Page 10 of The Mist of Stars
“Wait … Why is the sky lavender?” I stare up at it then at the silvery trees encompassing us. “Where the heck are we?”
“In the simulation … I think,” Alex mumbles, but his voice has a trace of uncertainty.
“Did the instructor say anything before he sent us in?” I wonder, noting a breeze dancing through the air. Purple and silver leaves flutter from the trees and gust across the field we’re standing in. I’m mesmerized by the place and how connected I feel to it. I didn’t expect this, especially since, technically, this isn’t a real place.
Alex has grown quiet and hasn’t responded to my question. I glance at him and notice how uneasy he is—his posture stiff, his gaze intensely taking in the surroundings.
“What is it?” I ask, brushing strands of hair out of my eyes.
With his lips pressed together, he glances at me. “I got sucked in right after you. It was about a second after, but during that second, our instructor shouted something about how this wasn’t supposed to happen.”
My lips part in shock. “Like we weren’t supposed to get sucked in here?”
He shrugs then crosses his arms. “I’m not sure.”
My mind goes into overdrive as worry floods my body. “If we’re not supposed to be in here, then that means we’re not in a simulation but some random magical place. Like we went through a portal or something.”
“And that means we need to find an exit.”
“We don’t even know where we are,” I stress. “Do you know how hard that’s going to be? Not to mention we don’t even know what this place is. There could be anything hiding in these trees.”
“True, but”—he wavers—“while this situation creeps me out, I feel like this place isn’t necessarily bad.”
“Me, neither, but that doesn’t mean I’ll let my guard down.” I reach for where I usually keep a dagger tucked in my boot, but it’s not there. “Shit. My dagger isn’t on me. I know it was there before I got sucked in here.”
Alex pats his ankle. “Mine isn’t there, either.” He straightens and peers around at the seemingly empty land. “Whatever brought us here didn’t let our weapons through.”
“You think something brought us here?”
“I do.”
The silence that follows sends a shiver rolling through me.
“Come on,” Alex finally says. “Let’s go see if we can find an exit.” He starts to step forward but pauses and flicks a glance at me. “Be careful, okay?”
“You, too.” I may not like him that much, but he is Aislin’s brother. Deep down, however, in a place I won’t admit, I know I want him to be careful because he used to be my friend.
We don’t speak as we hike across the field, the crunch of the grass filling up the silence. Eventually, I notice that the texture of it is glass-like and the crunching noise is the sound of it breaking beneath our shoes.
“This place is weird.” I catch a leaf in my hand, only to become aware that it’s a crystal in the shape of a leaf. “It’s like it’s made entirely of glass and diamonds, like we’re in a snow-globe or something.”
“God, I hope that’s not the case.” Alex shudders as he continues forward.
“What if we are?” I drop the crystal-like leaf. “That probably means we’re being watched right now.”
As soon as the words leave my lips, Alex and I stop, and our gazes travel to the sky.
“No … there’s no way we’re in a snow globe.” A drop of doubt weighs in his tone.
We begin hiking again. The closer we get to the trees, the darker the sky gets. I’m still not uneasy about this place, but the idea of wandering around in the dark doesn’t sound appealing.
“So … I heard you were going out on a date with Henry,” Alex abruptly says as we near the border of the forest.
“How the heck did you hear about that?” I grimace. “Wait—did Laylen tell you?”
“No, I overheard Henry telling his friends.” Alex casts a glance over his shoulder at me, his eyes now shadows against the fading light. “Laylen knew?”
I nod. “He overheard him asking me out.”