After...?
One
I.
It's been years since it happened, years since I've felt Aiden's presence. It hurts every day, no matter how much time has passed and Zoey and the others only help me to control the pain, they could never get rid of it altogether. Sometimes I wish that I'd chosen the other path, chosen to leave life and go Beyond, to where Aiden is and waits for me. For now I have a more difficult task ahead of me. Zoey is different, I can feel it and I need to be here for her, to help her grow and develop the power that sleeps within her soul. I don't know exactly what it is, she doesn't have another soul attached to her like I did but the power I feel from her is something else entirely, I know the fate of the world rests on her shoulders but for now I will protect her from this knowledge and keep her safe from the secrets I have found through my past.
II.
Every day that she grows, the power she cannot yet control grows with her. The darkness scares me, bringing me back to the fears I once faced as a child. If Aiden was here, I'm sure he would know how to handle the darkness that sleeps within the power she heralds; instead I am left to quietly reassure her that the monsters and demons she sees at night will not harm her. I tell her it is because she is so brave and they don't want to come near but I know the truth of why they don't attack her at night as they once did to me. They are afraid.
III.
The sky is growing dark, I feel as though my story is coming to a close and hers is finally beginning, everyone is starting to feel afraid of the future, reports keep coming through on the news about attacks in the streets by 'unknown entities' that prey in the darkness and have no remorse for those they kill.
I knew that they would rebuild it eventually, the condenser that I only just managed to destroy the last time. It's only a matter of time before things go wrong and I can feel that time is approaching more quickly than I would like. The time has come for me to speak to her about all of this, to tell her about my past, about Aiden and about the things that are about to come.
"Zoey, could I have a word?" I feel myself shaking but try to control myself so she doesn't notice.
"What's it about?" Her attention was focussed on the book in front of her.
I looked around her room, she was laying face down with her chin resting on her hands so she could read more comfortably, her legs were swinging backwards and forth in the air behind her as she read silently. Books littered the floor around her, she had been reading for hours now without stopping, "What are you doing?" My curiosity got the better of me.
"If I keep reading, maybe I'll be able to read every book in the house before things get bad," her legs continued to swing back and forth, "that would be nice, then I could remember the stories to try and make myself feel better about all the bad things happening."
Kneeling beside her I picked up a book off the floor, it was a fairy tale about a girl who was locked away in a tower, "What bad things?"
"You know."
"I know?"
"Yes, because you were coming to tell me about all the bad things that have hurt you in the past, all the things that make you cry at night and scream into your pillow when you think no one is watching you. You are going to tell me about them and then you are going to tell me that something bad is going to happen in the future." She didn't move her eyes away from the book she was reading, only her legs kept moving, swinging back and forth beside me, "You are afraid."
Placing the book back on the floor I looked at her, "You're right, as ever. Although I didn't know you were watching me so closely." I paused and she stopped moving, "You already know about my past, and my present. It's the future that you need to know, this 'bad thing' is going to come and there's nothing we can do to stop it from happening."
"It's going to happen soon but I don't want it to, my mum," she closed her book and looked at me, eyes filled with tears, "everyone I know is going to hurt and even though you and I both know, there's nothing we can do about it, is there?"
I wrapped my arms around her, hugging her tightly, "I'm still going to be here. Remember that." I pulled away from her, putting my hands back down onto my knees, "Out there, somewhere is a world that we all return to when we die, our souls don't just disappear, they go to a place that we call the Infraworld. It isn't only the dead that live there though, things that seem to be made of pure evil live there too and they delight in taking the souls of those that are not yet dead and steeling them away.
"All these attacks, they are all related to this place. In the past I was part of what created a machine that could tear open cracks in our reality, cracks that led to the Infraworld and let through both the souls of the dead and creatures that would pointlessly kill all those around them. After helping the Pentagon to be the only ones in control of that world, I realised that I didn't want to be a part of their experiments any longer."
"What did you do?" Zoey had moved into a sitting position, her legs crossed and her eyes wide as she listened to the tale I had to tell.
"When I had decided that I was going to leave, they tried to stop me like they did with my mother, they tried to take away my life without killing me. If it wasn't for Ryan and Cole, I would have slipped away and I wouldn't be here right now. Aiden found them and led them to me, he saved my life so many times, I've lost count of how many times." My voice caught in my throat and I forced back a sob, "He's gone now, Ryan and Cole are still here but Aiden... I can never feel him ever again, never be annoyed by his constant presence, I'll never feel the happiness I felt when he tried to cheer me up and make me laugh. Aiden was the one who linked me to the Infraworld and because of him my life was turned into a battleground."
"Aiden?"
My tears fell freely as I thought back to the days when he was with me, "I have never blamed him for my life, ever since I was born I was being watched by those that wanted me only for my abilities. I just didn't realise it until it was too late. Now they have managed to build another condenser and this time I don't think there is anything I can do to stop the Infraworld from trying to take over the world of the living."
Zoey touched my arm gently, my fists were clenched so tightly that my nails had drawn blood in the palms of my hands, "Why are you telling me this? Why can I see those monsters and why are they afraid of me? If they know then why don't they do something to stop it from happening? Why are they doing it in the first place?" Her eyes were wide, no longer with interest but with terror, she shivered violently and her skin was clammy and cold to the touch, "Jodie, what is going to happen?"
"The world is going to end. Everyone is going to die."
She burst into tears, Stan and Tuesday rushed into the room, "What's happened? What's wrong?"
Tuesday picked up her daughter and brought her into her warm and loving arms, "It's okay, it's all okay, I'm here."
I stood, heading towards the door before Stan gripped my arm and looked into my eyes, "Jodie, is everything okay? You've seemed so down lately, what have you two been talking about?"
He could see the tears streaming down my cheeks, "My past, I told her of my past and how it's going to affect the future." Turning my head to face Zoey and Tuesday, I watched them hold each other so tightly, "You are going to be the one Zoey, you're the future and your strength will be the thing to save everyone. I am going to be with you, you will never be alone."