Chapter 3
“Hello, sir! Come help me, please!
Hello?”
Alex is not fazed at all as the girl continues to try to get his attention.
“Sir! Over here! Please!”
She picks up rocks and begins chucking them at the stranger. She ends up striking him in the back of the head
with one, but it appears it had no effect on him whatsoever.
“That’s odd. I know, I just know I hit him. Why can’t he hear me? Why doesn’t he move or why isn’t he frightened?
That rock just hit him from behind! This
doesn’t make any sense. It is almost as if
I’m not of this world anymore. Just like
what Izumi was saying, about how I’m not real. Maybe it is true after all.”
“Well, you see, miss, you see, no one can see you, feel you, or have
any sense that you are around. Throw all
you want, what you want, but that won’t make any difference. They can’t even sense another person watching them.”
“So are you saying that I’m dead?”
“No. If you’re dead, not only
would they have felt your presence, but you would not have been able to pick anything
up. Also anyone around would have been able
to hear you as well.”
“Then how is this other person that you said will be able to rescue
me be able to help? If no one now can hear
or see me, then how will that change later on? How will he be able to save me?”
He laughs. “Oh, well, you see
that was just to get you off my case for a bit. I got tired of listening to you complaining all
the time, so I made a story up that would hopefully keep you quiet for a while.
The truth is you are not even real.”
“If I’m not real, then how do you suppose I have a memory of this?
I have a memory of you and this cave, but
that is it. I can see the cave. I may not be able to see you, but I certainly know
I can hear you. Aren’t those functions of
a living person? I can see, hear, feel, taste,
and even smell. Those are the things of a
living organism, so of course I’m real! I’m
right here, aren’t I? Don’t tell me I’m not
real when it is clear that I am.”
“I’m sorry if I upset you, Emi, but this is the truth.”
“No, you’re wrong!”
“By the way, your question earlier, about my name…”
“The thing I need to do is get lost.”
Alex makes his way to the back of the cave. Eventually he comes across what looks like a door
carved out of part of the cave wall. He
only notices this close up.
“Huh, that’s strange.”
“Yeah, what about it?”
“My name is Izumi, just figured I would let you know before I head
off.”
“What do you mean? You’re leaving
me? Why would you leave me like this? I’m all alone!”
“Well, you see, I never did intend to stay here as long as I did. I was just sent here to check up on you, for there
are others who know of your whereabouts. They like to take care of you and make sure you
are still alive and make sure you can take care of yourself. It appears to me you will be just fine here.”
“Wait, so there are other people who know where I am? It’s not just you?”
“Yes.”
“Then why don’t they just help me get out of this place?”
“Oh, it appears I have said too much. Off I am, then.”
Izumi leaves Emi all alone once again. Emi is frightened from being abandoned another
time. She heads to her bed, which was carved
out many days after her arrival. Crawling
into her bed made only of rock, she thinks to herself as her long, greasy hair falls
in between her fingers.
“What am I to do? If I am here and other people know, then why
don’t they just get me out of here instead of keeping me locked up? Could it be possible that they are the ones
who put me in here? If so, then why me and why in this location? It may be peaceful from time to time, with the
echo of water droplets hitting the cave’s entrance when it rains outside, but
other than that it is a horrible place, with all the discomfort of being locked
up in a place where the ground is your only bed. ”
Later on, she ends up falling
into a deep sleep, for she had been sleep-deprived since the mysterious man showed
up. She kept thinking to herself, “How
is this man talking to me? I can’t even
see him.” This left her mind racing and eyes open.
“Well, I guess I will camp here for the night.” Alex dozes off to the
sounds of the water from the storm he just recently escaped from with the help of
a nearby cave. Softly echoing through the
veins of the cave, a scream cries out, filling the air with the emotion or fright:
“Ahhh!”
