Discovery

Wait up Noah." said Charlie running up the street. 

"Hey Charlie what's up." he said, slowing down. 

"Not much at all, it's really coming down aint it," covering his head. 

"Yeah, but I don't … Woah!" He  said tripping over something. 

"You ok bro?." he asked Charlie. 

"What did I trip over?" he said, rubbing his head. 

"What do you mean? There's nothing here except a few puddles" said Charlie, helping Noah off the ground. 

"Let's get out of this rain. We will continue walking when the rain clears up." 

"I see an overhang we can sit under" he said gesturing to the right. They both made their way to the overhang. 

"Ouch" said Charlie falling into the mud. 

"What is it," asked Noah? 

"Something tripped me." They both looked around but kept walking. 

"So how are you and Angela doing?" asked Noah. 

"Good but she is having some family issues," he responded.

"Oh, that's tough!" They both looked down at the ground silently. 

"Hey Noah, do you remember the stories of people who can go into alternate dimensions?" Charlie asked fearfully, standing up. 

"Yeah" standing up in response. "What do you remember?" looking anxiously for his answer. 

"I recall that one day there was a boy at the age of ten who discovered that he had a condition which allowed him to do things that "ordinary" people couldn't."

"What else?" 

"One day--the kid just left his home to fend for himself," he said, trying to remember the rest. "What am I missing?" scratching his head and looking at Charlie. 

"Remember, it was completely random," Charlie said, looking nervous. "Why do you ask?" he was perplexed, trying to understand what he was getting at. "Do you think we could have those abilities?", nervously looking around. 

"Nah, what made you think that?" he said laughing at the idea. 

"Yeah," Charlie said, laughing along with him. " I don't know what I was thinking." All of a sudden there was a  clash behind where they were standing. Startled and confused, they ran to Noah's house. 

"What was that?" asked, Charlie slamming the door shut behind them. 

"I don't know," Noah said, looking out the window to see if they were being followed. Not seeing anything out of the ordinary, he went to the back door to lock it.

"Do you want some water Charlie?" asked Noah, grabbing a glass, but Charlie did not answer. 

Walking back into the room where Charlie was standing, Noah discovered Charlie  was not there. Then Noah noticed a large puddle of water on the hardwood floor. Charlie was nowhere to be found. "Hey Charlie, where are you bro?"  Noah walked around the house. He checked in his room, the garage, and outside. Charlie was not in the house. 

All of a sudden he heard a thud coming from inside the house. Bursting inside he saw Charlie on the floor in a panic. "Hey Charlie, where did you go?" a sound of distress in his voice. 

"I fell into the puddle," he said, looking terrified.

Pointing at the large pool of water on the floor. "What do you mean fell into the puddle?" a confused look on his face. 

"Stick your hand in the water" said Charlie getting up.

Noah stood up and walked over to the puddle of water. He stuck it into the water jumping back in shock. "My hand went right through the floor." turning to Charlie in fright, "I know," he responded. "I went through it, let's clean this up,"  he said, grabbing a towel.

 After they cleaned up the water they tried to go through the floor again. Not succeeding in this they had suddenly heard the door unlock and in came Noah's parents. They had just come from work. "Hey bud, what are you up to?" said Noah's mom. Noah decided to not tell his parents what had just happened. Noah shrugged, then he and Charlie went up to his room. Immediately after the door shut Noah ran to his desk and started researching this legend on his laptop.  

"Did you find anything?" Said Charlie in distress looking at noah. Not getting a response he asked again. 

"No dude" Noah said in an annoyed voice. 

"Well now what?" said Charlie passing the room. 

"I don't know, but you should probably get home late. Maybe we can figure out more of this later" He said walking down  the stairs. 

"Ok, see you tomorrow Noah!" Charlie said and started running home. 

"See ya dude" Noah returned to his room and started listening to music as he fell asleep. 

The next day he woke up on the couch, in the living room. Charlie notices that it is curiously quiet. Usually Charlie is at his house around this time but he is nowhere to be found. 

