Divided

Chapter 1

I think I heard something. I think I heard a bell. Did you hear a bell? That can’t be right. Why would there be a bell?

Briancka’s voice sounds so far away, but I know she can’t be that far. She’s still holding my hand, after all.

I try to look down at my hand, but everything is so bright in here that it’s a struggle just to keep my eyes open. Her hand jerks on mine, and then suddenly tugs downward.

Aaaahhhh!

Her hand slips through my fingers, and just as I try to grab it with my other hand, I feel her fingertips slip out of my hand. Did she fall?

Briancka!

Silence.

My feet are frozen in place. I don’t know what happened to her, and my heart is pounding so hard in my chest that I can’t move. I stretch my arms out to my sides, hoping to feel something that I can hang onto, when something hard and scratchy brushes against my arm. My arm snaps back to my chest, and I rub the spot that was scratched. Briancka? My voice betrays me as it quivers.

My ears strain, trying to hear any sign of her, but all I hear is the blood whooshing through my veins and the thumping of my heart. How could she have just disappeared, and what just brushed against me? Did the shifters make it in here?

Patrina?

Wait, that’s Amaryl’s voice. Yeah? Is Briancka okay? Where are you?

Well, there’s a bit of a step down right in front of you, and a couple more steps follow it. Briancka, she is . . . well, she’s asleep right now.

Asleep? Why would she be sleeping at a time like this? That makes no sense at all. I tap my foot around, feeling for the step that she’s talking about.

She feels as though she is asleep, and she is not answering me. She hit our head on the way down the steps.

I forgot that Amaryl only has experience with her realm, and probably wouldn’t call things the same as I would. Can you wake her up?

No, that is why I took over.

Amaryl, I think she’s knocked out. How far down did you two fall?

I lost track. We tumbled for a while. Amaryl’s voice does sound pretty far down now that I think about it. If you are careful, you can feel where the stairs start. Maybe sit down and scoot. That would probably be the safest way.

That’s actually a really good idea. I squat down and find the ground under me with my hands. When I sit down and pop my legs out, they immediately fall further down, and the back of my knees rest on the edge of the first step. Wow! I was close!

What happened? Are you okay?

Oh, yeah, I was just right at the edge of these steps. You sound far away. Can you see anything? I creep forward a bit, and feel the edge as I slide down onto the next step. Everything is still white where I’m at, and when I look at the steps, I can barely make out that they are a pale shade of tan with flecks of gray in it.

Amaryl’s voice calls from below me, The light isn’t as intense where I am, and the step right below me shows more color. Maybe we are nearing the edge of this portal.

I slide down three more steps, and I can just make out Amaryl’s hand resting on a step below. She did fall a long way. This feels like the longest portal we’ve gone through yet. I hope the gateway doesn’t take too long to get through.

I see you! Amaryl leans closer to the steps, and I can see her face. There are scratches on her cheeks, and her hair is tousled, letting her cat ears poke out even further.

I scoot down three more steps, and I’m finally close enough to her that I can see what her trip down the steps did to her. A couple of her whiskers have broken off, leaving short stubs where there were once long wisps. Her chin is scraped, and it looks like a black and blue lump is rising on the corner of her forehead closest to Briancka’s face. Um, it looks like you two got banged up pretty bad. Are you sure you’re okay?

Amaryl reaches up, and rubs her hand across her face. She winces for a second, and then smiles at me. We will be fine. Don’t worry about us. Come along, we need to get going.

She stretches out her hand, and I take it in mine. I can feel grit on the palm of her hand as it presses into mine. I stand up on the step I’m on, and step down another one until I’m only one step away from Amaryl. She’s right. It looks like the white light is starting to fade away. I look into her face, and smile. We’re so close!

She turns, and takes a step down the next few stairs as I follow right behind. She has tiny bits of rubble on her dress, and as she moves, the bits fall off and tumble onto the steps below. Once the bits of rubble fall beyond the white light, they show more color. The steps that are just below us are starting to shimmer a bluish green. Some of the steps even have flecks of purple and pink the further away from the white light they go. It reminds me of the inside of a shell I’ve seen in my books. I’m surprised that something so shiny can be so rough to the touch.

Amaryl gets out of the white light first, and she stops. Her whole body seems to freeze in place and I watch her shoulders to see if she’s still breathing. They rise and fall, and I’m relieved. I don’t know what I would do without her, and Briancka. I would probably be stuck in one of these realms until one of the Fallen found me.

Amaryl draws in a deep breath. It’s so beautiful.

My ears hear something that sounds like water lapping on a beach. The sound soothes my soul as I feel a cool breeze kiss my skin. Keep going! I want to see!

Amaryl glances up at me as though I just woke her up from a trance. Oh! Right! She steps down two more stairs, giving me space to be able to step out of the white light, and into the gateway.

I watch as her last step down fades away into the golden sand at the bottom. I follow her, anxious to get off these stairs, and when my feet are finally next to hers in the sand, I look up.

The sand leads to a long shore of beachy waves, lapping up and drawing back out in a smooth, rhythmic motion. The water looks like a sea of blue and green diamonds as the three lights in the sky form a halo of rays dancing off the water.

