Draft Vol. 2~Ashes of Redemption
Chapter 1: Unwelcome Guest
A loud roar echoes the night above the beautiful city of Dallas, Texas. The busy street lights danced underneath the sky. Lightning and thunder erupt sparking fireworks interrupting the busy streets. The heavens were quickly ripped apart as a dark red vortex opened. Sparks of energy eradiated from the hole in the sky. Sirens could be heard down below as the citizens' activities all came to a horrifying halt. With every mortal standing in awe, the spirits saw their chance and quickly flew through the portal entering the mortal world once again.
They roamed the busy streets looking for prey; their eyes forever glowing with anger. Their senses looking for weak minded prey. As the spirits flew, no mortal noticed them under the night sky. They were oblivious to the dangers that have now just entered their home. Most mortals the spirits past was more confused and strong, not weak. However, a few had the perfect mind to enter. The weakened minds are swiftly invaded. One mind caught the attention of a very evil spirit. Her mind was already in a dark place, just the way she liked it.
"GAAHHHHH! STAY AWAY!" Phoebe shouted in fear swatting at nothing foreseen by the naked eye. She tossed and turned at the new creature who invaded her subconscious. The creature was a silhouette of a woman in her mid-twenties. The darkened silhouette was not completely black as its one red eye stared Phoebe down. It seemed to look through her.
"You will do nicely!" proclaimed the silhouette with a menacing laugh. The silhouette then grabbed Phoebe by the arm pulling her close within inches of her face. With no way for Phoebe to escape the grasp, the silhouette ripped open Phoebe's mouth and began pouring herself into her. Phoebe could do nothing but slowly suffocate. With this nightmare going on for what seemed like an eternity, Phoebe was screaming in real time. In a nick of time Angelia, Phoebe's roommate, came running in shaking Phoebe awake.
"Phoebe! PHOEBE! Wake up!" Angelina screamed as she shook Phoebe, her hands slapping her friend. Like an alarm clock going off Phoebe shot up from her nightmare in tears. Her brown eyes overflowing with water while her body shook. Angelia held her friend in a comforting manner stroking her thick curly black hair.
"It's not real... I'm here... It's okay", Angelia kept repeating to Phoebe in her ear.
Phoebe heard her friend's remarks and tried to embrace them as truth but something was telling her otherwise. I am here now.
Angelia left Phoebe's bedside once she stopped shaking for a moment. Phoebe sat in her twin-size bed re-imagining the horror she just endured, mumbling to herself. Her eyes began to wonder towards a dark corner. Phoebe froze in fear as the shadow began to move and form the same figure she saw in her dream. The figure's glowing red eye stared back at Phoebe. A Cheshire cat like smile grew. The black figure began to slowly laugh and walk towards her.
"...This…This isn't real! I'm still d-dreaming!" Phoebe shouted as she forcibly placed her hands on her head pulling at her hair. Tears once again streaming down her face. She felt hopeless and weak as the smiling figure slowly approached her. The dark silhouette now sat in front of Phoebe only inches from her face. Silhouette placed its hand on Phoebe's face wiping away her tears. "You are not dreaming. I am here now", the figure exclaimed. Footsteps grew closer as the figure began to slowly fade away laughing
"Hey I brought ya some hot te—OMG Phoebe! What happened?" Angelia shocked causing her to drop the tea.
"...It..it touched me. It's real Angie", Phoebe tried saying her voice shaking with every syllable. Hearing those words, Angelia realized that Phoebe was terrified. It was only a bad dream in Angie's eyes, but to Phoebe it seemed all too real. With no other way to reassure her, Angie laid in bed with her friend holding her just trying to calm her down.
"Do ya want to talk about what ya saw?" Angie suggested stroking Phoebe's curly hair.
"Okay…" Phoebe started. "There was this dark figure that looked like a woman just repeating -I'm here now-over and over again. We were in a foggy forest with crumbled buildings around us…. I just want to forget Angie!"
Angelia laid in silence agreeing with her friend. They both laid in the twin-sized bed in utter silence. It was so silent that one could hear a pin drop. The thick fluffy purple blanket and friendly warmth acted as a protective shield from the monsters in Phoebe's head. If only they were only in her head.
The early Friday morning sun rays broke through the purple curtains. Phoebe slowly opened her eyes, everything was almost silent. Angelia could be heard in the kitchen making what smelt like omelets. Angelia also had the daily news playing. The news coverage of the day seemed to be about the mysterious portal that appeared over the city last night. It appears that this phenomenon has been happening randomly for year over the past few years. Some speculated that the world was ending or maybe aliens were finally making contact. Everyone had an answer but no one knew the answer. With all this commotion going on, Phoebe slowly sat up rubbing her eyes questioning her sanity.
