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ALWAYS TOGETHER
Arc 3 Chapter 5: Sarah Unwrapped

Arc 3 Chapter 5: Sarah Unwrapped

In her dark room, designed that of the Gothic era with a floor made of the finest wood, a Victorian style bed, dressers of her representing clothing, Sarah’s currently on the floor with a candlelit and a piece of paper in one hand. In front of her was a printed picture of Danny, surrounded by a strange red marking on the ground in the shape of interlaced stars. She grabs the candle and waves it in front of the picture with her eyes closed.

Sarah opens her eyes and takes out a white ribbon from a small box next to her. “With this, you ought to be cursed by the calls of the guardians I worship, you wicked greedy lustful boy.”

The paper in her hand, she rolled that up, and wrapped the ribbon around it, forming a knot. She lays the folded paper next to the candle alongside his photo and merges her hands, interlacing her fingers.

Sarah takes a slow deep breath, easing the anger she has for him. “I bind you Daniel Copeland from doing harm, harm against me, and harm against my friends…”

She set her hands down on her lap and saw the candle go crazy. What’s this?! Why is it behaving this way?

The candle lit up brightly and feathered away after a moment. Sarah smacks her lips, feeling frustrated and grabs the paper, ripping it apart and throws it away.

The goth girl clutched her head, grinding her teeth. “Why can’t I bind him! This isn’t possible, I’ve done it right, like mom taught me and from what I’ve read. But everytime I perform it—it doesn’t work!”

Sarah lets out a deep sigh and stands on her feet. Feeling downed by this, Sarah walks out of her room and makes her way outside to get some fresh air. Stepping outside into her front yard having flowers of all sorts to dandelions, peace lilies, carnations, and tulips, Sarah thought it’d be better to go for a walk to ease her frustration.

“I’m a little hungry for something unhealthy, might as well go to the closest grocery store.”

Sarah walks off her property premise with her arms crossed and is on her way to the closest grocery store. As her mind’s still focused on Danny who dared intimidate her and brought fear into her soul, the goth girl can’t help but express it out into the world, she couldn’t contain it any longer.

Sarah flipped her elegant black hair and blew her anger through her nostrils. “How dare he do that to me. I’ll show him… pretentious asshole.”

She arrives at a local ma and pa store at the corner of town and walks in. She went to the freezer section and grabbed a drink inside. It’s her favourite pop, a Spanish one called Sangria. Holding the cold glass bottle filled with the darkest fizzy liquid of purple, Sarah stared at it intensely.

I can’t seem to focus, his words, they still brew hate inside of me… I just have the urge to smash this bottle right here, it’s so tempting.

Sarah still remembered his words, but at the same time her mind had another collision of confliction, that being the encounter with the woman in red. As she’s staring at the glass bottle, she doesn't realise that someone is walking up behind her. She feels that person’s presence get closer from their heavy footsteps seeping with arrogance and turns around to see Danny again out of all people. He’s the last person she wanted to encounter right now. The boy still had that arrogant grin smeared across his face, and he looked just as confident as ever with his chest puffed out. Seeing him more arrogant than ever made Sarah gag within, feeling the urge to gouge his eyes out.

Danny wipes the grin of arrogance he had and whistles for a moment. He looked around their area to see if anyone else was around and an aura of suspicion grew out of him. Sarah closed her hands, clinging her nails into her palms, wanting to pierce her precious skin in anger. Danny continued gazing around suspiciously as Sarah stood there in silence, quivering mildly in anger.

He’s finished glancing around and abruptly takes the glass bottle out of Sarah’s hand and analyses it. “Don’t you hate this drink? I mean, it’s my favourite drink! Don’t tell me you’re planning to buy it for me? Aww! You shouldn’t have.”

Sarah raised the edge of her lip, showing her teeth to Danny on how just how aggravated she is. Sarah’s grown weary of his game and tries walking away, but Danny places his arm in front of her.

Sarah’s eyes expanded in anger, and her breathing grew briefly frantic, she’s ready to explode. “Let me through, asshole…”

His smuggish nature returned with a smile as wide as his new found arrogance. “Nah! I have more to ask you, friend.”

“Fuck—”

Danny suddenly wraps his arm around her tiny shoulders and forces her to walk along with him through the shop and ultimately to the outside. It made Sarah grit her teeth. If there's one thing she hates most, it’s being touched by anyone, only three people were allowed to touch her, that being her mom and two friends. Having someone she’s never liked since childhood invaded her personal space and to grab her made her blood boil to maximum.

“So Sarah? Can you tell me who this girl is to be exact?” Danny asks as he pulls up his phone and shows her the article with the strange figure behind the reporters.

“I-I don’t know. Why are you asking me? Why do you keep harassing me?!”

The two were outside and Danny forced the two to walk near the back of the shop. He starts to laugh and brings a stop to themselves from walking any farther.

