It was seven in the evening when we arrived at the place where we had camped together with the others during the school trip. The place was quiet and scary for just three friends who had no business being there at an hour like that. We settled down to do our home work in one tent, which was mine, because I was the opposite of fearless. After we were done, we shared the pizza, which we bought on our way at Rachel's, the number one stop pizza joint situated on the outskirts of town about an hour drive from here and two hours drive from home. "What do they say this place is?" I asked the two who have lived in Rocksville much longer than I have. "No man's land!" Elena answered, looking over her shoulder at Jason. I could swear she was expecting him to disagree. "Why are you giving him that look?" "This was a part of Rocksville until about fifty to a hundred years ago, I was told," Jason began, "until a war caused the town's dwellers to split apart." "There we go again," Elena whispered, a tease, "Don't mind her, she just doesn't believe anything. So... as I was saying, there was a war between North and South Rocksville... "What caused the conflict?" I interrupted, barely able to withstand the suspense. "Okay, this is what happened..." he continued, "Once the people of the South, here and all the lands far up, were suspected of harboring a woman who was practicing dark magic. And, unlike today, when the "computer age" has turned society's thoughts about dark magic or magic into some "myths," back then, anyone thought to have supernatural abilities was considered a threat and was to be hanged. So when the 'Northerners' heard about this, they requested for the woman to be hanged, but the people of the south did not agree to it, so that caused the chaos. But after a couple of days at war, the sage of Northern Rockville came out to the front lines and requested that the conflict be resolved by talking and by talking with the woman in question. There was a series of words exchanged during the conversation, and at length, right in the midst of thousands of people, a dark portal opened and shackles of chains came out, wrapping up the sage, and she was led into a dark, empty space. Both women have never been seen since then. They say that an existing proof is the valley that lies about five thousand meters away from here, called the "Lost Valley". It is believed that the valley formed after the portal swallowed up both women, and that no one has ever been allowed to go in there. Anyone who goes there never returns, and as to what happens to them, no one knows. This land in-between two huge towns has been named 'No Man's Land' ever since. " "That's terrific," I complemented, despite how sleepy I was feeling. "No one will have so much time to sit and invent such a weird and twisted story, if you ask me, Lena." "Oh come on, not you too?" Elena replied, still not convinced by what she heard. "Wait a minute, Jason, you kept pointing north while you were talking." I hope it's not what I am ... "It might just be, if you're thinking of asking if it's where we discovered Homer, yes, that same valley. "We... No, I'll say I do not know how HOMER was built there, but I heard it came out of nowhere sometime after the incident occurred, and no one had gone in or out, but that to me makes no sense." "Finally admitting it," Elena teased, "You saw that there were prison cells with bloodstains on the walls. That clearly indicates that there were people kept in there either against their will or as a punishment for something done. And the fairy said it used to be home for her people until the forces of darkness took over and most or all of her people were kept there in those cells. To top it off, I've been to the spiritual HOMER, well... in my dream when she took me there, and so...if the spiritual is now physical, Oh my God, Jason... I began to shiver, "What?" He asked, still not realizing the urgency of the matter "The portal opened to bring the spiritual to the physical sight. That means the bridge between two worlds, to be specific, earth and the spirit world, is Homer. Homer is the gateway to the spirit world. " "Augh ohhh." "What! You girls are freaking me out!" Elena wondered. Jason chickened out, "Okay, in simple words to a dumb guy, you opened the gate to the spirit world, and that means the spirits are already in our world, and we have no fucken time left to waste. Either we hatch a plan now and die trying to save Rockville and possibly the world, or we die pretending we know nothing about these, but both options end up with "die". You two messed up big time. Elena frowned, giving me the stomach aches I dislike most. We kept on talking for about thirty minutes more, then Elena and I retired into her tent while Jason decided to sleep in the car. The following morning was rather weird as we woke up to see Jason, sleeping soundly on the floor with a bruised forehead, and the door of the car left ajar. It took a lot of shouting and, well, a couple of slaps to get him to wake up. I was so scared that I had begun to think he had kicked the bucket. "Oh really? So "I'm going to sleep in the car" and you go get drunk? I didn't know you drank? Look into your eyes. I'm not sure you even slept. Look at how pale, weak, and tired you are... " "You talk... too much, Yo," he struggled to say. Elena took out a bottle of water from the tent and gave him some to drink, then gave him the rest to wash off the sleep from his face. After he had breakfast, which we were able to put together from the