Chapter 32 Un-Fog-Gettable
WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW?” PARIS asks calmly. But he’s my twin and I know him well enough to hear the stress under the forced calm.
“I’m not sure,” I answer, reaching for both his and Fifi’s hands as the fog continues to billow in. “But I think we should stick together, whatever happens—”
I break off as Rhea lets out a high-pitched scream that chills every drop of blood in my body. The fact that I can’t see her—can’t see anything at this point—makes everything feel a million times worse. “Are you okay?” I shout, trying to run toward her.
But I’m still holding on to Paris and Fifi, and they’ve both dug their heels into the soft grass, refusing to move.
“Why do you hate me?” Rhea screams. “Why do you all hate me?”
“What are you talking about?” Sullivan answers. “Nobody hates you.”
“You do! You hate me! Penelope hates me! Paris hates me! Everybody—”
“Shut up!” Arjun yells, the sound deep and guttural and filled with so much rage that I whirl toward him in shock.
But the fog is even thicker now and I can’t see any part of him. I can only hear him as he bellows, “I’m going to destroy that chest! I’m going to rip it to shreds! I’m going to—”
“Don’t touch it! Don’t touch me!” Rhea screams. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry—”
“We’re going to be trapped here forever,” Paris cries out as he yanks his hand from mine. The calmness is gone and in its place is a panic that threatens to overwhelm me. “We’re going to get stuck here in this place, and we’re never going to get out of here. We have to get out!”
He flings himself at the door and starts pounding on it with his fists. “Let us out! Let us out!”
“Paris! What are you doing?” I chase after him through the fog, using the sound of his fists beating on the door to guide me to him.
“They’ve trapped us in here!” Rhea yells. “They did this on purpose. They want to get rid of us. They want—”
“Let me out!” Paris yells just as Arjun lets out another battle cry and runs past us straight toward the chest. Within moments, the sound of him kicking and hitting the chest fills the air around us.
I take a deep breath, try to force myself to think through the terror that’s squelching around in my own belly. But it’s hard when it feels like everyone around me has just been dialed up to an eleven on a scale of one to ten.
“Arjun, just wait! Don’t do that!” An unbearable sadness fills me as I leave Paris and head toward him. I can’t believe this is happening, can’t believe people are acting this way. Tears fill my eyes and I don’t even try to blink them back.
I’m stumbling through the fog, using nothing but my memory of where the chest was and the sound of him kicking it over and over again to try to find him. I’m terrified that he’ll destroy it before I can stop him, and then where will we be?
I’m almost there when something reaches through the fog to grab my ankle. It’s my turn to scream, to try to stumble away from whatever it is. But then I hear Fifi crying and realize she’s the one who grabbed me.
“Fifi! What’s wrong?”
“It’s all over,” she whimpers, her voice coming from the ground near my feet. “We’re never getting out of here, are we? It’s hopeless. We’re stuck here forever and—”
“We’re not stuck here forever…” I squat down next to her, until I’m close enough to see her tear-drenched face.
The sadness inside me gets worse, pressing down on my chest, my neck, my whole body, until I feel like giving up. Until I feel like curling myself in a ball like Fifi and just waiting for whatever is going to happen next.
“This is my fault,” Sullivan says, his voice thick with tears too. “I did all this. I was so sure I was right and now I’ve doomed everyone.”
“Why do you hate me so much?” Rhea yells again. “I’ve never done anything to you!”
“It is your fault!” Arjun hollers, and I hear the sound of feet slapping against the wet grass. “I’m going to get you for this. I’m going to—”
“I’m sorry!” Sullivan wails. “I’m so sorry!”
“Let me out!” my brother screams as he starts pounding harder on the door.
“Give it up!” Fifi shouts back at him. “We’re never getting out. We’re stuck here forever.”
The sadness is a weight on my shoulders now, pressing me into the ground. I go with it, because I’ve got no choice. It’s dragging me down, overwhelming me completely, until all I can think about is how awful this is. And how much it hurts to be in this situation. And how utterly, terribly sad I am.
I sink down onto the ground next to Fifi and curl up in a fetal position. I take a long, deep, shuddering breath. And then another and another.
As I do, the sadness inside me starts to dissipate. Even as everyone is yelling and screaming and wailing around me, I start to be able to think clearly again. And that’s when it hits me.
There’s no fog down here.
I’m on the ground, my cheek pressed against the grass, and the edges of the fog hover about three inches or so above my face. Down here, breathing in regular, non-fog-filled air, I’m not sad anymore.
“Get down!” I shout to the others as I grab Fifi’s shoulder. Then I push her down so that she’s flat on her back. “I’m sorry—”
“Don’t be sorry,” she mumbles. “It doesn’t matter anyway. We’re all just going to die here, so who cares if my hair’s messed up.”
“Take some deep breaths.”
She does as I ask, mostly—I think—because she doesn’t care enough to fight me. But after she takes a few breaths, I see her eyes clear as well. The hopeless look turns to confusion and then to outrage as she, too, figures out what’s happening.
“That is such a jerk move,” she growls as she rolls over onto her stomach. “Having the fog mess with our emotions?”
“I’m going to destroy everything!” Arjun howls. “I’m going to rip this door to shreds. I’m going to—”
“Let me out!” Paris screams, his voice filled with terror. “Let me out now!”
“I’m sorry.” Sullivan is full-on crying now. “I’m so sorry!”
“Don’t touch me!” Rhea shrieks. “You want to hurt me. You want to destroy me!”
Fifi’s eyes fill with tears as they meet mine. “We have to help them.”
“I know.” I head toward Rhea as Fifi deals with Arjun.
“Get away from me!” she screams, backing up. “Don’t come near me.”
“Fine! I won’t come any closer,” I promise as I crouch down. “But I need you to get on the ground. If you just get on the ground—”
“I’m not touching that ground. You want to trap me! You want to hurt me! You want to—”
“I don’t want to do anything but help you!” I blow out a long breath, run a frustrated hand through my hair. Already I can feel the sadness creeping back, making it hard to think around the crushing anguish pressing down on me.
It’s just the fog, I tell myself as I force myself to stay focused. The sadness isn’t real.
“It’s the fog that’s hurting you, Rhea,” I say as calmly as I can. “If you get on the ground, you’ll be able to see that. It will help you think clearly—”
“I can think plenty clearly!” she shrieks. “You’re trying to trick me! You’re trying to—”
“Just get on the ground, Rhea!” Sullivan says. “The rest of us are down here and we’re fine.”
“You’re lying! You want me to believe you, but I never will. I’m never getting down there. I’m never—”
She breaks off as Fifi comes out of nowhere, launching herself at Rhea’s shoulders and full-on tackling her to the ground.