He tries to call Noah but he doesn't answer. "Mom, you are your home," he said, calling upstairs. With no answer he starts to go up the stairs. About midway he spots a shadow going across his bedroom door. He slowly opens up his door and a sharp pain in his side occurs followed by a blinding light. The next thing he knows he is on the floor in his room. "Must have been a dream" he said getting up off the floor. 

Looking at his clock it is nine-thirty. He puts on his clothes and rushes down stairs and sprints out the door to Charlie's house, banging at his door. Charlie opens the door. 

"What's up dude?" said Charlie, looking half awake and half asleep. Noah told Charlie all about his dream, or what he thought was a dream, nervous about whether or not  it will come true. 

"Wow that's intense" he says rubbing his eyes. They head down stairs to eat something 

"Did you seriously run ten blocks over a dream, it must have been intense." Looking for his shoes Charlie started hopping one foot out the front door and to his garage where his bike was. 

"Um I dont have my bike remember" gesturing that he ran from home to see if Charlie remembered. 

"Oh right, guess we're walking to school." 

They started walking to school and along the way, they thought they saw shadows around them but were convinced that it was all in their heads. 

"Oh crap" said Noah looking at his watch starting to sprint. 

"What" said Charlie chasing after him "are we late?" Catching up as they entered the school hallway noticing the principal waiting for them;

"Royalty," said Noah, slowing down to a halt. 

"Good morning boys! Do you know what time it is?" asked the Principal with a low, baleful, tone in her voice. Looking at them both.

"Uh ten-o'clock ma'am" responded Charlie in an abject voice. 

Looking around the class was silent Charlie and Noah had a substitute teacher for physics class. It seemed to be a coincidence that they were talking about alternate dimensions when, just yesterday, they were on nuclear physics and radioactivity. A classmate suggested that it is morally impossible to enter different dimensions. 

    She responds, "Not entirely. If you must have proof, you can speak with Mr. Voran," looking at Noah. 

In a baffled tone he responds "I do not understand what knowledge I would have about something impossible, it seems hard to convey," noticing a glimpse from Charlie.

Catching eachothers eyes he asks if he could go to his locker? 

"You may respond to the teacher" looking at Noah he gestures to the side as to follow him. Noah sneaks past the teacher into the hall. 

"Well that's pretty weird, what do you think she is talking about? '' said Charlie to Noah. 

"I don't know, maybe one to many hits to the head" he responds laughing. 

"I assure you I'm not crazy gentlemen" the sub said walking toward them. 

"Uh I'm pretty sure you are, going into another plane of existence--not possible." said Charlie looking a bit frightened. 

"Then would you like me to show you what I mean." She said looking at spilled water on the floor. As she steps into it she says "Soon you will believe what you will see" and disappears into the gloss floor. 

"Woah where did she go?'' looking around at the puddle. The bell rings as the water is cleaned up by the janitor. 

"No wait there is…" looking up at them in a confused manner "Uh never mind" said Noah as they left to go home not sure what they saw, just the words repeating over and over in their minds. 

"Psh, going into another plane of reality" said Noah towards Charlie "please." They dropped their shoes on the floor. "Well we did something like that last week didn't we?" he said in a low tone. "I can't constrew what we did last week, but I know what it wasn't." 

    Looking at his laptop Noah logged into it. 

As he did this a very abject look came across his face as he realized he had an essay due in ten minutes. 

"What, I totally forgot about that." As Charlie busted out his notebook to start writing. The next ten minutes go by and they barely turn the assignment in.

 "Fwewf, that was close to how much you wanna bet we're gonna get a bad grade on Napoleon Bonapart." he said in a relieving tone. "But I thought we were writing about John Adams?" he responded questionably. 

They look at each other in disturbance. Racing to see who is correct they trash Noah's room. His mom enters the room and says "What in the hell are you doing" as she sets the clothes hamper in the hall.

    "Um, just trying to figure out what assignment we're supposed to do for our essays." They responded simultaneously. Looking at her in an aberration of expressions. "Will you both just chill out?" she said in an irritated tone. "You could either write an essay for Napoleon or Adams. Now clean this room up, both of you!" as she picked up the basket in a rather rough manner and walked down the hall. 

