Cumberland (Not A Dream Book 1) (5 page)

My feet touched the ground after several twists and turns. It felt exactly as Mason had described it. The slide was bumpier than any normal slide. The wood surrounded anyone inside, to create a tunnel-like feel.

              I stumbled and realized I have made it to Cumberland. The sky was a pink and orange mix color with the twilight of stars twinkling in the sky. I was able to see the Sun begin to rise. The glimmer of sunshine brightened the ground to a soft green glow from beyond. The sunlight was not afraid to shine on the water.

              To see a land I have seen made my soul desire the need to explore its enchanted bliss. I spun around to look at my surroundings. I saw trees as tall as the sky, and watched their leaves gently flow with the breeze. Vines were placed at their tips and connected the trees as a bonded family.

              “Intoxicating, isn’t it?” Jack asked with a coy smile.

              I exclaimed, “Let’s explore!”

              Jack looked at me and explained, “Maybe later. We have a mission to complete first.”

              “I agree. Despite how beautiful this place is, something does not feel right about it,” Mason added.

              I looked down at the ground and seen it was a slosh of dirt and water mixed.

              I watched my feet begin to sink a couple inches in the ground, and then stop. My once nice and white shoes were now the color of suede work boots. I continued to watch my feet as I lifted my foot up. The mud bubbled when the sound of a suction cup released my foot from its muddy grasp.

              I looked around and noticed that I was not the only one stuck in the mud. Olivia had been as well. Her face was obviously star struck by the ambience of her surroundings. I said, “Olivia, our shoes are all muddy.”

              She looked down and opened her mouth in shock, “Oh! My shoes! Mason, how could you?”

              “What did I do?” he quickly retaliated.

              “I don’t know. Just seems right to blame you at the moment.”

              I couldn’t help it, to not giggle at her, and Jack had joined in with laughter as well. Olivia eyed us both, which silenced us completely. Even Mason had frozen in place.

              Jack sighed and explained, “Okay, girls. It is just mud. There is a sea near here and it can cause the ground around us to be a bit soggy.”

              “Soggy! This is more than just
soggy
, dad,” Olivia exclaimed.

              “Yes, this is unusual,” he agreed.

              “We need to start at the sea and work our way through,” Mason changed the subject.

              I noticed he placed an odd shaped rock in his pocket, and did not think much of it.

              “Why the rush?” I questioned.

              “No rush,” he answered.

              I turned my head to hear the faint sound of voices a distance from us. I tried to whisper, “Actually, it might be time for us to rush.”

              Jack cocked his head and nodded.

              We moved fast to the nearest bush dodging any branches in front of us. I looked around frantically trying to figure out why we had to move fast. About a yard away, I saw two men heading our way talking to each other. They were dressed in brown suits that were tight enough to reveal too much.

              “
Who are they?”
I whispered.

              “
They are the land patrol,”
Jack answered with a rasp in his whisper.

              “
Patrol? What do you mean?
” I asked.

              “
Each sector has their own patrol. There is the land, water, and the air patrol. They guard it to keep tabs on anything going on,”
he explained.

              “
Do they all wear the same color?
” Olivia asked.

              “
No, the land patrol wears brown, as you can see, and the water patrol wears blue. The air patrol wears white,”
Jack answered.

              We sat behind the bush in silence and my foot slipped, causing some rocks to move. I could feel my breath stop as the men looked our way. The tallest man was about to walk up to us, but the other guy stopped him, “Just look at the sunrise. It is way more majestic than anywhere else.”

              The tall guy turned and joked, “Never known a straight man to like sunrises like you.”

              The two men chuckled at each other and continued their perimeter check. They walked passed our bush and then disappeared.

              My hands became shaky and cold. I sighed with a deep breath and looked at Mason. He stared at me, and placed his hand on mine.

              I asked him, “Are you not scared?”

              “When I am with you, no,” he answered.

              I smiled as the churning in my stomach came to a stop. I gave him another question, “Why should you ever be scared? You have forever to live your life.”

              He shook his head, “No. Only on the day I turn into a vampire, is when I have forever to live. Until then, I am just as human as anyone else.”

