Riley

His eyes hurt.

His body ached.

The arm was stinging. Waves of pain surged to his brain, jerking him awake.

His eyes opened, yet the darkness did not go away.

"What's going on?" Kyren tried to move his body, but his arms and legs were bound tight. His arms were stuck in the position crossing on his chest. His legs felt as if they were sewed together. He was lying on his back, below was sticky ground. Kyren writhed his arms, his elbow touched a curtain, sticky, elastic. He tried to sit up, but with only a small movement of the hip, his forehead touched the same curtain.

It was then that the boy realized he was encased in a closed space.

His movements were restricted. It was dark. No light. No sound. No way out. No one besides him.

Why was he here?

Was he still in that tunnel?

His heart accelerated like a rocket. Strange moans escaped his mouth. Hot air from his mouth hit the inside of the cocoon and was reflected back at his face.

His muscles spasmed, out of his control. His breath no longer followed any patterns.

"Calm down," he said to himself, "It has already passed. You are already out of that tunnel. You're fine."

Where was this place? What was he trapped inside of? Was oxygen depleting? How could he get out?

He thought of the funny shows and cat videos shown by his friends in class, which helped to calm his mind for now. Kyren struggled again, yet the bonds on his limbs did not bulge even when his shoulder had gone numb.

"What the hell is this thing?" he thought, finding that he could wiggle his finger, but nothing more, It was soft, yet tough and extremely adhesive. He was afraid that to strip the glue-like trap, he might have to deglove the entire arms.

It suddenly dawned on him.

Kyren acted out his idea, moving the fingers to find a knot near his armpit. Soon, his fingertips felt a small lump.

"Found it," he would have yelled in joy had it not been the lack of breathable air.

He remembered that Nora had tied a common shoelace knot. He pulled at one of the loose ends, the knot was undone with ease. With a tug of the other arm, the bonds came out without resistance, pulling along the layer of bandage, freeing his arm. The adhesive substance still kept his other arm stuck to his torso, but this much was enough.

Kyren clenched his teeth to endure the pain as he folded his injured limb and slipped it out of the sweater. Fortunately, the shirt was already turned to bandage, and the sweater had one sleeve burnt off, which made it easier to get the arm out. With some more work, he was able to take off the sweater covered in the sticky gel.

"It was not the time to consider dignity," he thought in a moment of hesitation, before also taking off his pants.

Naked but free, Kyren started to poke at the cocoon. It was just as tough, if not tougher than the bonds on his limbs. The injured arm could not muster much strength. He brought his feet and remaining hand together, curling the fingers and toes to dig into a portion of the wrapping and hold tight, then he tensed his muscles and started pulling, stretching the curtain.

His arm and legs soon began to tremble. Kyren released his fingers and toes, bringing them together and tried again. After the third time, the layer was thin enough that light was able to shine through. At the fifth try, Kyren finally opened a small hole.

The boy crawled out, inhaled a lungful of air before turning his gaze around to take in the surroundings.

A chill ran up his spine. He was inside of an unfamiliar, spacious room. Under the dancing light of the torches, thousands of white cocoons lay on the floor, stuck to the ceilings, suspended in the air by strings attached to the walls like hammocks. The large chamber was filled to the brim, left with only a few narrow paths on the ground. The scene resembled an exotic mass graveyard.

"Where the hell is this?" Kyren stood up, trying not to make a sound. Memories surged back as he was trying to make sense of the situation.

A hallway of fog. A torch. A hand holding his own, dragging him along. At some point, that hand was no longer within his vision.

Kyren could not remember how it happened, or at what point did he get lost. When he opened his eyes again, it was inside one of the cocoons.

"Where's Nora?" he looked around, wondering if she was inside one of the cocoons.

Apart from the sheer number, many of them were out of his reach. There was no way he could open every single one of them to look for her.

It was then that his ears picked up reverberating footsteps. Kyren quickly got into his cocoon again, turning it over to hide the hole, and lay still. Soon, a set of footsteps became louder and was heard entering the room.

"Strange," he thought, focusing on the sound, "what kind of creature is this?"

Kyren could recognize that the creature was walking on two feet, but its gait was unusual. One of its feet was faster than the other, making the time between each step inconsistent.

"It's limping," Kyren came to a realization.

Thud.

Something fell down.

With the hole facing the floor, he could not get a look at the creature before it departed. As the footsteps slowly faded, the cocoon rolled over and Kyren crawled out again. His eyes were drawn to the direction where he heard something was dropped on the floor. There was one more cocoon than before.

