I can’t see anything.  I don’t know what they’ve done to my eyes, but even as I pray it is only temporary, my heart nearly stops as I realize that it is most likely not.  I’m squashed in a circular tube, with my knees pushed up against my waist. I try to push myself up with my arms, but my hands refuse to move away from each other. I start to panic, eyes blinking open and closed and arms and legs twitching, as I am moving upwards. I can hear large cheering crowds above me, where I am currently moving towards, and I fidget more, knowing that the sounds can’t mean anything good.  Suddenly, my vision is painted red. I start kicking the circular walls around me, but they fall away before I notice I am being picked up by my shirt. Whoever holding me must be very strong, as even though I am quite thin, I am very tall. The one holding me speaks, as I still fidget and blink my eyes, trying to fall from his reach. He has an accent that I’ve heard before. “We have our leverage,” he exclaims, and I imagine his chapped lips splitting into a grin. It is the monster who calls himself, “The Savior”. As if he is saving anyone. He wants to build a new universe led by himself, on top the ruins of the one I’m currently in. And now I’m helping him, in a way.

The Savior drops me, and I land on the rough floor, hurting in some unnamed places, before two guards grab me, and I am swept away, barely catching the terrible leader’s next words.

“All we have to do is wait for Clara to come running.” The guards then cover my ears as I am dragged into a different room, where they shove me into a cage. I only know it is one because I scoot forward and kick at the bars as the guards walk away, without untying me. I try to feel around the cage, looking for something sharp, but, finding nothing, lie down next to the side of the vertical bars, and somehow fall asleep. I wake to a pain in my side. Someone has kicked me. I shift away, but feel another stab on my other side. I realize that my cage is in the middle of the room, and the meeting must be over, meaning there are figures all around me. I try to find the center of the cage, where they hopefully won’t be able to reach me, unless they can elongate their arms or legs or something. It works, but I do not rejoice. Instead, my mind flips back to my past, remembering what I had done to get here.

I was walking with my best friend, Clara, and another boy, Cole. We were about to raid the evil organization, but we couldn’t stop laughing. Cole kept making really strange but very funny jokes that Clara kept sharing with me. We were probably alarming every single creature under The Savior’s leadership, but at the moment, we didn’t really care. That was our big mistake. We were shushed by Victoria, the leader of that operation to steal the sonic weapons, and we immediately shut up, but our eyes showed mirth as we burst into silent laughter at Clara’s hand motions. We were definitely very goofy, but Victoria didn’t approve. Especially the way Clara was acting. Clara was supposed to be the most important person in the universe, but she certainly didn’t want to act like it. Neither did I.

We had been best friends since we were just beginning high school. We had been through so much together, including when she discovered the book of the universe, which had been passed down through generations of her family, resting in her arms. It was hers, and she could hardly bear the fame it had given her.We reached the safe door, and Victoria got out the equipment to unlock it, but before her hand left her pocket, guards flew through all the formerly locked doors surrounding the vault.

They headed straight for me, and though Clara stepped in front, so her red hair swished in front of me, they just pushed her aside. Cole was fighting a nearby guard, so he couldn’t help me, but I didn’t think he would anyway. I pulled out a weapon, ready to shoot him, but five other guards were closing in on me. I turned in a circle, trying to find the one to shoot, but one grabbed my arm and injected something into it, and I blacked out, and there I was.

I don’t know what happened to Clara and Cole, but I hope they are okay. I don’t know whether I want them to come after me and risk their lives, and the lives of the entire Universe. I also don’t know if I want her to trade the Book of the Universe for me either.  All I know for sure was that Clara wouldn’t and I respected her for that, but I wish I could get out of here soon.