few things Elena and I brought, we were sure he was fully awake, so we began to interrogate him to get some real answers. "I can sue you both for calling me or thinking that I am a drunkard. I'd rather... "Just shut up and tell us why the hell you were down there, Jason. "What happened?" Elena demanded, as we were all growing impatient. " I don't know if it was a dream or a vision, but there sure was pro wrestling involved," he smiled. I remember adjusting the seats, so I could relax and sleep. Then, when I was about half an hour into my sleep, I found myself at a seashore, and the fairy, that woman, joined me and said to me that there wasn't much time left, so I was to be trained. The sun was burning at its hottest, and she asked me to feel the heat of the day and try to make it pop out of my fingertips. Well, technically that sounded absurd, and I couldn't do it. She then took me to a very dark place where I could not see a thing and asked me to find the door, so I could get out. I was left there roaming all by myself. The room kept growing hotter and hotter by the second. At a point, all my focus was on the hot room because I could feel my body grow super warm, and with my mind I freely let go of the heat, channeling it through my veins and making it appear as fire in my palm, and oh my God, I was actually holding fire in my palm. I almost freaked out, I swear. " "Wow, that's an awesome story, which still doesn't explain why the floor was the perfect place to spend the night." I interrupted, "And your forehead?" Elena teased, "Won't you two ever believe a word I say?" Next time, back up your words with evidence and find good stories to tell for a lie. No more drinking, aye? " He said, his brow furrowed. I scolded, and joined Elena, who was vacating the scene to pack up some items that would come in handy for the rest of the journey to Homer. As we were murmuring inside the tent to each other about Jason's being an alcoholic, my attention was caught by Jason's shadow. He kept struggling to contain what appeared to be a ball but kept shifting shapes because it was unstable, and I could hear his giggles as he threw it from his left-hand palm to the other. "What's he getting into this time?" Elena inquired, and the response was "not sure." As we both stepped out of the tent, our mouths went wide open at first, but then I regained my composure, pretending it was nothing surprising to see my male friend playing with fire in his palm, beating it into different shapes easily. "What in the world!?" I thought, "Caution! You're going to get burnt. That's fire. " Elena panicked. "You're right," he agreed, "I'm still a beginner, and the funny thing is we're stuck here." "What do you mean we're stuck here?" I smiled, "I kinda... don't know how to put it out there." "Great, show off," I growled. I don't know if it's jealousy, but first it was Elena, and now Jason, "When is it going to be my turn?" I frowned. While I was whispering to myself, Jason was struggling to minimize and contain the fire he had in his palm, but things had escalated, and unfortunately, he directed it to the floor and attacked a bunch of dry sticks, partially burnt out and gathered together as though they had been used for a camp fire beneath the oak tree twelve meters from me. My heartbeat increased quickly and at once I saw flashes of pictures of a building that had been caught on fire. It looked so familiar. People were standing outside, screaming their hearts out. Some were injured and others were dead. The scene was unbearable, yet I couldn't stop myself from its horror. I screamed out loud, "hîe... wiûtan!", not knowing what it meant, but I realized my two companions were staring a hole through me. I wiped off the tears that had snaked down my cheeks, then Jason hugged me tight, saying "wow! What was that?! " "Since when did you start memorizing the spells?" Elena interrogated "What're you guys talking about?" I marveled, "the fire, it went out when you said those words, 'hie...wotwih wan...whatever, but I saw it." She exclaimed, "I don't know what you're talking about. I saw a disturbing vision. I explained, "There was fire everywhere." What were the words you said? " They demanded much more eagerness than before. "What did I say to get them this thirsty?" I thought to myself. "I'm sorry, but I don't know what you heard," I countered, "but let's get going; we have a gate to close." Elena pointed out Looking in the direction, I saw a pink-colored phone cover with the inscriptions on it. We got closer and picked it up, only to find the name 'Perry Griffins' on it. "How did Perry's phone cover get here?" worried Elena interrogated, wheedling me into the suspicion that we were not alone, but could it be? I didn't like to give away the spoiler, but I think this couldn't be from our visit a long time ago, "I implored," turning their attention to the sticks gathered together next to where Jason's fire had burnt the dried leaves. "Someone camped here two or three days ago, or maybe a few hours before our arrival, because it looks fresh." I hope it's not Perry. What is she looking for in a place like this? " Elena panicked, "I hate oh's. Let's just go. Maybe she's in Homer. Maybe she heard us speak. Jason growled. I got into the tent and rummaged through my things to grab the Halloween witch costume. I didn't mind the teasing the two gave me, but we packed everything into the car and, because of the blockages the rocks provide and the forest, we had to go on foot. Nevertheless, we went to HOMER.