Biohuman

Keng and the group followed behind the three Elven women as they chatted like they were out on one of those "girl\'s days." They talked in another language Keng and the others couldn\'t understand, leaving the six to give odd glances at each other and mouth things at each other that half the group couldn\'t even understand. Keng tapped Manny and lifted his hands. Manny nodded and watched them as Keng signed in ASL.

"Do you think we can trust them all the way to wherever Gloria is?" Keng asked.

Manny thought for a moment before responding back in ASL. "I think we can… Trust them. Is that how you do the sign for trust?"

"Yes." Keng replied.

"What scares me more is the other Ice Elves. Where are they?" Manny did bring up a good point as Keng looked around. The town was obviously bustling with obvious signs of life, but there wasn\'t any \'life\' around. Keng turned back and tapped Manny.

"What if they have Direwolves as pets? Wouldn\'t we be screwed?" Keng asked.

"There weren\'t any reports of Direwolves staying in this area." Manny replied. "Plus, they wouldn\'t be Snow Direwolves. They would be regular ones, closer to the wolves that would roam these areas."

"True." Keng puckered his lips as they stopped at an intersecting light. The light flashed for them to walk and as soon as he hit his foot onto the street, a strange ripple effect flooded his head. Keng reached up to grab his head and the sounds of many people grew around him. Around them.

"What the… hell?" Keng whispered.

"Hey you, okay?" Manny asked. Keng straightened himself out, only to see a bustling town full of Ice Elves around them. His face grew wide as he looked around. "Are you okay? Is everything alright, Lee? We have to keep following the Elves. They aren\'t waiting for us." Manny pointed out. Olivia and Ritsuka gave Keng a strange look.

"What?" Olivia looked around. She didn\'t see a soul. It was a creepy abandoned town that was fixed and the only people they did manage to see either wanted to kill them or were leading them somewhere unknown.

"Hey, let\'s catch up before they turn the corner." Ritsuka turned Keng around.

"You don\'t… You don\'t see them?" Keng asked. The three Ice Elves stopped and looked behind them as Keng asked his question. They all seemingly turned around and waited for the humans to come. Keng watched as Ice Elves gave them strange looks, moving away from them.

"See what?" Evan asked. "There\'s nobody here."

"There\'s loads of people walking the streets…" Keng pointed out. An Elven man gave him a weird look before saying something in Elvish. Keng couldn\'t understand it as Ritsuka patted Keng.

"Come on, let\'s go. They\'re waiting." Ritsuka pushed Keng forward. Ritsuka pushed Keng along, quickly moving back onto the sidewalk with the fizzle of Ice Elves disappearing around him.

Oh!" Keng tried to skid to a stop. He glanced around as Ritsuka continued to push him forwards, forcing him to walk. "They\'re gone…"

When the humans were close enough, the three Elven women continued as if nothing happened. They continued to chat away in Elven, leaving Keng and the others in the dark on what they were talking about. The three women led them to one of the larger buildings in the town. It was covered with snow with red brick poking out of it. The three separated at the door. One stood off to the left of the door while the other two stood off to the right, turning their attention to the humans.

​ "We\'re here." The sultry Elf announced. The glass door revealed to Keng and the others this was the "Downtown Governor\'s Building."

"Go in here and wait for a bit. Someone will come out for you. What you do after that is all up to you." The Ice Elf on the left spoke. She stepped forward, grabbed the door and opened it. The heat of the building poured out, greeting them as the two Elves on Keng\'s right motioned them in.

"T-thanks." Keng nodded, stepping in first. One by one, the entire gang stepped into the governor\'s building, being left alone in the outdated lobby. Chairs sat near the restored wallpaper walls as a huge fake plant sat in the corner with some small tables spread out. Magazines and old newspapers sat on these tables as Keng and the gang took a seat.

An empty desk filled with an assortment of office supplies sat off to left near a closed door. The door was white with a golden doorknob that was irregularly shaped. A hallway led down a lit path to descending somewhere Keng couldn\'t quite see. The floors were carpeted with an obnoxious orange-brown design.

"It\'s like we jumped in a time machine and got spit out where the entire building seems to clash with each other…" Olivia commented, finishing her look around.

"How did my parents even live through this?" Manny commented.

"Oh my, we have guests!" A soft female voice spoke. Keng, Ritsuka and Olivia were the first ones to see the woman. She was an Ice Elf in a secretary outfit. The sound of a door closing behind her made everyone else turn left. A taller man in a white button-up shirt, black slacks, black dress shoes and suspenders stood behind the woman. The woman rushed over to the desk and set the teacup and plate down before coming to greet them.

"Hello, hello! I hope you weren\'t waiting too long!" The Elven woman smiled. The man leaned against the desk, folding his arms as his legs criss-crossed. He seemed to study the group as the group looked at each other.

"Is Gloria here? We\'re here for them." Liz asked. The Elven woman nodded, beaming her pristine white teeth smile at them.

"Of course! We had gotten a notification that you were coming for her! Just give me a moment." The Elven woman stuck out a finger and turned to the man. He had a rough five o\'clock shadow and an undercut. He was wearing glasses as he looked at the secretary woman and nodded at her. She moved to her desk and sat down, pulling the teacup over to her as she took a sip.

"You\'re looking for Gloria?" The Elven man asked.

"Yes, sir." Keng nodded, standing. He began to step forward when a strange energy whooshed out of the man, stopping Keng in his tracks.

"We don\'t have to exchange pleasantries and shake hands." The man waved. Keng gulped looking at the others. They seemed to have felt the strong energy from the man too. "It\'s not like you\'ll be here any longer, anyways. I can take you to Gloria, but I\'m not sure you\'ll like what I\'m going to show you." He stood up from the desk and turned to the hallway ahead of them. "Follow me."

The pressure died and Manny was the first to stand. He moved over to Keng and looked at him.

"You good?" Manny asked quietly. Keng nodded and followed the tall man. The Elven man led them down the ramp. Doors stood at the left and right of them as they descended to the bottom of the hallway. They turned left as the Elven man stopped and turned to face the group. A single cracked door was at the end of the hallway as he looked at Keng like he was annoyed.

"Enter the door at the end. Don\'t ask questions about what to do. That\'s for you to answer." The man spoke harshly as he turned and moved past the group. Liz and Evan turned towards the man to ask a question but saw no one. The Ice Elf had disappeared like the rest.

"Do we go in?" Ritsuka asked.

"We can barely see them when they come. It\'s like they willingly phase in and out… It\'s hard to trust someone when they\'re constantly in and out." Manny complained.

"Enough." Keng tapped Manny. He took the first step forward, turning to look at the group. "Let\'s go." Keng led the way to the end of the hall. The cracked door let a sliver of light out. The door wasn\'t as pristine as the rest of what they saw. The white paint was starting to chip along the top and bottom of the door handle. It was slowly spreading to the left while the golden doorknob was dull and dusty.

"What the hell?" Manny commented. "Why\'s it nastier than the rest of the place?" No one answered his question. They all wondered the same thing. Keng took a moment to steel himself for what was ahead. He grabbed the doorknob which was ice cold. He let out a cold breath as he slowly opened the door.

"What the… fuck?" Evan\'s mouth was agape.

"You\'re seeing this too, right?" Manny asked, rubbing his eyes.

"Yeah." Ritsuka answered.his… a Portal?" Olivia asked.

"I think… This might be a portal." Keng nodded.