Nora.

It could be her.

Before rushing over to the new cocoon, Kyren managed to retrieve his clothes from inside, though there were a few new holes. The boy started tearing the cocoon, using the same method as before. By the time his limbs felt sore and his breaths were ragged, a face finally revealed. To his disappointment, it was an unfamiliar man.

The unconscious man woke up a few seconds after the white wrapping around him was torn away. His blue eyes wandered, looking for a place to look at, before landing on the boy in front of him.

"Who are you?" the man asked, his voice soft.

He had the young face of a person in their 20s. His black hair was long enough to touch his shoulder. Thin eyebrows creased faintly above his hazy eyes. A slender nose, a mouth slightly larger when compared to the rest of his face, chiseled jawline. The man could be considered handsome.

While the boy was observing him, the man struggled to get out of the cocoon, but it proved to be tougher than he could handle.

"Would you mind...giving me a hand?" The man gave up after a few minutes of futile effort, directing his gaze at Kyren, a gentle smile flashed.

At his pitiful display, Kyren nodded, ran to the wall to pick up one of the torches then ran back.

"Oh, thanks man, but it can be a bit dangerous to burn it, just help me pull on this..." the man could not finish his sentence as the flame was hovering directly a few inches away from his face. The intense heat made him grimace.

"Answer my questions if you don't want to become barbecue," Kyren looked down at the stranger with unfaltering eyes, his voice lowered.

"Wait, hold on man," the man panicked, "I think you're misunderstanding something, I'm…"

The man was interrupted by the flame getting closer and closer to his face. Strands of his hair were burnt, raising a smell of charcoal. He closed his eyes and turned away, only to feel his skin on his cheek consumed by the heat.

"I get it, I get it, I'll answer!" he screamed.

Only then did Kyren put the torch away. "What's your name?" he asked.

"Riley Porche," came the answer.

"Why are you here?" his voice carried a cold indifference.

"I don't know," Riley whimpered, "I was on my way home from work, then I passed out. When I opened my eyes, I was already here."

"Do you know what brought you here?" Kyren kept the tone of his voice consistent.

"No," Riley shook his head, "I already said when I woke up, I was already here."

Without acknowledging or denying the answer, Kyren inquired again, "What do you do for a living?"

"I work at a bank," Riley obediently answered.

Kyren noticed that under the bonds, the man was wearing a suit and tie.

"One last question," the boy said, "Do you notice anything strange about this torch?"

Riley turned his gaze at the torch in the boy's hand. His eyes squinted before he leaned over to take a closer look, then his eyebrows raised in awe. His line of sight alternated between the torch and the boy.

"It's in reverse! I mean, it burns normally for a few seconds, then it looks like it's in reverse," his voice could not hide his astonishment.

Kyren nodded, then kneeled down.

"I answered your questions," Riley begged, "Could you help me get out of here now?"

Instead of helping the man, Kyren put the fire close to the cocoon. If his hand moved just a bit more, the cocoon would catch on fire.

"What are you doing?" Riley struggled, his eyes shot open in alarm.

"Yes, you answered, but you also lied," the boy stated with the same calm voice. Kyren then met Riley's eyes, "For your information, there is more to this torch than just playing in reverse, and I bet you know what will happen if this flame catches on to you."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Riley continued to struggle, but did not dare to use as much strength as before, for fear that sudden movements would make the cocoon touch the fire, "everything I just told you is the truth!"

Kyren stared at the man, then moved the torch a bit closer, threatening.

"You don't have the guts!" Riley screamed, "I dare you!"

The torch got closer again.

"Man, come on, I can help you get out of here," the man's voice turned soft again, "that's what you want right? What do you want? Whatever it is, I can help you."

Kyren repeated the action.

"Please, don't do this," tears began to roll down the man's cheeks, he choked, "I have a family to take care of. My daughter is only 2, it's her birthday next week. I promised her to buy her favorite toys that day."

Kyren signed and stood up, shaking his head.

"What a shame," his cold eyes reflected the image of the frightened man, "because of you, she will have to live the rest of her life fatherless."

Kyren released his grip. The torch fell down.

Riley followed the fire with doubtful eyes. Gravity pulled the torch closer to his body. Once the fire landed on him, there would be no escape.

His teeth clenched, then his mouth shouted, "Goddamn it, I'll talk, I'll talk!"

Kyren quickly caught the torch midair.

"Alright," said the boy, "This is your last chance."

The right edge of his mouth curled up into half a smile.