Into The Lost World

Chapter 2~ A Great Turbulence.

About a few thousand feet above ground, the plane had successfully taken off. All passengers were seated in their seats, as a few of them gazed so passionately at the clouds in the sky. It was indeed a sight to behold one that mesmerizes many and left the rest in awe. The captain in his duty, performed further announcement in which case he welcomed everyone properly and the passengers all felt relaxed and composed.

"Our flight to Mera city would take about two hours upon arrival at our destination. It's already fifty minutes past our departure time. We should be approaching Mera city very soon, Delvin", said his father, Bane Cross, who at every second, kept a locked eye contact to his watch.

Delvin observed this and worridely asked, "Dad, what's the matter??. You keep staring at your watch almost like you are expecting something or rather running out of time. We are on a plane Dad, what's the worse thing that can happen? You are just being paranoid. Nothing will occur, just try getting a nap and I.....I will be on a look out. if that would put your weary mind at rest", said Delvin, with a weak smile.

""I see you are now confident of your capabilities, Delvin. I am glad to see that You have taken the time to perfect all that I taught you and made it your own. That's quite impressive. I am proud of you, son", said Bane, and chuckled, feeling excited. Momentarily, they both just stared at each other, smiling as they laid their heads to their chairs comfortably.

Time had passed and the passengers were all engaged in one thing or the other. Majority fell asleep and a few were reading extensively but, seated at the back seats, were two boys enthusiastically having controversial discussions about soccer.

Their voices were quite loud. They were noisy and could care less of the discomfort they caused others who were at the moment, trying to enjoy the peace and quiet atmosphere of their flight.

"Oh please!! Lower it down! We are trying to get some sleep here!", a woman screamed as she tried to calm her husband from venting his anger as well at the boys and there by creating a scene. The boys were ignorant and didn’t care to listen to the lady. There were on a trip to Mera city for a live soccer game, and they were overexcited. The retired police officer, from earlier at the airport, was seated behind them, and saw the discomfort they were causing to a simple-minded couple, who were clearly old enough to be their parents, and so he drew closer to both boys.

"Excuse me boys, can you please lower it down?? Please, this is a public place and, as such, you are making the couple over there uncomfortable, likewise myself. So please, be considerate and do the right thing. You are grown men, so behave like one", said the retired officer, in an intimidating-toned voice. They both felt uneasy after his words and turned to the family across and sluggishly apologized. A few of the passengers seated close to them had seen what happened and were a bit amazed at how the officer seemed to have handled yet another matter peacefully.

"Hey Scott, look, it's the officer from earlier at the airport. He seems to have settled another misunderstanding. I think his words have a great effect on people by making them listen to him. I bet he's no ordinary officer. What do you think, Scott?", asked Lance, a friend. "Well, I think he's a good man, but, somehow, there's something about him that just feels off. I don't know, or maybe it's just my imagination", he replied.

There was about an hour left to arrive at Mera city, when suddenly, a strange pressure befell on the plane, like it was being sucked into nowhere. The forceful turbulence on the plane put everyone on the lookout through their windows and scared to their wits. As the turbulence became more intense, the weather suddenly changed and it began raining. It felt strange to everyone to have suddenly vanished from a clear sky into a rainy cloud. But it became strange when suddenly, the turbulence stopped, and the pressure just seized off. This traumatised the entire passengers, including the flight attendants who tried so hard to keep a calm expression as they stood up to prepare to serve food and drinks since it was the time.

" What's happening?? It's suddenly raining now??", asked a passenger, scared beyond his wits. A few other passengers, worried to the bone, repeated the question.

"What the hell is going on??!!" . A few looked out their windows in fear to try to understand what had caused the intense turbulence. A majority of the passengers were already panicking, believing it was a sign of a possible heavy rainstorm, so they believed, especially to those who had earlier listened to the broadcast of the National weather forecast right before arriving at the airport.

