Torch

Everyone soon arrived to where the ferry was and there was a long line of people waiting to go inside.

"We have arrived. Please enter," Mr. Schwartz said as he guided everyone inside the boat.

Chris heard some complaining from the people behind him waiting in line, but he didn't mind them too much. Once they went inside, everyone took their seats with the 3 families in the middle while the bodyguards sat around them to protect them from every angle. Soon people started coming in and some looked at the 3 families with dirty looks. Mr. Granger and Mr. Alder started to get annoyed and was about to stand up.

"Don't mind them," Bradley said. "They're not worth your time,"

Soon the boat was full and there were some announcements before the boat started to move.

'This really is beautiful,' Chris thought as he looked at the waters.

Soon they reached Liberty Island and everyone left the ferry.

"Alright, now that we have arrived, let me take you to the Statue," Mr. Schwartz said.

"Alright," Bradley said as the three families and the bodyguards once again followed Mr. Schwartz. They walked behind the statue where the entrance to the pedestal was.

"No Statue of Liberty visit can be complete without first going to the pedestal and looking at the torch. It was removed for various reasons which I will explain when we get to the torch," Mr. Schwartz said.

Everyone stood there waiting for Mr. Schwartz to say something.

"Well let's go inside. I'm sure that you'll have a great time," Mr. Schwartz said.

Mr. Schwartz led them to an elevator.

"The elevator only goes up to the pedestal. To go to the crown, we would have to walk up stairs," Mr. Schwartz said. "Well we'll get to it a bit later. However, some of you will have to wait for the next elevator. This one can only fit at most 18 people at a time,"

The three families, Mr. Schwartz, and 8 bodyguards went inside the elevator. The space was extremely cramped due to it being filled to the limit.

'I haven't felt this cramped since when I went to Anime Expo,' Chris thought as he tried to find a spot that was a bit more comfortable.

The long elevator ride was finally over and they reached the pedestal. Everyone left the elevator and proceeded to stretch.

"Next time let's not fill the elevator to the limit," Bradley said.

"Agreed, every part of my body just feels off," Mr. Granger said while stretching.

After around a minute, the other body guards came and they stretched too as they came out.

"Welcome to the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. Here are the museums that show how the Statue of Liberty was conceived and constructed. Well while we are walking, I will be telling you the general history of the statue," Mr. Schwartz said.

Mr. Schwartz showed them the various replicas, photos, and started to explain the history of the Statue.

While everyone else was interested in the story of the statue, Chris was only really interested in the statues and photos as he already knew the story of the statue.

Soon they arrived to what Chris, Hermione, and Kristine came for, the torch.

"This is the torch of Lady Liberty. The one you see outside is a replica. It was removed due to it being too dilapidated. Furthermore, in 1916, German spies have bombed Black Tom trying to sabotage us in World War I even though we were neutral. Due to this, no one can go inside the new torch and the original has been put in the pedestal for everyone to see. It is quite the interesting story although I'm sure that back in the days, it was a traumatizing event for many,"

'To think that a much bigger disaster will hit here soon,' Chris thought as he shivered just remembering 9/11 and the fear it brought to all Americans.

Chris, Hermione, and Kristine all went closer to the torch.

"Take out the diary and open it Hermione," Chris said.

Hermione quickly took it out and opened the diary. The pages then started to light up blinding the three.

"What's going on?!" Kristine shouted.

"I don't know!" Chris said.

After a minute, Chris opened his eyes revealing a never-ending white space. He saw Kristine and Hermione and quickly went to them.

"Are you two alright?" Chris asked.

"Yeah, where are we Chris?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know," Chris said. "Does the diary say anything?"

Hermione looked at diary which only had the same riddle from before.

"No, there's nothing new,"

"Are we supposed to go somewhere from here?" Kristine asked. "All I see is white,"

"Can we use magic in here?" Hermione asked.

Chris took out his wand and tried casting Lumos. However, nothing happened.

"We can't use magic? Even with magic, we would barely have chance of finding something. What are the chances if we can't use magic?" Hermione asked as she started panicking a little.

"We'll just have to walk in any direction for now. We have to if we want to get the piece of hope that the diary wants," Chris said. "Come on let's go,"

The three started walking. Time passed extremely quickly and soon Chris felt that about an hour has passed.

"Chris we've been walking for a long time and there's literally nothing," Kristine said.

"It's quite fascinating though," Chris said. "Even after we walked for so long, we're not hungry, thirsty, or tired,"

"That doesn't matter. If this continues, we might spend days or even weeks trying to find an exit. We might miss school for weeks. Oh I'm going to be in so much trouble," Hermione said.

"Let's just walk a little more. Who knows we might find something. If not, let's think of what to do," Chris said.

The girls nodded and they started walking again. After a bit more of walking, they found something.

"That's a door!" Hermione exclaimed. "We found an exit!"

The three ran to the door and Chris opened it.