Chapter 2 - No More
She opened her eyes to see a night sky and glittering stars. She listened as the wind blew gently making the palm trees sway in it's direction. She turned her head to see the ocean's shore. The smell of the ocean and the lulling sound of the tide made her drowsy. She was so tired. 'What is this place?' she asked herself.
She looked back up at the sky to see one of the brightest star flickered and disappear to be seen never more. She blinked and noticed another as it went out. 'What was that?' She closed her eyes as her head started to throb. It was as if she was reliving life once more. From the happiest moments, to the saddest moments, to the one moment that would change her life forever…These were her memories.
! Start Flashback !
She was standing at her window looking out at the night sky and the paved streets below her. The street lamps and the lights from late night store owners made it all look so romantic and calm. She jumped in surprise to hear a knock on her door. "May I come in?" It was her mother. She smiled and opened the door.
Her mother was wearing a dress that was painstakingly beautiful. She had just come back from a party with her father. It was as if staring at the night sky with a single crescent moon in between her bosoms. Her hair fell below her waist. She had her hair pulled up half way in a design that gave her an adolescent look that took notice away from her worn face that only comes with age making her look ten years younger.
She looked wearily at her daughter. Her mother's deep blue eyes held secrets and usually kept them, but at that moment she could see everything. Everything that she could have ever hid from her daughter to keep her safe. To keep her away from some of the harsh reality that she had to live through, and this scared her. "I wanted to give your gift to you early just in case…" As her mother said this she smiled a smile that couldn't even fool a blind man.
She walked over to her mom and sat down next to her.
Her mother held out her hand for her daughter to take the gift. It was a charm of a peculiar design. She had noticed before that every one in her family had one with the exception of herself, and even if she didn't really even know much about it she knew it was more then just a charm. "Everyone in our family receives one when they come of age. Each is different. A special charm for each individual family member. No two are the same. You must keep it safe and it shall do the same for you. It will keep you safe in times when you think all is lost. It will be your light." Her mother explained. There was mystery shrouded in this little charm. It was in the shape of a heart surrounded by other tiny stars that glittered in the light.
She looked at her mother's. She always kept it on. It was too a heart but in a antique design so detailed you wouldn't think that anything like it would have existed.
Her mother took her charm and laced it with a chain. She gently put it on her daughter and watched as she untouched her hair from it. Her mother walked to her window to look out at what her daughter was once staring at. The streets were emptied and a queer silence hung in the air with such thickness it was hard to breath. The night sky was no more as it slowly became shrouded in darkness. The street lamps flickered off one by one. Night like this was never before seen in their little town. It ran a chill up her spine. Soon the only light left on the street below were the little shops, but even then you could see hurried shop owners running around and packing up to leave.
The mother quickly turned around before her daughter could see what she was staring at. She once again put a smile on and beckoned her to follow her downstairs.
She followed her mother at a very brisk walk and sometimes she even had to run a bit to catch up with her. Her mother opened the door. She now saw what her mother had seen. Grabbing onto her mother's hand so she would not be left behind they crossed the paved street. It seemed to her like all was all abandoned. How could it look so different in 10 minutes time? It was if no one had even lived that at all. The lamps did not shine and one by one the little shop lights that usually stood throughout the night were dying. The atmosphere all around carried with it a depressing gloom. No stars were seen shining. In fact, she couldn't even see the night sky anymore.
All she could her were their hurried walk echoing as they crossed, but something else was heard in the distance. She stopped dropping her hold she had on her mother. A figure was coming at them fast. They could hear the panting and crying as this person ran. A sudden gasp was echoed as she fell hard to the ground. Yellow eyes were seen all around her as one dug, what she saw, a huge claw into the screaming woman's back. They then saw something that lit the night. It was a translucent heart in the color of a beautiful, shocking red color. Then she saw what these creatures really looked like. They were short and came to her waist. They slumped over and were never still, they twitched this way and that not still for one moment. The only thing that was color on them were their empty, bright yellow eyes.
The heart slowly dulled as they saw it turn a shade of grey before becoming completely black. The woman was gone. She was so focused on those strange creatures and the shining heart that she did not notice what had become of the woman. Where did she go?
Her mother stared in horror as she grabbed her daughter and ran. Her father's garage shop was across the street from where they lived. This was where her mother was going. They ran into the shop and locked the door, but that didn't stop them from coming in. They sat at the door and twitched as they became a shadow on the ground and creeping in from the tiny slit at the bottom of the door. Her mother grabbed her once more and ran to the very top of the shop. There her father and older brother stood working on this strange machine she had never seen before. What was going on? "What are those things? What's happening?" she questioned.
No reply.
"Answer me!" she yelled.
Her mother looked at her, "I do not know what they are only that they are heartless and feed off of the hearts of others. Soon this planet will follow the fate of many others and become no more then a past, forgotten memory along with all it's people."
