Plush, hanging lights, glittery, ornate gowns, garish jewelries, black suits, and waiters pacing from end to end, was the description of what one would see within the upper floor of the globe of science building where the ceremony held. The splendor of the building was more breathtaking when viewed from outside. From outside, it looked like a shiny, golden ball, with half it's size dug to the ground, or you could call it a dim setting sun. The building was filled with a solemn piece of classical music, which played amidst the buzzy chatters of men and women of intellectual class, with their sartorial grandeur, giving the entire hall a classy touch.
The scientists stood close to the door of the hall, with wine glasses in their hands, conversing and jeering at overly showy dresses some women wore to the ceremony. Ali made a joke at a young lady who did a heavy makeover on her face, saying she made the ceremony look like Halloween. They looked towards the extreme and saw Alban standing with his father, alongside Mr. Basil, Meinrad, Jake, and a few others. It looked like Alban's father needed everyone in the ceremony to meet his handsome, grown son. They saw a lady in a black, sequined dress, which glittered with a brilliant lustre, touching Alban's face and giggling, and they assumed her to be his mother, but had traces of doubts. His mom would have met him at the airport if truly she was around CERN, or in Geneva as a whole, they thought. While they kept on with the chit-chats, Alban sighted them from where he stood and rose up his hands, waving vigorously, and the rest turned to see them. Olivia felt cold run down her spine when she saw the beaming face of Mr. Basil, beckoning on them. She couldn't tell what image fared along her eyes in a split second. They all gradually left where they stood and walked towards where they were called.
"Never knew this young man came around," Dr. Dedeon said, patting Ali's shoulder. "Now this ceremony would be a bit more interesting." He laughed.
"With his weird accent." Meinrad added, and they all laughed.
Ali laughed a little. "Ah quickie made it to the ceremony when ah heard spooky footsteps along the hallways of the hostel where ah stayed," he said. They laughed again, thinking it was one of his jokes, not knowing it wasn't. But he took it for a joke, though.
"Now my perception about physicists have changed," the lady said. "I used to think they were all work and no play, always speaking in subtle terms."
"This isn't the control building ma lady," Ali replied. "We adjust to places we find ourselves. In ceremonies we try not to buzz ya minds with scientific terms, we allow the wines do the buzzing."
"This guy isn't serious." Dr. Dedeon laughed hard. They all laughed too.
"I'm Alicia." She held out her hand towards Ali.
"Oh...an I'm Ali." He took her hand and kissed it.
"Hope you all are having a good time hmm?" Mr. Basil said, staring at Olivia. "Now I see...you don't look bad at all." He referred to Olivia, who was dressed in a flowing, yellow gown and black dolly shoes. It was obvious she took neither the dress code nor the ceremony to heart. All she came for was the God particles, in order to leave Switzerland as soon as possible. The way she dressed was mild and balmy; no lustre, no sequin. The simplicity was analogous to an airplane made of just hull; no wing and no tail. Alicia kept staring at her with tinges of discomfort; she was so à la mode conscious that anyone who wasn't in the trends seemed to her like a fashion outlaw. The men were all dressed in black suits, but Camillas's suit was grey, with a black bow tie. Jake's suit fit him so well that Olivia couldn't help but take periodic glances. She never expected annoying Jake to look so good. Meinrad, on the other hand, put up a demeanor that showed he didn't just come for the God particles, he needed a woman, as well. Reason he stood so close to Alicia, introducing his crew members to her before they could do the introductions themselves, he wasn't comfortable with the hand kissing.
"I guess you guys haven't been told Alban here would be giving us a musical presentation," Dr. Dedeon said, proudly, holding Alban by the shoulder.
"Oh, wow, really?" Olivia, Ali, and Camillas said, with false, surprise expressions. They knew Alban wouldn't fail to play his piano, and that was the period that would mark the beginning of the treasure hunt. They just put up expressions of bewilderment, while checking their wrist watches, stylishly, to know what time it was. Alban would present an hour later. While they discussed further, the trio, who would go for the treasure, impatiently awaited the count-down, which would lead Alban to the platform to go do his thing. They began to find the further meet and greets boring and soul-weakening. They couldn't keep up with the false smiles and forced humor. Ali and Camillas left the circle afterwards, leaving Olivia and Alban behind, so as to keep them good company. They cunningly walked out of the hall and stood beside the building, faintly hearing the classical music which played; the Ave Maria. The cold which lingered around where they stood was seeping, and they tugged the lapels of their suits, to keep the cold out, to an extent. Ali turned to Camillas.
