World Beyond the Shadows
It was called Corix. He’d been visiting there since he was a small child. The door appeared in his bedroom after a particularly difficult day at school. He’d come home bruised and bloody from a vicious bully, and he’d received detention for his pains. The bully got away with no punishment, and his parents believed the lies the school fed them once again.
He was an imaginative child, a little weird even, but he wasn’t the cause of the problems like everyone said. He’d escaped to the safety of his room. At first, he thought he was seeing things through his tears, but the door was definitely real.
He’d walked through it without a second thought. He was desperate for an escape from everything that had been going on in life and school. He found the world of his dreams waiting on the other side of the door. From that day on everything changed. The bullies left him alone, and his parents were happy because the constant calls from the school stopped. He was happy, but he still visited Corix whenever he could.
Things were happy and peaceful. He’d made it through high school happier than he’d expected. As things were wrapping up for the year, he just wanted to get home and spend his eighteenth birthday in Corix. With college on the horizon, he didn’t know how much time he’d be able to spend there anymore. It made him sad, but he had to grow up sometime.
With a bright smile on his face he flung the door open into Corix. The beautiful, serene landscape was dark, rain-washed, and terrifying. Nothing he knew or loved remained. In shock, he grabbed for the doorknob, but it jammed shut, and he was stuck in this terrifying landscape.
He was confused and overwhelmed, how had things changed so much. What did he do wrong? He ran down the path searching for someone, anyone. He wanted answers. The lightening in the distance shocked him, but he kept pushing forward.
He met his friend, Rex, staring off into the distance. He touched his shoulder, and the creature that turned around looked nothing like his old friend. All he saw was malice and hate.
“What’s happening, Rex?” he asked. “I came to spend my birthday…”
Rex’s eyes flashed violently. “No, you weren’t,” he said. “You were going to leave us! We gave you everything, and you want to throw us away like some old, broken toy. You’d be nothing without us!”
He swallowed. “I’m glad for everything you have done for me,” he said. “I’m not going away. I just can’t visit as much when I go to college. I can’t forget what you’ve done for me.”
Rex darted forward, and ropes of flames burned his wrists and held him in place. His heart was in his throat, and all of Rex’s anger was directed at him.
“We gave you safety and care when no one else would,” Rex said. “You can’t just throw that away. You wanted to leave us, and you’ll pay for such stupidity. You will not leave until you’ve repaid your debt.”
His heart started to pound. This place was once his safe and fun second home, now it was to be his torturous prison, and there was no escape.
Writing, webcomics, and creativity galore
Scribble City: Write Now 