"So we're going to die?" she asked horrified. She turned to see her brother and father had stopped working on the machine.
"No…, you won't." This small machine opened up to show room enough for one person. That person was her. She looked at them and shook her head, "I won't leave without you if that's what your thinking. I refuse to go anywhere in that thing."
"You must…" was the only reply she received. Her father and brother hugged her one last time before she stepped in. The only problem was that it wouldn't turn on. The heartless were outside the door. There was nothing they could do now about the little ship that was suppose to carry off their last hope. All the effort her father and brother had put into it had gone to waste. "Hurry and take her to the top of the roof. Find some way to get her out of here!" her father yelled as he shoved them to the staircase that would leave to the roof.
She saw as her brother and father stayed behind to hinder them and buy time. She had no time to think as she was grabbed again and taken to the roof. They walked over to the edge of the building. These creatures were everywhere. They were attacking anyone that came in contact with them. The night sky was lit with fire that blazed from buildings near and far. Buildings finally gave way to the fire and collapsed; they were falling everywhere. She looked straight into her mother's eyes that were usually hiding all emotion now shown nothing but fear and hopelessness, "Why me? Why did you want me to escape?"
Her mother turned her head away avoiding looking straight at her, "Someday you will understand." Her mother's bottom lip trembled as she bit back tears. She had lost a husband and a son. She was losing her home and her daughter as well.
The ground below them shook making them think that the building was going to fall, but it wasn't the building. A shadow was caste upon them as a dark figure with ripped wings appeared. This thing was mountainous in size. It was like the others. All black with empty, bright yellow eyes. In it's chest you could see a shape of a heart like it had been gouged out from it. Down from the blackened, angry sky, starting to pour like rain, were bright massive balls. They fell softly to the ground not seeming to do any harm at all. The monster rose his arms above his head and thrust them down into the ground. A black hole that seemed to be there but wasn't really there appeared around his arms. The heartless that her father and brother had worked so hard to defeat were starting to appear behind her. Her father and brother were now lost; they were now heartless.
The giant heartless rose to his feet once more now holding a massive ball of white energy. He threw it up as it burst into pieces and fell like snow but dissipating before it even hit the ground. Their planet, as if weeping, cried out in a boisterous sound unlike anything she had heard before. The earth began to shake once more and this time it was because the very light that kept this planet alive was there no more. Her mother screamed as a deep black claw penetrated, going straight through her torso. She fell to the ground bleeding deep into the tiled roof. A scarlet tear ran down her mother's porcelain white face as she whispered, "I'm sorry I wasn't able to get you away from here in time. I was told to do, what seemed, the most simplest of tasks, and I couldn't even do that. Now everyone will suffer because of it."
"Mother!" she screamed as she saw a heart slowly appear in the hands of the black creatures. It was a white crystalline color unlike any she had seen. It was so white it hurt to look at, but soon, like the rest, it faded to a dull grey before being eclipsed into an eternal black. She was so worn and tired; numb. Her family was gone. She was left alone on a world that was to be no more. She let the tears fall freely down her face. Time was running out for her and all she could do was wait. She didn't have to wait long. She was surrounded by the heartless and soon felt what she had most dreaded: a sharp lunge into her back.
The pain was so immense that it left her breathless. She feared to look down but did anyway to see black claws dripping with blood. It was like poison running through her. Her heart beat faster then what it was ever meant to, her pulse quickened. Her skin felt as if it was on fire, but her blood ran cold. An icy cold like she had never felt before. It ached to move. It hurt to breath. It hurt. The black creature pulled out from her as she fell next to the deceased figure of her mother. She noticed something wet on her face. It was her mother's blood, but she couldn't move. The pain was so immense it kept her paralyzed to that spot. She could not make any facial expressions and was surprised to feel dark tears fall from her face. She was dying. She was dying in a way that no one should ever have to.
What were those things doing here? What were their purposes? Why did it have to happen to her a day before her birthday? All thoughts were lost as she felt a pull at her still beating heart. She no longer felt a racing heart. She no longer felt blood racing through her veins. Everything inside her came to a halt. All she could do was wait till her brain ceased to function. She stared at the heartless as they twitched back and forth cradling her own heart. Her vision blurred, mostly blinded by tears, and what she did see was all in black and white. The world of choas seen in the background was now a dull grey and black. Everything without color.
Soon it all went away. She just ceased to exist.
! Flashback End !
She now remembered everything. She gasped and reached for her neck to feel cool metal. Relief ran over her. The present her mom gave her was still there, but wait…why were there two charms instead of one. She felt the second one, not wanting to move, and noticed it to be a heart in intricate detail. It was her mother's! How did it get there? She did not remember grabbing it or her mother giving it to her in the end. But she smiled a sad smile and felt the tears run down either side of her face. That star that went out had met the same fate as her home had. She felt saddened by that thought. People there were dying the same way she had, but if she had died then what was she doing here on the beach?