"I'm repentant, or ah would have shared a blunt with ya." He chuckled.
"I rather drink a cup of coffee lava," said Camillas. Ali laughed, flinging his head to and fro.
"You kept the doors open right?" Camillas asked.
"Yea," Ali replied. Camillas took out his phone and checked the time. It was half past ten o'clock. He inserted it back into his pocket.
"And the drones?" Camillas asked.
"Ready," replied Ali.
"All we await is a call from Meinrad, telling us that Alban has climbed the podium to perform," Camillas said.
"Isn't it best we linger around the courtyard of the control building?" Ali asked.
"No no." Camillas shook his head. "How do we explain our reasons for being there, if questioned. We are in the ceremony attire, so we need to hang around the venue, in order not to stir up any suspicion."
"Oh." Ali arched his lips downwards and inserted his hands in his pocket, bobbing his soulders and whoosing, to keep himself warm.
They stayed there for over thirty minutes, keeping themselves busy with discussions, until Camillas's phone rang. He quickly took it out of his pocket, and it was Meinrad calling. Meinrad told him that Alban had climbed the podium, and it was time. After the call, he smiled and put back the phone in his pocket. He turned to Ali.
"It's time," he said.
Ali quickly slid his hand inside his suit and took out a very flat tablet. He put it on and clicked on a certain application, which would be used to activate and control the drones. The drones, four of them, stood on the table inside their room. They were equipped with cameras and W-Z boson detectors, which could detect where the God particles were located. They were in form of wasps, but relatively tiny, in order not to be easily noticed by people.
Ali entered the application and activated the drones. In the room, the wings of the drones began to flutter rapidly, giving waspy buzzes, which filled the room, and within seconds, they took off through the open doors, headed towards the control building, where they detected the W-Z boson radiations.
Ali and Camillas looked into the screen and began to see fleeting images of rooms, atriums, and hall ways. The fleeting images indicated that the drones were super fast. Camillas drew close to him, marveled at the labyrinthial passages the drones passed through, in search of the chamber where the God particles were kept. The drones flew for over ten minutes until they began to go underground. They flew past the elevator shafts, making it into the collider tunnel. From the tablet, they watched the drones flying within the tunnel which darkened into the distance, until they diverted into a dark corridor, where they couldn't see a single image, only ill-defined apparitions and blinks of green light from the drone cameras. They flew in a straight line for several seconds until they stopped in front of a steel door, with an electronic gadget beside it. It looked like a device which only allowed one with the right palm print to gain access to the room. It had a rectangular screen, with a glowing, blue light. The drones hovered around the door, unable to go further.
"Co...come see this place," Ali said to Camillas, who was right beside him. They both peered into the screen of the tablet.
"The cryogenic chamber, I guess," Camillas guessed.
"The cryogenic chamber?" Ali looked at him. "How are we supposed to make it into tha place? There is cooler than a refrigerator."
"Or the penthouse maybe" Camillas shrugged. "Or, more correctly, a secret chamber. I mean, a room which is hardly accessible." He shifted his glasses a little and looked more into the screen. "And it looks like that device close to it is one hell of a smart...shit!" Camillas quickly took off his face from the tablet when he saw two people come out of the hall; a man and a woman, holding wine glasses. Ali transferred the tablet to the other hand and stood erect. They heard the music Alban played inside, and they began to discuss about it; saying they never knew something so mild and soft could come out of Alban's ready-to-punch hands. After a minute, they took a glance at the couple that came out, and they saw them standing at one side, kissing.
"Wa, wa, wa." Ali bobbed his brows up and down, smiling.
"Good a thing they weren't sent to spy on us," said Camillas. "So...where were we?" He rubbed his palms together. Ali took out the tablet once again and woke it up from sleep. They still stared at the gadget beside it.
