The Earth Shifter

It seems like the boundaries of everything we’ve known and studied all these years got extended. We were standing in front of these two poles trying to figure out what they are. We’ve finally settled on Erik’s theory that it’s a gate and we should simply walk through it.

We walked towards it and before we could step between them we saw a figure running from a distance. As it came closer I could make out that it’s a man with cloth wrapped around his whole body. But the style looked contradicting. Half of the clothes looked cultural and relatively old. And the other half extremely modernistic.

Despite the cultural clothes, he was wearing a Bluetooth headset and holding an IPod, that’s what they looked like but they weren’t the exactly the same devices we use, in one hand and a scepter in the other. When the man arrived he took off his headphones and looked at us surprised as much as we were.

“You are forbidden from entering this place.” He stated firmly.

“Why?” Professor Hendrix was the first to speak.

“It’s not possible.” He stood between the two poles. professor Hendrix and Cyril kept arguing with him for a long time.

Professor Cyril was about to give up but his friend pushed the guard angrily and attempted to enter but the guard didn’t give him a chance. He hit the professor with his scepter hard across the face making him stumble and fall on the ground. Professor Alessandra helped her husband to his feet who now had a thin trickle of blood drawing out of his mouth.

What are we going to do now? We can’t go back after all of this progress.

Lilly nudged me with her elbow. I looked at her and she motioned for me with her eyes to look behind the guard. A big ball of curly hair was jumping up and down behind the man. He was waving with his arms and pointing at the man and back at the place we want to go.

I nodded nearly getting what he wanted to do and did my part.

“Uhm, Why can’t we get inside? We only want to have a look.” I distracted the guard.

“Visitors are not welcomed here.” He answered me.

I heard a thud and looked at Erik who was running towards the clear road next to the gate. Why didn’t I think of that before. Erik kept running and hitting the air and falls back on the ground till Aaron stopped him.

“Can’t you see Erik, it’s an invisible wall. You can’t run through here.” He knocked on the ‘air’, which seemed like it is really an invisible wall, to support his theory.

“Really? What’s up with the invisible stuff in this place?” Lilly exclaimed annoyingly.

“What are you doing here?” We looked at the man who was talking to the boy who was waving at us earlier.

“My father wants to see you.” He told the man seriously and when he didn’t seem convinced, he added. “It’s important.” He demanded firmly as if the man was working for him. He nodded and walked away after eyeing the boy doubting him for a second.

He really seems very determined on getting us in, more than us maybe.

He waited till the man was far away and then he waved for us.

“Come on, hurry up before he comes back.” He said and we stood there dumbfounded, not because he was wearing normal clothes like us, but because he looked so excited and happy despite the fact that he don’t even know us. he didn’t look that old and if I didn’t know better, I would say that he’s the same age as mine but still we were standing there frozen like statues.

“Aren’t you the same people who were standing here arguing about getting in for the past hour? Or did the aliens abduct you and left a visual images of you?” He was so talkative and didn’t even stop for a breath between each word.

I saw someone moving with the corner of my eye. It was Lilly, she was walking closer to the gate and the strange boy.

“So, Is it cool if we get in?” She asked and the boy rolled his eyes.

“Didn’t you hear me? Come on.” He grabbed her hand and ran down the hill till both of them disappeared out of sight.

I looked at them smiling. “Let’s go.”

We’re finally going to find out what this island is all about.

I walked down the hill and once I was down I saw Lilly and the boy standing on the shiny black sand.

“Guys, this is Tristan.” She introduced him to us. I shook his hand. “Hi, Amber Barritt. Thanks for letting us in.” I smiled at him.

“No problem, I’ve always wanted to meet people from the outside.” We all eyed him weirdly. What does he mean? But obviously there was so much to be asked and explained.

Then everyone introduced themselves and shook his hand. And I took my time examining the place around. If I had to describe it in one word I guess it would be

Mixture.

Everything was a mixture between old and new, cultural and modernistic. It looked like the place used to be normal and then was hit but a storm from another era. All the buildings were a combination of grey metal or iron and beige stone covered with green veins. But the ground was covered with the same black sand.

So this is where the micro metal pieces came from.

“Why do you wear normal clothes?” Lilly asked him.

“It’s not just me. Some people prefer this clothes and others like the cultural ones.

“Come on, you should meet someone first.” Tristan told us and we all walked behind him through something that looked like a shopping area or a market but in open air and with many fountains and trees.

Erik didn’t miss a second. He was holding his camera the whole time and shooting everything.

Tristan was right, some of the people wore this pale simple cloth and the other modern but they all looked at us in a very creepy way. They made me even suspect if what I was doing was right in the first place.

As we walked everybody was looking uncomfortable even me. I wasn’t used to people’s stares but Aaron didn’t look like he gives it that much of attention. I remembered what he had told me about people’s stares that they aren’t comfortable.

Lilly on the other hand didn’t even notice the islanders. She was talking non-stop to Tristan. Laughing and chatting with him but we didn’t hear what they were saying as they were walking ahead of us.

I noticed a huge high round brick fence build on my right. The walls were making a big circle. But it didn’t show what was behind it so my curiosity drove me to ask.

“Hey Tristan, What’s in there?” I asked pointing at the off-white brick fence.

“U- Uhm... Just, you know, some cut metal and supplies.” It was so obvious that he was lying but seemed like he wants to say just not allowed.

I kept looking at the high fence till we walked away from it.

“Where are we going?” Nate asked him.

“The leader of Eossoda. You must have the permission to stay here first.”

“Is that leader... Uh, nice?” Erik asked him.

“Not sure about the nice thing but he’s my dad and he wouldn’t turn down any offer for me.” He said. Tristan seemed to be the braggy type like Erik.

“Well, as long as I’m this island’s prisoner.” He mumbled to himself.

“What do you mean?” Lilly asked but he didn’t get to answer.

“You’re the leader’s son? That’s so cool.” Erik said walking beside him and they continued talking together. I was just watching I’m not in the mood to talk now.

The whole being in this island idea doesn’t seem that good anymore. I don’t like this place now.

“We’re here.” Tristan announced after a long walk.

We stood in front of a big building which looked simple for a leader. But also had good looking front.

We entered and stood awkwardly behind Tristan who had been standing right in front if his father’s dinner table.

A man with a thick mustache, black hair and green eyes. At least one mystery has been solved; now we know where Tristan has got his eyes.

He stopped eating his soup and looked at his son, not very happy obviously.

“Dad we have some visitors.”

“And where did you meet these visitors exactly?” His father asked eyeing all of us.

I don’t like the way we’re being treated.

I hugged myself and took a step back. I didn’t like how this man looked at me. He was so creepy, firm and straight forward but not in. Good way. I felt like I was doing something wrong.

“At the gate, I was just hanging around there and I found them.”

“Hanging around or trying to escape?” The man mumbled continuing to eat his soup. Tristan looked a little shocked then looked at us.

“Can you wait for me in this room?” He whispered. And we all did as he asked.

I was sitting in the room when I heard a lot of whispers and one loud shout.

“I said No!”