The trees here don’t look like any that I saw in Poland. They look like palm trees that would be found in a more tropical region. The breeze is cool at first, but the more it touches my skin, I can feel the warmth envelope me in its arms. I don’t even feel my pack sliding off my back before it hits the sand behind my feet.

Amaryl sinks down to sit in the sand next to me, and I watch as she stares off into the horizon beyond the glittering diamonds of the water dancing before us.

It’s mesmerizing.

I feel like I’m being drawn down too. I just want to sit down, relax on the sandy beach, and watch the waves as they reach up, and pull back in front of us. I slowly sink down next to Amaryl. The sand squishes beneath me, cushioning me in its lap as I stretch my legs out in front of me. I kick my shoes off, and use my toes to peel the socks off my feet. My toes find their way under the sand, and it’s cool embrace rejuvenates my skin.

My shoulders release any tension that was clinging to them as I dig my fingers into the dry mounds of sand, feeling the grains skitter between my fingers. My breath finds its rhythm with the water, and I feel my eyes drawn to the same far-out place on the horizon that Amaryl was looking at.

As relaxed as I am, something deep inside of me knows that we need to keep moving. I just can’t seem to be able to move . . . or look away.

Chapter 2

A harsh wind rushes in, pushing on me as I feel my body slump over to the right, and my shoulder squishes into the sand. My head flops down and rests at an awkward angle against my shoulder. My feet knock together as my left foot topples over my right foot, and lands on the sand in front of it. Every muscle has relaxed so much that I can’t get anything to move.

I hear my voice in my head screaming to get out, but the noise doesn’t pass my lips. I try to look around, but my eyes are drawn to the horizon like a magnet. What is going on here?

I wish I could say something to Amaryl, even just to know that she was still there, but I can’t, and I can’t even look at her. How are we going to get through this gateway if we can’t move?

I blink away a tear as the thought of being stuck here until my feather falls becomes a startling reality. Wait, is one of the Fallen nearby? Is that why we can’t move? This has happened to me before.

I struggle against myself as I try to sit back up, but none of my muscles obey. It’s as though they are disconnected from my brain. I have to move!

Maybe if I just focus on one foot. C’mon! Wiggle! Even one toe would be better than nothing. My mind strains to force my foot to move, but nothing happens. I’m trapped inside my own body.

Out of the corner of my eye, I can see that the three lights in the sky are slowly coming together. The two lights in the sky from the last realm came together, and then passed each other. I wonder if the lights in this realm are going to do the same thing.

I can’t do anything other than watch as the three lights begin to come together faster. I would never be able to watch the sun like these lights because the sun from my realm is much brighter. Together, these lights are just enough to illuminate this gateway, but not bright enough if they were on their own. They’re more like a flashlight.

These lights aren’t round like the sun from my realm either. These are diamond shaped, except they’re not all the same. They each have a round edge on one side, and the sides that are closest to the other lights have weird, jagged angles.

The closer they get together, the faster they swirl around each other. All of a sudden, one of the lights snaps together with one of the other lights as though they were magnets. When they join, they seem to charge each other, and their intensity grows, casting new shadows on the sand in front of us.

The third light swirls around the joined lights, and then in a flash, snaps together with them. When all three connect, a huge flare blows out from the giant ball of light in the sky. I try to look at it now that it’s fused together, but it’s so bright it’s like looking at the sun from my realm.

I might as well just close my eyes and accept my fate. I’m stuck here, paralyzed from some force on the horizon. My breath blows out of my lungs and I sink even further into the sand as the ball of light in the sky sinks toward the horizon.

Is this a sunset? What’s going to happen when it’s dark here and we’re stuck in this spot? Are there creatures that come out at night like in the last realm?

I definitely need to move now. Something tells me that I shouldn’t be out here in the dark. If I can move, then maybe I can drag Amaryl and Briancka somewhere that’s safer than out here on this wide, open beach.

As the light in the sky gets closer to the horizon, the water begins to creep further up the beach. Is this what happens when the tide comes in? I’ve only read about this type of thing.

I watch as the water ebbs and flows closer and closer. It goes out, this time farther than before, and then comes rushing in, right up to the tip of my foot. The water feels cool against my skin. Any other time, I would’ve thought this was great. However, the closer the water gets, the worse I feel.

Mmmmmmm!

Was that Amaryl? Or was that some random creature coming out to eat us?

Mmmm mmm mmmmmmmm!

That has to be Amaryl. Is she trying to tell me something?

The water pulls back out and rushes back in, this time totally engulfing my feet. I don’t know how far the water will go. Is my head out of the range of the tide?

I force wind out of my lungs and try to make a sound to let Amaryl know that I heard her, but it just sounds like I blew out air.

The water is getting faster. This time when it rushes back in, it hits just above my knees, and I feel it tug on me. It’s starting to get darker as the joined light in the sky begins to change colors. I can look at it now. It’s orangish-red, and the edges of the three lights are visible as dark red lines show the separation between them.

Mmm mmm mmmmmm!