"Tha device look like something tha could be unlocked with a palm print...tha of Mr. Basil, probably," said Ali, in a tone that doubted it's assertions.
"Olivia!" Camillas exclaimed. "If it could be unlocked by Mr. Basil, then we should go find Olivia."
"An how sure are ya she hangs around him?" Ali asked.
"I'm sure Mr. Basil must have placed his palm on her. Olivia is a bad girl in glasses, she must have made him do it," Camillas said.
"Really? Then we should get going," Ali said, wanting to enter the hall, but Camillas held him.
"We need to blind the cameras in the tunnel," Camillas said, inserting his hand in his suit. He brought out two EMP devices and gave one to Ali.
"Oh, cool." Ali creased his brows, turning the device around. It looked like a black, perfume bottle, with a short pole and a button on it's head.
"Let's go get her," Camillas said and entered the hall, followed by Ali.
They made it into the light-warmed hall, where everyone reclined in solemnity, listening to the melody flowing from Alban's piano. He played the Johann Pachelbel's Canon this time, which rendered everyone in motionless. When they made it into the hall, they saw all backs facing them. They browsed through the blockade of people, in search of where Olivia and the rest stood. They needed Olivia because they were sure that Mr. Basil must have placed his palm on her skin already, leaving a palm print there, which would be picked and registered by their Photon Coding device, in order to unlock the secret chamber where the tube containing the God particles was kept. After searching for over a minute, they saw a hint of Olivia's yellow dress. She stood on one side of the hall with Mr. Basil close to her, and it seemed like they were all sunk in the melody of the music Alban played. They gently made their way through the people that stood on the way, walking quietly, in order not to make their movements suspicious. They got to where Olivia stood and held her arm. She felt a sting of cold and she quivered and turned quickly. "Kaku," she whispered, then she turned to Mr. Basil and found him focused on the platform where Alban sat.
"You need to come with us," Camillas whispered to her. Olivia turned to Mr. Basil. "Uhm, sorry Mr. Basil, I need to go get something at the hostel."
"Do you know the way from here?" He asked softly.
"Of course yes...I have company too." She smiled, gesturing to Camillas and Ali, who were smiling at him.
"Alright dear, get back soon," Mr. Basil said, granting their permission to leave the hall.
When they made it out of the hall, they all stood in the cold, staring within the hall and outside the hall intermittently, in order to check if anyone watched them.
"To the control building," Camillas said, gesticulating towards the way that led to the nucleus. They arrived at the nucleus and hid beside one of the buildings that formed the quadrangle, in order not to be caught by the lights that shone above. Circumspectively, they grazed their backs against the walls while they entered into the building.
The gloom in the building seemed to them like a thick wall which hung in the air, occupying every space they attempted to walk through, but they miraculously made it into the elevator amidst the looming darkness. After a ping from the elevator they found themselves going down, towards the underground tunnel. The cold air rising from the shafts while they descended filled their hearts with an eerie kind of fulfillment. When they finally felt land below them, they all collectively sighed in relief. Immediately they stepped out of the elevator, Camillas sounded quietly. "The EMP jammer, now." They all clicked on it and everywhere got dark immediately, even the cameras which recorded the ongoings within the tunnel got destabilized. They began to grope through the darkness in the tunnel, guided by the detector which Camillas held. They were tempted to put on the lights, because the tunnel seemed and sounded very spooky, but they restrained from doing such. They were determined to reach where the secret chamber was. The detector led them to the diverted corridor along which the drones trailed. They knew they were about to face another episode of a blind walk. They groped while they walked, imaginatively seeing a roseate glow at the end of the tunnel, while there wasn't. The roseate glow they imaginatively saw would turn out to be the door of the chamber where the tube of the particles was kept. After they had walked for over five minutes, they arrived at a junction, branching both ways, and when the detector indicated left, they saw the long-sought-after roseate glow, which was just defined by red and green lights, blinking periodically. They happily increased their paces while heading for the lights, and the buzzes of the drones lingering around the steel door got more audible and less annoying to them while they approached, smiling