Chapter 6

The Lost World



No! No, no, no, no, NO! I was dying for nothing? I chose to die instead of Kyle and what does he do? He jumps in after me! That wasn’t helping anyone except for Marcellus! But Kyle would die! He was going to die! I was going to die!

This was a nightmare.

The air around me was ripping at my skin. I was facing downward and only saw clouds. This was so unreal, but here I was rocketing down. I kept on falling closer and closer to the ground that I couldn’t see…it was nerve racking. I might die of shock or stress before I even hit the land. My heart was pounding…it was beating harder than ever. Could it even take this much beating? My heart was working so fast it was like it was torturing itself. It seemed it would go so fast until it just…stopped. Was Kyle feeling like this? He would be taking it better than me…or would he? He always freaked whenever I was in trouble. Wow…was I really in trouble this time.

“KYLE!” I yelled out. After a bit I heard him yell “LARISSA!” back at me. He answered me…he was the only ‘real’ thing left in this dream. All this seemed so illusory; it couldn’t be happening. It was a painful truth. I had to believe it because I knew it was happening even though I wished with all my heart it wasn’t happening. Just like how Kyle jumping after me couldn’t be happening. Well, sadly, both were true. So now…what did I do?

I couldn’t do anything! That is probably the worst thing. Being unable to save the one you love…or yourself…it’s mind shattering, soul crushing, morally depleting, heart breaking, entirely evil, and…and…no one should ever have to go through that. My heart was sinking faster than I was falling. I tried to save him. I tried. But he just had to jump after me. I never asked him to. I never wanted him to. Couldn’t he have caught the idea that I wanted him to live when I lied to save him? Everybody up there now thinks that I’m evil…they think I put a spell over their little hero. A spell of such that he would jump after me and die with me.

Could I really cast such a…a curse on him that he would throw his life away? Why would he throw it all away for someone like me? For someone he only met a matter of days ago? It made no sense. That’s what I had told Kimmy before as well. Logic just doesn’t seem to work at a time like this. If it did, he should still be up there having a chance to live—not falling to his death with me.

What would we even fall to? Where were we going in this seemingly eternal drop? Would we fall back to the world that was supposed to be toxic? Or was there even a world down below us? It could’ve just been made for the sake of the story; oh, things were so bleak now. I was afraid to hope. What if…what I hoped to be true ended up that it wasn’t real? Would I be devastated? Would I even be able to know if I was devastated if I turned up…dead?

I was going to die…to DIE! It never really hit me…I was too busy going insane to really let it sink in…but I’m going to die! I was going to die…never see my family again! Never see my friends again! Never see Kyle again!

And Kyle would die, too! And the worst thing was…it was because of me. If I never met him he would be safe up there in the city. But I just had to go and talk to him that one day. I know I’ve said before that I’d never wish that I had never met him…but I think now I wish that. At least he would be alive. He could still live a happy life…and maybe even make them stop using him for killing of his own accord. He could still have a happy life…if it wasn’t for me.

Tears flew out of my eyes as I continued to fall. They stayed suspended in air compared to me, who was still falling as fast as ever. I was just breaking down. That was it. Cool, watery drops flew past me. But it wasn’t my tears that were soaking my face this time. I just flew through a cloud. I guess I should think it was awesome, but everything was weighing me down right now. I was, in a way, murdering Kyle. I should die.

I turned myself in the air to face upward after holding my eyes shut when facing downward. With the wind slapping my face I had to squint my eyes shut. I had to turn over and face the sky. I looked up and saw a little hole in the cloud that I just fell through. I couldn’t believe that this was even going on. Who would’ve thought that the little quiet girl in the background would decide to confess to a crime she didn’t commit in order to save the guy she thought she loved? I was normal. Well, I used to be normal.

I stared back up at the clouds. They kept on floating by as if nothing strange was happening at all. It was so serene…picture-perfect, except for that two people were falling to their deaths in the scene.

There was one thing that awoke me from this nightmarish experience. I heard this faint…whirring sound. It sounded a bit like a computer…but there was something different. And it seemed far away. But I had no time to worry about this.

I saw Kyle fall through a cloud. He was a little bit behind me. We stared at each other falling through the sky. We were both going to die. The tears came again.

And then I blacked out.

