AmethYst

Chapter Two

Miles returns home and places the book on his desk, where his computer is alongside a desk lamp facing a window. He takes a seat on the gamer chair in front of the desk. "Here goes nothing," he mutters, opening the book, expecting something to happen—but nothing does. Miles sighs in relief and flips through the old, brown-spotted pages of the book. Finally, he comes across a text written in perfect calligraphy with ink. The text reads:

"Roses are red,

Violets are blue,

Purple shall reveal Amethyst through Ἠέλιος."

Just below the text is what appears to be a mirror, but when Miles glances at it, he doesn't see his reflection. The mirror has engraved roses around it.

Miles flips through the rest of the old, brown-spotted pages of the book. They are empty. "They're empty!" he exclaims, pounding his hand on the desk. He leans back in his chair, thinking, How am I gonna get anywhere with this piece of information? He digs into his pockets and pulls out his cellphone. He considers contacting Haley to tell her what little he knows but then erases the thought and tosses his phone onto the bed.

He gets up from his chair and lies on his bed, staring at the ceiling and thinking about what he read in the book. He picks up his phone from the bed, types in his password, and opens a search engine. He types the word "Ἠέλιος" into the search bar. "According to Greek mythology, he is the sun god," Miles says to himself. He clears the search bar and types in the word "Amethyst." He reads that it's a purple mineral stone. Glancing through images, he realizes the stone looks just like the one his grandfather gave him before he died. Miles quickly gets up and starts searching through his bedside drawer.

He opens the first drawer and finds a picture of his entire middle school class. He glances at the group photo, remembering his school days with Laurel, a look of sadness crossing his face. He puts the picture in his pocket and continues searching for the stone. In the second and final drawer, he finds it—right beside a picture of him receiving an award for a kendo competition. Ignoring the other contents, Miles grabs the stone and walks over to the light switch, turning it off. Back on his bed, he uses his phone's flashlight to shine light through the stone. He notices tiny other rocks within the stone. Feeling drowsy, Miles stands up, moves to his desk where the book lies, opens the page with the text, and places the stone onto the mirror. He takes a picture of it and sends it to Haley with the message: "Come over to my house tomorrow morning. I think I've found something."

Miles places his phone on the desk and goes to sleep.

Sunlight streamed through the window the next morning, hitting the amethyst perfectly. A strange phenomenon unfolded—the light refracted through the stone, reflecting off the mirror and casting an ethereal purple glow throughout the room. Miles, still asleep in bed, felt a pull, like a wave rushing over him. He jolted awake to an intense, disorienting feeling, but before he could process it, everything went dark.

When he opened his eyes again, he found himself lying on cold, damp ground, surrounded by towering trees. Shadows clung to the dense forest, and the air was thick with an eerie silence. "This must be a dream," he whispered, pinching himself hard. But even as he tried to wake himself up, reality settled in—this was no dream.

His pulse quickened, and he wrapped his arms around himself, the isolation and strangeness of this place pressing down on him. But a single thought rose above his fear: Is this where Laurel might be? The possibility ignited a spark of courage. He got to his feet, glancing around the forest. "I need to find someone," he muttered, shivering slightly. "This place gives me the creeps."

Miles wandered for what felt like hours, searching for any sign of life. But the forest remained dark and silent, as though it held its breath. Soon, the sky began to dim even further, casting the woods into an inky twilight. Realizing he'd need shelter, he began gathering firewood and continued walking until he found a cave nestled under the roots of a giant pine tree. He set up a small campfire at the entrance, using two sharp stones to create sparks until he coaxed a flame to life. He huddled beside it, relishing the warmth, when something in the shadows caught his eye.

Two glowing red eyes peered at him from the darkness.

His heart stopped. He kept still, his gaze locked on the eyes that seemed to be sizing him up from afar. He swallowed hard, the hairs on his arms prickling as the creature crept closer, the faint rustling of bushes a soft warning. Miles felt his survival instinct kick in. He jumped to his feet and bolted deeper into the cave, his footsteps echoing as he ran blindly through the darkness, not daring to look back.

Before long, he came to an abrupt stop, skidding to the edge of a cliff within the cave. A river rushed far below, the drop dizzying. Desperate, he glanced over his shoulder to see the creature—a hulking, shadowed beast with blood-red eyes—closing in. With no other option, he took a deep breath, braced himself, and jumped off the cliff just as the beast lunged at him.

Miles thinks, Is this the end? Will I ever see Laurel again? He closes his eyes as he continues to plummet.