uncontrollably, but trying to control their flexing lips. After they were confronted by the looming steel door before them, they deactivated the drones and Camillas inserted them into his suit. Done with that, he immediately realized he hadn't inquired from Olivia if she was touched by Mr. Basil. They both turned to her, and she got the message immediately. She took out the Photo Coding device from her purse. It was in form of a gun with a broad fire arm, and a cable which had an ultrasensitive, thin polymer at it's terminus was coiled around it. Olivia uncoiled the cable and gave the device to Camillas, then she pointed to her tattooed, left arm, indicating where Mr. Basil touched her. Camillas clicked on a button below the handle of the device and an ink-blue light emanated from it, irradiating the part of Olivia's arm that was touched by Mr. Basil. It blinked red for few seconds, but at the moment they saw a green light, it indicated the photons have been fully coded with his palm prints. Camillas took off the device and held the polymer before the electronic device beside the door, and a dim, blue light from the polymer was focused on the detector. After few seconds of exposure, they heard a bleep. The LED light beside the device stepped from red to green, and the doors separated from each other, revealing the foggy interior of the chamber. When they got in, they were first engulfed by the freon cooling system in the room. They barely saw anything, just fog, pierced by whispery LED lights. While others brainstormed over the possibility of getting to the tube amidst the distinct lights in the room, Ali clicked on the EMP jammer, and all the lights went off, except for a mild, verdant glow which hinted at the extreme. They glanced at each other and smiled.
"I could see the glow over there." Camillas pointed.
"So...what are we waiting for? Let's go get stuff.* Olivia smiled, and they began to walk through the fog, towards where the glow hinted. When they got there, they saw a pyrex tube which floated inside a box containing a viscous liquid which shimmered with faint, yellow glints. Ali bent towards the box to perceive it, and the smell was so pungent that it made his brain quiver. He recoiled and drew back immediately, scrubbing his nose and sniffing out. "Wha th...this thing?" He pointed at it.
"Preservative I guess," Camillas said. "I once heard of a chemical which slows down the decay of particles."
"Let's just get this out," Olivia flung her hands in the air, then she dipped her hand into it and it felt like she dipped her hand into a pool of nasal slime. She grimaced in disgust while she pulled out the tube, with the slime, drooping down her hand, back into the box and unto the floor. She held her nose. "This is awful."
"Let me have it," Camillas said. She gave it to him and he took it and put it into a little leather bag he came with. He looked up at them. "Let's get the hell out of here."
When they made it out of the control building, they headed straight to the hostel, not minding if the ceremony was still on or not, they had to keep the tube out of sight, in order not to stir up suspicion.
After they all converged inside Olivia's room, Camillas took out the tube from the leather bag and held it before his gaze. The tube was made of pyrex, with geometric patterns on it. He smiled while staring at it. It seemed to him like a piece of diamond which he rescued from a volcanic eruption. He refused to believe he spent less than two hours in getting it. Ali wanted to say something, but he felt a sore in his throat, like there was friction between the walls of his vocal cord, it was as a result of what he inhaled. All he did was stretch out his hand, running his lips. Camillas handed it over to him and he gently took it, chortling silently.
"Cool, right?" Camillas smiled at him. "I wonder how Meinrad would react when he sees this."
"I think we need to call Meinrad now and tell him of this," Olivia entered, taking out her phone.
"Yes, please do, we need to leave CERN very early tomorrow," Camillas said to her. Olivia dialed Meinrad's number and he picked immediately, like he had been expecting the call for long.
"Hello Olivia, any good news?"
"We got the tube Meinrad." She smiled.
"What?" He laughed so heartily that everyone in the room heard his voice. "I am coming there right away."
"We expect your arrival Meinrad," she said, hanging up. She heaved a deep sigh afterwards, with her eyes closed. "We need to wait for Meinrad," she said to them.
"While I go have a bath." Camillas got up. "It's been a night." He smiled at them and walked out of the room, followed by Ali.
Meinrad and Jake found their way into the room several minutes later. He walked, while running his mouth, pliantly, in reports over what kept him at the event hall. After he was done, he said, with his palm held out. "Where is the tube?"
