“What the hell happened?” Courtnie Featherstrom shrieked frantically as she threw open the security room’s doors.

Fifty heads turned to look at her as she entered.  She glared around at everyone, placing her hands on her hips.  Everyone was sitting in front of a computer, each set to monitor a camera placed in the forest.  Anyone caught in the camera’s lens was immediately arrested, no questions asked. 

“The—the computers have stopped monitoring,” a nervous security worker squeaked.

Courtnie’s attention snapped to the woman.  She was shrinking back in her seat, her dark eyes wide with fear of what Courtnie would do to her.  Courtnie almost laughed at how pitiful the girl looked.  She was small, shorter and skinnier than the average worker in the security room.  She couldn’t have been more than nineteen years old.  “Very good,” she said slowly, almost sarcastically.  “Care to tell me how they came to stop monitoring?”

Fifty heads began shaking simultaneously.  “No one knows, ma’am,” a more brave worker in the back called out.  “It might be a virus, someone may have sabotaged it.  It could be anything.”

Courtnie’s eyes widened.  “Sabotage, you say?”  She looked up, blinking.  “Excuse me.”

Before anyone could react, she stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her.  Courtnie’s hands clenched into fists as she stomped down the long, dark hallway.  The Government’s building may have been large, but she knew how to navigate her way around.  And now, with her anger to guide her swiftly through the halls, she was headed straight for the prison wards.

Courtnie cursed under her breath viciously.  She couldn’t believe her ears when Fortis told her the news, that the cameras on both sides of the Gate had stopped monitoring.  She just couldn’t fathom how perfectly good cameras and computers could randomly malfunction like that.

That was, unless someone purposely infected them.

She could think of only one person who would do something so vile, one person who relentlessly tried to meddle in with the Government’s plans.  And even though they’d caught her long ago and locked her up, she still managed to be the bane of Courtnie’s existence.

Digging through her pockets, Courtnie pulled out a ring set of keys.  Every key to every door in the building was placed onto this ring, giving her access to anything she wanted.  Since she was the one in charge, she was the proud owner of the ring, making sure that everyone knew that she was the one who controlled everything.

Courtnie felt herself smile as she rifled through the keys, looking for the correct one.  Every key was hand labeled so that she wouldn’t be standing around all day guessing which key was which.  “Dammit, where is it?” she muttered to herself, becoming flustered as time ticked on.  “Aha!”  She smiled thinly as she tugged onto a rather large key labeled Prison Wards Entrance.  Finally.

She roughly shoved the key into the key hole, twisting it impatiently.  She heard a faint click and then pulled the key back out.  After dropping the keys back into her pocket, she pulled open the door and stepped inside.

The door locked automatically after she closed the door behind her.  Courtnie looked around, taking in the familiar sight of the metal hallway, before hurrying through.  Her footsteps echoed as she walked, incredibly loud in the silence.  Courtnie smiled.  She could only imagine how threatening this must have sounded to everyone on the other side.

She turned down another hallway, elated to hear the shrieks and cries of the woman trapped there.  Something about the woeful, helpless cries that amused her.  She smiled, waving at every cell as she passed, ignoring the hateful glares she received in return.

Her smile slowly faded as she neared the last cell.  She was there, breathing despite Courtnie’s wishes just to put an end to it.  She begged Fortis to let her kill her, to stop this nonsense, but Fortis continuously told her no.  But, that never stopped her from imagining what it would be like to watch the light leave her eyes, to watch as her breathing came to a final stop.

Too bad dreams weren’t reality.

Courtnie stepped up to her cell, and slammed her hands into the bars, “You,” she spat.

She barely moved.  Courtnie watched as she shifted on her cot, her eyes meeting hers with burning hatred.  “What do you want, Courtnie?” she spat back.

“I know what you did to the computers,” Courtnie snapped venomously.  “You infected them with something, didn’t you?”

She laughed bitterly.  “Oh, but Courtnie, how could I ever do such a thing?  I’m trapped in here all the time.”  She waved her hands around.  “A lovely place, might I say.  Would you like to join me?”

“You did something,” Courtnie insisted angrily.  “You did something, and I’m going to find out exactly what.”  She paused dramatically.  “And when I do, let me tell you this: Fortis won’t be able to stop me from slitting your throat.”