"So can you explain what we did last week with the whole water thing." said Noah starting to clean up the trash off the floor. "No, all I remember is the quiet, gloomy world that I fell into with the water." "I thought you were too scared to talk about that." responded Noah in surprise. Looking back in embarrassment Charlie would rather talk about more pressing matters. "Can I ask for some advice about girls?" asked Charlie in a way that expects an instant answer. "Well what about them would you like to know?" said Noah, looking rather disconcerting. 

    "Well mainly about how we can cheer them up," he responded, thinking why Charlie would ask such a question. Going through his very very small knowledge about women. He responds with "The best way to cheer a girl up, usually it is nice to give them flowers or listen to them talk about a problem that they are having." 

    As he somewhat finishes his thought there is a knock at his door. Before he opens his door he hears the voice of a girl. His voice sounds very familiar to him. Opening up the door walkin comes Angela. "Angela what are you doing here and how did you get my address." With a blank stare she falls into his arms unconscious. As Noah brings her to his bedroom, Charlie takes her into his arms and sets her onto his bed.

    A few very long days pass by and Angela still hasn't woken up. "God, it's been three days and she won't wake up what's wrong with her!" Charlie yells in anger. The feeling of Not being able to do anything to help her came over Charlie. "I'm gonna go take a bath, I'll be right back." he says off in a storm. Starting the water to fill up the tub Charlie can't shake the feeling of helplessness. 

    Getting into the shower, Charlie notices that the water has passed through him. The frantic trepidation he falls on his knees and passes from sight.

In the meantime, still in Noah's room, Noah is pacing the room while Angela is still unconscious on the bed. Noah walks downstairs to the guest bathroom and washes his face. In his urgency to help Angela, he had an idea. "I wonder" he said out loud, while looking at himself in the mirror. He ran upstairs to his room and looked at Angela, who was lying helplessly on his bed. Me bent over her and cautiously, while hearing the shower still running in the bathroom, he leaned over and gently kissed Angela on the lips. "Whelp, it didn't help her, but it was worth it! 

    Noah hears the sound of a single drop of water, and turns around to see Angela sitting with her legs crossed, staring out the window. She was fearful about whether or not what she was seeing was real or not. "Angela you're ok" exclaimed Noah giving her a hug. She hugs him back giving him a retiring smile of relief that she was ok and in the right reality. "Where is Charlie?" asked Angela, in a worried manner. "He is in the shower but he has been in there for quite a while." He responded "I'll go check on him." 

Heading down the hall and knocking on the bathroom door "Hey Charlie hurry and get out here Angela is awake." with no response. Noah opens the door and finds it empty with no Charlie. Looking in the shower Noah notices a panicking Charlie racing all over the bottom of the shower. In an ambitious desire to save his friend Noah reaches into the bottom of the shower and pulls his best friend out of the alternate world into the world they know. Frantic to cover himself Charlie grabs his towel and in a very loud tone he screams. "What the fuck is the matter with you? You just killed my parents! There was nothing I could do! You were standing right there and you shot them!" and as he says this he attempts to punch Noah, Angela gets in the way and knocks Charlie out. Looking at him on the floor Angela and Noah look at each other "Thanks I think" he said backing out of the bathroom. "What was that all about?" asked Angela with a frightened shriek. "I don't know if he said that I shot his parents but I would never do such a thing. I like his parents. I would do nothing to hurt them." dragging his body across the hardwood floor of his house Noah puts Charlie in his guest bedroom and locks the door. Turns around to see his substitute teacher standing in the doorway to his parents bedroom. "You" he exclaimed as he pointed at her. "Yes me so now do you want to know about The Realm." she responds in an understanding tone. "What do you mean The Realm" Noah responds. As he says this he hears someone trying to break down his front door.  

    "Would you rather come with me or die?" She says as the door hits the floor and men with guns enter his house. "Fine we will go with you" as he grabs angela. "Wait what about Charlie '' Noah exclaims in a hurry. "We already got him back at the lab."