              I looked down and said, “Oh.”

              He lifted my chin up so I could meet his gaze and he said, “That is awhile away. It won’t come any sooner or later. I am stronger than you think, as well. I will be okay as long as you are.”

              “Okay guys, I am scared out of my mind. I don’t think this is a good idea. We almost got caught, and we are just all standing here with our thumbs up our asses!” Olivia squealed.

              I apologized and then I heard Jack yell, “Hey guys, when you are all done having a mid-life crisis, I found the cages where the water creatures are kept. We need to find a way through it, because that is the only way through the water without having to swim!”

              We exchanged looks and walked over to where Jack stood. He faced a gate that was locked. The length of the gate crossed the waters standing tall like a bridge.

              Mason looked at me, “I will prove it to you.”

              He walked over to the lock and tensed every muscle in his body. With a growl he released his held back fist and made a crashing noise as he hit the lock. The lock dropped to the ground in a million pieces and I looked at him in utter shock. I exclaimed, “That was amazing!”

              “I know,” he said back with a cocky demeanor.

              We approached the opening and I looked down to see what we would be walking on. Below our feet I seen creatures swim, squirm, and crawl around. They were none of what I had ever seen before. Some looked violent, others looked scared.

              I looked at Jack and asked, “What is this?”

              He explained, “They trap the creatures in these cages. It is easier for them to keep track of them and stop them from drinking more of the liquid onyx Waterfall.”

              “That is horrible; I can’t stand to see this happen. They deserve to be free,” I complained.

              “Is that all they do?” Olivia questioned.

              “No,” Jack answered. He looked down and stated, “They are used for experimentation as well.”

              “They need freed,” Olivia agreed with me.

              I looked at Mason trying to share the grief in my heart with my eyes. He looked at me with his big green eyes and nodded. I tried to muster a smile, but looking at the creatures saddened me.

              “How?” Mason asked.

              “That is something we need to think out, first,” Jack answered.

              “Are they all like this?” I asked.

              “In cages, yes. But only in the habitat in which they were captured,” Jack said.

              “The cages don’t seem to strong, let’s just bust them out through the top,” Olivia suggested.

              Jack sighed, “They have to be released in the water. If we trap them on this bridge, they could attack. This means we have to go take a swim.”

              “Okay. We can do that,” I enthusiastically exclaimed.

I stomped on the cages to test the sturdiness. They rocked and swayed beneath my feet, but did not budge. I stared at the ripples of water, as my foot splashed against its flat surface once more, to see it instantly bounce back to its original form. My reflection stared back at me.               Despite my glowing red hair and big blue eyes, I knew how I felt.

              “I know what it is like to be trapped, and I promise I will set you little guys free,” I told the creatures cowering below my feet.

              I felt a soft hand press against my shoulder and knew it had to be Olivia. I looked up and she smiled, “We all will.”

              I asked Jack, “Where in the water would be a way to free them?”

              “About three feet down in the center of the sea,” he answered.

              I looked at Mason to see him staring at his handy work done on the gate. He shook his head and said, “Well, I guess we better get to swimming then.”

              I patted his shoulder and told him, “We may still need this entrance. Thank you.”

              He smiled as I placed a kiss upon his cheek. I looked at Olivia to see her roll her eyes with a small grin. I asked, “What?”

              “Nothing,” she replied while shrugging her shoulders.

              I heard a big splash and looked over to see Jack floating in the water. He hollered out, “Let’s go!”

              One after the other we all jumped in the water and swam to him. He directed us towards the center of the sea. Surprisingly, the currents of the water practically did the swimming for us.

              We followed Jack, for what was not a long time at all and finally reached the center of the gate bridge.               He looked at us, while pointing straight down and said, “The lock that traps them all in is below. If opened, it will free them all.”

              We swam down to examine it. We reached a few feet below the water and noticed a lock that was just like any other lock placed on a gate. The key hole was meant for something star shaped.

              Jack and Olivia tugged at it hard, yet it did not budge. I watched all the creatures, big and small, look at us with excitement. As we failed to budge it open, the creatures turned in what seemed to be sadness.