With that, she let her hands fall away from the bars, and she stormed out, hurrying away from her cell and the prison wards in all entirety.

The | Gate

“You all know what’s said to be beyond the Gate, right?”

Faye bit her lip to keep from laughing as she looked around at all the girls in the tent.  They were all leaning forward, clutching their pillows tightly as they stared Errika down with wide eyes.  This was how it always was during The Legend of the Gate.  Every year girls hung on to every word, looking at Errika like she knew all things.  This thoroughly amused Faye for many reasons.  Though, this main one would have to be because most girls came more than one year and had heard the story before.

“What is it?” a young girl, probably thirteen, squeaked.  This was her first year to the campout, Faye observed.  She didn’t recognize her.

“Well, Janie,” Errika murmured slowly, dragging every word out to be dramatic, “it is said that there is a foul beast residing just beyond the Gate’s borders.”  She smiled maliciously.  “It’s also said that before the Gate was brought to be, the beast roamed free, eating every innocent woman in sight.”

Some girls shrieked, their grips tightening on their pillows. Faye couldn’t understand what they thought was so scary about what Errika was saying.  She was being casual about it, as though she was simply giving you a lesson in history.  Though, Faye mused, eyeing her friend in amusement, that may have been why it got to the girls so much.  Because it sounded like something read in a history book.

“As centuries past, the people of Cesve began to lose hope,” Errika said woefully.  “But, then, a great ruler emerged from the ashes of the dead and repaired what was lost.”

A girl who looked no older than fourteen murmured, “Was it . . . ?”

Errika nodded, smiling magnificently.  “Yes, Rey, it was the great Fria, the creator of peace.  She had her people create the Gate, telling them that in order to save womankind from such a horrible fate, that the creature had to be locked up.  The workers honored her so much that they built a gate so long that it traced along the whole border of Cesve, cutting the beast off from ever entering again.

“But, it is said that someday the beast will overcome the Gate’s incredible power.  As time goes on, the beast becomes stronger and stronger feeding off those who dare to near its home.  Someday, maybe soon, the beast’s malice will be unleashed once more.”

Faye smiled as the girls eyed each other fearfully.  A couple of the girls were as old as she and Errika were—seventeen.  She couldn’t understand how people could still believe in such stories as fake as those.  It seemed highly unlikely that a creature would live as long as it did, steal seeking vengeance for being locked behind a gate.  And if it were so powerful, wouldn’t it have broken through by now?

Though, what were they supposed to think was behind the Gate?  The Government gave no hint, no clue as to what was hidden there.  This didn’t used to bother Faye.  She used to think it was for the greater good—like Courtnie had always assured them.  But, as she grew older, she began to doubt.  Wouldn’t people be more likely to listen to the Government’s words if they knew what was behind there?  Surely the Government didn’t think that fear of the unknown was going to stop everyone.

Well, apparently, they did.

“Lights out!” Errika called suddenly, shutting off the only lantern supplying light within the tent.

A minimum of half the girls screeched out in dismay as the tent was covered in darkness.  Errika did this to torture the girls.  She liked having them go to bed right after she told The Legend of the Gate, enjoyed hearing them wail about being frightened of every little noise.  Errika was demented in that sense, Faye had always thought.  But, if she admitted it to herself, she found it amusing too.

“Faye,” Errika whispered in her ear suddenly.

“What?” she whispered back.

“On my count, scratch the tent as fast as you can.”

Faye struggled to contain her laughter as she dragged herself closer toward the edge of the tent.  They did this every so often, just to keep the girls on their toes.  When Errika was in the mood she would announce she planned on scaring the Campouters even more, and Faye was eager to oblige.  There was something about the girls screaming at something so simple that amused her greatly.

“One,” Errika murmured under her breath.  The girls were still complaining about being frightened, so there was no danger of being heard.

Faye got into position, her hands poised to start scratching.

“Two.”

Faye cast her friend a glance, smiling when she saw Errika was in the same stance.

“Three!”

Faye’s fingertips collided with the tent.  She laughed silently as she scratched as swiftly as she possibly could, creating a terrible sound.  She never liked the sound, but the result was always worthwhile.

“It’s come to eat us!” a girl shrieked. 