    "Fine we will go with you" He takes her hand along with Angela's and steps into  a very reflective pool of water on the floor  that does not look even close to water and more like mercury. As they enter the pool they instantaneously pass out. 

In an underwater laboratory Charlie, Angela, and Noah wake up in a room that seems to be dreary. On the other hand it was the nicest room they had ever been in.

     At a moment the preternatural substitute enters "Allow me to properly introduce myself, I am Jenna Zachary." She takes off her glasses and lab coat to reveal a solid suit of what appears to be glass encasing mercury. It fit like clothes but seemed loose like chainmail but built closer and more well knit together. "What is supposed to be?" Says Noah looking rather interested but still suspicious. "This is my Realm Suite, it provides safe passage for people like me  without a mercury stem." She responded with a shameful look in her deep crystal blue eyes. "You have longing for your soul mother." A voice from behind is heard as a fifteen year old girl enters the room. Her body slim and her ruby red hair compliments her dark emerald green eyes. Noah and Charlie look at her as they seem to be hypnotized by her beauty. "Ah hem" scoffs Angela in disapproval towards Charlie. "Angela your ok I was so worried." He embraces her with a very embraceful hug. Followed by a loving kiss. "Do you mind?" Said Dr.Zachary. Charlie pulled back slowly gazing into Angela's eyes. "Well now that that is over would you please follow me." She speaks inventively towards them as they start to walk down the hallway. "So what exactly is a Mercury Stem." Noah asked inventively. "Well it is a little complicated, basicly the Mercury Stem replaces your nervous system." Dr.Zachary answers. "Wait, our nervous system?" Shouted Angela. "Well just the spinal cortex connected to your brain." She responds irritably. "Will you please let me explain our situation. "Since the first child to have a mercury stem and enter the Realm, scientists have been consistently trying to follow in his footsteps." As Ms.Zachary continues to describe the purpose of a mercury stem Noah hears a voice. A calling to him but nowhere near by or even in the same building. A far but easy to reach place. Or more of a piece of his life missing but forgotten. He can feel himself drifting away from where he is when he seems to stumble and when he turns around to catch up with the others, there is no one behind him. Instead of the hallway he was in, he finds himself in a place similar to the lab but in a different place. Looking to his left he sees to his surprise Angela and charlie walking down a hall and standing behind them a tall long haired man with what looks to be a ball in his hand. Unfortunately they do not look normal they seem to be moving quite a bit not having the proper skin tones they usually have. Instead they are an oak wood color moving or looking similar to fire. Looking at them quite perplexed he seems to remember or recognize the man standing before them. Suddenly the man throws the ball at Charlie with great force it seems to him in the back of the head. Charlie not knowing what happened stumbles and looks around rubbing his head. The man, looking rather surprised that he actually hit him, turns to Noah with a menacing grin and starts to walk towards him. Noah, rather frightened, turns his back towards him and looks at similar figures like the scientists in the lab. Fast as lightning the man stops next to him not looking at Noah still grinning points to the scientists and a white figure standing next to some spilled water. Noah wants to move and get away but frozen in place  watches the white figure reach out and grab one of the scientists and start to pull him into the water. Everyone else in the room doesn't seem to hear or see him screaming and frantically grabbing things to save himself as the figure has him half the way in it starts to eat or tear him apart to absorb his life. When it is finished there is nothing but bones left. Which the grinning man finds most pleasing as his grin gets wider. Noah horrified at the sight finally is allowed to move and fall to the floor in fear as he looks up to see the man finally looking at him with his twisted smile and disappears with a pop and an explosion of blood all over where he was standing. With blood all over him Noah frantically looks around to find some water to wash himself of the blood. Looking to where the bones of the scientist laying near some water he rushes over to plunge his face into it and as he does he fall one again landing in the same hallway he was in with Angela, Charlie, and Dr.Zachary in front of him looking in horror as a ring of blood surround Noah as he turns around to see no water on the floor and a janitor walking down the opposite direction of the whistling.