Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Nubilous Reality ❯ Understanding the Strangers ( Chapter 4 )

- Chapter 4 : Understanding the Strangers -

 

<< Those bastards. They're really making me curious now. I wonder where they're taking me. But I think I'm more interested in who exactly they are. Silver robes and red paint around the eyes? Men don't wear robes anymore. Well, except for priests. But they definitely don't look like priests. Maybe they are part of some strange underground cult that I've never heard of. Yes, that would be a logical explanation; I'm sure there's also a logical explanation for those levitating gardens as well. >>

The wagon stopped moving.

<< Oh, I think we're there. Where ever `there' is…>>

He waited for a moment and then he started hearing a continuous crackling noise.

<< That sound just like … a wooden gate? >>

After the noise stopped, the wagon was moving again; but only for a few minutes. The two men jumped down from wherever they were standing and grabbed Michael; one by his shoulders and the other by his ankles. They carried him for a while and after going down some stairs and entering a room the put him down on what he believed to be a chair. After that they added an extra rope to tie him to the chair and then they took away the cloth from his eyes.

Michael looked around but didn't see much. He was in a small room with stone-bricked walls, ceiling and even floor. There were no windows at all and the only door was the one they came through. Also, the room was lighted by a rectangular panel built in the ceiling.

Besides the chair he was tied to, there was another one on the other side of the room and the two men were standing on each side of it, just as they were guarding that chair and not him.

Several minutes later another man stepped into the room. His eyes were the same, but this one was wearing a black robe and was a lot older than the other two; probably past his sixties. Without even looking at Michael, the man went straight to the other chair and sat down.

“Aki seno ki?”

“Huh? I told the other guys too, I have absolutely no idea what you are saying…”

The old man seemed puzzled. He stared for a couple of minutes at the boy and then whispered something to the one at his left side. As he was probably ordered, the man went to the wall opposite of the door where he pulled out a couple of bricks. From inside the wall, the man pulled out a small transparent flask containing a weird looking yellow liquid.

After the second man untied him, Michael was given the flask and was told to drink it. He looked for a moment at it trying to figure out what it could be and what exactly would it do to him but then he gave up and drank it all.

He waited for quite a while but after several moments he got such a strong headache that he was forced to drop to his knees. Michael now regretted having to drink the liquid and was holding his head in both hands.

The old man stood up, looked down towards the young boy and spoke.

“Can you understand me now?”