it.
I had to fight this if I wanted to be out of this place just as the words had read. I let out a slight shiver. How was I to win my fears to freedom when I was seeing my fears that I never wanted to think of vividly displayed before me?
“No! Not Mia!” I screamed as I watched an image of myself carrying Mia’s corpse in his hands and crying. She had been killed by the dark wizard just as I had always feared.
Tears formed in my eyes and my lips quivered in sorrow. I had to force myself to not give in to grief, reminding myself that it was an illusion and it wasn’t real. Mia wasn’t dead, she was safe with Quinn and the dark wizard had been badly injured that he couldn’t make another move on us so soon.
The scene changed and I watched as Mia stood, looking as if she was staring straight out of the mirror and at me.
“I can’t love you, Jack. Never.” She yelled.
“No!” I screamed. I had feared ever hearing those words from Mia and couldn’t believe it was happening.
Come on, Jack. It wasn’t happening. I reminded myself.
I stood there staring at the screen, helpless and miserable, watching as every of my worries and hidden fears were being projected.