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Crystal Oblivion

Chapter 3

‘Where am I? How did I get here? Is this a dream?’ thought Sara. She had no idea what was going on. The last time she checked she was in her bed going to sleep. Now she was in front on a large, strange building in the middle of a bizarre city that she had never seen before.

The architecture of the buildings was unusual and exotic looking. Trees with purple leaves and gardens that had flowers of every color of the rainbow littered the city. It looked like paradise.

Walking towards a random man, Sara asked, “Hello? What is this place? Where am I?” However, the man didn’t seem to notice her. She waved her hands in front of his face, but it looked as if he saw right through her. She saw some more people approaching the area and started jumping and shouting, “Hey! Can anybody hear me?!” Yet, no one paid any attention to her, and they continued to go about their business. It was as if she was invisible. No one seemed to be able to hear her either.

‘Why can’t anyone see or hear me? What’s going on? What this place?’ thought Sara as she paced around the area. Something was very strange about this place. It was as if she was on another planet or something.

Suddenly, Sara was interrupted from her thoughts when she heard the creaking of a door behind her. She turned around to see a young girl sneaking out of the building. Sara took a closer look at the girl and noticed that she looked like a child version of Cree. The little girl seemed to be nervous and distraught, as if she was running away from something or someone. Then, door burst wide open and a man in a white suit ran towards the child.

“Where do you think you are going, Cree?” asked the white suit man in a harsh tone. The child version of Cree turned around and shivered at stern glare that the man was giving her.

The young Cree nervously replied, “I was just going out for a walk, sir. I’m sorry, Dr. Gilgon.”

“You know that you are supposed to be tested today. You weren’t trying to skip it, were you?” said Dr. Gilgon. When Cree didn’t reply, he added, “I thought so. You know what happens when to try to escape or skip tests and experimentations, don’t you? Do you remember that device that was implanted inside you a while back?”

Before Cree could say anything, Gilgon took out a remote and pointed it at her. He pressed a button and the child fell to the ground, screaming in pain. Sara wanted to help the little girl, but she soon realized that she could no longer move. For some reason, Sara was bind to that one spot and was forced to watch as the evil man tortured the defenseless child. Fortunately, it only lasted for a few seconds.

“Have you learned your lesson? Will you come back to the lab willingly?” asked Dr. Gilgon. Cree silently nodded her head. “Good,” said Gilgon, “that makes things easier for both of us. Besides, where would you go if you did escape? We both know that people like you who are dubbed as ‘freaks’ by society’s standards are only good for experimental purposes. The chances that someone else would take you in are slim to none. At least at the institute, you will be given adequate food and shelter.”

Then, the man grabbed Cree by the arm and dragged her back to the building. The girl seemed unhappy, but she didn’t try to fight Gilgon’s grasp. The doors were flung open and the two figures disappeared into the building. Sara was still standing in the same spot as she witnessed everything happen, until a bright light appeared in front of her and everything faded into the brightness.

Sara opened her eyes and saw that she was in her bedroom. It seemed that she simply had a dream. However, Sara’s gut instincts told her otherwise. Sara began to wonder if the dream was a vision of some sort. After all, she sometimes got visions in her sleep as well as when she was awake. Yet, there was one thing that didn’t add up to that theory. All of Sara’s previous visions foretold of the future, but this one seemed to take place in the past. Why would she dream of something that already happened?

The fact that the girl in Sara’s dream was apparently a younger version of Cree also unnerved her. Sara was still thinking about her encounter with the mysterious young woman in school the previous day. There was a strong feeling that Cree had a large role to play in the strange events that were occurring. However, Sara still had no clue was that role could be. Until Sara could figure out what that role was, Cree would continue to be an enigma.

Then, there was the setting of the dream. It seemed to be some place that was not on Earth. However, that theory was quite unlikely. Even in the year 2050, scientists have yet to discover any life forms outside of earth. There had been several discoveries that suggested that there may have once been life on planet Mars, but even that was debated. What had been found deep under the Martian soil included a material that could not be natural and several fossils that appeared to be some sort of plants. Yet, according to the scientists’ findings, any life that may have existed on Mars was destroyed several million years ago by some unknown disaster.

Sara shrugged off the lingering thoughts of the dream and began to get ready. First, she took a nice cold shower to wake her up, and then she made herself a bowl of cereal. After finishing breakfast, she turned on the TV to see if anything had happened and if there was a possibility that school would be canceled. The image that immediately greeted her was a bird’s-eye view of the crystal covered field and a large, spiky object in the middle of it.

The reporter on screen said, “We are reporting live in a helicopter flying above the field in which an UFO of some sort had landed in two days ago. The crystal-like substance that appeared around the object has appeared to stop spreading, but the object itself has grown. It was reported to be about the size of a soccer ball when it first landed and has since grown to the size of a large shed, not counting the spikes. Due to the fact that there doesn’t seem to be an immediate threat, most business will stay open and the local school district will still have classes. However, authorities are closely watching the situation. We will report any changes.”

Sara moaned as she realized that she had to go back to that cruel prison known as school. She wished that she could skip school for a few days, but her parents would be angry if she did. Even if she could get away with it, Sara’s conscience would keep her from doing such a thing. No matter how tempting, she couldn’t do something that she knew was wrong.

Besides, there were probably worst places that existed, such as that institution in her dream. Sara also couldn’t help feeling that she had to be at school today for some reason. It was as if some sort of force was pull at her and telling her that she should be there. Was it just a gut feeling or was it something more?