Chapter 19

Water

Airiana was close to tears. She wanted to deny it herself, just like 'Triston' was.

"What? Are you crazy? Of coarse I'm real." Triston denied.

"No. No your not. That's why your twitching out of sight." Airiana replied. it was all flooding in. Like water. Overwhelming her.

"Airiana, don't be stupid. I'm right here. Im REAL!"

Cameron hadn't said anything.

Airiana heard the whispering in her head.

"He's not real. He's an illusion. Created by the shadows to distract you form their presence. Look up."

Airiana looked up and saw a clouds of pale silver hovering above her.

Airiana thought, Who are you?

"My name is Maya."

What do you want from me? Airiana thought.

"I need your help. I have to remove...someone...who doesn't deserve to be where they are."

Who?

"Hannah."

What are you going to do to her?

"Kill her most likely..."

What! Why?

"It's Thierry. We are supposed to be together. I love him."

What? You can't just try to kill someone's soulmate because you love them. It doesn't work like that.

"Why not. That's what Jeremy did. Just say yes, it will all be ok. Will you help me, like i've helped you."

No. I can't help you kill Hannah. I can't. All Thierry's done is help me. And then I return the favour by killing his soulmate. I can't.

"It's not like I need permission."

Airiana was back inside, standing at the back of the hall. Worried.

Great, let's make a list, she thought. My boyfriends not real, the shadows have invited themselves to my prom, and I have a soul trying to take over my body to kill hannah. Life's a party.

Just then, the door of the hall flew open and slammed into the wall behind it. Everyone cleared a path and Airiana was staring directly out the door and down the aisle. She saw a flicker of silver in the darkness. She gasped. They're here.

"GET DOWN!" She yelled. Everyone dropped to the ground, not simultaneously, but still made it, just before that devilish silver shadow flew right through the door and about a hundred others smashed through the windows. The girls were screaming, the guys were screaming, the teachers were screaming, the shadows were letting out a bloodcurdling war cry, Airiana was blocking her ears. The shadows were just about to cascade down on them when they were stopped dead by a layer of blue energy. Right in front of her appeared a pale blue silhouette of a girl with long hair and determined eyes. Maya.

"Airiana." She was speaking for real this time, but no one else could hear her. "I'm going to help you one more time. The shadows have something you want. Wynter. They have Wynter. She's in the water down on the beach. Deep, too, ok. I'll help you find the position. You have to run down the aisle. Turn right to get to the beach ok. Do not turn left, no matter what, do not turn left. Understand."

Airiana had her heels off by then. "I understand."

"Ok, when your ready, i'll let down the veil, don't worry about everyone here, they won't be hurt, they only want you, ok. Are you ready?"

Airiana took a breath. "Yes."

"Ok, 1, 2, 3...!" The silhouette of Maya dropped her hand and a flood of silver smoke filled every space possible. Airiana picked herself up and ran and ran, out the door, and some how, unoticed.

She held up her black dress and ran down the aisle. It felt like everything was going slow. Like she was running in slow-mode and the world was slowing with her. Her face was sad yet hopeful. Wynter's alive. Her bare feet kicked up some sand as she ran, her dress held in her hands, occasionally scraping the ground.

She reached the intersection of the aisle and couldn't help but steal a glance down the aisle. It was a light. Just a light. Or maybe not just a light. Maybe it was The Light. She jogged on the spot for a second and then sprinted down the ramp, her feet landing on a murky beach. The water was a dull grey-blue, yet calm. The sky was grey, the sand wasn't white, or yellow. She was a silhouette of grey, Maya, hovering above the water out about halfway before the point.

Airiana ran holding her dress until her feet the water. The water was freezing. She dropped her dress and let it's hem fall to the water. She waded as fast as she could until it was deep enough for her to dive. She dove in and felt the cold water pierce her body. The dress was dragging, but thankggod it was as light as light as it was.

She swam up to take a breath and to see where maya was. Not 20 metres away. Her silhouette twisted and disappeared. Airiana went back under and began to use breast stroke to nget the point where Wynter supposedly was. Airiana could see from under the water the sky was darkening.

She took another breath and then began to swim again. Then another one. As she took her next breath she saw something white beneath her. It was no white shadow come to rescue her. It was the pale hand of Wynter Stevenson reaching up. Could she breathe. Airiana dove directly under herslef and reached out. Five seconds after diving down she felt a hand. She clasped it and to her happiness, it squeezed her own hand. She pulled them both up. She dragged them both up to where they could stand before they celebrated. They hugged eachother tightly, tears spilling from Airiana's eyes and onto her shoulders from Wynter's eyes.

"Your alive." Airiana cried quietly. Airiana moved her hand to the back of Wynter's head and pulled her closer.

When they pulled apart, they both smiled weakly. They began to wade toward the shore where the daybreaker soulmates began to spill from the entry. Wynter was walking in front of Airiana. Airiana was smiling from sheer joy that she'd found and saved her friend. Then, like a bad dream, a veil of silver energy separated them. Wynter was safely on shore but Airiana was still in ankle deep water. Everyone rran towards the veil. Airiana's face sadened as she pressed her hands up against it, realising that it could not be broken. She began to bang her fists on the veil and cry out. Cameron was directly in front of her but behind the veil, yelling something, pointing at the veil. It was none of Maya's magic. Her's was pale blue. This was the property of the silver shadows. Then Airiana realised he was pointing behind her. Airiana turned and saw a colossal wave crashing towards her. It hit her with such force, it swept out her feet and dragged her out. She almost lost her breath before she got to the surface. As soon as she did another wave came. She quickly dived under it. She resurfaced. Another, she dived, another, she dived. She was breathlessly tired and her limbs were weak as she got caught in some kind of current. She looked above her where Maya's silhouette looked distraught.

"I can help you. Will you help me?" She cried.

Another wave. Almost immediately after Airiana resurfaced another time she was so desperate and close to death that she could see that damned light she cried, "YES!"

And then she saw nothing.

All she could hear were waves calming. Then she felt someone's arms under her. Than she felt sand under her. Then she hward panicked voices.

"Is she breathing."

"Is she alive."

"CPR!"

Then it all blacked out.

Airiana's body sat up abruptly, and took a loud breath of fresh air. Her eyes were yellow. Then green. Then blue. Maya's everchanging eyes. She smiled as her eyes went red.