"Yes! I knew him, and he was a dear friend and a private researcher of DRI." Mr. Faiz gawked as his words brought no sign of contempt to Anna's face. Shocking how different this girl is from any other girl in his life. Mr. Camilton was a fortunate man.
"He told me to transfer all of you here in the DRI facilities before waking you up and put you to our brain-scanning equipment; to monitor and study your dreams, in fact, all of your dreams!" Mr. Faiz said, and then favored Harry with an exaggerated wink.
"What equipment? I didn't give any permission to any of those," Anna answered in a near panic voice, but there was no sign of resentment rather than awe, "...You guys are giving me a headache." She murmured and gave her a looped-sided grin. Smiling at herself l
Ten minutes later, Anna asked the two men to give her enough time to freshen up and get herself presentable. She went to take a shower and changed her clothes. She wasn't surprised when she opened the closet and found a pair of jeans, a woolen sweater, a nice pair of gloves, and a womens boots. Outside the door, Harry was waiting for her and together they went to the basement. His private office of DRI. In the elevator. Harry noticed her emotions were not easily suppressed on her innocent face. Her pain was apparent in the crease of her lovely brow and the down-curve of her full lips. But Anna's eyes, her eyes showed her soul. They were a lush green of restless freshness, a grass of unfortunate plight. A window! He realized that as he stared into her eyes, that he knew all the beauty of the universe could not even hope to compete with this unpretentious little mortal: passion. Passion turne
After telling Mr. Faiz everything, he advised them to take a rest, he assumed their mind couldn't travel back again to the Moonland out of exhaustion. So the two decided to go home, but Harry suggested for them to go to his bachelor pad nearby a few blocks away from the DRI instead and she later agreed.His bachelor pad was welcoming from the open door to the wide hallway. Upon the sides were the photographs of his childhood, so loved by his mother. The floor was an old-fashioned parquet with a blend of deep homely light bareness, and the walls were the dark greens of summer gardens meeting a bold white baseboard. The banister was a twirl of a branch, tamed by the carpenter's hand, its grain flowing as water might, in waves of comforting woodland hues. Under the lamp-shine, it was nature's art, something that soothed right to t
After their dinner, the couple went to Harry's library and discussed their current dilemma. The library has a few high walls of old volumes, though mostly, they were now a sort of decoration to set the scene. One simply logs in through one's device and either reads or listens to one of the thousands of titles, including political science, engineering, mathematics, research manuscripts, and scrolls. Giving him the tea, and sitting on the chair in front of him, she didn't stop to marvel at the grandeur of the library. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Harry and Anna during their conversation. There was a misted-shadowed creature eavesdropping on their discussion. At that moment, the outside door's dark power faded and grew still like a machine that was powered down. All the bright airiness of the day faded, evil darkness fell over it like a velvet
After the unexpected kiss, the two stared at each other and both seemed unable to acknowledge what happened, "What the hell was that, Harry?" Anna asked him in a panic. "What? The kiss?" Harry smirked and looked down at her lips with an irritated frown before his eyes briefly went back and forth to her lips." Anna's head shot up at Harry's intense glare. However, the kiss they'd shared earlier was beyond her expectation. It didn't matter, she told herself, but she didn't need to contemplate how wonderful it was. Some things matter at most or least, but somehow she doesn't desire to think about it. Not yet. Her brain cleared, the feeling in her head came back, her vision blurring, and most of the nausea melted away. She felt light-headed. That kiss made her feel something more, besides she wasn't expecting more from Harry though. "Whatever happen
Lady Magda's Cottage Wasteland Nathaniel's eyes fluttered open, blinking against the soft dawn light. He glanced around, as he'd done many times before, but it was pointless, as it had been each time before. He was alone up here. There was no one around. Not a soul, human, or animal. Nothing at all, as far as the eye could see but the pungent stink of the air was making him dizzy, his stomach churning, unbelievable, repellent and, gut-wrenching, numbing foul stink. And that's when he saw the mysterious canyon, cutting across the wasteland terrain dead ahead of him with sadistic inevitability, a vast limestone trench snaking across the landscape like something from the dark Wild West movies, but this one was the black and way more apocalyptic scenario, the ones
Outside the cave, Harry and Anna started their journey back to the dark forest. After a day of nonstop traveling, they reach the foot of the forest. Somewhere in there was the dark river they needed to pass to get to the Wasteland, and so their feet followed the unreasonable strip of naked earth among the ogres of root and scrubs. The dusk of the woods and the sounds of the foreign creatures wailing around the wilderness were enough for the human to return to its paths and never come back. They have been here before with Chaney but still, this darkness was giving Anna a shiver. "Why are we here by the way? Is this a shortcut?" Asked Harry. "This is the same Dark forest, Harry. But somehow it keeps on changing. I don't know. Chaney said this forest will give you enough hallucination and knowing that we don't have sundial with us. I hope we