              We floated back up top to catch our breaths. I gasped for air and asked Jack, “What do we do now?”

              He shook his head and answered, “I am not sure, Milly.”

              Olivia said, “We have to do something!”

              Mason heavily stayed afloat and exclaimed, “I have an idea!”

              He went back under the water drastically. I yelled out, “Mason!”

              By that time everyone followed him back down. I was hesitant to follow as well, but a good deep breath in made it possible.

              I swam to the lock, once more, and watched him retrieve a rock out of pocket and watched him beat it senseless. After about three hits the lock busted off, and the gates opened to all of the creatures.

              I watched as they all scattered out of their prisons. A few small shrimp-like creatures rubbed on my hand, and a couple of big eel-like ones just nodded and swam away. I could relate to the freedom.

              I looked around to smile at everyone, and realized I was starving for air. I raced to the top and met them with a gasp above water. Olivia grinned at me, but I could feel my face harden.

              Mason asked me, “What’s wrong? Is that not what you wanted?”

              I shook my head in worry of them getting recaptured, but before I could answer I felt a push on my back. I looked around to see who did it, but no one I saw was around. I heard a yelp come from Olivia’s direction and seen she too had shared my experience.

              Shortly after, we all felt the same push. I watched Mason swirl in two directions and yell, “Who did that?”

              Jack answered loudly, “It is the currents. They are getting stronger.”

              “We need to get out of here!” I demanded.

              I looked at Olivia and she quickly was immersed under water followed by a shriek of surprise. I shook my head and said, “I don’t think currents do that! Olivia! Can you hear me?”

              “We are under attack, Jack!” Mason yelled.

              I went under water and seen Olivia fight her way up. I swam next to her as fast as I could and grabbed onto her. Together we pushed up and reached above the water.

              She coughed up some water and mouthed, “
Thank you.
”

              Jack quickly swam by our side, and then Mason followed right behind him. Jack shakily said, “These currents had never got this bad before.”

              “Really?” I questioned with a shake in my voice as well.

              We floated by one another and tried to fight against the currents as much as possible. The water became more rapid, and pushed against us. Waves would come crashing down on us making us fall under its wrath.

              We held on tight so we could stay afloat together. We needed to keep swimming, and not give up. I looked around to see if there was calm water anywhere close. I noticed a patch of water a few feet away.

              I shook Mason’s shoulder and pointed towards the direction. He motioned Jack and Olivia and we began swimming that way. The currents tried to slow us down, but the strength of the sea was not going to back down the rush I was feeling.

              We inched closer, and could feel the currents weakening. We finally arrived to the safe part, and Jack looked at us and asked, “Are you okay?”

              We all nodded at the same time.

              I looked around and did not see land in sight. I asked Jack, “Where are we?”

              “Further back into the sea,” he answered.

              “I thought we were just in the middle of the sea?” Olivia asked.

              “No, that was the middle in between where the opposite ends of the land meets. This is the true middle,” Jack said.

              “Geez Louise, dad! What do we do now? Wait to fall asleep under the water?” she retaliated.

              He sighed heavily and demanded, “Everyone keep your head on straight. Everything will be okay, we just need to think.”

              “Hmmm, what is there to think about?” Olivia asked rhetorically. Then she continued, while holding a finger up, “Oh, I know! Water is the only thing I can think of to think about.”

              I rolled my eyes and told her, “Please, Olivia, we need better problem solving techniques here. For example, we could swim until we find land.”

              “That could take days,” Mason said.

              “Thank you,” Olivia stated.

              The water currents still had not subsided around us, except for a small path in which we were hovering. I looked at Jack and seen he was following my gaze.

              I told him, “We should follow this skinny path and see where it takes us.”

              He nodded, “You just read my mind. This path would take us East. That will lead us straight to land.”

              Mason and Olivia both agreed to the plan. I worried about the water patrol finding us, because we are humans swimming in the sea. I asked Jack, “What if we get caught?”

              “We will try not to,” is all he could say.

              We began swimming the path, staying in a line. I knew the path was too skinny, but as we linked arms, it did not seem as bad.