Suddenly, there is a shuffling of footsteps, and a muscly, bald man walks out of he shadows, scowling to himself. He wears a dark navy shirt and black trousers with steel boots. But the most prominent feature of his is the long, jagged scar that runs down the right side of his face, crossing his eye and fading into his neck.

Because none of us have moved an inch, he does not seem to have seen us and walks over to the table, looking for something. "Where is the damn thing?" he mutters furiously.

He turns around, and then the worst happens. 

He notices us.

He looks confused for a second, and then his face morphs into one of anger. "You three! What are you doing out here?

Malik looks at us. "You know, I hate to be that person, but I think now's the time to skedaddle."

Andy raises an eyebrow at him. "Well nah, Sherlock."

We all run in the opposite direction, and after a few seconds of shock, the man gives a shout of pure rage and runs after us. We go through corridors, twisting and turning hallways and around fifty million doors, but no exit. We are just about to lose the man when we reach a dead end- a high wall covered in decaying bricks.

"Crud." Andy mutters.

I nod. "True words you speak."

The man reaches us, and there is a feral look in his eyes as he brandishes a gun towards us. "Move an inch, and I'll shoot you."

Malik looks around, and I can tell he is thinking hard. After a while, a flicker of a mischievous smile appears on his face- barely noticeable, but there all the same.

He looks at the man, and a sudden look of shock appears on his face, but something tells me it is fake. "What is that?" he cries and looks over the man's shoulder.

Immediately, the man turns his head to see what he is talking about and Malik darts forwards and presses his fingers into the soft part on his neck below his ear. "Sweet dreams." he mutters, and the man's eyes roll backwards into his head and he topples forward, dropping the gun.

Malik rolls the man over and lays him on the side of the room. "Now no one will trip on him."

Andy gapes. "Did you-"

Malik shakes his head, probably knowing what Andy was going to say. "I didn't kill him- just knocked him out. Don't worry- I may be a pain in the neck, but I'm not a murderer."

I smile. "If that is the case, you have to teach me how you did that."

Malik grins. "Sure thing! But just saying, you might regret it once we start. Anyway, now we need to get out of this place."

Andy claps slowly. "So smart."

He rolls his eyes and begin to walk away, me and Andy in close persuit. After a few moments o turning left, right, forwards and (unsuprisingly) backwards, we come to a set of winding, grey stairs.

Malik looks at us. "If this isn't the way out, I'm accepting life here and becoming a hermit. Anyone else?"

I smile slightly. "I think you are the only one."

We begin to walk up, and a few seconds later, we emerge into sunlight on an empty road of dilapidated shops and houses. 

"Finally!" mutters Andy.

I nod. "I hated that place."

Malik looks around for a few seconds, and I see his eyes dart across the road sign. "Oh, I know where we are! We're only thirty kilometres away from our destination."

I frown. "That is going to take four to five hours, depending on our speed."

Malik checks his watch. "It's nearly three o'clock, so we'll probably get there somewhere from seven to eight. Wonderful."

Andy gives a one-sided smile. "And knowing our luck, something bad is gonna happen and we'll end up wasting an hour. So from eight to nine o'clock. Let's just start walking already."

We begin walking, and I briefly wonder about my town back home. Was it the same, considering time eas about to be seriously altered by three people, one of them from the very future? I thought about my two closest (and only) friends there: Cassie and Hamnet. I knew for sure they hated the constant heat and atmosphere of our town- I had not gone a day without listening to them.

Of course, that was before I ended up here. Then again, did they even know I was gone? I did not show up to the park in the evening, like we usually did, and they had not seen Florry and I today. I let my mind wander, and a wave of guilt washed over me as I remembered my mom. What if she had called the police? Then again, the police did nothing much but patrol borders and shoot anyone who came in their way.

And yes, that happened a lot.

Andy shakes me out of my thoughts. "Hey, Luke, what did Malik mean earlier about your 'voodoo brain-y stuff'?"

I pause, recalling what she meant. "Basically, the when I was two years old, the government planted advanced chips in mine and twenty others' brains around the world to make them connect directly with computers and some machinery (like a lock), so we could basically hack any system, soak up information really quickly and control a lot of people. Of course, the government decided that it was a bad idea, and banned all usage of technology and hacking machinery. It's tiring, but I can still use it."

Andy nods. "So that explains you being good at maths."

I nod. "Yes, more or less."

Malik whistles. "Man, the future's wierd."

I shrug. "Once you get used to it, it is not as weird. But thinking about it makes it stranger."

Suddenly, a blinding pain sears through my head, and I double over and press my hands against my forehead. In the corner of my eye, I see Andy gives me a concerned look and say something, but I can't hear anything above the ringing. Through the pain, I feel someone's hand on my back.

I hear an inhumanly deep voice echo through my mind. "LEAVE, LEAVE NOW, SPAWN OF DRAX!"

 After a few seconds, the pain fades, and my vision clears. I take in my surroundings: I'm on the floor, and Malik is crouching in front of me, his eyebrows knitted together in worry. 

"Luke? Can you hear me?"

I look at him tiredly and nod. "Y-yes."

I try to stand, but the world spins alarmingly and Malik grabs my arm before I hit the ground again.

"Sorry". I mumble.

Malik leads me to a small clearing of branches and gets me to sit down on a  small wooden bench. He presses his water bottle into my hands.

"You know the call." he says, and I drink it gratefully, aware that both he and Andy are watching me.

After a few moments, I hand the bottle back to Malik. "Thank you."

He takes it and puts it back in his bag, then looks me in the eyes. "Right. What happened?"

I shrug. "I-I do not know. Everything was fine, and then all of a sudden everything hurt and I heard this... weird... voice saying...." I trail off, my mind now focused on the man's words, which were the most confusing of all.

"What did he say?" Malik probed.

"He said something like, 'Leave, spawn of Drax'. I have no idea what that means, though."

Andy looks at me. "Your dad's not called Drax, is he?

I shake my head. "No. He is called Mike."

She pauses. "Than maybe you're a descendant of a guy names Drax? It does sound like a pretty old name."

Malik makes a T sign. "Hang on. Can I just ask a tiny question: Who the heck would be literally in Luke's brain? And how would they know Luke's ancestor?"

I shrug. "I am not sure. The man did not sound human. His voice seemed a lot too deep."

Malik seems to think for a moment. "Hang on. What if it's the man who helped Anne get back into the past-slash-present?"

I nod, understanding what he means. "That does make sense. But why would he warn me to leave?"

Malik raises an eyebrow. "Hey, I'm not the man- don't ask me!"

He helps me up, and after a few steps, my legs feel like they are back on Earth and not in Jupiter. As we walk out of the clearing, Andy looks at me.

"So, apart from all the weird stuff, what's life like in the future? Like, on a daily basis?"

I shrug. "Well, on a school day, I would go to school for the first half of the day, then come home and do my usual side-jobs, like bringing around newspapers and other things. Then I would take Florry to the park for a but, then I would take her home and meet up with my friends Cassie and Hamnet to do homework or just mess around. On weekends, I would do other jobs instead of going to school, of course."

Andy nods. "Why so many jobs?"

 I smile a bit. "Well, my dad is not there, somy mom and I have to. It's not as bad as you might think. Everyone apart from Mrs Forde is pretty nice actually."

Malik, who is walking ahead of us, calls over his shoulder, "Hey Andy, why are you so interested in Luke anyway?" He shakes his head. "Young love, am I right?"

Both me and Andy go red and look away, while Malik laughs.

"My point! And you're both blushing!" he cackles.

Me and Andy say the one thing on our minds.

"Shut up, Malik!"

Word count: 1577