Chapter 3: The strange room

Ashley’s POV

A low rumble vibrated beneath my feet. I gripped the edge of the sink as the floor trembled. The shaking grew stronger. The mirror rattled against the wall, and the metal fixtures began clattering as though someone were violently shaking the entire aircraft.

I stumbled sideways, grabbing the sink with both hands. I lunged for the handle on the door and twisted it, but it wouldn’t budge. I tried again, turning it harder until my palm began to hurt.

Another violent shudder threw me against the door. I winced, clutching my shoulder, before immediately pounding on the surface with both fists.

“Hello?! Is anyone out there?” My voice sounded distant beneath the deafening rumble. “Help! Someone, please!”

I slammed my hands against the door again and again. The floor was wet and now slippery. I staggered backward, desperately trying to keep my balance as the restroom seemed to tilt at an impossible angle.

The book slipped from my grasp. It hit the floor, skidded across the wet tiles, I barely had time to register it before my feet shot out from under me and crashed onto the floor, landing hard on my hip.

I tried to push myself up, but another violent jolt sent me sliding across the tiles. Then a blinding, overwhelming light flooded the restroom, swallowing the mirror, the sink, and the door until I couldn’t distinguish anything around me.

I threw my arms over my face. Then the floor vanished beneath me. There was nothing and i was falling.

I tried to scream, but the sensation of weightlessness stole the breath from my lungs. My body felt strangely suspended, as though gravity had suddenly forgotten I existed.

For one terrifying second, I thought I was dead. Then I heard a loud thud!. Something solid slammed into my back. I hit a soft surface, bounced, and rolled sideways before coming to an abrupt stop.

“Hey!” I screamed holding my waist.

For a few seconds, I couldn’t move. I lay there with my eyes squeezed shut, gasping for air while pain radiated from my lower back. What just happened? Had the plane crashed?Was I still alive? I slowly opened my eyes.

A strange ceiling came into focus above me. It was brown, uneven, and made of what looked like tightly woven branches and dried grass.

I clutched my side and struggled into a sitting position, my eyes darting around the unfamiliar room. A wooden bed stood against one wall, its thick mattress covered with a rough linen sheet and a faded wool blanket. Beside it sat a small three-legged stool, a wooden chest, and a battered clay jug resting on a low table.

Across the room, a stone fireplace occupied the center of a soot-darkened wall. A few glowing embers lay beneath a blackened iron pot suspended from a hook, while bundles of dried herbs hung from a wooden beam overhead.

There was a narrow window with wooden shutters Beneath it sat several baskets of wool, and a pair of worn leather shoes. Near the fireplace, a wooden chair stood beside a small table covered with a rough cloth.

I slowly turned my head, then I looked up. A large hole gaped in the thatched ceiling directly above the bed. Strands of straw dangled from its jagged edges. I looked at the hole, then at the bed.

My mouth fell open. “You have got to be kidding me.”

A woman suddenly burst through the wooden door, nearly colliding with the frame as she hurried inside. She looked to be in her late thirties or early forties, with her dark hair pulled into a loose bun beneath a faded linen head covering. Her long, black cotton dress was worn thin around the sleeves, and a rough sackcloth apron was tied around her waist. Mud stained the hem of her dress, while a few wisps of hair clung to her damp forehead.

She looked like she’d stepped straight out of a medieval history book. The woman rushed toward the bed, her eyes widening when she noticed me sitting on the floor.

“Good heavens! Are you hurt?”

I opened my mouth. Nothing came out.

She glanced at my face, then at my clothes, and finally at the enormous hole in the ceiling. Her eyes widened further. “Did you…” She pointed upward, then turned to look at me. “Did you put a hole through the roof?”

I looked around the room again, searching for anything remotely familiar. A suitcase, a phone, an airplane seat, anything. Nothing. I looked back at her, blinking hard.

She threw her hands into the air before looking me over again. “Ashley… are you okay?. And where on earth did you get that from?.”

I followed her gaze down to my clothes. My travel outfit suddenly looked wildly out of place against the rough wooden furniture and stone fireplace. My fitted top, trousers, and sneakers seemed to belong to an entirely different world. Which, considering the circumstances, was beginning to feel like a very real possibility. I ran my hands over my clothes, my fingers trembling slightly.

My gaze dropped to the necklace resting against my chest. I touched it, as though I could somehow prove that everything around me was real. My stomach dropped, the book, the restroom, the blinding light, the sensation of falling. My breathing became uneven. I looked around the room again, this time with growing panic.

The woman stared at me. The confusion in her eyes gave way to something closer to concern. “Ashley?” she asked cautiously.

My head snapped toward her, she knew my name. How?

Then she stepped closer and pressed the back of her hand against my forehead. I jerked away. “are you sure you’re all right?.”

My eyes widened. Why was she speaking to me like we’ve know each other, or was she the older woman?. Slowly, I mumbled. “Are… are you that old lady?.”

“what?.” Her eyes widened. “Come on! I know I’ve age lines but i don’t look that old. By the way, I think you should head out now… Aries is already outside waiting for you.” She headed towards the door.

She said the name as though I should have known exactly who she meant. I stared at her, she stared back. Then she shook her head and muttered something under her breath before walking toward the doorway again. “Only God knows where you got that from.”

I kept pinching myself hard to make sure this was real. The woman adjusted her apron and turned ri me. “Aren’t you going? The hall should be full to the brim by now..” She turned towards the door.

I stood frozen, my thoughts tumbling over one another. None of this made sense. I hurried after her, stopping just before she disappeared around the corner.

“Wait!” She stopped and turned to me.

“Where am I?”