Danny felt comical but also felt amused. “Me?! Harass you! No way, I’m just asking you simple questions, that's all.”

Danny then grabs her precious hands, and immediately she fights back, snapping. She’s had enough and throws a punch at him, but he catches her arm, but she wasn’t going to quit that easily. She starts flailing her hands to throw more punches at him, but his size and strength gave him the advantage. Danny grabbed and gripped her wrists tightly, and she squirms in his clutch. She grounds her teeth in anger, furrows her brows fiercely, but Danny on the other hand was enjoying this again like last time.

Danny creeps his face close to her face with a devious smile. “Hey hey, relax. But that’s okay, do you know why?”

Sarah’s eyes started turning red and glistened as she held back her tears of anger. “Wh-What?”

Danny chuckles a bit and tightens his grip, making her yelp. “I already know what she is. Let's just say like I said before, she’ll be a very important asset to my future plans.”

Sarah muttered her angered breathing and brought her gaze down to the grown. “Then let me go, please.”

“Nu uh! Hold up now hold up. Don’t look that way and cause a scene. You might give people the wrong idea, friend.”

Danny once again forces her to walk with him until they were behind the shop where there were some vacant gas pumps. Sarah tried fighting back again by tugging away from his grip, but Danny didn’t allow her to even budge. The strength difference was far too great between the two when it came to her tiny size.

“You see Sarah, there’s something that all of you guys might not know. It’s a little secret of mine, and I'm not so sure that you guys are ready to learn the truth!”

Sarah finally breaks free for a moment and makes a run for it. Danny was loving every second of this and had a small chase going after her. She didn’t get too far because he quickly grabbed her tiny arm, stopping her.

Sarah had enough and screamed. “What do you want from me! Let me go already! I swear if you don’t let go Danny—I’ll hurt you badly!”

Danny’s flustered, he had a huge maniacal grin on his face. “I know you would! That’s why I need you Sarah! You beautiful beautiful being. Help me get some vengeance on an old friend of ours and I’ll set you free, what do you say?” As Danny was creeping in closer to her red face, a tall man placed his hand on his shoulder, frightening him.

“Hey kid, you better stop or I’ll call the police.” said the tall man in a bassy deep tone.

His voice made the teen tremble. It made him think of someone whom he hates and is seeking vengeance on. Sarah noticed and it made her question just who this fellow was, thinking it’s someone who’s after him. Danny’s breathing grew frantic as he turned around, but thankfully he only saw a normal guy. It was a mechanic man from a nearby shop who happened to be the perpetrator giving Danny the misconception freight.

Danny lets out a long breath and lets Sarah go. “Phew, for a second there I thought you were someone else…” He takes one last look at Sarah and smiles, “Bye Sarah, think about my offer.” Danny casually walks away and doesn't look back.

The tall mechanic man kept his gaze on Danny, he didn’t like the kids' arrogance. “Fucking creep, who’d know what would’ve happen to you young missy.”

Sarah wipes her eyes and manages to control her angered breathing.

The man turns to Sarah and smiles. “You alright missy? He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

Sarah returns his generosity with a soft subtle smile of her own. “I’m okay sir. Thank you so much, if you didn’t show up I’d probably hurt him before you would’ve.”

“Bwahaha! I like your thinking missy, you remind me of my daughter. Well, take care.” He waves to Sarah and walks away.

Sarah takes the time to recap that moment that man's shadow and voice freaked Danny out.

So that bastard’s afraid of someone with a similar height and voice it seems. I wonder who he is so afraid of?

Thinking about the thought made Sarah chuckle in amusement. “Whoever the stranger is that has Danny shitting bricks, I have to meet them someday so they can take care of him instead of I.”

Her amusement was temporary, her anger quickly returned with a vengeance. A tear ran out of her eye unexpectedly and Sarah angrily walked away from the area. The goth girl stomped her way through the town streets, covering her glistened eyes away from society with the shadows of her bangs. She couldn’t believe that Danny intimidated her again, initiating fear tactics on her by touching her, but what made it more devious this time on Sarah’s behalf was the fact he wants to use her for some heinous act.

“That bastard, that ungrateful asshole!” shouted Sarah abruptly.

Sarah can’t help herself but bite her nails out in frustration. In spite of all this unravelling anger, that scene of him being frightened still boggled her mind. She wonders if she’ll ever come across the mysterious fellow whom he’s fearful of. After walking through town, now being at the edge and exiting, Sarah makes her way to the nearby forest just across a two way street.

“I think it’s time. The more I hold back on my feelings, the conflicts of accepting who I really am; The more people like him will take advantage and potentially hurt not only me, but others as well.”

Sarah’s inner thoughts came out in a burst of adrenaline, and the goth girl sprinted into the thick dense forest. Deeper and deeper Sarah ran into the forest, pushing aside branches, dodging them. The goth girl ran for minutes on end, her breathing growing heavier until she spotted a partially open just ahead. Sarah pushed through and found herself in the middle of a grand wide opening within the forest. She takes the time to catch her breath and cool down, bringing out a smile while walking herself in the middle of the open area in this forest.