Olivia pulled out the topmost drawer of the table and took it out. When she handed it over to him, Jake noticed some shimmery gleams on her hand and he wandered where she inserted her hand, but he chose not to spoil Meinrad's joy with disturbing questions. Meinrad took the tube from her with his handkerchief. "The joy of owning something I worked for." He smiled, staring through the glass.
"You mean, we worked for?" Olivia looked at him, stressing the 'we'. He looked her. "You all did well...where are the rest? Where they caught?"
"You want them caught?" She asked him. The door went open immediately, with Ali and Camillas walking into the room. Jake caught the shimmers on their hands as well and his restlessness grew. Meinrad turned to them.
"How did you guys do it?"
"The same way we did it at Fermilab," Camillas answered.
"What's that thing on their hands?" Jake whispered into Meinrad's ear, and he looked at their hands, noticing the colorful shimmers.
"Why the glints on your hands?" Meinrad asked. "You guys touched stuffs?"
They all looked at their palms, turning it side to side. "The tube was immersed in a slimy fluid when we saw it," Camillas said. He looked at his hands again, wondering why the dregs of the fluid had refused to clear from his palm after the bath he had. Meinrad and Jake looked at each other in fright, it seemed they knew what the fluid was, or why the tube was immersed in it. Meinrad swallowed saliva and looked at them. "You all did noble." He tried to smile, but something kept contracting his lips. "Tomorrow we leave this place." After he said it Alban opened the door and walked in. "Where is it?" Alban asked, smiling broadly. Meinrad shook the tube before his face and walked out of the room with Jake. Alban looked back at him. "What's wrong with that man?" He asked, looking at the door.
"Alicia gave him a back seat maybe," Ali mumbled.
Olivia laughed. "I don't know really," she said. "Meinrad swings foolishly. But nonetheless, we would make our machine work." The sound of that cheered Alban up and he joined them on the bed. "You need to see the way I maneuvered my dad just to make it right here. He insisted I stayed here in CERN for a few more days."
"That can't be possible Alban, you know, don't you?" Olivia laughed.
"I gave him a truckload of reasons why he should let me go. You needed to see the look on his face." He chuckled and fell on the bed, with his hands stretched above his head, and his hair, spread out.
"Buh if ah were ya ah would stay," Ali said.
"Tell me this is one of you jokes Ali," Alban turned to him. They all laughed.
At the other room below, Jake sat on the bed, staring up at Meinrad who kept walking to and fro within the room, with his fingers clutching his cheek, and his head bent to the floor.
"You know what they inserted their hands into, don't you?" He asked Jake.
"A thick fluid," Jake said. Meinrad halted before him. "Have you ever heard of liquified goolet?"
Jake sat confused on the bed, saying the word silently in murmurs. He looked up at Meinrad and shook his head. "No...never heard of that."
"That liquid could keep you hunted for over five years."
"I...I don't get you professor."
"Look, that liquid stuck to their hands could enable CERN track them wherever they are, even if it's at the dark side of the Moon. The scientists at CERN are supersmart and seeing. They knew the tube could be sought-after. That was why they stored it inside a tracking-fluid as soon as the Higgs bosons were stored inside it."
"So, you mean we would be followed as soon as we step out of here?"
"That is the reason we need to think fast. Look." He sat beside him. "We don't have the fluid in our hands, so we are at an advantage."
"Does such advantage count? If we all converge in Fanfield we would all be apprehended," Jake said.
"You are a scientist Jake, think like one." He poked Jake's temple.
"We need to do a little soily work to save our heads." Meinrad said. "This is it. We need to send them to our auxiliary laboratory at Cuba with a box containing an empty tube, while we return to New Haven with the pyrex tube. How does that sound."
Jake looked away, thinking of Olivia particularly. "And they would be apprehended there?"
"I'm afraid that's the reality." He shrugged. "Or you want to join them at Cuba?"
"But...but...oh shit." He held his face tightly. "Can't believe this is happening. CERN turned out to be a last stop."
"I am as sad as you are Jake." He patted his shoulder. "Can't believe my titans would slip away from my fingers."
"But if they are caught, wouldn't they call us out?" Jake faced him.
