Archangel
Epilogue
She was twirling, whirling, falling, flying, and hurtling into what seemed to be a deep void of nothingness. All she could see was a black chasm, merciless, never-ending. She twisted, struggling to make some kind of sense of what was happening. Then she landed. Sprawled onto the ground, or whatever it was, because it didn't seem like ground, it didn't seem like anything. She felt very hopeless as she laid there, in the black cave of nothing, no feeling, no life. She didn't exist. She wasn't real. She was part of a tale, a long forgotten legend. All of these revelations sprang into her mind as she stared at emptiness. She could feel nothing. Soon she would forget how to feel at all. No sound, except the emergent thudding of her heart. She should have recognised it then, with a surge of ice cold terror. Because in this eternal darkness, she wasn't alone.
"She's gone, just gone!"
Alyssa had just spun around, smiling, fully expecting to see her younger sister, Harriet, following her, but in reality, she saw Sofia, her best friend, looking hopelessly at a huge surge of lightening, where Harriet and her best friend Leia had been.
"It didn't hit anywhere else," Sofia gasped, as she scanned the quiet street. The scene was peaceful in contrast to the event that had just happened. No one had noticed. It was as if the two lost girls had never existed.
They paced around for a time, not wanting to go and face adults, to hear the words from their own lips. It would make it true.
They strolled the streets of the small town in pretence, they were two teenagers hanging out, that's all, they would chat, greet familiar faces, eat junk food and make small talk. It was typical of every other youth their age in the area. To familiar faces, there was nothing wrong.
After a few hours, all life in the town diminished. People became impatient with the same old happenings. Alyssa and Sofia ignored their parents' demands to come home, simply because they couldn't face it. At last the two friends were alone. As if it was a need, they came back to the place where the girls had vanished. The searched, and scanned the area, attempting in vain to find a clue.
"Where can they be?" Alyssa cast around at the sky, as if hoping it could provide an answer. As she glanced, the sun seemed to fade, and the sky became darker.
"That was quick," Sofia murmured, coming up to her friend to grasp at what she was doing. They were so close, but sometimes she didn't understand her at all.
Alyssa turned sharply to face her. "What?"
"The sun setting," Sofia replied softly. "It was bright sunlight before…and now it's black"
"That's not the sun setting" Alyssa interrupted. "It can't be… This doesn't make sense." Alyssa's voice cracked abruptly and her friend bent to lay her head on her shoulder comfortingly. Alyssa reached out and stroked her best friend's waving red hair and Sofia reached up to touch her thick straight dark hair. They were silent for a minute.
Then, Sofia pointed. "Look."
It was then they saw it. The landscape, their home their life was blurred, distorted, fading. It was like a half forgotten dream put to the back of the mind through time. Everything they knew was leaving them.
Terror swept through them both in vicious ripples. What would happen now? What was going on?
The two childhood friends hugged each other closely as everything around them faded and moved away. They would be left with nothing. They wouldn't exist.
Sofia the Hopeful
I awoke. For a want of a better way to describe it, I awoke unsettled. Honestly, I awoke uneasy from a recurring dream about…angels. Well, I think they were angels. They didn't exactly walk up to me and say "excuse me, but in case you weren't sure we are angels." In reality they didn't say anything at all. I just instinctively knew. I'm not even sure why it unsettles me. The dream isn't very eventful. All I see is three female beings, one of them seemingly like an angel (though without the glowing halo on her head) and two others by the side of her. There is no speech. The angel just glances at me. Then she smiles.
It should in the category of a good calming dream, really. But it isn't. Not to me. Why? Because the beings in it seem so familiar. Like long forgotten friends. And that's why I am so unsettled.
I walked down the deserted corridor. This was going to be a fun day, after all. Just the usual boredom and gloom. I entered the brightly lit classroom and found myself face to face with a very severe teacher and a horde of staring classmates. Why is it that when someone is in the centre of attention and wanting to sink into the floor that everyone in the vicinity stares unblinkingly at them?
"You're late Miss Parker; again, I see. Well, it's a detention for you. One o'clock, my office. No excuses."
Mrs Bradding pointed to an empty at the front of the classroom, beckoning me to sit there. Great.
All around were whispers and jeers. All this attention may get the better of me one day.
Looking sideways, I saw Hailie glance at me and smile. Yay, I had some kind of goodwill.
After another hour of unsuccessful boredom, it was finally time for a reprieve. I wondered down the hall, wondering vaguely where everyone had gone. Now don't get the wrong impression, here, I am not exactly Miss Unpopularity, but I wasn't the Queen Bee either. Some girls of that species just think I'm a little eccentric, that's all and I have my very own little posse of friends that suit me just fine… I just couldn't find them at the moment.