“It’s so beautiful here, I can glaze myself in nature's beauty all day.” In the moment, Sarah couldn’t contain herself but expressed this beautiful scenery by doing some bellarine type dancing.

Secretly besides her family's hidden nature, Sarah much enjoys dancing. It’s her ultimate form of coping and releasing her feelings out into the world. At the moment she only knows slow dancing and ballerine but with a mixture of some ancient mediaeval dancing taught to her by her mother. Quietly spinning around to finish her relaxation, Sarah bowed and released a huge breath of air. She felt at ease.

“It’s time, my mind is clear, and all I have to do… is pray.” She gently sets herself down to her knees and leans her head down on the ground, mumbling words to herself.

Sarah whispers strange words, one’s not familiar to modern English, rather a mixture of German and Latin. A mysterious draft blew into the opening, fluttering the grass beneath her body and everything else made by nature. The trees in the forest were leaning, the winds were growing stronger and leaves were even being blown off from their origins.

Almost done… Almost done… Sarah sits up and the eerie winds briefly stop as she stands back on her feet at a slow pace.

Standing there without a hum from nature, sunlight piercing into her skin, Sarah closes her eyes. “Okay, let everything settle, and then do as Mom showed you.”

The environment around her was settled, but briefly, that is until Sarah gently raised her arms and extended out into the air as if she were reaching for the sky. A single leaf lands on the ground and hurricane-like winds initiated, blowing everything in a single direction. Feeling nature's strong whisper tickle her skin, flutter her clothes, Sarah takes a huge deep breath and opens her eyes again to awaken the dawn of her new self.

Sarah’s eyes were dim, and the goth girl’s voice changed to that of dullness. “Hail to the guardians of the skies, the powers of air and wind!”

The trees fluttered violently, the grass around her too swept in the direction of this fierce wind coming from the east. The skies made sounds of incoming destruction, and the animals around her went mad. Then, all of this changed once she started doing a chant her mother taught her to do once she was ready to accept who she is, and this was her embracing of this mystery kept from her friends.

Sarah’s eyes quivered, letting out a huge gasp before chanting again. “Hear me! Hail to the guardians of the ground beneath me, powers of feeling and life.”

The ground beneath her blossomed flowers out of the ground. The violent winds blew their petals off their stems, and the very thing trees use to embellish life, their roots came out of the ground, growing rapidly around the area.

“Hear me! Hail to the guardians of nature herself, by the powers bestowed upon mother nature herself and her unbound spirit…. Hear me!”

The winds were now catastrophe levels of intensity, twirling dead, blossoming leaves around Sarah. Animals in the forest ran away, the very heavens grew angry, expressing their anger with dark clouds of grey sweeping in from the horizon of earth’s line. The clouds hovered over the forest blocking any light that shined on this forest, and flashed their anger beneath their fluff.

“Aid me in my new profound life, may my acceptance be embarked into thee in this month of love! February!”

Thunder clapping, the trees being ripped from their roots, animals flung around, but surprisingly not killed. Those clouds continued swelling up in anger, producing purple plasma within their domains and shooting out into the skies.

“Serpent of old, ruler of all! Guardian of the bitter skies—Show me your glory! Show and help me with strength far beyond comprehension!”

Lighting began striking the forest, causing massive fires to erupt, bringing forth total panic inside the forest. Animals kept trying to run, fly, and squirm away from the total chaos, but were caught by the horrific winds being ensued.

Sarah’s hands quivered and her eyes started to roll behind her head. “I pray for thee, I pray for thee… I invoke thee… O serpent one, hear my calls of sorrow and selfishness! Hear my prayers!”

The lightning kept striking down, cutting and dragging around the area and leading towards Sarah. The clouds above rumbled with sounds as devastating as bombs echoing horrid catastrophies into the distance. The ground beneath Sarah continued to shine with life as the grass kept expanding ever so throughout the forest, fires ravaged the fields, the leftover trees grew immune to the flames, saving themselves along with plants and life along with it from this chaos being created by Sarah’s mysterious doing.

Sarah’s fingers arched, twitched as she held them up to the air. “Ancient wise one! Teach me thy ways, I summon and stir thee! Lend me your powers and aid me on my selfish needs! Show me your glory and hidden spirit!”

Her eyes rolled back to her head, exposing the veins in their blank canvas with her body starting to tremble violently.

“I invoke thee, I invoke thee… I invoke thee!”

Something inside Sarah’s awakening, a phenomenon created by her voice alone, a dormant power hidden away that’s beyond reality's comprehension. Everything around Sarah’s on the brink of mass extinction. The clouds swelling, winds blasting, the world around Sarah grew red and black until everything paused for a second. The skies calmed and the sound of nature returned once again. Those tensed winds feathered away, debri fell like paper, and the animals were slowly being placed down to their feet so they could run away.

