7. Mission Black Rock

TYRE

Gloomy, I sat on a wooden chair closer to the hearth. I had wondered why a hearth would even exist in such a place. Just one innocent mistake with a fire and it'll all go berserk. Then it dawned on me that the place was probably magical and things didn't work the same way it did in the real world, I mean, The exit door was supposed to lead to the exit, wasn't it? And not to talk of the way time works in here. Neither day nor night. Neither cold nor heat. No windows to peer from. The place was a perpetual defier of nature.

My mind jogged back to what Mann said without waiting for my approval. 11 years ago, I didn't propose to Christy? C'mon, that's difficult to believe especially when the experience was quite memorable. I couldn't accept it for a second, that I wasn't supposed to exist, that my existence was a mistake. It felt too real though, our relationship. I'm pretty sure Christy, somehow knows I exist even if the world thinks otherwise. Oh, why was I thinking about that just now?; How Ann was faring at school. But according to Mann, she no longer ex–

"Can I sit here for a couple of minutes? " Abiola interrupted my stream of thoughts as she referred to an empty wooden barrel that stood 10 inches away from where I sat.

"Oh, please do. "

She sat on the barrel and adjusted herself severally to fit her convenience. After she was comfortable, she uttered in an anti-tension–al manner; "How are you feeling, Tyre?"

"I don't know, " I replied plainly.

She grinned. "Been there. "

I chuckled dryly. "Oh."

"I realize the need for you to unwind, so I hope I'm not in any way unnerving? "

I gazed at her face properly, she had this motherly aura. I probably can't explain how it felt but it was like I could feel her care.

"...or, am I? "

I shook my head.

She continued. "Good. I just wanted to see how you were faring and remind you that, you aren't in this alone. I...we are all here for you. The perfect bundle of friends you need. "

I nodded with a curt smile. "I know. "

"Good, " she said. "Now, we stick together, retrieve all shards of the Black Rock and be home again with our families. "

She talked with so much confidence and dedication and I wondered what her story was, whoever she was before she ended up here.

"I was a nurse... In Nigeria. "

Did she just read my mind?

"Fits you. " I said forcing out a lasting grin.

"Well, can't say I'm not flattered. "

We both smiled.

I suddenly became curious. "Mind telling me more about yourself? "

She yanked a deep sigh amidst a blissful smile. "Wow, I don't even know where to begin. Is it when I was in college? Or when I became a nurse? Or when I was in my mother's womb? "

"When you were in your mother's womb, " I teased as we both had a decent laugh. "Tell me everything. "

"Well... well... w–" she stuttered as her expression changed.

"What? " I asked without an iota of sensitivity.

I still had a smile on my face, but hers was beginning to fade.

"Remembered something? "

She got it together. "Yeah. Something like that. I'm sorry, excuse me, " she said and scrambled to her room like I'd said something to hurt her. I have never beheld such a mood swing in my entire life.

I heard pages flip. I veered to my right and saw Bobby at the distant end, diligently turning the pages of an enormous book. I never for a second thought about seeing a book in such a place, more or less witnessing someone studying with it. I paid more attention. Bobby wasn't studying, he was looking for something.

I found myself beside him. "No pressure. "

"I see you've woken up from your slumber of self-pity. " he lashed.

I smiled lightly. "What are we looking for? "

"We? " He said with his eyeballs wide open. "I was looking, you were moping. Don't try to be funny. "

"Sorry, " I apologized. I knew he hadn't completely forgiven me about the exit door earlier.

"No need to be sorry, just get off my hair for a second, I'm quite occupied...and pissed. "

"Have you seen Mae? " I asked overlooking his unrequited rudeness.

"She's by the garden, next to her room, " he replied snappily and continued flipping pages of the gigantic book. I was sure he wasn't going to respond to any of my questions again so I excused myself.

What was a garden doing here? It was like I was finding out new things about this cabin every millisecond.

I was misplaced in my thoughts for a while when something grabbed my attention. It was Jack and Margot, they appeared to be having a slight argument by the door where I'd first seen Margot emerge from. What were they like? Couples?

I wanted to see Mae and Sandra, not only because I hadn't talked to them since the day I first met them but because I wanted to appreciate them for accommodating my unconscious body in their room earlier. Sandra and Mae were the only ones who shared a room and it wasn't because they were related in any way.

I stood outside the tiny garden and almost instantly, a hand yanked me in.

"There you are, Mr. Tyre! " Mae yelped.

"You stunned the hell out of me! "

"Shh, " she cautioned softly. "Granny is asleep now. Don't wake her up. " She pointed to a lump of bed sheets. Sandra had fallen asleep while they were both looking after the garden and by Mae's reaction, this was not the first time.

"Shh, " I emulated her.

She smiled innocuously and picked up a sprinkling can.

"Mr. Tyre, meet Bella. Bella, meet Mr. Tyre. "

I looked around, flustered.

"Who's Bella. "

"Don't be silly. She's Bella, " she said pointing towards the orchid she was wetting.

"Oh," I said "I see. Hi Bella. "

Mae inclined her ears towards the plant like it was telling her a secret.

"She says hi. "

I smiled. "Good. "

"We aren't seven, you know. Bella is part of us too. I just hope she wouldn't be forced to go on missions with us. "

"Hmm, I hope so too, " I said playing along. "Wait, what kind of missions are we talking about? "

Bong! Bong!

We were alerted by the sound of a brass bell.

"Oh, It's time, " Mae said as she gently thumped Sandra to wake her up.

"Time for what? "

"Our first mission. "

***

We were back at the Core Room, I stood beside Mae who had her eyes concentrated on Man, and I wondered why such a kid of that age was fated to this mission of Mann's. What about Sandra? She seemed too fragile for things like this and I could tell she had amnesia.

Mann had just briefed us about what we were to do. It was a one-shot mission, where we had to obtain a shard of the Black Rock from the US Army fort in 1920, Bobby had themed it; Mission Black Rock. With the urgency, Mann operated with, he might have sensed the Rock being used right that moment.

Mann had the time and location of where the Black Stone was, and had left the rest of the mission with us but he cautioned us to be vigilant and to expect anything of a likeness to doomsday there, in 1920.

Bobby, who was clasping the giant textbook I saw him flipping through earlier sighed and said; "We would be headed to 1920, and precisely, during the October War; a war based on an unwarranted misunderstanding between the US and Germany. "

"How does that correlates with the mission to retrieve the shard? " Jack asked veering towards Bobby who then turned, facing Mann. Now, we were all facing him, our eyes fused to his.

"Get ready to find out. " Mann let out with a smirk.