"Maybe it's just stress from finals? Yeah that's it" she thought to herself.
"Are you sure about that? HAHAHAHAHA!" a voice spoke clearly and loudly. Phoebe sat there in utter silence. It's all in her head, right? To calm her nerves, Phoebe grabbed her HP Pavilion laptop, logged into YouTube and watched her favorite YouTubers.
"Top of da morning to ya laddies! My name is Jacksepticeye and welcome back to- "shouted Jacksepticeye. She loved watching his videos after a long day. She never understood why this Irish green-haired loud mouth always put a smile on her face. While watching the video, a few weird glitches kept popping up showing an insane Jack slicing his one throat. Phoebe thought it was weird but ole Jackiboy is known for his craziness.
"There you are!" a low voice mumbled. Phoebe did not hear the low mumble since she was too busy laughing at Jack trying to beat a level in Happy Wheels.
"Hey Phoebe ya awake?" Angelia asked on the opposite side of the door.
"Did you not hear the intro? Of course, I am," Phoebe harkened back.
"Well I made omelets, yours are on the table," Angelia stated before walking away from the door. With the video still playing Phoebe began to rummage for her usual attire- black shorts, blue long sleeved open jack, a purple t-shirt and tan sandals. In the middle of her changing clothes, Angelia screamed bloody murder.
"ANGIE!" Phoebe shouted darting out of her room. "What's the matter?" Angelia did not say anything except point to the calendar and time. Phoebe realized what was wrong and immediately grabbed her bag. Angelia quickly followed ignoring the fact that she was only wearing a shirt. Realizing her mistake, Angelia ran into her room changing into her favorite pink Sunday dress. The dress had ruffles at the bottom and random flowers in various location and black flats. She remedied her messy red hair with a "messy" bun.
"Hurry up Angie! We'll be late!" Phoebe shouted tapping her foot impatiently. Too much of Phoebe's surprise, her friend came running out passing Phoebe. Angie grabbed her keys to her Harley Davidson truck and they were off. In under 20 minutes, the two women arrived at the Dallas Airport. Parking was a breeze since most people never left their cars at the airport. Today, they were those kinds of people. Going through security was about 5 minutes each but their flight to Anaheim, California was already boarding.
"Um hi! I know we are late but can we, ya know?" Angie quickly asked before being interrupted by the flight attendant nodding her head slowly. Angelia and Phoebe nervously board the plane. All eyes were on them as they slowly shuffled down the aisles.
"This trip better be worth it!" Phoebe sarcastically stated.
"It will be! Plus, we can see our heroes man! I can't wait for them to sign my notebook!" Angelia shouted with pure excitement.
Phoebe slowly drifted off as her friend was still rambling about her "heroes". Phoebe quickly found herself back in her nightmare hell. There were no sounds but there was a slight breeze. The breeze chilled Phoebe to the bone. She wasn't alone. "Why am I here again!" she mumbled to herself. Instead of standing around, Phoebe wandered around the foggy ruins. The ruins themselves appeared charred as if a wild fire broke out. The grass beneath her feet crunched as she walked. The deeper she got into the ruins, the more she felt followed.
"I…I know you're there. Show yourself!" she proclaimed with a nervous tone.
"Sounds to me like you are doubting your confidence. Are you sure you want me to reveal myself mortal?" the silhouette questioned slowly approaching Phoebe. "Very well!" The silhouetted woman revealed herself. Her skin was that of copper. The left side of her face was badly burnt with her left iris being bright red but her sclera being completely black. The woman's hair was black, thick, and curly just like Phoebe's hair; the hair barely covered the left side of her face. The woman also had big bright glowing wings that faded from black to yellow. She appeared to be wearing a leather jacket, ankle boots, a ripped white shirt and black jeans.
"Are you happy now, little girl? It would be rude if I did not introduce myse- "the woman was quickly interrupted by a once scared Phoebe.
"Quit the shit! What do you want from me?! I don't care what your stupid name is! I have enough problems without you adding!" Phoebe yelled back at this monstrous woman.
"Quick getting to the point I see. I like that. I am looking for my brothers. I recognized him earlier when you were watching him on that small thing. I need to find him and the others before they do." the woman stated in a calm manner.
"Why should this concern me? I don't care if 'they' get them. I just want you gone," Phoebe quickly stated back at the woman. The woman stood there in awe that a mere mortal had the courage to say this.