Sarah’s pupils were back, but were much rounder. The red around them was intensely red and her corneas were long and wide, pitch black. She took one last slow deep breath and a glowing outline of red magma rapidly coated her.

Sarah balled her fists and reeled her arms in and slowly reached them out again into the air. “Show yourself, Manon… Fill me!” A huge bolt of lightning strikes Sarah, creating a flash of white that consumes the world around her.

The whiteness flashed and faded dwindles, bringing back the colours of reality. Sarah’s on the ground, unconscious. What… happened?

The clouds started to cry, putting out the flames that were growing. All the animals returned to their homes and continued on their doing. The trees that were once burned gained and sprouted back into life. Flowers blossomed, birds chirped and the rain disappeared along with the dark clouds exposing the sun's holy light that shined on the goth girl like a superstar on stage. Sarah’s barely alive, her breathings frantic and her hearts beating rapidly. The sun shining on her like a spotlight, helped awaken her and forced her to open her eyes.

Did… I do… it?

Confused, scared, and worried, Sarah takes a gaze upon the sky. “It hurts… a lot.”

Her eyes were normal again, there wasn’t a strange glow around her, she’s back to normal. The goth girl sat up and looked fatigued.

She grasps her head that pulsed a migraine. “Did I screw up?”

Sarah looked around and saw the beauty that she bestowed upon the forest. She took the time to admire the beautiful scenery around her, bringing out a grin of relief. Sarah then felt some sort of heat on her left arm.

She glanced at her right arm and saw something glow beneath her sleeve. “What’s this?” She pulled her sleeve up that had her strange mark misleading as a tattoo to her friends. “What on earth is this?”

Her marking had transformed into a strange tattoo. It had clouds and closed eyelids resting on top of their fluff, stringing out lightning from beneath that led up on top of her hand. Sarah gasped in amazement, raising her arm to the light of day. It made her eyes glisten from it’s glowing beautiful purple lightning, pulsing. A few seconds later, it dimmed down into that very colour of dark purple, mixing with the colours of black and disappearing into her skin.

“I don’t believe it, mom was right, it worked! Now, I’m official it seems.” She gently grins and stands on her feet, patting herself up. “I wonder if it’ll reappear when I finally start using the things Mom taught me.”

Sarah pulled her sleeve down and sighed. Before Sarah could think of leaving, she just had to admire the scenery one last time. She glances around and spun one last time, printing this amazing portrait into her mind. Finally, the goth girl decides to leave and head back to society. While walking through the forest and on her way out, Sarah took the time to enjoy herself and communicate with nature while doing so. She patted greenery, sniffed flowers, massaged trees, and animals even approached her asking to be pet. All of this brought so much amazement and joy into the goth girl that she wiped away the anger she had earlier in the day.

As time continued, society's activities dwindled, the day passed and night’s approaching. Sarah’s still in the forest unfortunately, she seemed lost. She couldn’t decide what paths she took to retract her steps or where she ran in from. She wasn’t worried though, she felt some sort of relief and ease ever since she did that strange supernatural thing. She continued walking with confidence, ignoring the fact that she’s getting even more lost as she walked even deeper into the forest.

Sarah snapped out of her happy trance and got serious. “Damn, where did I come in from?” Suddenly, she heard a wail off from a distance.

What was that…?

Feeling curious, Sarah decided to walk towards this weird noise of sadness to then become noises of agony. She readies herself for anything out of the norm and rushes to this abnormal noise. It sounds like ghostly howls of sorrow the longer it continues. Sarah dashes through bushes and dodges any dangling branches, hopping over big roots to reach this abnormality. Approaching closer to the sounds of mysterious sadness, going through another thick bush, Sarah saw lights.

“Am I getting close to town now?” Sarah wondered.

Her curiosity sprung into fruition and she picked her pace up and noticed the lights getting brighter, eventually piercing the growing dark skies too.

What’s going on over there? Why’s there so many skylights?

She’s getting even closer and at last, Sarah’s managed to get out of the forest to find herself at the edge of a small hill overlooking a sealed off town. “This—Is this?!” She stood at the edge that overlooked not just any town, it was one of the towns that was quarantined off from society.

It surprised and left her speechless. In front of her was that tall mysterious wall that seemed endless surrounding it. Skylights reaching the black clouds and helicopters patrolling from a far, scrounging the other enclosed town. The scenery alone was sad and too much for Sarah to handle, yet something felt off. Something was really off about the town next to it from how guarded it was and had zero helicopters and skylights within it. She brought her full attention to the town next to it that was completely covered by a blanket personified of darkness.

It’s that strange town consumed by night! And I’m seeing it this close, unbelievable.

