Chapter 2- Clawing
Quatre looked around, sobbing. Blood stained his hands and face, and soaked the sand around the girl's body, which lay at his feet. Tears dripped down onto the wet sand as the waves lapped at his knees. His bangs hung down past his face as he mourned for the free spirit who had been shot down in flight. Another gunshot echoed and whizzed past his head, taking a chunk of ear with it. Slowly he got up to walk away. He noticed a black leather wallet lying in the sand and picked it up. An I.D. card stared up at him. Leah Kimaya.
"Goodbye, Leah," he whispered gently before walking on. More bullets flew through the air and he began to run. As his feet pounded the sand, the world began to change and shimmer. Worlds, lands flashed before him as the continued to run until he hit a wall and fell to the ground.
He took stock of his surroundings. He seemed to be in a deep pit, dark and smelling of sea salt. As he looked around, he concluded that when and wherever he was, it must be night. However, when he looked up into the sky, the bright noonday sun blinded him. No light entered his prison, making it seem as it the night was endless. He sat down with his back to the wall and closed his eyes.
"Why is this happening?" he asked himself. "Usually.usually the dream ends with her death, but now it is continuing. Why?" Hours passed by, perhaps even days. Quatre lost all track of time. The scenes just kept repeating themselves in his head. Flip. Flip Laugh. Gunshot. Flip. All of a sudden, unbidden, the song the girl on the beach had been singing echoed into his mind.
When the dark night seems endless
Please remember me
Images of Leah rose into his mind; her singing, dancing, laughing. He smiled as he remembered the way she laughed, a silent shaking of the shoulders, but always the warm, enlightening smile to go along with it.
He looked down at his hands and found that they were glowing with a pure golden light. The strains of the melody the girl on the beach had sung echoed all about him as he stood and looked at his hands. They glowed with such a steady light that the depths of the pit were illuminated. His heart rose with hope that perhaps he would find a stairway or ladder, but when all of the sides of the cavern had been examined, he found no such thing. With a roar of frustration he pounded his glowing fists against the wall.and they sank right through! In wonderment, he placed the palm that wasn't holding the I.D. card in it against the rock and melted out a foothold. Slowly but surely, he climbed to the surface. His hands lost their glow, and the melody faded. He gazed out to the sea then looked down and screamed in heart-wracking agony. Leah's body lay at his feet; eyes closed peacefully, a slight smile upon her lips. He knelt to the sand and began to dig with his hands and fingernails. For what seemed like hours he dug through the wet sand, soaked with blood and water, until he had a hole big enough for a body. He took her hand and held it gently to his face, then kissed her cold forehead and laid her in the salty grave. He let the waves brush the sand back over and put the cross necklace he wore about his neck into the sand. Then he knelt by the grave, crying. Finally it seemed as if an angel had grabbed him and he vanished from the beach, leaving behind the sad grave, with only a small cross to mark Leah's final resting place.
Quatre looked around, sobbing. Blood stained his hands and face, and soaked the sand around the girl's body, which lay at his feet. Tears dripped down onto the wet sand as the waves lapped at his knees. His bangs hung down past his face as he mourned for the free spirit who had been shot down in flight. Another gunshot echoed and whizzed past his head, taking a chunk of ear with it. Slowly he got up to walk away. He noticed a black leather wallet lying in the sand and picked it up. An I.D. card stared up at him. Leah Kimaya.
"Goodbye, Leah," he whispered gently before walking on. More bullets flew through the air and he began to run. As his feet pounded the sand, the world began to change and shimmer. Worlds, lands flashed before him as the continued to run until he hit a wall and fell to the ground.
He took stock of his surroundings. He seemed to be in a deep pit, dark and smelling of sea salt. As he looked around, he concluded that when and wherever he was, it must be night. However, when he looked up into the sky, the bright noonday sun blinded him. No light entered his prison, making it seem as it the night was endless. He sat down with his back to the wall and closed his eyes.
"Why is this happening?" he asked himself. "Usually.usually the dream ends with her death, but now it is continuing. Why?" Hours passed by, perhaps even days. Quatre lost all track of time. The scenes just kept repeating themselves in his head. Flip. Flip Laugh. Gunshot. Flip. All of a sudden, unbidden, the song the girl on the beach had been singing echoed into his mind.
When the dark night seems endless
Please remember me
Images of Leah rose into his mind; her singing, dancing, laughing. He smiled as he remembered the way she laughed, a silent shaking of the shoulders, but always the warm, enlightening smile to go along with it.
He looked down at his hands and found that they were glowing with a pure golden light. The strains of the melody the girl on the beach had sung echoed all about him as he stood and looked at his hands. They glowed with such a steady light that the depths of the pit were illuminated. His heart rose with hope that perhaps he would find a stairway or ladder, but when all of the sides of the cavern had been examined, he found no such thing. With a roar of frustration he pounded his glowing fists against the wall.and they sank right through! In wonderment, he placed the palm that wasn't holding the I.D. card in it against the rock and melted out a foothold. Slowly but surely, he climbed to the surface. His hands lost their glow, and the melody faded. He gazed out to the sea then looked down and screamed in heart-wracking agony. Leah's body lay at his feet; eyes closed peacefully, a slight smile upon her lips. He knelt to the sand and began to dig with his hands and fingernails. For what seemed like hours he dug through the wet sand, soaked with blood and water, until he had a hole big enough for a body. He took her hand and held it gently to his face, then kissed her cold forehead and laid her in the salty grave. He let the waves brush the sand back over and put the cross necklace he wore about his neck into the sand. Then he knelt by the grave, crying. Finally it seemed as if an angel had grabbed him and he vanished from the beach, leaving behind the sad grave, with only a small cross to mark Leah's final resting place.