"Very well, how about a deal, I will leave when you help me find 4 of my brothers and stop those following us. Then and only then will I leave your body and mind alone. Do we have a deal?" the woman asked holding out her hand for Phoebe to shake in agreement. Phoebe looked at the hand and hesitated but eventually gave into to the deal. Once they shook hands the woman let out a loud maniacal laugh. Her devious grin growing as she slowly fades into the fog leaving Phoebe alone once more.
"Hey sleeping beauty, wake up! We're here." Angelia stated as she was aggressively shaking Phoebe awake again. "We gotta go!". After gathering their suitcases from baggage claim, Angelia received an interested phone call from an old friend. Angelia walked outside to continue the phone call causing Phoebe to quickly follow.
"Yeah we just landed…. yes, I brought her, why would I leave her at home? Okay we are outside waiting…see you in a few,". A few minutes pass and a big white taxi cab emerged in front of the women. The cab driver seemed to already have a passenger in the front seat.
"So, I see a red head and her awkward friend…are these the ones?" the cab driver questioned his passenger. The passenger did not say a word, only nodded. Both Phoebe and Angelia stood there confused as the passenger got out the cab. The passenger wore black sunglasses that had the words 'ASS' on it in big letters. His short was black with a white pixelated 'M' and a pink mustache on the front. The passenger reached down to grab their luggage. Just then, Phoebe realized who the mysterious passenger was. Angelia covered her ears in preparation.
"Is…is that-Oh my gosh MARKIPLIER!" Phoebe shouted. She tried holding it in but she couldn't. Mark dropped the luggage out of shock while Angelia was laughing with her ears still covered.
"Wow, that pretty loud. You must be…Phoebe. Nice to meet you. Great now I have a slit headache," Mark chuckled back while grabbing their luggage. To Phoebe, Mark seemed much bigger then in his videos. His forearm muscle was bigger than both of Phoebe's arm muscles. Once the luggage was in the trunk, the ladies climbed into the back seat. However, Phoebe did not feel okay. Maybe it was from the flight or lack of food or maybe from her shouting. Whatever the cause, Phoebe could think straight. She could hear the evil woman screaming. It felt like the evil woman was banging on the inside of Phoebe's head. Mark's headache seemed to get worse as he began holding his head.
Brother! Brother, I have found you!
"Excuse me um can you take the fastest way to the Anabella Hotel. I need an aspirin or something?" Phoebe timidly asked the cab driver. Without saying a word, the cab driver took her request and they were off.
"Oh, and uh Phoebe could you not yell out my name in a public area?" Mark requested with a slight smirk. Phoebe nodded in agreement still holding her head. In her mind, Phoebe felt the need to have a quick conversation with the evil woman. "Can you keep quiet! Why did you yell! Gah my head hurts! she thought to the lady". The evil lady only kept mumbling "I found him! But I sense more…close". The whole ride to the hotel was in silence as Mark tried to desperately clear his mind but his thoughts were racing. He knew this would happen one day but not so soon. Phoebe's headache also worsened throughout the 30-minute drive. They finally arrived at the Anabella Hotel where Phoebe and Mark's headaches turned into full blown migraines. The taxi driver helped bring the luggage since Phoebe was having a hard time carrying her luggage. Mark mumbled to himself just barely out of ear shot "Calm down. We don't know anything yet. Remember the deal dammit!". After briefly speaking to the receptionist, Phoebe, Mark, and Angelia finally arrived at their hotel room where they were greeted by several familiar faces. Mark quickly walked to the bathroom to take an aspirin to hopefully calm his headache. Phoebe only caught a glimpse of everyone before the shouting began.
I thought you were dead! This is not real.
So, you aren't completely useless!
Well I'll be damned oops already am.
"Fuck it hurts! Why are you all so loud!" Phoebe shouted in pain as she held her head in her hands. The entire room grew silent and everyone starred at Phoebe, as she fell to her knees, in shock. Everyone was frozen. "Phoebe, listen to me! Let me out now! I demand you too!" the evil woman shouted in Phoebe's head.
"shut up…SHUT UP! Just be quiet, please!" Phoebe yelled hoping for the shouting to stop. Angelia knelt next to her friend and tried calming her. Mark looked confused at everyone else. One of the bystanders walked over and began questioning Angelia.
"Is your friend always this manic?" Sean said bewildered.
"No but we had a rough morning. But this is new…and no she isn't psycho crazy," Angelia proclaimed holding Phoebe. In Phoebe's mind, the voices did not stop, they got louder and louder and more profound. Phoebe's mind could not take the overwhelming pressure and it went blank. Her body went limp as she collapsed onto the wooden floor. No one said a word.