Journey of Rick Heiden Ch. 07

David and I were not standing in a position to see, but given the result, I surmised that Amaré jumped in front of the bullet, saving Aiden. It left Aiden screaming in horror as Amaré dropped to the ground. David pulled his pistol and fired, causing Katheryn to collapse where she stood.

Aiden leapt upon Amaré in a flash, applying pressure to the wound in Amaré's abdomen. We rushed to his side.

"We need to get him through the portal," David said. "They can help him there."

I asked Amaré, who hadn't fallen unconscious if he could make it to the portal with assistance. He said he would try. The effort of David and I, with Amaré's help, wrangled him unsteadily to his feet. Aiden continued the pressure on the wound. He lurched forward as best he could with our support. He collapsed on the top of the platform.

"Pull his legs in, we must get completely on the disk," David said.

As we dragged Amaré, I asked Aiden, "What happened to your fear?"

"I don't know! Right now, I'm just afraid he'll die."

We bent Amaré's knees, drawing his feet in until they cleared the edge as the light in the recess began to intensify. David and I stood, and he held onto me as we watched the energy through the semi-transparent disk start to coil rapidly like a hurricane, and arcs of light began to emanate from the crevice. It turned and swirled as it reached higher, curving outward and over us as it went. I squinted to watch for as long as I could. It began closing in at the top, enveloping us within a sphere of energy, so intensely bright that it disappointed me when I couldn't watch anymore.

"Close your eyes. The light could blind you!" David yelled.

The bubble of light surrounded us, and the inside of the sphere glowed ever more brilliantly, which I could sense even with my eyes shut. I squeezed them tighter and buried my face in David's shoulder. I couldn't say how long it took, moments maybe. I felt an odd sensation, like a faint, but it must have lasted a split second as I still stood in David's arms. I realized a weight had come upon me, like having donned a coat with pockets full of lead, and a scent like that of extreme cleanliness. The light dimmed, and I could once again open my eyes. We had moved indoors to a white-walled room, in the same positions as before on a disk that floated on an identical portal like the one in the park, and I knew we were no longer on Earth.