Looking at Nathaniel walking towards them made Anna anxious, he stepped like a lion, like a predator cornering its prey, Anna gaped at him. Both were shocked. She wanted to be strong. Not for the sake of Harry or even for the sake of saving Nathaniel, but for her good. This was something she wanted to do for herself, for the Moonland, finding answers, and so, she approached numerous options to either run for their lives or approached Nathaniel and fight him. He looked different and appeared like he wasn't in control of his mind. Anna knew this was Lady Magda's doing or someone else sinister than her. Maybe running wasn't an option. ***** Ten Years Ago Back in London, when she was still a teenager, she approached her friends and asked them to help her with her problem, most refused outright. Some were very rude, s
Leon the troll and Anna traveled to the other side of the Wasteland. The elevation rose into the blue, and uneven gray face of the mountain most remarkable any Anna had ever seen. She pulled her eyes to the sky, touched fingers to her lips, and offered a kiss heaven-bound. The trail snaked around the top of a mountain with a sheer drop to the right. She believes they were somewhere in the far end of this land, and there should have been an endless wasteland view, but the rain and the fading light had obliterated it. A few trees curled out of the party of the hill with leaves as hard as thorns. Behind her, below her, ahead of her, it was all the same. Suddenly, she glimpsed an eagle on the tree, into the distance like it was contemplating something reasonably dark, if it wasn't just a bird in the early fall sunshine, its feathers were as shiny yet It looks at her intently, giving her goosebumps. Warning her for something.
Too late, he recognized that for once; he was not that one overseeing the game. He had lost control of the situation, and she played him like a cat and a mouse, except she was not a significant cat. She was a tiger, and she was finished playing. Anna's blazing hand changed to a sword that burst through his face as if his skin were paper. The pain was unlike any other pain he went through before, it was more than pain, it was death itself, then he felt a quick spasm in his chest. Lord Andrie looked down at his body and found his dark dagger embedded just below his rib cage, powerful enough to hurt but not serious enough to kill him. Not immediately. Anna peered into his eyes, and she did something she thought she would never do. She let go of the last bits of herself that tethered the predator inside. Her fe
A wintry wind stroked across the mountainside with a rawness that gave rise to one's soul into the gentle cloud-filtered rays. The icy breeze comes sometimes quiet, sometimes loud, yet even with a chill that brings a crispness to the day. Ten of hundreds of people and creatures running around in a panic, packs of soldiers fighting a desperate battle to stay alive, invaders running rampant, killing, and tearing each other apart. Any attempts at bringing order were ended with threats of death. This was also the territory where the last of the resistance held out. Loyal Lord Colton's soldiers wouldn't want to see the heart of their land murdered, so they fought to the death to protect their Lord. Then chaos builds until no one knows what's going on and the only thing left to do is run away trying to keep themselves an
Moon 73 Lord Andrie groaned, Anna could sense him getting enraged and irritated. It made her fear. 'What should I do if he tries to hurt me? I don't think I could fight him. She thought. She looked around and saw someone or something lurking in the shadows, her eyes tried to search for an opening, she needed to get out of here and fast. Not only that, she attempted to run, but something unexpectedly attacked her engulfing her with something she no longer has control over. She couldn't move a muscle, it froze everything even the snow hangs in the air. It froze everything in the frigid land and whatever it was Anna was grateful. The frozen landscape was the ideal page awaiting new strolling feet. In that icy land, the perfect moments froze, so she savors them all the more, if not under any circumstances she might memorize this mo
The breeze of the ferocious wind tore through lord Andrie's mind. His formidable eyes blazed with animosity and his thick eyelashes glazed to the pale darkness of the prisoner's land. His Heavy eyelashes furrowed a cloak from their scarce surroundings. His camouflaged pale skin wreathed in shadow colors. His chiseled face and fine long silver hair curling around from behind. Still, his rigorous body was coerced with frost and ice. And his hands tremble from hatred to whoever is in prison here on this wasteland. He appeared unaffected, however, his eyes warn dark stories of hundreds of days gone by. His hateful shadow lurking as the canopies that silence the breeze in the Wasteland. It was not a very amiable niche, with distress, anger, worry, and death awaiting whoever dared to embark inside the frigid land. The vestibule was also patrolled by the sandjinns. Their duty was to keep the prisoners from leaving this cursed land.
