THE DAY of the revealing finally came. The drive to the wall flew by in what felt like a matter of minutes. Today was going to be my first time traveling by elevator. It was strange how time seems to slow down and drag when you’re anxiously waiting for something and then speeds at an incredible rate when you’re filled with dread.
Getting out of the car and walking through the large concourse, a claustrophobic feeling pressed down hard on my chest. The Wall reminded me of an airport; it was huge with big boards mounted on the walls showing a lot of numbers with destinations on, appearing and disappearing every minute. Below them, silver counters ran in a line as far as I could see. Woman and men operated these counters, selling tickets and giving info when needed. Right above it all, the tubes lingered in the air. I could see the rollercoaster type chairs making their way to the million elevator doors stationed against the Wall. The tubes made me think of a bad plumbing job as millions of them cross over and under one another. The white tubes were the ones that humans could take and they went everywhere inside Paegeia. The green ones above them went to the rest of the world, and only dragons could use them.
We eventually found Becky and her Mom waiting for us at the check in point. As we got closer, Lucille wrapped her motherly arms around me in a comforting embrace.
“Can’t you knock me out with a sleeping spell?” I begged softly, my voice muffled against her shirt.
Her lips spread wide over her face as she pulled me back and looked at me. “You’re going to be fine, Elena. Besides, I suck at sleeping spells.”
Lucille led us into one of the many rooms that would eventually take us to Elm.
This function better be worth it. I took another deep breath trying to calm my beating heart.
Two uniformed attendants standing near the entrance checked our tickets and I was excited to finally use the pass Lucille had gotten for me my first week of vacation. The pass functioned as a glorified ID but looked far more interesting than the typical passport on the other side of the Wall.
I smiled nervously at the woman who used a small, handheld device to scan my pass. She looked me over with a thin smile but I could tell it was genuine. “Is it your first time?” she asked.
I nodded. I didn’t want to say anything that would stop her from letting me move on with the others. I didn’t want to do this alone.
“Just take a deep breath when everything stops and you’ll be fine,” she said with a soft wink.
When everything stopped, what the hell is she talking about?
Suddenly, a green light lit up on her device and she carefully handed me back my pass and ticket. “Keep it on you, otherwise it might get lost.”
Huh? “Okay. Thanks.”
Moving through the crowd once again, we passed a huge door and I found myself in another location that reminded me of a train station, but instead of a train, what waited for me made me catch my breath. Before me was a huge tube with two huge chairs, next to one another. There were rows of two seats running down the long tube. I was stuck with everyone in my group in a long queue that the crowd created.
I closed my eyes and could feel my heart begin to pound harder as I imagined what the ride was going to be like.
“You acted exactly the same way when you entered that carriage, remember,” Becky said logically. “It’s not so bad, Elena. It’s frawesome.” She pushed me gently to move forward as the queue shortened.
“Whatever,” I sulked.
She bumped me playfully with a huge grin plastered on her face.
“Where’s your other half today?”
“They left late last night. His Dad had some business in Elm this morning so they decided to go a day early.”
The line that led to the chairs grew shorter surprisingly quickly and I rhythmically tapped my thigh softly with the ticket that was clutched tight in my hand. I took another deep breath and tried to remember what the woman at the gate had told me to do. I suddenly couldn’t remember and it was as if all memory of our conversation had vanished from my mind.
Becky nudged me softly again as it was my turn to take a seat. Another attendant helped me into one of the huge chairs. I rested my feet on the silver platform in front of me and waited patiently as he strapped me in.
Becky was next and once the attendant was done the chairs lurched forward with a gut wrenching jolt. The pace that brought us to our door was really slow. I took a couple of huge breathes and found Becky paging through a magazine. She made herself comfortable as she read through the book. She kept showing me pages and pages filled with the latest fashion trends as the chairs slowly ascended. I could hear Lucille and Sammy’s voices behind us, but they were a few paces away and I didn’t want to look at them, I knew my head would start spinning and it would only freak me out more.
I had to admit, Becky’s distraction with her magazine worked. I was able to force my mind to focus as I listened to her reading the ‘Funnies’ section. They contained plenty of jokes and we laughed at some, while others received a look and a raised eyebrow as we tried to understand the punch line.
