Alara

My feet knock against the ground as I run through the souk. There are men chasing after me. They caught me stealing a pair of fancy slippers from a stall and they're relentless. I must have been running for twenty minutes and they are still close, not giving up.

I can't outrun them. They're not stopping; not giving up like they usually do, even when I begin weaving through buildings.

I can still hear their footsteps behind me. "No, no, no," I say to myself. My mom. My mom. I need to get back to my—

"Yes, yes, yes. Alara. Wake up. It's time, and we don't have much of it."

I suck in a deep breath like I was stuck under water and I am finally set free. Oh wait, I actually am stuck under water.

Zayen's face is right in front of me, his hair falling forward as he looks down at me. He has changed and somehow found a shirt.

"How did you . . .?" My voice is groggy and I clear my throat, sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.

How does he know? There's no sunrise here. There's no sense of time.

Everyone seemed to have chosen when they sleep in unison. It's such a strange place. How can they possibly live without the sun?

"No time for questions. We need to be out of here in five minutes. I'm worried the man who is helping us, who told me where the stone will be, might also rat us out so we have to be quick."

What? This plan is sounding worse and worse by the minute.

But, what else will we do?

For a second, my mind goes back to my dream. This is what I have always done: run. I've been stealing the things I want but don't have my entire life. It has always been to save my mom. That's what I was doing when I pretended to be royalty with the Hakeem, and it only put me in more danger.

Is this, the stone, really going to be what saves her?

When the Hakeem let's her go, and life goes back to 'normal', then what? Will we still struggle? Will I find myself back out in the souk, struggling and running and stealing again?

"Zayen, I—"

"Three minutes!" he insists, tugging on his shoes.

I throw of the covers, get ready and pull my hair back into a twisted bun. Running is always easier without hair in the way.

My heart feels like it is growing bigger and bigger, the feeling of it seeming to move from my chest to my throat and then the throbbing feeling shifts to my entire body.

Every inch of me is pulsing, shaking, but moving forward one step at a time to what Zayen called the Bayt buildings.

It's empty now, unlike when free food was offered. We waste no time getting into the building, where it seems to be free and available access for everyone.

Everything is dead quiet, and makes me feel even more uneasy. It's better to be able to see the threat, to know where to look and where to hide—but here, it's like this stone, which is obviously important, is being left with no security.

This doesn't feel right. "So we have no other plan?" The butterflies in my stomach seem to be getting out of control.

"This place is all out in the open. There's windows to see everything. If something comes up, we'll see it from a mile away. We're allowed to be in this building—anyone here has access. Just keep your head up. Keep looking for something that seems off."

"Something that seems off," I mumble to myself. That seems legitimate. Everything seems off. The sky is freaking silver!

I've been way too trusting, too reliable on feeling and it's lead me nowhere. Surely at some point I'll have to learn that just going with it doesn't really work.

But it's a lot harder to plan with zero access to information, so what else is there?

"There," I say, pointing to a closed door that has no windows looking in. It's the only one that seems to be more closed of.

My heart seems to finds its way into my throat, a rather common hiding ground it seems.

This feeling, I'm so used to it. It's what I always felt when I was about to take something I shouldn't; it's what I felt that day when Zayen caught me in the souk.

Being caught this time would have a very different ending.

Zayen goes in first, pushing the door open and it whines, giving us away to anyone that might be inside.

It's a room—a huge one. It's mind blowing. The soft grey walls are barely visible beneath gold framed mirrors and beautifully embroidered tapestry. The entire ceiling is painted, depicting scenes of war and love and music and food. There are several arches carved just below the ceiling, and on top of the arches sit small angels carved out of a hard substance. Inside the arches are more paintings, telling different stories.

Fires are lit on golden sticks that flicker inside the gold-coated room. This is incredible.

"Zayen," I whisper. It's impossible for this level of skill to exist. The tapestries are detailed all the way to the reflections in their pupils and the engravings on their armour.

"Blows your mind, doesn't it?" A deeper voice says. It's not Zayen's, but it's familiar.

In a golden-cream coloured sofa, sits the Wazir that we met in Diyar. The one who gave us fresh clothes and controlled Nawaz.

My first instinct is to run, and my body leans back ready to do so.

"How are you here? Is Nawaz here? How do we get back home? Did you do this—Did you send us here?" Everything happened so fast and there's too many questions and Akilah answered none of them.

He takes a deep breath. "Let us all be quite honest here. You were not in this building to get home. You were searching for something else. It's why you left the house in the first place, no?"

Akilah must have told him everything; that we are here for the stone to take it to the Hakeem. But I can't assume that he knows absolutely everything, so I say, "What do you mean?"

He laughs, and it's wheezy. "What are you looking for?"

The way he looks at me makes me feel like he can read everything that it is in my head.

His grey hair has been groomed. His beard about a fist length. "Who are you?"

"Who do you think I am?"

I half laugh-half choke. "No, but really? How are you here? You're the Wazir. What is this world?" Please, I want to add. Every day feels like I am sinking into sand and trying to grab onto something that isn't there.

"This is not a new world, it is simply a place that exists under water. It has existed for many centuries, created to be a land that is idea—no inequality, no violence, and a simple life. We still allow for creativity and innovation. That's why rooms like this exist." He gestures to the room that we stand in. "But it is not for the intention to boast, rather for the intention to show human capabilities. It's really not that complicated."

"Not complicated? There's no sun. How—?"

"Oh, you mean the fish?"

"The . . ." The fish. That's what the silver is.

"Yes, fish, that have created a dome above us. It's incredible how nature works. When they move, it creates rain which allows for water for our crops. Somehow things work, even when they shouldn't."

"And the blue light?"

"It's a type of algae we discovered that can create light. The scientist here in this building have been working to advance it—as well as some of the people competing in the Night Trials, which is where you should be if you need a wish."

So he does know. "I . . ." How do I say this? "I'm not good enough to participate."

"You are. You have gotten this far. Are you really going to stop now?"

No. Stopping isn't an option. Going back empty handed after all of this . . . Not an option.

"But it started today. We're too late."

"We will make a plan. Tomorrow, you and your . . ." He looks to Zayen.

Zayen looks drained. Their are dark circles under his eyes. His hair is still ruffled from sleep. I feel it too. Most likely because of the lack of sun that we are used to.

"Friend," the Wazir concludes. "Will participate."

I guess there is no plan B now, but there never has been.

~~*~~

Ahhh, sometimes the future and the unknown can be so scary but there is something so beautiful about all the possibilities of what could be.

I think that is what keeps us alive. That is what keeps us working for more.

T w i t t e r : xPineappleGirlx
I n s t a g r a m : laylaawrites
Y o u t u b e : xThePineappleGirlx

Lots of love and jelly tots - xThePineappleGirlx