[Chapter 6] Ghost Town? No Thanks.

I followed the chipmunk – Susie – for about ten minutes until I dared ask the question that I had been dying to raise.

“So… um… Susie… where, exactly are you taking me?”

“Well, to the authorities, of course.”

“Okay, of course. But who are the authorities?”

“Hmm… honestly I don’t know how to explain, hon. Never had to. I think you’ll just have to wait until we get there.”

“I’m guessing you can’t tell me where ‘there’ is either, right?”

“Nope. But we’ll be ‘there’ soon. Mind if I ask you a few questions in the mean time?”

“Sure, why not?”

For the remainder of the walk, I answered all of little Susie’s questions to the best of my ability. I couldn’t explain everything of course, since even I didn’t know how I’d gotten here. Mostly we talked about my family and friends, and the cabin. The more I thought about it all, the less sense it made, but I didn’t have much of a chance to ponder my predicament. After what felt like no time at all, we were finally “there.”

When I saw the building, I didn’t at first believe my eyes. It rose at least fifty stories into the air, with its roof partially obscured by low clouds. It looked like Victorian meets something out of a classic Disney fairytale. The walls were made of smooth-looking white bricks, with perfectly round windows appearing in intervals. Long, spiraling turrets poked up from the roof in each corner of the structure. I had only ever imagined this kind of an edifice, and now I was standing in front of its two larger-than-life mahogany doors. Susie tapped me lightly on my ankle before disappearing through a hole in the wall. 

“Susie!” I yelped, coming suddenly out of my daze. I didn’t know what I was supposed to do now that I was here, and standing in front of this building only made me feel even more small and helpless. Trying to keep my mind from panicking, I began mentally taking account of my predicament. 

One: Somehow sitting on that dusty pile of blankets in the secret room had transported me to what was apparently called “the Sacred Forest of the Shandery.” 

Two: That “Sacred Forest of the Shandery” was way more symmetrical and perfect than anywhere I’d seen or even heard of before. 

Three: Chipmunks talk here. I still found that fact a little unsettling, but I really doubted anyone was going to care about my opinion in the matter. 

Four: I was now standing in front of the largest building I’d ever physically been to, had been abandoned by the only two people (well, if chipmunks counted as “people”) that I’d talked to, or even seen, and now had no idea what to do.

That last realization just brought back the panic. Susie had told me that she was going to bring me to the authorities and report that Chester and I had been in the “sacred forest.” From what I could tell, all she’d done was brought me outside the walls of this monstrosity and crawled away, leaving me completely alone. 

“Hey, you! What are you doing here?”

… Or maybe not completely alone…

I turned slowly, finding myself in front of two people. Real people. Not just more talking animals. I almost jumped for joy. This, at least, was somewhat more normal. 

When I was able to focus again, I began to scrutinize these newcomers. They both looked a little younger than 20, and both had very dark hair and bright blue eyes. The boy’s hair hung to just above his ears, while the girl’s went past her shoulders. They wore long shirts that almost looked like they were made of burlap over pants of the same material. These uniforms were a light brown, but I could see spots of what I assumed was dirt or mud. 

Again the boy asked, “Please, are you here as a worker or a guest?”

“Uh… I – I’m not sure,” I began, trying to decide what would be okay to tell him. I really didn’t want to start off with a reputation for being crazy, just because I told someone I came from another world and had been brought out of a “sacred” forest by a talking chipmunk. 

“How can you not know? Either you are a worker or you aren’t. If you aren’t, you’re a guest.” This time it was the girl who spoke. 

I paused a moment, thinking. Well I was pretty sure I wasn’t a worker…

“I’m a guest,” I responded, in a much more steady voice than before.

That statement caused the pair to smile. They began whispering back and forth behind their hands, then turned back to me. Once again, the girl addressed me. 

“In that case, we can be your escorts. Do you have your rooming assignment yet?”

“Umm… no. Not yet anyway. I’m still, uh… waiting for… someone.”

“Who?”

At this point I figured a name couldn’t cause any damage, so I replied, “Susie.”

The grin faded from the boys face, and the girl’s eyes widened. Maybe I had been wrong about saying Susie’s name… On the verge of panicking again, I heard a loud noise behind me. I turned to check it out, and saw that the huge wooden doors had swung open. No one else had come in to view though, so I turned back to the other two. When my eyes fell upon where they had been standing moments before, I was met with another shock; they had vanished, leaving me alone yet again. 

“Great,” I muttered under my breath. The snippets of vague information I was getting  about this place weren’t helping me much. I needed to know where I was, and, more importantly, how to get back home! Everyone I’d talked to so far had been cryptic in their answers, so I was still completely clueless. And alone.

I closed my eyes tightly, hoping in the back of my mind that this was all a dream, and when I opened them again, I’d wake up at home; safe and surrounded by people who loved me. Instead, it was just a dark doorway that met my eyes. 

“Fine! It’s not like I’ve got anything to lose. Everyone here keeps abandoning me. Why should I wait around for them?” I thought for a moment, then shouted to no one in particular: “Hey! I’m going in now! Anyone want to stop me, help me, something… You better do it now!”

After a moment of silence, I began slowly walking forward, still wary of passing the open doors. Before I could totally lose my nerve, I bolted the last few yards, stopping only once I was firmly within the boundaries of the huge walls. 

After facing so many strange things already in this place, I though nothing could surprise me anymore. I was wrong. I hadn’t been expecting a five-star hotel or anything, but I thought there would at least be some decent floors. Instead, I found myself standing on dirt. A few candles were lit along a wooden wall that looked like it was rotting even as I stood there. By this dim light, I could see that the room I was in was empty except for a few old crates stacked in the corner and a broken table near the middle of the dirt floor. Beyond that, I could barely make out another doorway, but it looked just as dark as the room I was in now. 

Immediately, I began to back up. This was all too spooky for me. I’d rather take my chances retracing my steps, hoping I’d find someone who could help me. Pretty much, I just wanted to get out of this awful place. 

Clearly, someone had other ideas. The doors suddenly swung shut again, leaving me in a billow of dust, frozen in desperation. I didn’t have a clue what I should do now. Those doors were obviously too heavy for me to move, so I didn’t even bother trying. The only other route was through this long creepy room and into the next mysterious area.  

The only thing I knew was that if I couldn’t go back, I could either stay here or try to find somewhere better to gather my thoughts. Since staying put was definitely not an option, I started off across the room as quickly as I could, not wanting to remain here any longer than I absolutely had to.