***

My eyes opened and everything around me was blindingly bright. I felt relief; I was in heaven. Well…I hope I was…I gasped. What about Kyle? I sat up I saw Kyle right next to me lying in a bed. “Kyle!” I yelled. I jumped out of the sheets in my bed and hugged him. My body ached all over. What was with this? I always guessed that there was no pain in heaven…but since no one ever went there and came back, I guess anything was possible here. It was so painful to even hug him but that didn’t matter to me. We were both here together. “You made it to heaven, too! See, it wasn’t your fault for killing them! It was all Marcellus’s!” He didn’t stir. What was going on? Was he dead? I pressed my head to his chest. He had a pulse. It was slight…but he had one. “Kyle? Can you hear me? Kyle?”

“Larissa…” he murmured. His voice was so calming to me now. I was so relieved to hear it. Things might not turn out so bad. Things seemed to be better again. I laid back down into soft down covers. My pillow was very soft…but where was I? Whose bed was this? Metal bars of the frame of the bed appeared on the other side of it where my feet stretched towards. My body ached so much that I could barely move at all. Curiosity got the best of me and tempted me to turn my head to see everything in the room despite the pain.

Kyle was left of me in a bed twin to this one. A nightstand sat centered between the two beds with a lamp in the center. The walls wrapped around the right edge of my bed, the back of it, the back of Kyle’s, and then the left edge of his bed. Pictures ordained the wall with scenes of mountains laced with white. Piles of medical equipment were collected by the foot of our beds. A deep red wood made the floor everything sat on. A door was placed on the wall opposite of us and the wall by Kyle. A desk with a computer sat by the wall lacking a door. Other than that, the center of the room was very bare and had a lot of walking room. There was a small dining table with chairs packed around it, but there was a cavity between that and everything else in the room.

“Kyle,” I breathed. I was so tired now. I was too tired for…anything—unless it was him. I was to happy right now to take in anything. We were here, and alive! We could still think and breathe, anyway, but we were together. Thing’s could work out. And Marcellus couldn’t get us. We were safe here. We could just live here with our happily ever after! “Kyle, we’re in heaven!” Tears were coming to my eyes again, but this time tears of happiness, not tears of insane-death-fear.

“We aren’t in heaven,” Kyle said. What was he talking about? I looked around. We were in what looked like was a log cabin. Okay…maybe this wasn’t exactly heaven. There were three beds in the room, along with a chest of drawers, a table with four chairs in the center of the room, and a two doors that led to other parts of the cabin. The bed’s must have been Kyle’s…mine…and another. And this couldn’t be heaven…so…where were we then?

“This doesn’t look like hell. Wouldn’t this place be up in flames?” I asked. Never to close to death to pull a bad joke. Wow, I think some of my insanity hasn’t left yet.

“We aren’t in hell, either, don’t worry…although if I died I think that’d be where I will go.” He turned on his side, but all it seemed to do was bring him pain. He winced as he turned. He was in pain…both physically and emotionally. Why’d he have to think things like that? But I couldn’t exactly say he shouldn’t beat himself up about it…I mean, he did kill people. But…there’s so much of him that didn’t weant to. But he still did…after they forced him. They…Marcellus…the senate…do they know we’re here…wherever we are?

“Kyle, you are not going to go to hell. You never wanted to kill those people!” How many times did I have to go through this with him? He was innocent at heart! He would never kill again! That was repentance or something, I don’t know, but it had to count for something!

“But I did…and Larissa, this isn’t the best place to be talking about what happened in Alexandria…” He looked around. “We shouldn’t talk about it here.” This wasn’t heaven or hell…this was an entirely different place…different situations…different people (hopefully there were other people)…but this same feeling in my gut that something was wrong.

“So where are we then?” It’s strange how all this confusion could boil down to a simple question. Of course, probably when I hear the answer a whole new generation of interrogation will start. And it will keep on nagging at me until I figure it out. Sometimes I wish I could just…not care. But if I got my wish, I’d probably regret it, so I guess worrying this much is a good thing. Oh, this was so confusing…I should just wait for him to answer.

Kyle looked back at me. He opened his mouth but no sound came out. “This will take a little explaining…” Kyle…where were we? There was something in his answer that was worrying him, so he was hesitating…but why? “I first heard about this place with the Senate. They all saw it as myth, but I always hoped, in the back of my head, that it was real. I actually searched through all the old documents…and that made Marcellus mad. He seemed real touchy about it, and now I think I know why. Larissa,” Kyle explained.