“It’s right outside the tent!”

“Errika!  Help us!”

Faye and Errika shared a look.  Errika nodded before letting her hands fall and hurrying back to the lantern.  Faye rushed back to her sleeping bag, trying to pull off a convincing frightened look.  A moment later the lantern came on.  Errika stared, wide-eyed, pulling off a great frantic look.  “What the hell was that?” she shrieked.

“It’s the beast!” a girl wept.  “We’re all going to die.”

Errika shook her head, holding up a finger as she listened dramatically.  Faye stared at her intently with everyone else, feeling the rush of the joke flow within her.  Sometimes she really loved being in Errika’s little tag team.  “Well, whatever it was,” Errika murmured, sounding perfectly relieved, “it’s gone now.”

“I’m never going to fall asleep now!” a girl Faye recognized whined. 

“Yeah, well, try.”  Errika rolled her eyes.  “And no, the lantern is not staying on all night.”

And then the lantern was off, enveloping the tent into complete darkness.

The | Gate

“Terence!” Kole yelled, searching frantically as he jogged through the woods.  He’d been looking for hours, long after the sun had been replaced by the moon and the stars.  With each passing moment he became more worried, fearful that the Government had taken him away for trespassing into the Gate’s territory.  In the back of his mind, Kole was scared that he was now trespassing onto the Gate’s territory. 

“Terence, come on, this isn’t funny!”

A branch snapped, and Kole whipped around.  He sucked in a sigh of relief when he saw that it was only a squirrel scampering around, chasing nothing.  He paused a moment to shake off the scare before continuing on.

The | Gate

Faye closed her eyes, taking in the cool breeze of the night.  She shivered, frightened when she saw her sister’s face, distorted in agony.  In an instant, her eyes reopened, and the forest appeared before her.

Again with the dream.  She’d hoped that since she’d had a great day that her nightmares would leave her, give her a break.  She’d barely thought of Terra or her death at all that day, which was a great improvement.  But it seemed as though her mind thought otherwise.

Faye rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand, trying rid herself of the exhaustion holding her hostage.  She didn’t want to go back to sleep, to relive the horrible moments of her sister’s death.  She wanted to stay awake where nightmares were only nightmares, not reality.  She wanted to stay awake and be happy.  Not horrified, mortified, and crushed.

She had to walk this off.  If she just stood there, consumed in her thoughts, she was going to drown.  She had to keep moving, to keep her mind on her surroundings, not her sub-consciousness.  Faye sighed deeply, feeling her feet move her through the forest.  In the back of her mind she knew she was doing something incredibly stupid, that she could end up in the Gate’s territory, but now that she’d started she couldn’t bring herself to stop.

She walked for what felt like hours.  The forest was dark, frightening with the moon casting shadows over everything.  Her nerves were on edge.  She was conflicted on whether she liked the distraction or not.  Sure, she wasn’t thinking of her nightmare anymore, but was this really better?  Either way she was terrified.

A snap.

Faye whipped around, her eyes searching for the source of the noise.  Was it the Government coming to take her away to the prison wards?  Had whatever been hidden behind the Gate been freed, and she was going to be the first victim?  She searched, dread and anxiety filling her when she found nothing.

Another snap.

Wait, the sound wasn’t coming from behind her.  It was coming from in front of her, sounding as though it was drawing closer.  Faye’s insides froze, her mind playing horrible games with her.  It was the beast; it had escaped.  With her death playing her head over and over again, she moved forward, stepping further into the forest.

What are you doing? her mind screamed.  You’re walking straight toward your death!

Faye knew full well that what she was doing was completely idiotic.  But she couldn’t stop walking.  She was on autopilot, her feet continuing to move even though she begged them to stop.  It was as though they knew something she didn’t, a hidden secret that even her mind couldn’t grasp.

And then, all at once, her feet stopped.

Faye looked around frantically, hoping that her life wasn’t about to end horrendously.  She looked straight forward, her eyes latching on to a pair of bushes.  There was something odd about them, something behind them that seemed off.  Her eyebrows crinkled together.  What was that?

She rushed forward, pushing her way past the bushes.  Her hands collided with metal.

Faye screeched, backing up.  Her eyes shot up, and then she realized: she was standing right in front of the Gate.