Emerald Twilight
Chapter 6
"Where am I?" Miley called out, looking around her surroundings. The area was unfamiliar to the teen, but they felt like home. "Hello?"
"Miley," called a gentle, comforting voice, that of a woman.
The teenager stood still, her lip quivering, unable to believe what she had just heard. "...M-mom?" replied Miley, shocked.
"Hi, sweetie," Miley's late mother, Susan greeted. "I've missed you."
"I've missed you too, Momma," replied Miley, stumbling towards her beloved mother. The girl hugged her mother, her jaw dropped, and her breath heavy. Her mother's embrace was so warm. "Don't let go."
"I won't, darlin'," replied Susan, her voice infinitely reassuring. "I won't."
Back in the Wizard's layer, Miley and Carly laid on the cold floor, their jaws dropped, eyes closed, and wide smiles frozen on their faces.
"Miley, what's wrong with you?" asked Lilly, shaking her friend. "Come on. There's more of those things coming. Miley?...Miley!"
The teenage girl didn't respond, and stayed in her stilled state. Miley turned her head to the side, and gave a happy sigh.
Meanwhile, in Queens, Raymond held Ally and Michael in his arms, and Marie held Jeffery. Ally was a teenager, but she couldn't help but feel like a defenseless child. But maybe that wasn't such a bad thing right now.
The room shook, and small bits of ceiling tile and dust fell onto the floor. Raymond squeezed Jeffery and Ally tighter. Marie did the same for Jeffery, knowing how timid he was right now.
The basement fell silent. No one spoke, breaths were hushed.
"...What Debra said to you...before she left," started Marie, her voice shaken. "...About making a difference..."
Ray turned his head towards his mother.
"She was right," the Italian woman continued. "You used to care about those around you... and changing the world was something you thought was possible...If I knew your father, I know he'd never approve of how you're acting."
"I don't want to hear this, Ma," Ray replied, a lump forming in his throat.
"Daddy, why did Mommy stay with those people?" asked Jeffery.
The boy's question hurt Raymond. "...She..." he stuttered.
Marie looked at her son, wondering if he was about to lie to his own children. It certainly wouldn't be the first time, she knew.
Raymond pondered the question. "...I'm sorry," he finally answered.
Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, Tawny looked outside. "I think it's safe," she said.
"You sure?" replied Sonny, wanting her friend to say "yes", even though she had on way of knowing.
"Yeah," answered Tawny. "I'm gonna go find Grady."
"Be careful," replied Sonny.
The blond pushed the doors to the cellar open, and walked outside. The sky was bright orange from the dust that had blown in the storm. Tawny looked around at all the destruction and the dead bodies scattered on the street. The teenager felt her legs weaken, and her mind wanting to sink with despair.
Sonny gazed outside, her jaw dropped. The terror from the images she saw was blinding.
Tawny heard a bellowing sound, and felt a gigantic gust of wind hit her back. The next thing she saw was the street and the buildings below growing smaller. The teenager screamed, at the top of her lungs as she flew into the sky.
"Tawny!" Sonny screamed. "Not Tawny!...Not now." The girl forced the doors shut, locked them, then collapsed on her knees, buried her face in her folded arms, and cried.
In San Francisco, D.J., Stephanie, Michelle, Rebecca, Jesse, Joey, Nicky, and Alex sat in the basement, tears burning their eyes, and their faces red.
"I can't believe..." D.J. began to say.
"What?" replied Stephanie, pulling her head out of her hands. The teen looked up the stairs, and held still.
"Stephanie, D.J., what's wrong?" asked Jesse.
The girls walked up the stairs, their expressions blank.
"Girls!" screamed Becky.
"Come back," Nicky and Alex called.
Jesse ran after the two, but couldn't get upstairs before the girls pushed the door shut. The Greek man turned the knob, and slammed into the door. "It's locked," he yelled, his voice laced with anger.
The room fell silent. The remaining members of the household braced themselves for more losses, and their hearts sank.
The two blonds walked into the backyard, and stared at the glowing vortex that awaited them. The winds had calmed, and the sky was clear and black.
"What is it?" D.J. asked, bewildered.
"...I don't know," answered Stephanie. "But I feel like II have to go to it."
The two gazed inside the oddity, not blinking, not moving a muscle. Inside the glowing red vortex, images began to appear: a blond-haired woman wearing a white shirt and blue jeans stood in the Tanners' kitchen, her face so familiar, and so loving.
"Mom," Donna exclaimed, a lump burning in her throat.
"Mommy?" Stephanie asked the image of Pamela Tanner, her long-lost mother, who was taken by a drunken driver years ago.
The woman smiled at the two: her smile was so inviting and so warm. The kind of smile that can only be from a mother to her children.
Tears began pouring out of Stephanie's eyes, and she longed so greatly to enter the abyss. It had to be right. Danny would want his daughters to be with their mother again.
D.J. began to walk forward, and her sister followed. The two began to forget about their pain, their sorrow, and their aunt, uncle, and cousins.
"Wait a minute," Stephanie suddenly said, coming to a crushing reality. "Uncle Jesse and the rest of our family aren't in there."
"What about it?" replied D.J., her voice clean of emotion. "It's Mom."
"But Deej, we have a family that loves us," Stephanie argued. "We can't just leave them...Maybe they can come, too."
"What if the portal closes before they get here?" the young woman replied. "We could lose Mom forever."
"Lose her," the teenage girl pondered to herself.
The two stood still, trying desperately to decide what to do, their hearts shattering no wonder what option they considered. Rain began to fall, and the two girls were soon drenched.
"We can't just leave Mom," Donna said after a minute.
"But...she's...dead," replied Stephanie. "She's moved on."
"But we can't... We can't forget her," Donna pleaded. "...We never did forget her, did we?"
The girls looked at each other, then at their mother.
"I love you, Mom," said D.J.
"We'll never forget you," added Stephanie.
The sisters turned away, and walked back inside to their family, who truly needed them now. D.J. wiped a tear from her eye, then saw her sister charging at the abyss. The young woman turned around, and grabbed her shoulder, holding her in place.
"Let me go, you bitch!" Stephanie snarled, her eyes beginning to blur over with tears.
Donna tightened her eyes at her sister.
"...Deej, I...I'm sorry," Stephanie repented. "I didn't mean to...I'm sorry." The teen buried her face in her sister's shoulder, and felt her hands wrap around her back.
"It's okay, Steph," D.J. comforted. "It's okay."
Stephanie gritted her teeth, and repeatedly inhaled, her breath shaking with sorrow.