Sarah’s baffled. Seeing the town this close and in that state felt petrifying. Yet in spite of feeling this way, Sarah might have a hint on why the town’s covered in darkness. In her mind she concluded it might have to do with the strange presence of something she’s picking up from within.

I wonder if this has to do with the fact I’ve come to terms with who I am now that I can sense whatever's in there.

As she continued analysing the town with her crimson eyes, she spotted something out of the norm in that midst of black. It’s enough to stand out and pulse out to be left unnoticed in complete darkness. The closer she gazed, the more it stood out. Just from where she’s standing, she figured out it was very faint yet appeared to be a misty cloud of whitened grey smoke.

“What could that be… I-I can sense something awful in that cloud.” There was an extreme amount of malice and anger coming from that direction where the mist was at.

Only one way to find out… She decides to investigate it and find out what the true meaning behind these so-called quarantine stories truly are.

Sarah gently climbs down from the hill and lands on her feet carefully, wiping off any dust or dirt from her gothic clothes. She walked towards the wall and felt kinda excited. Perhaps this sensation was coming from uncovering the truth behind a huge lie. She expresses this feeling with a mildly excited grin, enough to lay the title of a Witch. She reaches the wall and stands in front of it, gazing up at the huge barrier of concrete towering over her like a giant.

“How could they get away with this without the governments knowing?”

She’s in awe at how fast they could build something like this in a whole year. A step further, a sudden feeling of nervousness suddenly shot through her the moment she took a step closer to the wall. The sounds of a haunting wail came from within the walls, freaking Sarah out with creepiness. Those feelings of excitement swept away as fast as it came the moment she heard those cries up close.

Sarah smacks her hands against her face and relaxes herself to face this mystery. “Don’t be a coward now! Go, and uncover the truth behind this abnormality.”

Sarah gently places her hands against the wall to read what was on the other side when suddenly—total darkness. Her mind and vision were engulfed in a mist of black and purple.

Sarah’s confused and afraid, having no clue what just happened. For what reason was her entire vision suddenly consumed by blackness? This bizarre occurrence ravaged her new senses, giving off danger signals everywhere. Was this her new power bestowed upon her? Telling her that she screwed up majorly or was it her human instincts telling her that she made a grave mistake. After some moments of what seemed to be eternal darkness, a sort of light began flashing towards her. It crept slowly and closely towards her, but from out of nowhere, her vision came back.

Blinking rapidly, Sarah’s vision regained some fullness. “I’m… back…”

The light flashes away, blinding her briefly, and she regains full colour. Sarah rubs her eyes and looks around to realise that she’s no longer behind the wall, but in the middle of an empty street. It’s just not any street, she’s in the middle of, she’s in the middle of the isolated town from inside the walls. She figured it out because of the never ending blackness that was the streets and the permanent dark sky.

She began to panic a bit and looked in every direction with erratic eye movement. “What’s the meaning of this! How did I get in here?!”

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Perplexed over this strange ordeal, her new powers made her sense something horrible approaching the street in front of her.

“What am I feeling?” she said with quivered eyes and a frantic breath. “This awful sensation… How frighteningly depressing…”

Sarah swallows and shakes her head. She observes the area further, using some sort of ball of light she just summoned with her hand.

Don’t know how I just did that, but it helps. But up ahead, something sad, yet angry is approaching me.

Sarah clenches her hand, making the ball of light disappear so she could stay hidden from whatever’s coming.

She prepares herself and steps back, squinting her eyes. “Whatever it is… I can feel that it’s out for something, but what?”

The skies that were charcoaled changed to a different colour. It’s less black but turned into a misty colour of clouded grey. The colour of sadness appeared out of thin air, drifting violently throughout the dark heavens and barely brightening up the environment. Sarah’s amazed that she’s witnessing this bizarre event.

Unbelievable, so this is the type of mysterious mom has dealt with all her life? I can barely fathom this!

Gazing at the sky with serious eyes filled with her growing worry, Sarah gulped and knitted her brows. When she laid her eyes back at the dark street, just down the empty street, an awful greyish black mist swiftly drifted out of the corner of a building. Once faintly exposed, it abruptly hurled towards Sarah's feet, flowing past them in the blink of an eye. The fierce speed, blowing her clothes and hair, forcing her to cover her face as it passed by was a sensation of pure loneliness and felt bone chilling. It felt as if a tornado of sub zero sorrow was hurtling past her.

As she uncovered her face, she saw something step out of that corner, something devious, something sad, something horrid and evil. The goth girl clenched a fist and trembled before it.

Sarah bit one of her nails to ease herself, but even that wasn’t helping. “Re-Remember what mom taught you, and don’t hold back. Just do it, Sarah.”

