The In-between

I shut the door behind me, instantly plunging the room into darkness. I am about to feel the walls for the light switch when a light blue light suddenly lights up the room. I turn around to see the source of the light – a glowing blue orb floating beside Drew's head.

The room is totally bare, except for a few cobwebs hanging around the corners of the room. I can't help but wonder how we will get to the Metorium from here. There is probably something magical involved.

I turn to Drew who is walking over to the wall opposite us. He places both of his hands on the wall, and a few seconds later his hands begin to emit blue light.

My body freezes suddenly as an unknown pressure fills the room. I try my best to move but every effort is futile. A few seconds pass before I suddenly find myself able to move again.

"What was that?" I ask Drew, who takes a step backward from the wall.

"A security measure. To make sure only the right people can get into the Metorium."

"So how do we get there?" I can't help asking. After Drew had placed his hand on the wall and all that, I expected something to happen. But contrary to my expectations, apart from the strange pressure, nothing else happened.

He shoots me a smile, and without saying anything, walks towards and into the wall, plunging the room into darkness as the glowing orb follows him into the wall.

I walk to the wall and pause for a moment. On the other side of this wall, is a place that will probably change my life forever. I can't help but wonder how I will remember this moment, or if I will remember it.

I close my eyes and take the final step forward. Only to hit my head against the still solid wall.

* * * * * *

Drew

I walk through the wall leading to the In-between, a smug smile on my face as I imagine his amazed expression at the sight of me walking through a wall. All of a sudden I stop. 'Shit', I think. I forgot something really important. I turn around immediately and hurry back to the room.

As I move back through the wall, I am met with the sight of Ian, hunched over and holding his forehead and hissing: Shit, shit, shit!

It's not too hard to figure out what happened to him. He saw me going through the wall and tried to do the same, only to end up smacking his head against the wall.

"Sorry," I say awkwardly, trying hard to keep myself from laughing as the image of him walking confidently into a wall plays in my head, "I forgot to..."

"Don't worry," he says as he straightens. His eyes are a bit red as he speaks.

"Hold on," I say as move closer to him. I reach out with my finger and trace a sign on his forehead. The sign glows briefly for a moment before fading away.

"Okay," I say satisfied."You should be able to get through the wall now."

"Are you sure?" he asks, looking warily at the wall.

I nod."You should go first. I'll be right behind you."

He nods and moves to the wall. He first reaches out with his hand and looks surprised when his hand passes through the wall. Assured that he isn't going to hit the wall again, he takes the final step forward and disappears.

I follow him through the portal. For a moment I can see nothing but swirling multicolored energy. Then I am stepping into an entirely new landscape. The In-between.

I can see Ian looking around in awe and I understand how he feels. I had the same look on my face the first time I came to the In-between.

We are standing on a bridge made up of blue light. All around us is darkness extending farther than the eyes could see. The only source of light in this place is the bridge.

The bridge begins from the portal of blue light behind us and branches out, forming a convoluted but beautiful scene. Each branch grows in weird ways, twisting and turning every which way: up, down, in every possible direction, before finally ending in a portal similar to the one we just walked through. The only thing with a semblance of normality is the part of the bridge we are standing on which leads straight to a portal on the other end.

The bridge has this otherworldly feeling that makes me feel small and insignificant compared to it. Admiration isn't the only thing I feel though. The bridge also induces this feeling of wrongness, like I am not meant to be here. Like nothing is meant to be here. It gives me goosebumps every time I come, making me want to leave as quickly as possible.

I watch Ian as he walks to the edge of the bridge a looks down, a look of wonder on his face.

"What's down there?" he asks.

"Nothing. You might want to move back. If you fall, there's no coming back, you'll fall forever and there's nothing anybody will be able to do to get you back."

My words snap him back to his senses. He hurriedly moves away from the edge. When he looks around again the look of wonder is gone from his face, replaced by nervousness. He shivers a bit and begins to rub his arms. He is beginning to feel the wrongness.

I say."Let's go." I walk ahead of him and he hurriedly follows. The sides of my lips twitch. No one wants to be left alone in this place.

"What is this place?"

"It's called the In-between," I reply."That's all I know. It's the only way to and from the Metorium. If you want to know stuff like where exactly it is, how it came to be and so on, well, I don't know. The only person that probably knows is the Eldest."

The portal in front of us grows larger as we get closer to it, until, finally we are standing in front of it. I stop for a moment as my lips widen with a smile and I turn to look and Ian. I can't remember the last time I got a chance to show off like this.

Without saying anything I step into the portal. As I come out of the portal, I spread my arms wide and turn around.

As Ian comes out of the portal, his eyes wide as he tries to take everything in, I speak."Welcome to the Metorium!"