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Rating: T
When Fantasy and Reality Collide
One
Raven, age fifteen, currently hates her life. She has a dead-end job and she is stuck under a bridge that she plans to use to wait out the violent storm that is tearing across the land. The dark-haired female sits with her back against the concert and lets her head drop back against the rough surface. She regrets that she didn't listen to her mom. A mom that she cannot get a hold of because she is all the way across the world doing whatever the hell she does for work. If anything, Raven pins this on the blond woman with the unnaturally white teeth.
She snorts in anger and pulls the damp jacket closer to her. The wind is cold and it feels like the warmth is being sucked out of her body. She cannot even begin to image how much she would like to curl up under her electric blanket with a cup of hot chocolate. She also wouldn't mind a good book on paranormal crime that has a mix of love to it. Those, to her, are the best books. No questions asked.
Whoever said to make lemonade out of the lemons life gives you truly is an idiot. No lemonade is coming out of this. The only thing she can think of that she will get is a cold and a massive headache.
She fishes out her cellphone and checks the time. She scowls when she sees that it is ten minutes after nine. She then dials a number and puts the phone to her ear.
"Your weather report states it is twenty degrees. The weather warnings include serve thunderstorms, a flood, and tornadoes." She rolls her eyes at the obvious statement that the recorded forecaster gives to her. She snaps shut the cell and returns it to her back pocket with a sigh.
She takes a glance at the downpour that ravages the land outside her makeshift shelter. The rain comes down from the sky like there's no tomorrow. She can't even make out the outline of the path that is a few feet out in the rain.
She frowns. She knows that going out there would be rough. Walking a few miles would be even harder. She mentally smacks herself and tells herself that she will take the car from now on. Even if the sky looks as friendly as it did today.
She pulls herself off her feet and makes her way out of the shelter into the rain. It slams down on her and she staggers from the force behind it. She shields her face and starts walking.
She inwardly signs as the rain starts to crash down on her with a lot more force than before. She yelps when a loud clap of thunder explodes above her and she shrieks as a bolt of lightning slams into the sidewalk a few feet in front of her.
She stumbles back several steps and lands on her rear. She eyes the charred ground and thanks whatever force that is watching out for her. That could have been her…
"Breath, Raven, breath…" she tells herself as she climbs to her feet and edges around the charred ground and onto the grass.
She climbs the hill and eyes the empty road. She shakes her head and takes off down the road. It is only a matter of time before she reaches her house.
That 'matter of time' is close to an hour and a half. She manages to force the key into the lock, get inside, and shut the door before another clap of thunder explodes in the night sky. She drops the heels by the door and wonders through the Japanese-styled house and hunts down the items she desires.
In ten minutes she has a bunch of candles, a few boxes of matches, all the food that can sour out of the fridge, a couple sets of blankets, a few towels, and her pajamas. She takes a candle, lights it, and hunts down the marble bathroom. She sets her load down and starts the shower.
She strips and steps into the cold water. She grabs the shampoo, which is on a shelf above the conditioner, and squeezes a small amount in her hand. She scrubs it into her hair and rinses. She repeats this with the conditioner. She grabs the bodywash and cleans herself up till she is sure she is clean as can be and turns off the water.
She steps out of the shower and dries off. She dresses into her button-down shirt and the black girl's boy boxers. She buttons the three middle buttons on the blouse and heads out of the bathroom.
She's the only one in the house and, therefore, she can dress as she pleases. She grabs the things in the front room and heads upstairs to her room. She eases into the room and pauses when a noise catches her attention.
She listens and she can hear something like footsteps upstairs. Footsteps in the attic. She glances up at the ceiling and then at the dark hall that has a left turn at the end. At the end is the curved staircase that leads to the old attic. An attic she hasn't been in since she was five.
She purses her lips and drops off everything in her room. She grabs the candle and goes back into the hall. She listens for a moment and the sound repeats itself. She feels a cold tingle up and down her spine.
She makes her way down the hall and turns left. She stares at the landing of the staircase that is about nine feet away. The dark, winding stairwell greets her soundlessly.
"Oh, stop being a baby." She tells herself as she closes the distance with a bit more confidence.
She grabs onto the railing and pulls herself onto the stairs. The light from the candle casts eerie shadows along the walls as she makes her way to the top floor. The entire way up goosebumps rise out of her skin and a knot forms in her stomach.
She finds another, square landing that once held a door. The open frame leads into a black abyss and Raven's heart starts to pound in her chest. She stops before the frame and listens.
Then she hears it. She can hear the footsteps and they come from the room beyond. She takes a tentative step forward and calls out, "Is somebody in here?"
The footsteps go silent and then she hears something like a ball bouncing across the floor. The hair on the back of Raven's next stands on end and she steps back.
A glint of light reflects off some type of surface within the room and Raven places a hand over her chest. She can feel the pounding of her heart but she swallows her fear. She takes a step forward as the light reappears and she slowly makes her way towards it.
A few minutes pass and she finds herself looking down on an old picture. She blows the dust off it and coughs. She pats her chest and eyes the picture.
It shows a woman, a man, and a small group of children. None of them look happy in the black and white picture. The building behind them is large and, as she leans in for a better look, she sees windows and bricks.
