Warped - Chapter 3: Tobias

Silas and I live in New York. That means that we are both quite used to skyscrapers soaring into the air, subways and taxis taking people to their destinations. Once, when I was very young, my mother picked me up from preschool daycare and took me on the subway to our home. Suddenly, our subway somehow veered of the tracks and crashed into a wall. I remember all the anarchy that was released once the crash happened. I heard kids screaming and crying, heard adults worry. I could see a blazing orange and red light at the front of the subway, with black tendrils of smoke clouding the air. I remember coughing and coughing, the smell of smoke tickling my throat. I cried, but silently, so my mother did not notice the tears falling from my eyes. The police, ambulance and firefighters came. I recall looking at all the injured and dying people in the ambulances that came, glad that I was not one of them. With this horrible memory in mind, I stared at the crashed subway. Following my first instinct, I tied my coat around my mouth in order to not smell the horrible smell emanating from the subway. After that, I walked quickly to the scene. Silas trotted after me. We peered into the windows of the subway, straining to find any sign of life inside. When we saw that it was empty, I entered into the subway through an opening that used to hold a door. “Silas, go get the fire extinguisher (We hide a fire extinguisher near the stairs) and bring it to me.” “Kay Tobi.” While Silas was away, I walked to where the fire was. It was in the engine room, blazing with heat. I stopped and stood outside, looking in through the little window on the door. Embers were bouncing off and landing on the floor, small stars against the blackness of the room. It reminded me of space, a place I long to go. “Tobi, I’m baaaaaaaccckkk! I brought Mr. Fire Killer too!” Silas came behind me, holding the fire extinguisher above his head like a trophy. I turned around and looked at him. “Mr. Fire Killer? Where the in the world are you coming up with such…. creative names?” I said the last bit in a sarcastic tone. Silas flipped his nonexistent and imaginary hair as if he achieved an award. “I got it from my noggin brain. Anyways, let’s use Mr. Fire Killer now!” Silas opened the door and held the fire extinguisher (My apologies, I mean Mr. Fire Killer) in a way that faced the base of the fire. He then stood there, waiting and……nothing happened. “WHAT IS THIS SORCERY!?!? Why won’t this dumb thing work? I’m holding it out to the fire like a wand, so why won’t it do it’s fire killing magic stuff?!” I laughed, clutching my sides. Clearly, Silas did not know how to use a fire extinguisher if he thought it just magically did the work. I walked in and gently took away the fire extinguisher from Silas. “Silas, the fire extinguisher is not the Elder Wand from Harry Potter or anything. This is how you use it. First off, you hold the fire extinguisher upright as so,” I showed him the correct way of holding it. “Then, you pull the pin and aim at the base of the fire. After, you squeeze the lever and sweep the fire extinguisher from side to side.” Soon, white foam was sprayed from its source and quickly put out the fire. “See? Easy peasy.” I looked at an awe-struck Silas, who quickly recovered from looking amazed when he saw that I was looking at him. “Ohhh. Pfftch, I knew that. I was just um, testing you. Yeah that’s right, I was testing you and you passed. Yay?” Silas looked at me and laughed. He said, “Ok now let’s go to Wonder Branches! Race ya!” Silas ran ahead, jumping through the opening. “Oh come now! You know I am not good at running! Silas!” Setting down the fire extinguisher on the subway’s floor, I ran behind him, shaking my head with a smile. I ran only a few steps when I started to slow down, exhaustion overcoming me. I stopped, hands on knees as I tried to get my energy up. How come I have such low stamina? I suppose I am just no good at at running, and that is that. I decided to walk the rest of the way. Walking, I looked around the empty subway station. If I tried hard enough, I can imagine people walking around, a time before The President's order. I wonder why he wanted this station to be shut down? My eyes widened a bit as I had a thought. What if The President ordering the station to be abandoned has something to do with Wonder Branches? Well, wouldn’t that be something. Chuckling, I soon got to the Wonder Branches opening. The opening itself is hidden behind a pile of rubble in a very shadowed place. You would not know there was an opening there unless you knew what to look for. How Silas and I were able to find it in the first place is a mystery to me, a mystery indeed. Shoving aside the rubble, I crawled through the hole. There were cobwebs in the corners. The tunnel reminded me of something from a horror movie, although not as intimidating. I kept crawling and soon, I saw light coming from the end of the tunnel (Literally, since that light is quite bright, although not at the point where it would be bothersome), greenish light, the light that belongs to Wonder Branches. “Silas, are you there already?” “Yup. Come on slooooooowpoke,” Silas said teasingly. Laughing, I crawled out of the tunnel and stood up, dusting of my knees. I went and plopped down on one of the chairs, sighting. It certainly was a strange day today, and I am not entirely sure I am over it. My mind slowly drifted towards the strange encounter we had with Mr. Shadow. With him in mind, I slammed my hand on the table, ignoring the little tingle of pain from my still recent scrapes. “What’s wrong?” Silas looked at me, cocking his head a bit to the side. Not answering, I rummaged through my backpack until I found my notebook. I took it out, along with a stray pencil that was deep within the confines of my backpack. I opened the notebook to a blank page, feeling the rough and worn cover. I put down my pencil and notebook on the table and looked at Silas.”We have no clue who Mr. Shadow was and why he was trying to grab you. Heck, we do not even know how he made it so dark, so cold and where he got those shrieks from. I think that perhaps that he is connected to your past, the past you can not remember. Which is why we should start researching who Mr. Shadow is. Maybe we will stumble upon some exciting news! Come now Silas, it is time you started climbing the branches. Try to find a book on “shadow people” or anything that describes Mr. Shadow. I feel that we are on the verge of something terribly important here.” Silas looked at me with a determined look. He raised his hand, saluted me, and said “Well do captain.” And with that, Silas climbed, climbed the branches of Wonder Branches in search of something that could help us with the mystery that has been laid out before us, for the better. Or for the worse.ns 15.158.61.8da2

Chapter 3: Tobias

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