"I would know how to settle that boy. The main thing here is this...we won't be caught. I also trust my titans, especially the Asian guy. They will even escape apprehension, I trust them, so chill, okay?"
Jake still held his face in disappointment, rubbing his forehead vigorously. Meinrad looked at him and smiled, thinking what bothered him was just the welfare the scientists, but he didn't know who, exactly, was in Jake's mind.
EN ROUTE TO CUBA
Meinrad had earlier made it known to them before they left that he and Jake would stay back at CERN in order to meet with some demands, meanwhile they already knew the reason for the sudden change of plan.
They all rode inside the CERN shuttle to the airport, where they were awaited by the same pilot that brought them to Geneva. They saw the grandiose aircraft parked at the tarmac. It appeared different to them. Something close to new, or it's new looks could be an illusion, they thought. After the vehicle came to a halt, everyone got down from the vehicle, including Dr. Dedeon and Mr. Basil. Dr. Dedeon started with an unsatisfied smile, which the rays of the sun further ruined. He wasn't contented with the short duration he spent with his son, he wanted more. His smile quelled into sadness, over the feeling of missing his son until further notice. He spaced his arms and Alban hugged him tightly. Jake began to cry, but what they read in his tears wasn't what was really behind it, only Meinrad knew.
"Safe journey you all." Meinrad said, while Dr. Dedeon's mouth still felt weighty, he couldn't say goodbye yet, because he wasn't yet ready to assure himself that Alban was leaving. But he was leaving, though. The crew stood in the sun, in their casual wears, hanging heavy bags on their shoulders, while the pilot stood in front of the plane from a distance, waving at them. The fuselage was already open, and they needed to hit the runway already.
"Good bye," Dr. Dedeon finally said, after he saw no other reason to keep Alban from leaving.
"Good bye lovelies." Mr. Basil waved, hinting mainly at Olivia.
"Good bye." Meinrad and Jake waved, with Jake's face, smeared with tears and catarrh. He sniffed.
"Good bye everyone." The crew waved at them and turned to leave.
"We are going to Cuba you know," the pilot said, ushering them in, after they reached where the plane was. They all got in and shoved their belongings overhead. Alban and Ali sat together, and after the pilot made it into the plane, the move began.
While the plane ran along the runway, Alban looked through the window and saw his dad and the rest, still standing, staring and waving at the plane. They appeared tiny to him, like tiny, emotional creatures. He smiled passionately, and in his smile, grew feelings of wanting to stay back, but he fought against the feeling immediately.
"Woah, wasn't easy at all," Alban said, after the plane had taken off. He looked at Ali, who sat beside him, looking out through the window. He turned back and reclined on the seat, looking up at the overhead bins, which got blurrier and blurrier with time, until the drowsiness weighed down on him like a barbell, then he gently shut his eyes and slept off.
Alban saw Olivia in a dream, yelling and calling his name from within a dark torrent, with thick, dark vapors. Her voice was smoggy, and the torrent covered her until he could only see her slender, fragile hands, waving through it, then it engulfed her completely.
He was jolted from sleep, seeing Ali, seated beside him, with an earpiece on. He shook his head and rubbed his face, looking to his side, to see if Olivia was there, but he saw her reading a book, with legs crossed. "Where are we now?" He asked Ali.
"No idea really," Ali said. "Buh we ha flown for reasonable hours."
"Hours?" He rubbed his face again.
"Had another nightmare?" Ali asked him.
"I don't know what is really wrong with me Ali," Alban cried. "Each time I close my eyes, nightmares take over, immediately. At times I would be so scared to fall asleep, but the drowsy feeling is so over powering."
"Ah asked because ah too, can't explain my recent dreams as well. Ah dream of fairy tale characters these days." He laughed weakly. Alban laughed as well.
"Now I guess I have a partner. But I could bet that mine is worse than yours, at times I find it hard to breathe in there, it's like something is pinning me down." He looked at Ali, but realized he had been talking to himself all through. Ali never seemed to hear Alban's last words. It seemed as though something else drew his attention. Ali was staring into the distance, squinting at an unusual, murky image of a cloud, looming far before them. It grew larger and vivid as the plane flew further.
