Chapter 18: Episode 18 - Better not knowing

Ness - More than 20 years have passed outside.

Luke - WHAT!?

Ness - I don't know how this works, I'm trying to figure it out. But we met Kristopher. How old was he when you came in here?

Luke - K-Kris was 14 when we arrived. He left when we were 15.

Ness - ...

Joe - We met Kristopher; he's in his early 40s. If you do the math, it's been over 25 years since you disappeared.

Ness - But that's not all. When we investigated what happened, we found a legend that's over 100 years old, which makes no sense.

Joe - When you met Kris, did he or his family have some kind of cabin?

Tobias - Aunt Sue's cabin? Of course.

Tobias - Damn, we should never have heard of Mer!

Ness - What happened to him?

Tobias - We don't know what's happened to Mer since we came to this world. We came together, but as soon as we showed up here, he said he was going to look for the creature. He never came back. Luke and I have been alone here. You have no idea how annoying it is to listen to this guy every day.

Luke - In my defense, I'm positivity and what keeps us sane in this place.

Ness - Wait. We're supposed to be able to get out of here. If we all manage to get out, then what happens? Will they be kids again, or what will happen?

Luke - Not the slightest idea. That's why I'm telling you we have to try.

The four of us immediately remembered what to do. Joe helped me up, and we started walking, almost running. Luke and Tobias walked ahead of us, directing us to where to go to get back to the area we'd entered from. As we walked, the boys continued straight ahead, and I managed to see them going to a different place than where we had actually entered. Even though it was pitch black, I almost clearly remember the specific area Joe and I had entered from, so I stopped.

Luke - Why you stop?

Ness - That path, that's not where we entered here, we entered there - I said, pointing my left.

Luke - Are you sure?

Ness - Yes.

Luke and Tobias looked at each other in confusion.

Ness - What?

Luke - No one's ever appeared on that side before. There's nothing on that side.

Ness – No, sorry, I'm pretty sure we came from there, this is the area where I stopped after running, and this is where I first saw the creature and ran to the other side, where I found Tobias.

Luke - We've gone there several times, and we only ended up in an alley.

Ness - Guys. I'm absolutely sure.

Tobias - Stop bothering us, that's not possible.

Luke - No. Tobias, if we've tried everything for 10 years, it wouldn't cost us anything to try one more time.

I looked up and saw the moon had a faint red reflection. The boys just looked at each other, deciding what to do, and finally decided to follow the path I had shown them. We had only been walking for a couple of minutes when a deafening scream was heard in the distance. It sounded like a dinosaur roar from a movie. We turned to see where the noise was coming from and continued walking. We reached a dead end. There was some kind of speed bump. It was strange because we were looking at a completely black background. It didn't look like there was a wall or an obstacle, just a black void. Tobias was complaining about everything while Luke was talking to him to calm him down. I stared into the darkness and stretched my hand out into the void, and my hand seemed to disappear; I took a few steps forward until only my face remained in front of that void.

Joe - Ness, what are you doing?

Ness - There's something else.

Tobias - You're in a world where there are a lot of creatures and monsters. Do you really think it's a good idea to go THERE?

I ignored Tobias's complaints and Joe and Luke's comments and headed into the darkness. It felt freezing, and I remembered that feeling I had when I ran into the woods. I heard faint voices in the distance, but I couldn't recognize them. Little by little, I was starting to struggle to breathe, and when I felt like I was running out of air, I emerged from the void.

I was in another part of the forest. Wait. This is it...

Joe - NESS!

Ness - Joe, look!

Joe - Wait, this place..

Joe and I looked back as Luke and Tobias appeared. We were standing in the same spot where the guide was explaining the story about Kristopher. When the boys emerged from the void, the path cleared, and the trail the guide was telling us about was clearly visible. I felt my breath quicken, and Joe and I ran in the direction of the trail of the woods.

Luke - Wait!

Joe and I heard footsteps running behind us, and I knew at that moment the boys were following us. We ran as fast as we could until we emerged into the park where we had been earlier in the day, where we waited before heading on the tour. We arrived and there were a lot of people there, just going about their lives as if nothing had happened. The guide who had given us the tour was usually talking to a bunch of people.

Guide - Sorry for the inconvenience, the scream was caused by a scared tourist who got confused, and the lights went out due to a short circuit in the electricity in the spotlights on the path inside the forest.

Ness - What, but that's not what happened. We've been in...

Joe - Ness. Ness wait.

I ignored Joe and headed over to the guide to ask him what he was talking about. We'd been lost for hours, but when I reached out to grab his shoulder...

To be continued..