The goth girl prepared herself again with a hunched pose and out came a figure of solid smoke of white and black in the shape of a girl. The figure had an outline of gothic misty purple over its faint outline figure. Her eyes and mouth were hollow like never ending abysses, it’s hard to tell her true height or size because she’s just smoking entirely. Though the two things that completely stood out were—

“Is that thing wearing a dress? And has hair as normal as a person's. What’s with that?”

Sarah took her time to analyse the ghostly figure inside her mind. She didn’t want to talk outloud for now so she couldn’t alert it.

Long shimmering black hair as black as the night along with if my eyes are correct, she’s wearing a romantic gothic dress. Strange, yet, I can’t help but feel as if I’ve seen and felt this thing before, but from where?

Sarah can’t help being puzzled on why the dress and hair stood out and not its smokey body. The strange figure, dragging it’s legless smoke through the street, pauses, and looks in Sarah's direction. Sarah flinched upwards, expressing worry. Tilting its head in confusion, it appeared to be annoyed by the sight of Sarah with how it let out a loud ghostly groan. Sarah clenches her fists and forces herself by showing a fake poker face, showing the figure that she wasn't afraid.

“Hey you!” she shouted but swallowed nervously after. “Are you the true cause of this unrealistic occurrence?”

The figure still seemed confused yet annoyed, squinting it’s hollowed eyes of nothingness. “Who and what might you be?” It’s abyssed eyes began emitting a tiny glow of purple. “Get out of my way. Or I'll curse you to your last embers of what makes you a living being.”

Her voice was ghostly, unmotivated, yet there was a hint of gentleness behind its malice tone. But for her to say such calm statements sent chills down Sarah’s spine.

“N-Not until you answer my question, damned spirit!”

Sarah then remembered something, the picture from earlier. She looked like the apparition she saw in the background from the article. Yet her memories were trying their best to remind Sarah that this might not be the first time she’s encountered this entity. If this wasn’t the best time to get an answer then she didn’t know when it was. The goth girl prepared herself to ask this spirit or whatever it was that question trifling her complex mind.

“Are-Are you the girl from the pictures?!”

The figure's smokey body started to quiver, making Sarah arch a brow. Then it started to giggle, innocently.

“Why do you keep calling me that? Me… a spirit?” The figure hung it’s head, “Don’t be so stupid! I’m not some stupid apparition…”

Her hair began to float, startling Sarah. Uh-oh, I think I angered it!

“So annoying… so annoying… annoying, annoying, annoying, annoying!” It shook its head rapidly like some crazed rabid creature, “Annoying! Annoying! Out of my way! Leave me be, you stupid thing!” The figure clutches its head intensely, moaning in annoyance.

Her horrid yelling screeched Sarah’s ears, forcing her to cover them, but a sudden huge cloud of black smoke came at Sarah.

Oh no, what do I do now?

Sarah braces herself by using her arms, using them as a shield. The smoke breezed past her and left her confused. It felt like regular smoke at first, she felt fine and all and unfazed. But when Sarah made a small jitter of her muscles, she felt an awful sort of weakness coursing throughout her body.

“Wh-What’s happening to me?” Sarah’s arms wobble down, and she drops to her knees which felt similar to paper.

What did she do to me?!

Sarah began freaking out, not knowing of the unknown damage that smoke did to her. Even her eyes were giving out on her, becoming hazy and foggy.

The figure swept off the ground and began floating towards Sarah’s direction like a drawing of a still cloud. “Like I said, you’re in my way!” said the figure as it continued coming towards Sarah. “Now, lay to rest and don’t think of resurrection or reincarnation.”

It started picking up it’s pace and giggled like a broken child as she did.

Sarah gritted her teeth out of desperation. She needs to regain her strength back or else she might face certain doom. Only one thing came to her mind, she used what little strength she had to pull up her right sleeve, exposing her naked arm and pointed her palm at the figure.

It’s now or never Sarah!

“I Bind thee to not harm, spirit!”

Sarah screamed with what air was left in her tiny lungs with might. The tattoo reappeared grossly, growing out from the pores of Sarah’s arms. The clouds on it glowed and flickered the lightning beneath them.

The spirit was stopped dead in its tracks, but it angered her even more in doing so. “You-You… You wretched Rackfire!” The figure dragged her smokey fingers down her face in frustration and twitches violently.

Sarah didn’t know how to react to such a word. A ‘Rakefire’, she’s never heard of such a word. The good thing though was in stopping this ghost dead in its tracks helped Sarah regain some of her strength and rid some of that weakness. She stands on her feet and continues pointing her palm at it, and returns to finish her chant of binding.

“I bind thee to never harm again, mother earth, please! Lend me strength to bind this evil spirit!”

Sarah calmly breathes, closing her eyes to focus her new found mana to bind the apparition. The tattoo pulsed and flashed the area around Sarah. After one last breath, she began to clutch her hand slowly but it wasn’t easy because it started to feel as if she were trying to crush a rock in her hand.

Her closed eyelids twitched from the growing struggle as the figure continued it’s horrific twitching. What the? No, what’s going on? Isn’t this how you do it, Mom?