As we got closer and closer to the top she put her magazine away. “Give me your ticket,” she said and I handed it over to her with my pass without thinking. She took them and zipped them safely inside her jacket. “Never buy a jacket if they don’t have inside pockets.”
I smiled and look up to see where we were. My heartbeat rose again as a large, metal door loomed before us. “This is like a rollercoaster ride, right?”
“If you’re scared, just close your eyes, and remember to take a deep breath when everything stops. It helps.”
“Stops, where?” I asked, clearly annoyed.
“Relax, Elena. Just enjoy the ride.” She gave me a super smile and leaned back into her chair as if she was going to take a nap. The door closed with a loud bang after it swallowed the row of chairs in front of us. A red light came on and I watched patiently as the light turned back to green.
My fingers dented deep into the arm rails as we moved forward. It was inky black as we passed through the open door and the only light that showed was coming from behind us.
When the doors closed I couldn’t see a thing.
I started to laugh uncontrollably as the elevator simply stayed in one place, toying with my nerves. I tried to calm myself down and took a deep breath, blowing it out slowly through my nose.
The drop finally came, sending my stomach flying wildly into my throat.
My pony blew in every direction and my lips and face felt like they were flapping like the animations in cartoons. I screamed as it went faster and faster, and clutched the arm rails harder until my hands felt like they were going to break.
Becky made whooping sounds as the elevator kept descending. She absolutely loved it.
Then, as if we had just hit the bottom of the world, it just stopped.
“Deep breath, Elena,” she said excited, and I didn’t think twice.
I thought I was going to die as a pain rolled through my entire body. I yelled and released the breath, which made the pain ten times worse. It felt as if someone had marked me with an iron stake all over my body. I tried to muffle my screams and ground hard on my teeth. Then it just disappeared. Everything just stopped.
I breathed fast clutching my head inside my arms. My heart pounded inside my chest and the ringing in my ears made it difficult to hear Becky next to me. When I finally managed to stop my head from spinning and looked at her, she took one look at my face and quickly shoved a brown paper bag into my hand as I hurled.
It lasted for a couple of seconds before I could look up at her again. “How can you enjoy that?”
“You should’ve kept the breath.”
“This is crazy.”
“It gets easier with time, Elena. I’ve done it a million times and hardly feel anything anymore.”
“This can’t be good for your body.”
“There is nothing wrong with mine. Every organ is perfectly in place if that is what you are worrying about.”
My legs wobbled as the attendant helped us out of the chairs. “You enjoy the ride, miss?”
“It was amazing,” Becky said with a slight grunt in her voice.
He wanted to ask me the same question but I just shoved my hand clutching the bag filled with what was left of my breakfast into his face. If that didn’t tell him how much I loved it, nothing would.
Lucille and Sammy appeared a few minutes after us. Both of their hair looked as if someone had added body with a hair dryer.
They stroked it flat as the attendant freed them and they walked gracefully over to us as if the free-fall hadn’t fazed them.
“So, how was…” Lucille’s eyes caught on the bag still clutched in my hand.
“It’s horrible,” I said as her arms hugged me.
“You’ll get used to it.”
“So everyone keeps telling me.”
She handed me a can of Coke and said that it would help. I doubted it would take away the horrible nausea in the pit of my stomach but drank it away.
Sir Robert and Isabel came next. Blake had refused to take an elevator and said he would meet us in Elm. This was one of those times that I really envied him for being able to just say no.
Even though I hated every minute of the elevator ride, I understood why we took it today and didn’t drive all the way to Elm like Lucille had when she picked us up. It was a fifteen hour drive and one Becky didn’t like one minute of.
We caught two cabs outside and I heard Lucille telling the cabby to take us to the Bayside Inn. When we got out of the cab I found myself standing in front of an enormous building and I had to bend my neck backwards to see all the way to the top. Balconies with lacy ironwork were located in front of every fourth window taking my breath away. When I looked back toward the main entrance, I noticed two men in red suits standing by hulking, two-twenty foot doors, opening and closing them for guests walking in and out of the hotel. Apart from the salty smell of the ocean that lingered in the air and the humid stickiness that clung to my skin, the hotel was simply gorgeous. Unfortunately, its beauty didn’t change the fact that I wished to be thousands of miles away from Elm.
Deep down, I knew it was the only way for me to meet Lucian’s parents but at the same time, I would have given anything to skip the event I was about to face.
