I looked at my watch, 9:00, it was lights out soon. I put my books away. I swiftly climbed into the top bunk and wrapped myself in my blanket.
But the call never came, we were used to Carlos screaming lights out and to stop talking, but he was silent.
“Carlos?” I called. He didn’t answer. It really wasn’t like him to be late. We looked to where he always stood, by the lights. Carlos was not there. Phoebe and Rafe, the closest to Carlos, claimed that they didn’t see him anywhere.
He wasn’t anywhere to be found. Kira and Dorothy ran to find Ms. Nun.
We finally gave up went to bed. I could still hear teachers walking around trying to find Carlos. I finally fell asleep.
I was walking around the camp library finding a book on Mount Everest. It was for a scavenger hunt. We were to start on separate things. For example, a Monarch butterfly, the Loch Ness Monster, or the Great Wall of China. Most of the information was in the library. I walked down the corridor with my fingers running over the spines of books. I got to W for Neville Winston. I tugged at the book but it was stuck. I managed to pry it out. A plume of dust exploded into my face and I dropped the book. THUD! The sound echoed through the whole library. The once quiet, but always with some talking and laughter, had turned into complete quietness. Suddenly the world dimmed. I could see through the window that the outside had turned dark. I couldn’t hear anything else except for the thud echoing throughout the library. The world was bathed with purple light. Everything was black and purple. Only me and the book had colour. Then a black hole ripped open the floor. An air of cold was being sucked into it. The book fell through it. And so did I.
I woke up panting. It was still nighttime. I glanced at my watch. 5:05. I remembered the scavenger hunt. It’s still going on. But that…that never happened. Our group never had to find anything about Everest. But…was…was that how Carlos disappeared? Falling through a black hole? I thought. I immediately thought otherwise. Anyone would have saw the room turn black and purple. But I couldn’t stop thinking about it when I went back to sleep.
We got through our daily routine as usual. I didn’t mention the dream to anyone. It was just too weird. Then the news came. Bad news. Drew had been in the library and had suddenly disappeared. I stared at Ms. Nun. She disappeared? In the LIBRARY? That was where I had my dream!
We all went back to bed. Still thinking about the mysterious disappearance of Carlos and Drew.
I was walking down the corridor in the library again. I was looking for a book on volcanoes. I pulled on the book on the shelf. It was stuck. Annoyed, I pulled hard. I pulled it free but I fell backward. BONG! It echoed around the quiet room. I got up dazed, then the room darkened and filled with purple light. What was happening? A black hole opened in the floor. I screamed and stumbled backwards. I dropped the book and got sucked in.
I sat up and looked around. It was nighttime. I looked at my watch, 5:05. Wait…5:05 AGAIN? This is starting to get weird.
Then I remembered when I was 10, I had a dream of a car crash. And that was after my uncle was in a car crash. I had thought that was really normal. Because it made sense that I would dream of a car crash after that. And car crashes were common. Not like black holes opening in the floor.
After lunch, at 4:30, when we were supposed to work on the scavenger hunt to 5:30, I followed my friend Vanessa to the library, looking for a book on flowers.
“I wonder what will be in the book!” Vanessa said, excited, “A chestnut? Maybe then we’ll have to look in the trees!”
“Yeah, I hope so.” Then I froze. I remembered my two dreams about disappearing into a hole. Then Carlos and Drew’s disappearance. Then I remembered in the 2nd dream how I had dropped the book.
“What? What’s wrong?” Vanessa asked me.
“No no, I’m fine,” I said quickly, “I’m going to see how the other teams are doing, I’m just going to take a look,” I winked, “and maybe cause some havoc.”
“Oh sure! Go Cassandra!” Vanessa grinned.
I went to C for Isabella Chloe. I looked at the floor. A book. Not just any book. A book on VOLCANOES, the exact book that I had dropped in my dream. I picked it up and shoved it back in the shelf. I pulled out a different book, it wasn’t stuck. I ran down to find the book on Mount Everest. It wasn’t there. I realized that once you find the book you want, the black hole will appear. The dreams were REAL. They were what really happened to Drew and Carlos. I gasped. VANESSA!! I raced to the place where the flower book should be. It wasn’t there. And neither was Vanessa.
I ran to find the librarian, “She’s gone! She’s gone!”
“Calm down, who is gone?”
“V-Vanessa!!”
“Another child? I’ll call the others. I think it’s time we call the authorities!”
I went to bed, scared about having another dream. I knew what it was going to be about. Vanessa going down the hole. I realized that nobody could see the room turning black and purple. Only the person in trouble. Then I realized how everytime I had woken up at 5:05. What did that look like? SOS. They needed help. Well duh! Of course they do! I had to help them, but how? I fell asleep, exhausted.
I walked down the corridor with Cassandra, finding a book on flowers. We had a short conversation and Cassandra left. I found the book and pulled. It was stuck. I pulled harder and I stumbled. The room turned quiet, dark, and it filled with purple light, “Hello? Cassandra? Are you behind this?” I yelled, “This isn’t funny! Stop it!” A black hole appeared at my feet and I fell through it. But the dream continued, I was in a place I had never been to before. It looked almost like the Nether in Minecraft. But it was pretty cold. I saw a black haired boy with a bright blue hoodie running off into the distance, “Carlos?” He turned around.
I woke up at 5:05 again. I realized that Vanessa, Carlos, and Drew had disappeared at about 5:00. I had a plan. I fell back asleep.
At 4:50 I went to the library and looked for a book on trees. I pulled and just as I thought, it was stuck. I stepped to the side. And pulled sideways, so I wouldn’t fall backward when it came free. The book gave way and I dropped it. The air turned cold. THe library became quiet. The room dimmed and filled with purple light. A black hole ripped open the floor and cold air rushed into it. I walked backwards, holding onto the bookshelf. Just as I had hoped, the black hole wouldn’t close until something got sucked in. I yelled, “Vanessa? Carlos? Drew?”
“Cassandra?” Vanessa yelled back.
“Yeah it’s me! See the black hole?”
“Yes!”
“Okay! Are Carlos and Drew with you?”
“No, I’ll find them! I know where they are!” I heard her running off.
A minute later Vanessa appeared through the hole with Carlos and Drew.