Battle Against Sphinx

Chapter - Eleven

Zara

We all sat down on the chairs given. I think he increases the reward as we go up the levels. Anyways the other three seemed deeply engrossed in the riddle.

“What are the critical points of life?” Paxton asked . I did not understand if he asked us or himself. “Education” I said. “Finding love” Julia replied. “When you lose someone or something more important” miles sighed. “But none of these suit the other parts of the riddle” Paxton said and kept his head between his hands.

“Let us move on. What are the critical points of a movie?” It was my turn to ask. “ When the villain is introduced?” Julia replied. “No, maybe the time when the hero has to change his character?” miles replied. “No, it’s the part where the villain and the hero meet. Go face to face.” Paxton replied and I actually nodded. “But again we are back to square one . None of these match the other parts” they sighed. Today was different. Everyone was tired and exhausted while I was energetic. So I took the lead.

“Let us move on guys. Don’t lose hope. What is the thing from which we can either fall or rise?” I asked. “Wall” “ Fence or a ladder” Paxton and Julia said. “ Balcony” miles replied. “It suits the last two parts, but not the first sentence” he said and suddenly a word came to my mind.

This is the answer. I finally cracked the riddle. This should be the answer . With all these thoughts I said the word out aloud. “Cliff”. All of them looked at me shocked. I tried to read them and see if they moved or indicated that this could be the answer. All of sudden Paxton smiled. I felt relieved. I sighed happily and then miles and Julia realised and jerked.

Paxton walked up to the keypad while we all prepared to hear any super loud sound. We closed our ears right and we heard the screech.

We went inside and saw that he had provided us with hot stir fried veggies. Even though we just the leftover pasta I felt my mouth watering at the sight of food. I just sat down and ate while miles giggled. I glared at him and he actually stopped. He did not say anything. No nicknames, no mocking , nothing. That was shocking to all of us.

Paxton mocked him. “What happened to the Nobel prize winner of nicknames today?” He nudged his shoulder and we all laughed. We ate a bit and kept the leftover for later. I carefully lifted the plate without spilling any food and saw there was nothing below it. “What are you searching for?” Paxton asked me and miles and Julia turned their attention to me.

“I am searching for the thing. Like the painting , the cake . What is it for cliff?” I asked curiously and they all looked at each other. Even they did not know. We lifted the water bottles and saw nothing. We removed the wrapper of the water bottle, still nothing. We roamed around in the empty room to find nothing.

Surprisingly there weren’t any cupboards, or tables. Only a double bed which could fit four people and few bedsheets. We opened them but nothing. We searched all the nook and corner only to come back to nothing.

We came and sat back in front of the food. Suddenly Julia gasped. It was a small one but still audible. I saw her and immediately understood what that look meant. It meant that she knew something . She understood something. “What is it?” I asked her. “What if the answer is only our thing?”

Cliff. CLIFF. No, no this cannot be happening. I thought it was a dream. A nightmare. Sometimes I get confused between my dreams and my past incidents. I thought that was a nightmare . I never realised it could have been real. I never wanted it to be real. But now as those words left Julia's mouth it hit me hard. It was real .

It was dark. He was there, just there. In front me , standing. And the next moment he was gone. Just like that he was gone. It could never happen . He can never come back . It is impossible. But what if he has come back? What if he did the impossible? What if he has returned ? This should never be happening. This can not happen………..