" For the love of God, what's happening?? Are we going to be okay??", shouted one of the passengers. The flight personnel were already serving food and drinks at the moment, totally ignoring the commotion and doing so well to keep calm. The passengers became uneasy and confused to see how composed the flight attendants were in the middle of the situation.

"It's okay everyone, there's no need to panic, it's just raining outside. This happens regularly!! So just keep calm! That is all", replied the flight personnel as she continued to serve food and drinks. There were passengers who couldn't take the nonchalant behavior of the flight attendants and they got agitated.

"If everything is okay as you say, why hasn't the captain said anything yet?? Isn't our lives important enough to be concerned?", asked Scott, disturbed by how reluctant the captain and his crew members were regarding the matter. Another passenger spoke as well, "Please, inform the captain to address the matter, it would go a lot to clear the commotion here." "But Madame, I assure you there's certainly nothing to be worried about. But if it puts your mind to rest, the captain will soon be making an announcement any moment from now", replied the flight attendants.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. I am quite aware of the present situation, but I can assure you it's totally nothing to be worried about. I didn't speak up at first because I didn't want to put the minds of my passengers in a state of panic. It's my job to ensure your safety as well as to keep a healthy and relaxed experience during the flight. But since you are all interested in knowing the status of the situation, I will gladly tell you. But first know this, I am getting every one of my passengers safely to Mera city. Now, about the weather, yes, we are presently facing a heavy rainstorm, and from the look of it, it's only going to get worse by the minutes. But please, everyone, trust me, I am going to do what I do best as a pilot and use every means possible to make it through this predicament. I will need every passenger seated to fasten their seat belts and hold on tight. In a few minutes, it's going to be bumpy. Over and out", said the captain.

It was at that very moment that the passengers knew they were in for a hell of a ride. "Dad, what do you think is going on?? It's clear this is no ordinary rainstorm. Do you think we will make it safely to Mera city??", asked Delvin, who had been calm analyzing the situation. Bane was a bit distracted at the moment, observing the passengers and creating a worse case scenario in his mind of the possibility of a crash, if by any chance, something went wrong.

"I don't know, Delvin, from the look of things, even the captain has no explanation as to what caused the turbulence just before the sudden rainstorm. He only made the speech to help calm his passengers and, from the look of it, it didn't seem to have any effect. Either way, hold on tight to your seat and make sure to buckle up tight and sturdy. I am not going to allow anything to happen to you, Delvin", said Bane, looking at his son with a calm expression. Delvin quickly understood his father's composure and the expression he made. "I am not scared, dad, and I know I am going to be fine. After all, I have you by my side", said Delvin, with a sense of faith in his father's words. "That's right, so sit tight and let's get past this", said Bane. Suddenly, after Douglas' conversation with his boy, a passenger screamed out loudly, attracting everyone's attention to her. "What's that! Look everyone!!......that looks like a...... a vortex!!", screamed the passenger. Immediately, every passenger looked out their window, curious to see what the woman was screaming about. "Oh my God!! What's that??", screamed another passenger, frightened by the possibility that they were in for a lot of trouble. It became extremely noisy on the plane, with most of the passengers screaming, some were praying, others were trying to reach out to their families. There was complete pandemonium on the plane. Everyone could feel the intensity of the situation with every turbulence on the plane. The flight personnel understood the protocol and were already seated in their seats with their seat belts fastened as tight as possible.

"Sir, what the hell is that?? That looks like a vortex!! And it's huge!! Sir! There's a lot of pressure emanating from whatever that thing is!! What are we going to do??", asked the assisting pilot, Max, as he held on tight to the control yoke, navigating in the exact directions as instructed by the captain. "Max!! To be honest, over my years as a pilot, this is my first time ever seeing this! That's a hell of a beast luring us in. But we are going to try to maneuver it at the right angle. Prepare for a 'deep dive'. Are we at the right altitude!?", asked the captain. "Yes sir, we are. Preparing to switching from slow flight to deep dive, captain!