"Wha tha thing?" Ali asked, pointing at it. Alban looked as well. He shrugged, indicating he doesn't know as well.
"Look like a cloud, buh doesn't look like one." He faced Alban. "Wha do ya think?"
"I don't think we need bother much about it, it could be a dense cloud, just like the ones we do see when it's about raining." Alban shrugged again. Ali forced himself to take Alban's comforting words. He faced front and relaxed back on the seat.
The cloud grew more gloomy and sinister while the plane approached, and when it began to get hideously vivid, everyone in the plane got paraesthetic. "What's that?.. what's that?" Was the question that filled the plane like buzzes. They all stared at each other, with their bladders filling up with urine. The plane proceeded and pierced through the thick, dark cloud, and the interior of the plane got pitch black. No one could see anything. It seemed like outer space, void of heavenly bodies. The clamors inside the plane grew, until the pilot pacified them. "Please, no one should panic. We see these things every day. Relax, just relax." He laughed. He further caressed their minds by telling them that he had flown past such thing when he was going to Florida from Austria, that it was just a cloud, same as others. He was proven to be right, afterwards, when they saw light at the end of the dark tunnel after few minutes of meshy panics. What a sight of relief!
The plane finally flew past the cloud and emerged into a bright space where they were, once again, welcomed by the brilliant, blue hue of the sky and the silver streaks in the white clouds, irradiated by sunshine.
"Woah." Ali creased his brows and looked around. "Who else saw that?"
"Used to think the stories I heard about the Bermuda Triangle was false," Olivia said, with her heart still thumping.
"And how do you know we are over the Bermuda Triangle?" Camillas asked her. She looked back at her book and folded her legs, not willing to enter arguments with him.
"Everything says it," Ali answered. "We are flying the Hurricane Alley."
"It's false of course...that's why we made it past," Camillas said.
"Buh ya needed to see how intimidating tha stuff was." Ali snorted.
"The Hurricane Alley isn't real guys," Camillas said. "Just..."
"Na what's tha again?" Ali pointed to another thick cloud far from them. "Ya guys see tha?" He looked around.
"We passed the previous one dude...chill," Camillas calmed him. They flew for over twenty minutes before coming in close contact with the cloud, looking at it in the face. The sombre countenance of this particular one instilled a double mind in everyone, except Camillas, who fought to assure himself that they would still find another promising light at the end, and the Hurricane Alley does not exist! He drummed in his mind. Ali, who tried so much to mitigate his fears later succumbed to it, because what he saw before them never looked like a cloud, this particular one was quite ugly, it looked like death, hanging in the sky. He turned to Alban and found him sleeping again. He began to wish, at that moment, he also had such tendency to sleep.
The plane proceeded and entered the cloud. Everywhere turned black as the ace of spades. Once again, they were induced by blindness, nothing could be seen, and the fuzzy mumbles that waved within the plane caused the pilot to calm them again. The pilot convinced them so positively that they calmed temporarily, expecting to see another light at the other side, but several minutes past and they still found themselves flying within the gloomy halo. Suddenly, they saw distant flashes of light, sounding like a metal drum, played amidst the rumble of thunder. Everyone panicked, including the pilot this time, and they realized they were really in for it. Camillas began to grow restless. He felt his palms getting wet. The flashes kept coming, fueling up the clamors and outcries of the passengers.
"I don wanna die, I don wanna die," Ali said in terror, peeing on his seat, while making the sign of the cross, with his eyes swelling up. Olivia on the other hand, rubbed her palms together, crying, preparing herself for the predicted worst. The flashes came again, and the third struck the wing of the plane and broke it, everyone started yelling. The plane began to swerve drunkenly, and a torrent came by, rocking the plane violently. The passengers were flung end to end. Some tried to hold fast to something, but it seemed as though an invisible hand was hurling them from pillar to post. Some of them lost consciousness in the process. Alban awoke and found himself inside the dark, violent fuselage, which rammed his body from seat to seat. The plane danced for minutes within the torrent, until a force beneath began to suck the plane into a very dark, spinning tunnel.