The figure abruptly stopped it’s twitched madness, and laughed maniacally. Sarah opened her eyes, now she’s the one who’s expressing annoyance. As the girl laughed, aggroing Sarah, it started spinning its head like an owl, freaking Sarah out.

“Stupid girl!” The figure shouted hauntingly, “You really think old tricks like those would work on me?! You’re hilarious!”

It broke free of Sarah’s spell and flew towards her face faster than she could blink, to then grab her neck with it’s smokey hand of pure grey.

Raising Sarah off her feet, it felt her bare skin, and figured out her true identity. “This feeling? I'm surprised people like you still exist in this world.”

Sarah struggled to break free, but Sarah wondered how she could grab something made out of smoke? The goth girl swings her arms at it, but they went right through, making her actions meaningless and answering her wonder.

“You still haven’t accepted yourself it seems. Would you rather succumb to my darkness then?” It giggled, “I promise to utilise and take good care of you like I have with two individuals hehe.” The figure laughed and clutched Sarah’s neck even tighter.

Sarah coughs, her eyes watered from her windpipe slowly being crushed. She thought this was it. To think, she would’ve never fallen to something this abnormal, but she wasn’t going to give up though. Her newly marked arm begins to glow intensely and she raises it, shooting her palm directly at the figure's face. The figure laughed but it’s relentless laughter got cut short because Sarah blew out a huge wave of her own mist out of her palm.

It startles the figure and engulfs the two, trapping them inside a circle of purple clear mist. “Wha-What did you—?”

“Purify my enemy and cause them great harm!”

Sarah abruptly raises her hands, bolts of purple electricity flowed around the ball of mist and electrocuted the figure, and herself.

It’s enough to force the figure to let go of Sarah, but with the cost of hurting herself as well. Sarah coughs, drops on all fours and brings the light show to an abrupt end. As the two were regaining their strength, Sarah does something so barbaric to stop it from recovering. She hugs herself and the mist ball of electricity explodes. The entire explosion was caught inside, pushing Sarah out from the huge force out of it. She bounced and rolled on the tarmacked ground away from the source of the explosion.

I-I think I broke my hand! Sarah clutched her hand and got up, running away further to get some distance as smoke trailed off her clothes.

She points her palm again in the direction of the explosion where a mushroom cloud rose. “Blessed be, to my fallen sisters of the past! I ask them to bless my enemy with your forgiven sins!”

The lightning marks on her tattoo came off her skin, floated and spun around her arm. It spun so fast that it created gusts of wind. Sarah tried controlling the momentum but she couldn’t. All the momentum created a ball of purple light, flickering out electricity in front of her palm that shot out, stabbed nearby buildings, shooting out into the sky, and dragged on the ground. Sarah screamed and a huge stream of purple plasma shot out of Sarah’s marked hand and struck the smoke, clearing it out and striking the figure. It created another explosion, but a small one. The windows nearby along with the pavement swept aside and ruptured from such a tiny yet powerful explosion.

Sarah’s so dumbfounded at herself, she had no clue that she’s capable of doing such attacks, let alone do thing’s defying the laws of physics.

The lighting flickered one last time and lowered back into Sarah’s skin. “Holy crap. Mom never mentioned things of this nature! I-I didn’t know I or our family could do stuff like this! Mom, you lied to me, haha!”

Sarah felt happy, proud of herself for ‘Defeating!’ the entity. She couldn’t help herself but smile, but that short moment of happiness and small victory came short when all the smoke cleared away again to show the figure on her knee and not scathed whatsoever. Sarah felt very annoyed, and spits, brushing a scuff off her cheek from the earliest explosion with her broken hand.

“Ow; Damn, what is this thing made out of?!” Then she chuckles with a scare, “Oh right, smoke…”

The figure got up and continued laughing, “So it is true! People like you do still exist! I thought there was only a small handful that could see and sense me!” She flails her body around like a boneless piece of life. “I wonder how many more of you are out there, but—none of that matters because I'm going to kill you!”

The figure suddenly flies in Sarah's direction and grabs her again in seconds without letting her react in time. It’s speed demonstrated that it was far greater than sound or in Sarah’s eyes, perhaps matching light. The figure wraps that smokey hand around Sarah’s face and slams her on the ground with such force it cracks the ground beneath them and dents it. First the speed displayed and now it’s strength, completely felt unrealistic to Sarah’s current knowledge of reality.

Pieces of the road flew off, buildings nearby collapsed from the shakened quaky force of Sarah’s head being repeatedly slammed on the ground. Slam after slam after slam, the tremors created made chunks of earth rise out of the ground like knives. Sarah felt the wind and her life knocked out of her. But, surprisingly, this wasn’t enough to stop her newfound courage or kill her. She widened her eyes and slammed a hand on the ground bringing vines made of moss green to rise out of the cracks created from her slammed body to surprise and capture the figure.

