Chapter 1: Iris (Noha ElNahsar, Visionaries)

Chapter 1: Iris

The sound comes first then the pain in my ears begins to echo.

I wake up to the sound of someone giving orders in my ear. I should have noticed the chirping sounds of the birds or the ruffling leaves. Or even the fact that I’m lying in the middle of the street. But I don’t. It was only the sound in my ear. “Are you awake?” the voice in my ear starts. My hands move to my ears, tracing them, and I find a tiny headphone attached to it right where my earring should be. I speak without knowing whether the person on the other side can hear me. “Yes… yes, I’m awake.”

“Good!” the voice sounds enthusiastic. “Let me introduce myself then. Actually, I’m not alone; there’s a whole group of us.”

“There are others? Who are you exactly?”

“We are a team of archaeologists; we are the ones who sent you to this city. As you can see, the city is abandoned.” I look around to verify his words, and I mentally agree with him; the city is abandoned. He continues, “I know you might be wondering what you are doing here,” He pauses for a second. “Well, we want to play a game.”

“A game?” I ask incredulously. Couldn’t we play a game in my hometown? Or at least somewhere that doesn’t look like it came straight out of Jumanji?

The voice returns, “Yes, a game. Simple, really, but with rules that you have to follow. So listen carefully. There are four other people in this city; it’s a small city by the way. You have to find them and then you have to launch on a search for the list that gives you the rules. There are five rules. You have five hours to do so and if you fail, you’re stranded here. You can’t contact us; only we can contact you. And we won’t do so till you find the list. We’re watching you.”

I listen carefully to every word the masculine voice is saying, but I’m truly lost. What kind of maniac does something like this? But then I decide to go with the flow and see what happens. “That’s it?”

“Yes, that’s pretty much it.” The voice mutters something afterwards, as if he’s talking to someone else. I can almost hear him say, “Don’t worry; no, nothing is going to happen”.

“Okay,” I hesitate. But before I gain the courage to say anything else, the voice rushes on and says, “Well, good luck searching!” And the connection is cut.

I get up and shake the dirt off my pants as I wonder how on earth I got here and what exactly am I walking into. Then I think about the gravelly voice and feel the determination to win his game starting to crawl into my mind and seep into my body, filling me with a rush of adrenaline. And just like that I want to tear this city down and follow the rules to get out of here. I don’t realize that my feet started moving till I find myself wandering in a park. It doesn’t look any different from the other parks I’ve grown up in, but I still can’t shake the feeling of something creepy about it. For starters, the leaves on the trees have crisscrossing black streaks as if someone colored them, but when I touch them I find that those streaks are smooth to the touch, embedded within the leaves. I’m actually afraid to inhale them because what if they have a toxic smell or something? I watch too many movies to be that naïve. I look around the park that seems to extend immensely ahead of me. My eyes notice something first. The fountain in the middle. It’s a porcelain fountain with the statue of a huge owl erected in the middle of it, like an angel rising out of the water. Beside the fountain, something twinkles. I move closer to the fountain, hearing my footsteps as I go. Then I stop when I see it, a copper coin. Who has those anymore? And if I’m the first one to set foot in this city for years, how did it get here? Who did it belong to? Maybe it belonged to one of the other four. It’s a reminder I’m not alone. I pick it up and inspect it closely. Avivorous, the hidden gem of Iowa. Above the inscription is a smaller replica of the owl that stands before me. Oh, that must have been where they got the name Avivorous from. Weird but okay; I have a feeling this is going to be the least weird.

A sound jolts me out of my reverie and I slightly flinch. It’s coming from behind the half-black-half-green trees. It must be the others. “Hello,” I call. “Is anybody there?” When no one answers, I creep closer, almost reaching out to move the leaves out of my way when I feel a great weight knocking me down and falling on top of me, causing the coin to roll out of my hands. I feel the breath knocked out of my lungs as I fall flat on my chest.

When I look up I find a girl smirking down at me. “What are you doing?” I ask, unable to keep rage from dominating over me.

“Knocking you down obviously,” she huffs as she gets off me. She turns to the other three people standing by, watching us and says, “This one here isn’t that bright.” She looks at me, “Get up.” She offers me her hand. I take it

“So, I see you both have made peace,” a boy chuckles and gives a high five to the other two. One of the boys, the oldest I guess, steps forward and says, “Hey, stranger.” He smiles at me. “I’m Eliot; this is Clara,” he motions to the girl who just knocked me down and who is now giving me the brightest smile I’ve ever seen. “And this is Luca,” he pats the boy who gave high fives on the back. “And this is Ethan.” They all smile and nod their heads slightly.

“I,” I struggle with the words, not knowing how to respond to this rush of energy that overwhelms me. “I am Iris.” I smile nervously at them.

“Well, hello, Iris.” Ethan smirks seductively. I shake my head discreetly as Eliot chastises him and tells him to stay away from me. “She is a lost lunatic for all we know.”

Boys.

“Okay, okay.” Clara raises her hands up in the air. “Iris, you do know what we’re up against, right?”

“Yes,” I nod. “The voice let me in on what we’re supposed to do.”

“The voice?” she inquires. “That’s what Laura told you to call her?”

“Who’s Laura?” I can feel the color draining out of my face by the time this question leaves my mouth. “It was a man who talked to me.”

“It was?” Luca raised an eyebrow then shrugged. “Well, Laura did say there was a group of archaeologists, so they must have divided themselves up.”

“Yeah,” I say as I move a tiny pebble around with my foot. “Yeah, I guess so.”
“So, there is a list we need to find first before they contact us.”

“What are we waiting for then?” Ethan grins and leads the way into the woods. I have no idea how those four get along or where they come from or where do I fit in their little family circle but one thing I’m sure of. I want to get out alive, and I will do anything to get out of here.