The door burst open. The creaking of it signaled the ntrance of the man as the sound died out. A shadowy figure stepped into the room. The silhouette was tall and sickly thin for a person…if it was a person. There was something strange about this…thing. It took a step inside and light shined on his clothes. The skeletal being was a mannequin for long black jeans, a silver belt, and a pale blue collared button-up over a cerulean T-shirt. The clothes seemed a bit loose for the figure. It gasped. His voice was masculine. “Kyle! Larissa! You’re both awake!”

I stared at him. He stepped further into the light and his face appeared with a childish smile portrayed on it. “Who are you and how do you know me?” I glanced over at Kyle who seemed fine with everything.

He walked into the room to where I could see him better. The man looked around eighteen. He slid off his glasses and his ebony eyes peered out at me. He had dark hair, but it wasn’t as dark as Kyle’s. He had a skeleton-like build, with a sickly face—even more sickly than Kyle’s when I first met him—and hardly any meat on his torso. He weighed one fifty at the most. Maybe one sixty.

“My name is Jack, but call me Frost (like Jack Frost). That’s what my friends call me since I stay up in the cold mountains so much,” he replied. He smiled brightly…so bright he seemed like he defied his name. He seemed okay enough. A niceness seemed to radiate from him…but was it just an act?

“Hey, Frost,” Kyle said. Frost walked over to Kyle and gave him a high five. They smiled. I felt left out…

“Hi, Kyle. Awake again, I see.” Wait…what did he say?

I looked from Frost to Kyle. “You’ve woken up before and haven’t wakened me? What were you thinking?” I wanted to move but I couldn’t with the pain. “Why wouldn’t you let me in on what you guys were talking about? Do you hate me or something? I can’t believe you! How could you leave me out? I feel so unwanted…”

“I think she’s better!” Frost said, clapping. “Kyle told me all about you and your ‘awesomeness.’”

“You needed rest. That’s why we let you stay asleep. And besides, I had to check Frost out to see if he was cool, which he is.” By this statement I think Kyle implied ‘safe and trustworthy’ into the word ‘cool’. He knew how to work his way with words…he made me feel so dumb sometimes.

“Wow. Frost is cool. I would have never guessed. What kind of name is Frost, anyway? What does Frost even do? Freeze grass? Kill plants?” I was still mad at them for leaving me out, but I was half-joking with every word I said.

“Help nurse us back to health…that’s what Frost has done.”

Oh…now I see. This is Frost’s cabin and…he…saved us. “AH! I’m so sorry! I am in debt to you for saving Kyle and I!” I jumped up to try to thank him or bow or something but I faltered from my weak state. Frost dashed and caught me before I fell.

“Bed now. You need rest,” Frost ordered, suddenly very mature and careful. I didn’t argue. He abruptly picked me up and put me in bed. He pulled the covers over me, pulled up a chair, and sat between Kyle’s bed and mine.

Kyle turned over again, with pain, and looked at Frost and I. He seemed happy. “While you were still asleep, Frost and I got to know each other. He’s really awesome,” Kyle told me. I looked at Frost, who blushed a bit. You couldn’t see much difference from his usually pale skin.

“How long have I been asleep?” I asked.

“You’ve been asleep for a month. I’ve had to use a feeding tube on you.” Frost motioned to the mess of supplies by the foot of our beds. “Kyle woke up about a week after I found him, but he’s taking longer to heal since he never rests,” Frost explained.

“What? Really? Feeding tubes?” I couldn’t believe it. “I must’ve been out for real.”

“A true sleeping beauty,” Kyle and Frost said simultaneously. They laughed.

“You two sure you aren’t long lost brothers?” I asked. I laughed a bit. This seemed a bit more like home. I was good with this change. Frost seemed like a nice guy and Kyle trusted him, so that was fine with me.

“Well, Kyle’s too insane to be my brother. I’d get a restraining order,” Frost joked.

Kyle laughed but then turned serious. I looked at him with a little concern. His serious state of mind was hardly ever a good sign…unless it was romantic serious. I didn’t really expect that with Frost with us after falling who knows how many feet and almost dying, but…who knows? He sighed. What was he going to tell me? Frost looked inquisitively sat him. “Larissa…I,” he started. “I have to tell you something…”

Could it be…could it be that he was going to…I was hoping with all my mind that it could just be…

Kyle continued with his change of topic. “We couldn’t be brothers because…” That was a bummer. It wasn’t that big of a deal, anyway.