People call me snobby. And maybe they've got a point, we are quite wealthy, and I do have a rather fine accent… but I'm just not that bad. Suddenly, as I idly trudged around the corner, caught sight of some familiar faces.
"Yoo-hoo! One best friend served around the corridor corner!"
"Heya," My friends Alyssa and Hailie murmured. They didn't seem that fun-loving today. We walked to the music room in silence. My spirits were low. What was wrong now? Then, I smiled as I entered our room. This was our place, our favourite hideout. I squatted down on the rough carpet. Hailie instantly took out her phone and began texting, but Alyssa sat down beside me. She sighed.
"Sorry," she attempted to explain quietly,
"I haven't had the best day today."
"Sure thing," I replied, "neither have I."
A shadow of a smile appeared on her face. "So, what happened to you?"
I glanced to the side at the other girl in the room. "Id rather not say. So, what happened to you?"
"Id rather not say either."
We grinned.
"Let's talk about something else shall we? Like, about that new girl."
"New girl?"
"Yeah."
"Sorry. Who?"
Alyssa giggled. "Not with it today, are you sweetie? The new girl, she isn't in our year, in case you haven't noticed, but there have been lots of rumours about her. Her name's Harriet."
Instantaneously, it happened. A memory. Two girls behind me. Both laughing, happy. I turn to Alyssa. Alyssa? She says something, but it's inaudible. I turn around grinning. Why? Suddenly, I am terrified. Lightening. Wind. Images fading, in a blur…
The two girls have vanished.
Alyssa the loyal
Sofia was laid slumped against the cheap wooden door of the tutorial room. Her head rested on the door handle. She looked eerily peaceful. I was panicking. She had just fainted! No warning, nothing. Simultaneously, when I said that name… could she possibly know?
I admit I was being selfish at that moment. Only caring for my own priorities rather than the ones of the girl whom had stood by me, whatever the cost. I knelt down beside her and lifted a strand of her vibrant hair from her cheek. I heard a rhythmic panting sound and Hailie crashed into the room. She had brought a first-aider with her. Sofia was laid out delicately into a recovery position, she was then pronounced stable. It seemed she had just had a teenage dramatic faint. Nothing major. Usual news.
My best friend stirred. She struggled in vain to sit up. "Whoa…dizzy," she muttered quietly.
I touched her hand. "You ok?" I asked her anxiously.
"Yeah I will be fine." She replied distractedly.
"Now, are you sure?"
"You sure?"
"I'm fine!"
I couldn't help but notice Sofia's constant distantness. She seemed lost… in her own thoughts. True, it would have been understandable if she was irritable. After she had finally managed to sit up, the nurse, had bid Hailie to fetch chocolate and a fruit juice. It was, she had said, to keep her sugar levels up, and that, this kind of collapse always happened in teenagers who don't eat properly. Stupid cow. She doesn't know my Sofia in the slightest. She isn't stupid enough to starve herself.
After that, we had trudged off and spent the rest of the day lounging around, listening to music and making small conversations. Sofia didn't seem to want to talk about what happened, she didn't seem to want to talk to me at all. I needed to get her on her own to talk to her privately. But Hailie was worried. She's nice she is. She has a large heart, but she sometimes just doesn't understand when we need to be alone. It kind of sorrowful, really. We both like her and she does try, but we have been too close for too long for her to ever understand fully. Maybe.
I can't stop thinking about it. It was so close. It has happened. Again.
Leia the Healer
Alyssa is trying. She really is. But Sofia always had a wary mind. It kept her sane in most distressing situations. We need her to see, to understand. We need her. She is the only one who was not affected by the void; she is the pure traveller, who has no place in time. Or space. I twirl upward, considering.
She was twirling, whirling, falling, flying, and hurtling into what seemed to be a deep void of nothingness. All she could see was a black chasm, merciless, never-ending. She twisted, struggling to make some kind of sense of what was happening. Then she landed… she didn't exist. She was like a forgotten dream. A memory even.
Alyssa and I took damage on that day. We became shadows. Watchers. But she didn't. She got thrown into her the power of the full void. She was actually sucked into it. She ceased to become anything.
Sofia the Hopeful
Alyssa is being awfully silent. She thinks I am angry at her. I really can't contemplate why. What has she done wrong? Because she is silent, I am silent.
We walk on.
I must break this cycle if we are going to return to normal before I get home.
"I'm not mad with you, Alyssa. This must have been hard for you too."