"So much for fear." She mutters to herself.
She picks up the photo and the book under it. She dusts off the cover and frowns. Not a book but a box of some sort. She opens it and eyes the rolled up scrolls setting inside it.
She places the lid back down and takes the picture, along with the boxed scrolls, downstairs. She laughs at herself but she pauses at the platform at the bottom of the steps. She can't get over the feeling that something is watching her.
So she turns. She looks up at the only visible part of the stairwell that can be seen before it curves around to end at the top. The only thing she sees is the old stairs.
She shakes her head and goes back to her room. She closes the door behind herself and crosses to her bed. She sets down and sets the two items in front of her. She scoots closer to her nightstand and sets the candle on it.
She sets the picture and box next to it. She flops down on her side and pulls out a scroll when her curiosity gets the best of her. She unrolls it and leans in.
The only thing she can make out is small letters, or symbols, and she groans.
"Great, it's in another language." She says to herself and rolls it back up.
However, a piece of paper falls down onto her bed and she eyes it. She places the scroll back in the box before turning to the paper. She picks it up and looks over it.
"When sun and moon meet, the portal opens between…" she reads aloud before shrugging.
She figures it must be with the scroll. She shakes her head and sets the paper in the box. It must be some type of story and that small piece of paper is a part of it. That's what she tells herself.
She rolls onto her side and closes her eyes. As she starts to drift to sleep she hears a crackling sound like the static of a television. The only problem is that there is no electricity.
She opens her eyes and sits up. She grabs the small watch she keeps next to the bed and squints to read it. It tells her that it's three in the morning.
"Great. Just freaking great. I'm pulled from my light slumber during the witching hours…" she groans as she swings her legs over the edge of her bed.
She jerks her feet back when the cold floor meets the warm bottoms of her feet. She pauses when she hears a crash downstairs and her eyes narrow. She soundlessly slips out of her bed and grabs the small handgun from the box under her bed.
No damn burglar is stealing from my house…she hisses to herself as she slips out of her room.
She is thankful that her mom had the hinges to the doors oiled. They open without a sound and, in cases like these, that is a very good thing. She makes her way through the hall and pauses in the middle of it when she hears another crash downstairs that is followed by swearing.
Her eyes narrow as she presses her back into the wall and crouches. She casts a glance at the hall behind her and sees nothing. She turns her attention back to the stairwell and grits her teeth in fear.
She takes a deep breath and creeps down the stairs. She can feel hints of numbness making its way into her body and she frowns. That, to her, is not a good thing.
She can hear voices now.
"They won't know what hit them. The old woman left for business and there is no way she'd leave her daughter behind." A voice speaks up and she crouches behind the couch. She's lucky no one saw her.
A second voice laughs and says, "I agree there, boss. Now, what are we after?"
She flips off the safety and takes a deep breath. They just might find her and she would rather have the gun ready then being open for a few seconds.
"Hey, did you two notice the heels by the door?" a third voice speaks up and Raven's heart leaps into her throat.
"Yeah, but it doesn't mean anything." The first speaker says.
"It says one thing. There is someone in this house." The third replies and the girl sends a prayer to the many kami that live in the world for protection.
"Yes, like the one hiding behind the couch." The second speaker calls out and Raven's eyes widen as the couch is thrown off to the side.
She jerks up to her feet and points the gun at the man in front of her. A few laughs are the answers to her action and she says, "Another step and I'll shoot."
"She thinks she's tough. If you haven't noticed, girl, I'm also armed." His words are followed by the blast of a gun and a searing pain makes itself known in her chest.
She hits the wall and the gun falls from her hand. She slides to the ground, eyes blur as they fill with tears, and a hand grabs her chin. She is forced to look up into cold eyes and then the speaker says with a gentle tenor, "You, girl, should have went with your mother."
Another pain makes itself known and she cries out. The man steps away and she falls onto her side as a dark liquid starts to pool around her. She lets the tears fall and she closes her eyes.
That static sound from earlier starts to increase in volume and she can hear something behind it. It sounds like water. It almost reminds her of a waterfall.
"What the hell is that!" the third speaker yells and she feels herself slipping.
"Raven, come to us." A soft voice purrs in her mind and she tries to shakes her head.
She feels heavy. It feels like someone is putting weight on her chest and it is getting increasingly hard to breath. She only knows that the voice is still calling her.
Her eyes open and she can make out a faint glow to the room. She can feel something curling around her dying limbs and she feels like she is sinking. Then she realizes that she is.
She would struggles but the fight seems too troublesome for her. She doesn't want to fight even as she sinks into the floor and into the darkness. She can see the floorboards above and the three men, all who she can see now, look frozen in time. Frozen and unable to move till they start to sink as well.
Then, as her eyes close, she gets a distant feeling that she is being tugged. It pulls her down at a faster rate and it feels like she is swirling in circles. She looses consciousness then but one last thought makes its way onto her mind before total blackness takes her.
I don't want to die…This is the first chapter to When Fantasy and Reality Collide. It is an odd beginning but all stories have to start somewhere. Anyway, I hope you all continue to read on.
Not much happens in this chapter but it will get better. Anyway, please review.
CideanForever