There goes my idea. I was a little depressed, but interested all the same. I kept listening. I knew they weren’t brothers, but there seemed to be more to this than just that one fact. This was leading to something bigger…

“We can’t be brothers because Frost…is from the Lost World.”

Umm……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………WHAT?

Did he just say…Frost is from…the Lost World? Where everybody is supposed to b e dead because of the toxic air? What was going on? Was this true? If Frost was from the Lost World, then…

Were we in the Lost World?

“What is going on?” I asked. I wanted to hear what Frost had to say. Hopefully he knew more than Kyle or I did. How long had he even been here before we got here? “All I remember is falling from Alexandria, but after that…”

“Right now you’re in the ‘Lost World’. Most people call it Earth,” replied Frost. He crossed his skeleton arms and continued talking. “You blacked out after falling for so long. Kyle was still conscious, and caught up with you after a while.”

“Wait…don’t people fall at the same rate or something?”

“Kyle shifted his weight so he was falling like a bullet, and he had a lot less wind resistance than you, so he caught up with you.” Wow, Frost was really smart despite his carefree attitude when he fist came in. It was like all he had to do was put on a different mask and he could do anything. And, he was probably smarter than Kyle, and he’s already finished High School. Frost looked like he was about…sixteen. “So, Kyle had grabbed a hold of you and was trying to find a safe place to fall. Just falling for so long…his mind and body were working extremely well for him to even get to you, let alone find a safe place to fall. I have no idea how he did it, but in the end, Kyle spotted Cascade Lake.” Frost took a breath. Safe place? Cascade Lake? “He directed you two and fell into the lake. It made a huge scene. The park directors dismissed the confusion by saying it was for a movie scene. They didn’t know what to do, though, so sent you two to me to get better.”

“Park Directors?”

“This place is called Cascade Mountains National Park. They need people to take care of this place, so they hire Park Directors.”

“Are you one of them?”

“No, I just work here as an aid for one of the Directors: James Redding. His cabin—the cabin you’re in right now—is the one that is hardest to get access to. James and his colleagues decided it best to try to keep you two under the radar for now, since some of them want to press charges, but no one knows who you are or who you came from.”

That was a lot to take in at once. I could barely even think that the execution was reality, let alone all that happened after it. Kyle got to me after I fainted, and got us to fall in the lake and somehow survive…

“Wouldn’t we die at the impact of us falling into the water so hard?” I asked. I wanted all the facts. I wanted to make sure this was even real.

Frost closed his eyes. “I’ve been wondering about that myself.” He turned to Kyle. “I asked Kyle about it, and he doesn’t know, either. He passed out as he passed through the last set of clouds and into the view of everybody around the lake. When he passed through the clouds, you two got frozen together.”

“What?” asked Kyle and I, incredulously. So this was new to him as well? “It never gets that cold, except for in a refrigerator or something,” I added.

Frost smiled and laughed a bit. He slowly got up. “I’ll be right back.” He left the room, and I took this time as a chance to question Kyle alone. What was he doing though? I guess I’d find out soon enough…

“What is going on?” It was the same question again, but I never got an answer that was real to me. “We were supposed to die. How did we survive?”

We were supposed to die…those words were painstakingly true. I can’t believe I had just said then…I could hardly even make my mind work fast enough to understand everything that was happening. Everything going on was just happening so fast! Kyle and I were destined for death…but through twists of fate we were allowed to survive. Was this a fluke? Destiny? Willpower? Well, I know it wasn’t my willpower.

We were executed, and now we were waking up in a bed in some place called the Cascade Mountains. Kyle just happened to defy physics and direct us from death to a lake and let us survive. He was the only reason we were still alive…well, I can’t say that. Frost nursed us as well. And probably people we don’t even know…maybe that James he was talking about. We are supposed to be dead! But we’re still living!

A tear ran down my cheek. It was too good to be true. We were alive; alive and well…well, getting better. I wasn’t really planning on moving at the moment. It doesn’t matter how crazy things sound, we both had beating hearts. We were still alive! Kyle and I were safe here, away from the murders…away from Marcellus…

We were free!