Ashley hoped this assault wouldn't last long; it arrived in the form of an advancing surface of sand and debris; which may be miles wide and several thousand feet high. It blows with little warning, making venturing conditions hazardous. Blinding them, and the choking dust was reduced to their vision. Sandstorms last only a few minutes, but this was a different storm altogether. They could barely breathe and snuggled together. They prepared to die. As suddenly as it began, the storm stopped. It crossed over them. They coughed and sputtered and panned out the dust and dirt from their clothes. Anna looked around. The storm has not passed them by. It was now all around them. They stood within a swirling surface and circled the mayhem like an enormous corral."This is probably the eye of the storm," exclaimed Ashley. She had heard such a thing but had never experienced it. As if they were at sea,
White CavernThere was a stake being jabbed into Anna's lower back, the assaults radiating pain in a way that shatters her brain - or at least that's what it feels like. She lay so still, breathing shallow. Her entire body was throbbing, and it was unbearable wherever anything touched her skin, and her vision was low contrast and "gray." Difficult to concentrate on everything. She attempted to pull herself up off the frigid floor, but her body didn't want to hold her weight. They stumbled and dropped around as she had never used them before."Harry, dammit! Everything hurts." She mumbled, looking towards Harry who seemed to be in pain as well. "Hey. Are you okay? Harry? Are you awake?" She lightly nudged him awake."I'm in pain, oh bloody shit I'm in so much pain," Harry murmured. He gave her a shushed gesture warning an
“How about we leave now?" Harry asserted. Oblivious to the fact that Anna was trying to make him feel better. “We can try again, maybe we won't end up in White Mountain?”Anna knew he was working on distracting her by suggesting to travel back. If he needs time to open up his heart further, then she will give him enough chances to contemplate his feelings. She realized it had hurt him so and she doesn't want him to feel even more obliged to confiding her everything.“That's a good idea, should we sleep here?”“Yes, that will do, let's try here, Nathaniel is the nodders device fixed yet?” Asked Harry.“Not yet dude, maybe a couple of an hour or more, for now, we should seek the conventional way.&r
"What...? He is your father?" asked Anna."Yes!" Harry answered back with a rage-filled voice, he was seething with hatred. He was angry with his stepfather, he knew, but the old man doesn't care about it. Sometimes he'd envision doing some unpleasant things to him. Yet, he didn't, after all, he was still his stepfather. Upon starting at Anna's eyes his body tightens as reality sinks in. She knew him? Why? He ask himself. He has to purposely keep his jaw open to avoid clenching and grating his teeth."How? I mean," -You're Camilton." Anna can feel the revulsion in his tone and she wondered what made him feel that way towards his stepdad. Dr. Simon was nice man,he was her only friend when she was a teenager, the only one who gave her enough trust and confidence. However, Harry seemed to hate him, his hatred towards the old man overwhelmed her even
The next few hours passed as a blip during her never-ending story, then after recounting their many adventures, the final trauma that broke Anna was the passing of David. Harry held her hands while he was retailing everything to Nathaniel. "What? David was dead?" Nathaniel shouted. "Yes," "I'm sorry, Anna," Nathaniel replied. The heaviness was in his limbs as much as his mind. Things he used to find funny now only caused a deepening of the pain. Nathaniel doesn't like the man, but he helped save Harry and helped Anna so he counts him as a friend too. "Let's not talk about it, please?" She begged. One day, Anna will grieve for him, but first, she would have to accept he was gone - and though she dug his grave herself, there was a