Jumping off the building wasn’t quite as cool as the movie said, but still, I imagined it could have been a lot worse. The creature’s hair slowed down the speed of falling, which was convenient for me to find the way to escape. Looking around the air, there was just the sky around the sky except this wired building. From the outside, it looked like a huge ...Train—I felt my mouth round that could be tug into an egg.
If my hands were very busy at gripping tightly the vine, I really wanna rub my eye, making sure it was a dream. But soon I realized I was wrong. It wasn’t train, just looking like...because each compartment was rotating in disorder. Not just compartment, but each part of the wall, including the windows, doors on them, were changing their places, more like Rubik's cube that I’d played in my childhood.
Rubik's cube...CUBE!
That’s his name—the house was alive! ?
I felt dizzy. All my world view seemed to be collapsing. I didn’t know which part went wrong, but what I did know was since the moment that I was woke up in Cube, thing was wrong. I tried to imagine the person who deserted me here, the purpose of such a action, and Kingo and Grandma-Sea, I didn’t know which one was worse—or both...—what did they want from me? The thought ended my brief moment of shock, stirring in my mind a million possibilities of what might wait me later, all of them terrifying. Fear gripped me once again.
I watched as the enormous compartment seemed to defy every known law of physics as it twisted along the horizon. The crunching sound rattled my bones. I noticed that Cube was not just changing, but moving,heading for somewhere unknown. I looked around at the other way. It felt like my head was spinning faster than my body, and the strength of my grip was fading with the dizziness.
I knew I had no choice but only came back Cube...or I would go to the abyss with this lunatic Grandma-Sea.
I did my best to suppress everything I feeling and suspicious. A swift glance found a shadow crossed the light; then the window slid open. Without second thinking, I kicked at the hair with the last strength I had and jumped.
Just then the wind shook more fiercely through me, and the building flew into my face with a horrible speed . In that same short second, the casement broke violently apart. The impact threw me against the something—which snapped in half. Sharps fragments of wood showered down on my head, scratching my exposed skin.
The shot of pain raced through me, and each part of my muscle was screaming for quitting the work. It spend me for one long minute to notice I was lying flat on the ground—no, ceiling, because there was a lantern protruded out beside me.
Taking large gulp of breath, I tried hard to support myself up with elbows. All the while, my eyes stayed riveted the surroundings until I was sure that I was landing in one of compartments in Cube again.
Relax washed through me, instinctive and strong.
I knew it was irrational. I was far away from the edge of safety. And I had no clue about what I could do now. How did I get home? Home...the word silenced me for a while. Staring the floor hung overhead, I pictured the anger frustrated their faces when Old Feng found his shop ruined, the madness as Shawl realized I was missing...Oh, and gloating in the smile of his girlfriend. Well, coming back sounded not so urgent.
I took another deep breath to steady myself, pushing my mind work on. Everything started since Fox turned up. Everything derailed the rational way since that man. He dragged me into this mess and disappeared. If I wanna leave, the only way would be to find him first!
Fox
I repeated his name inside for several times. Suddenly a shiver rippled through me violently. I remembered Fox had mentioned Old Feng during the chaos, and anything else, I racked my mind to dig, rewinding picture by picture, but they just faded into obscurity.
I groaned as I pulled myself up and leaned against closet. Something cool and metal unexpectedly touched the tip of my finger. It startled me almost scream until I found that was my cell-phone, which slipped out from my backpack.
I picked it up, checked and a surge of surprise rippled through me. It was in the service area. Crazy, wasn’t it? Too excited to be, I dialed instinctively Shawl’s number, but as my mind ran through the story I would tell, my fingers slowed. With another thinking, I decided to call Old Feng first. The most importance at the right moment was to find the clue about that Fox.
A twig snapped somewhere to my right and my action froze immediately. I stilled my breath, listen.
Another snap, this time louder, almost like someone had broken a fragment over his feet.
Who’s there? I wondered, a tingle of fear shooting across my shoulders. I stayed frozen, rooted to the spot as all grew silent, except for the whistling song of building changing in the distance.
Maybe it was that girl...or Grandma-Sea, not it was impossible, she fell as I saw. But there was another thing in the building, the last one that I’d wanna met. I winced and shook my head.
I crunched carefully up, hesitantly, to step around a toppled-down desk and knelt down to get a look. The light was so dull now that I almost felt as if I were looking through black mist. An icy shiver ran down my back. It was that moment I realized how cold it was in this room, however, the damp air already beading sweat on my forehead, the backs of my hands.
I leaned closer to look around. A silvery glint caught my attention. It was different from the lantern light that wobbled around, but just as odd. I moved through until I got to a huge vast lying across the threshold. I squinted, trying to make out what was on the other side, then gasped when it came into focus. It was a door on the floor into another corridor.
Completely crept out, I leaned closer to get a better look anyway, curious. The door was unlocked, I felt the odd urge to push it open—but i was disgusted with the fear springing up again with sudden fierceness.
Shaking my head, I had stepped aside to get closer when another twig broke, this time straight in front of me, right behind the door.
Then another snap. Then another. Coming closer. And the dark mess was thick.
I held up my breath with my shooting-up hands, panic overtaking me. Now only a few feet away, the visitor grew louder and louder until I caught a shadowed glimpse of a skinny boy limping forward through the gap which was pushed slowly open.
The boy burst through the door before I could hide away. I saw only a flash of pale skin and enormous eyes—the haunted image of an apparition—and screamed out, tried to run, but it was too late. The figure leaped into the air and was on top of me, slamming into my shoulders, gripping me with skeleton hands. I crashed to the ground; I felt a chair dig into my back before it snapped in two, burning a deep scratch along my flesh.
I pushed and swatted at his attacking hands as I heard his teeth snapping open and closed, a horrific icy smell, very familiar. Then I felt the jarring dagger of pain as the boy’s mouth found a home, bit deeply into my shoulder.
I screamed, the pain like a burst of adrenaline through my blood. I coiled my fingers against his face and clawed, straightening into his eyes. Seconds froze at that instance. My heart burst into a sprint as my finger tips touched a hole, and nothing in there...
At the same time, the boy let out a terrible shrill before he flown out of the blurred formation and jumped several feet away me.
I squirmed backward, sucking in breaths of air, and got my first good look at the crazed attacker.
It was the sick boy.
Half mask melt with his face.
It was a Vousi.