I can’t even look behind me to see if she’s okay. I hope that she’s not being attacked by anything. I strain my ears to listen to the sounds around us. I hear the water lapping, and the palm branches on the trees rustling, but that’s it. I don’t hear anything growling or snapping. There’s nothing scratching or clawing either. I think it’s just us.

The water pulls out and then rushes in again, this time hitting the tops of my thighs. When it pulls back out, it feels as though the water is wrapped around my legs like long tentacles. The water pulls on me, dragging my body and flipping me over onto my stomach. My right arm is stuck underneath me, but my left arm slowly slides above me as my body is dragged toward the water.

It loses its grip on my legs as I feel it slowly slide down my legs and off my feet. I try to lift my head, but my cheek is pressed into the sand and none of my muscles obey me. Maybe the creature we should’ve been wary of this whole time wasn’t a creature like we’ve encountered before, but of the water.

The lights in the sky must be even lower now because it’s getting darker. I can’t see it anymore since the water dragged me onto my stomach, but I also don’t feel as though my gaze is glued to the horizon like before.

I hear the water lap and start its approach again. C’mon! I’ve got to at least get my fingers to move. Something’s gotta move! I focus every ounce of my being onto the pointer finger on my left hand. MOVE! C’mon!

The water creeps up my feet, engulfs my calves, grips my thighs, and then slinks up to my hips. It grabs and draws on me, pulling me again. I hear Amaryl moan next to me. She must be getting pulled too.

I watch as my left hand drags above my head in the sand. My only saving grace at the moment is the fact that my right hand is stuck underneath me, causing me to drag in a way that the water can’t keep its grip on me.

I feel the wave lose its grasp as it slides back down my legs. The next time it comes, though, it won’t take much to drag me into its abyss. It’s going to be up to my chest.

I hear Amaryl groan again, and she sounds farther away from me. I think she’s closer to the water than I am. I need to get some part of my body to move so that I can get up and catch her before she gets lost in the watery grave.

The water crashes and intensifies as the light gets dimmer and darker. It’s coming back, and I can’t move. I can’t even get a finger to obey! I close my eyes, feeling as though everything is lost. Something warm wraps around my left hand. My eyes snap open, struggling to see what it is, but it’s so dark here now that I can’t tell. The water is coming back, and I hear Amaryl’s moan turn into a gurgle. NO! I can’t lose her too!

The warmth around my hand pulls and drags me up onto a small hill, saving me from the waters grip. Just as I feel the warmth let go of me, allowing me to flop onto the sandy hill, I hear footsteps thudding across the sand. I strain to lift my head to look behind me.

Amaryl’s gurgling has stopped. Is she gone? What pulled me out?

Just as I am finally able to lift my head, I glance behind me as I watch a huge beast dragging Amaryl by the back of her frilly dress out from the water like a wet rag doll. Oh no! Where’s The Guide? Guide! Help us . . . I can’t . . . everything is so black . . .

Chapter 3

A loud noise jolts me awake and vibrates through my head. What’s clanging?!? Every time it sounds, my ears throb and my head pulses in pain. What is making that noise?

It feels like I’m lying on something hard and lumpy. I stretch, and I can feel my legs move, but just as my legs are almost stretched out, my feet hit something hard. At least I can move my legs now.

I roll over a little, and my arms flop to my sides. It feels like little pins and needles poking at my fingers as I stretch my hands out.

Again, the clang sounds and the noise ricochets through my head. My eyes squint at the pain as I raise my hands up to my head. I run my fingers over my forehead and find a lump in the middle by my hairline. Did something hit me in the head? I don’t remember that happening. Although, after being dragged from the water, I don’t remember much of anything.

Uggggghhhh.

Amaryl! I try to say her name, but only air escapes my lips. My mouth is so dry that my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth, and I can feel every taste bud on it. I try to swallow, but it feels like my mouth is full of sand.

Patrina?

Amaryl! It only comes out as a whisper, but it’s enough. "You are in here with me! I cough, and my head rages again. I reach out my hands to touch what I’m lying on. It’s rough and feels sandy. Are we still on the beach?" The words barely croak out of my throat, but at least my voice is starting to come back.

You need to open your eyes.

Amaryl’s voice sounds strange. I try to pry my eyes open, but even my eyes are dried out. At first, everything is blurry. I squeeze my eyes shut again and move my eyes back and forth, hoping that they find some moisture somewhere beneath my lids. When I open them again, I can see more, but it’s definitely not normal. Where are we?

There are bars above me that run up and down in front of me. I blink a couple of times to get my eyes to refocus and can see that the bars are black with rusty spots. When I follow the bars with my eyes, they meet more bars from other directions in a corner. The bars above me stretch out in both directions, meeting with even more rusty, black bars on the sides.

Patrina? I’m scared. Where are we? What happened? How did we get here? My head hurts!

I guess Briancka woke back up. You fell down some stairs and hit your head. I roll over so that I can sit up a little, and when I do, my head spins and throbs so bad that I have to close my eyes again.

"I know that! Amaryl told me. But where are we right now?!? I don’t like this place at all!"

There’s a noise off to my left that sounds like someone rustling. "Is that you, Briancka? Are