The longer I stared, the more people seemed to appear, and there were cloaked figures standing with dark
pride on the two sides, hitting the slaves with a black thorny whip with immense force. Slash! The whip sliced
through my skin and blood spilled out, it was like burning a sealed wound with fire or tearing away the
bandages way before the wound was healed. I screamed out in pain and crouched down on the ground. “Go
faster, you filthy wretches!” one of the cloaked man yelled in a coarse voice, his black hood fell down as he
jerked his head to my direction. I startled as I saw his face—two deep holes dug into the place where his eyes
had once been, his torn-off skin stretched along his jaw bones to his eye sockets—but instead, tears rolled down
my cheeks and my body shook with fear.
I gazed up to the sky, realising it had turned a dark grey, black smoke swirled in a circle and a demon’s face
formed. I looked away, letting out a cry.
This is not real, this couldn’t be real! I thought to myself. The others looked at me in grief—they had the
same face as the cloaked man, which was not surprising anymore, and I instantly brought in the thought that I
had spoken out loud.
Abruptly, a tune of soft melodies rang from my pocket—my phone. In a swift movement, I snatched it out
and pressed the green button.
“
Hello?” “Oh, Casey, why didn’t you call me back? I’ve called you ten times and you haven’t—” “What?” I
spoke in incredulity. “I saw you went into the souvenir shop and you just didn’t come out, when I went inside to
find you, you weren’t there!” My mouth popped open soundlessly. “But I—” the whip whipped on me again, I
cried out. “Are you alright?” Simon panted, “Where are you?” “I—” “Please come back, I’m waiting for you.
Just in front of the shop.” Then, the call ended with a single beep. I hurried to the entrance single-mindedly.
A skeleton hand slashed out in front of me, blocking my way. I shoved it away with as much force as I had,
unsuccessfully, the cloaked man glared at me furiously. “Where do you think you’re going?” With a fling of his
arm, he grabbed the collar of my blood-stained shirt and flung me into the dusty corner of the passageway. A
loud crack sounded as one of my ribs broke, and the torment had gone far beyond my letting out screams, no
sound came out. I lay on the ground, nor moving, and waited until the cloaked man looked away again to the
other side of the Great Wall. Silently I crawled to the wooden door that seemed to be painted with blood, and
made my escape.
The world outside the door was absurdly different, daylight shined on me and heat warmed me up
completely. I touched my back softly, the wounds were gone.
“
Casey?” Simon’s eyebrows pulled together as he stared at me suspiciously. “Where’ve you been?” I raised
my gaze, “The Great Wall—I was with you there!”
“
No, I was waiting for you outside the shop all the time and—I supposed you had just fainted in the toilet”
he paused, “I can’t explain this, but—are you okay? You look green!”
How could this happen? I was inside with him, the Great Wall! “Never mind—let’s go home, I think you
need a doctor,” he said, holding my sweaty hand to help me up.
We left the place in bathing sunlight. Somewhere in the shadows, I caught sight of a man—the cloaked man,
smiling crookedly at me.
* * *