The vines tangled around it, twisting the apparition. It laughs as the greenery tries squeezing her out of existence. Sarah watches the vines she summoned die, fall off, and turn to black. The figure flings backwards, giving her and Sarah a good bit of distance. Sarah’s trying to get up, but she’s hurt from her early slam down. The figure extended one of her smokey arms like a huge endless rope in Sarah’s direction. It landed on top of the goth girl's motionless body.

“Huh?!” Sarah tried again to get up, but she felt too lightheaded to do so.

The smoke twirls around the entirety of Sarah. She gasps loudly and she’s suddenly lifted up off the ground and flung into the air. Sarah screams as she continues being raised higher into the air. She spins Sarah around the air above the entirety of the town like a cowboy. The amount of speed she ensued to spin her around was preposterous, creating tidal waves of air that struck the town. Sarah screams horribly while being spun around with speeds far beyond comprehension. Nothing ever recorded in human history could match the speed she’s being spun around in. After swinging Sarah around, cowboy style, tormenting her in a never ending motion sickness, it swings the goth girl high in the air with the twirling momentum. Sarah pukes and feels terribly ill.

“Die, you Rackfire, you fool, and endeavor of envy!” The ghost girl hurdles Sarah towards the nearest tallest building and slams her against it in devastation.

Debri falls down and a huge cloud of smoke puffs out as Sarah’s body makes contact with the brick building, going through it. The building’s dented, and half of it behind Sarah was destroyed.

“Ahhh!” Sarah lets out a reaping scream of pain, bringing music to the entity's ghostly ears.

The figure isn't done. It moves Sarah out of the half destroyed building and slams her against another building nearby. This time, Sarah slams through the thickest brick and glass as she spews blood out of her mouth from being tossed around like nothing. Sarah clenches her fists but she’s swept out of the building to be lifted once again in the air.

“You’re not finished?! You annoying girl, just die already!” said the apparition in a deepened enraged tone.

It had the goth girl hovered in the air and started using the rope-like smoke to squeeze and twist Sarah. Sarah yells out in desperation and begins to cry for help. Mother nature hears her pained cry and answers her call by summoning a huge bolt of lightning, coming forth from the sky, striking the figure where it stood. A tremendous explosion was created, as though a MOAB hit the town. Finally, it let go of her, and Sarah was pummeling back down but was able to stop herself and made herself float in the sky instead.

Sarah’s breathing intensely, she wondered if she’s close to death. “How-How am I?! Wait… huh, am-am I?” Sarah recognized that she’s floating, and was very surprised by it as she looked down at the town. “I’m, I’m flying. Is this… real?”

Sarah regained some excitement but quickly brushed it off. She couldn't risk herself getting caught off guard again. Looking down on the figure, Sarah couldn’t help but feel more angry and yet scared at the same time. Sarah grits her teeth and lifts her arms in the air, bringing forth the might of nature upon it with lightning strikes the size of skyscrapers, striking the apparition multiple times, angering it even further. Explosion after explosion created a hellfire of mushroom clouds that erupted into the sky. Sarah dropped her arms and bugs of all kinds flowed out of the cracked grounds. They pile up on the figure forming a pyramid of them around it’s smokey body beneath the dark reddish smoke.

Sarah begins another long chant in a mighty angered tone. “Hail to the guardians of the sky! Cover my enemy in past sin and bestow your glory upon it!”

The grey blackened clouds from above twirled around, rapidly increasing speed, and pointed, funnelling downwards on the figure like a huge supercell.

“I invoke thee, I invoke thee to be engulfed and blessed by mother earth’s clouded mind! Be blessed and cleansed of your sins!” The supercell glowed dark purple within and twirled with speeds triple of that when Sarah was swung around.

All the buildings close by, streets, anything else were destroyed from the horrific winds of destruction made by Sarah’s attack. The last eminence of anything made by humanity were sucked in the swirling hell to inflict more damage upon the apparition. The rest of the clouds above pummelled down and surrounded the town rapidly and puffed out, engulfing the entire area. Whatever’s left of the town had vanished beneath the dark greyish clouds.

Sarah’s body felt hot, a burning sensation felt ready to burst out of her pores. “Do it Sarah, Do it! Show mom and mother earth your growth!”

The red glowing outline came out from beneath her feet to the top of her head. Her eyes changed like before when she was struck by that bolt of lightning, glowing in mighty red. Sarah’s hair fluttered, then, an aura of magma erupts out and around her.

It was an aura representing her anger with an inner hellish red and saddened black daggered flames outlining it. This phenomena surrounded her body head to toe and spewed out gusts of hot winds everywhere.

This aura grew higher the more Sarah focused. It blew out shock waves of destructiveness back to the earth from it’s growing intensity, helping the chaos ensue. As the magma around her body got more intense, hotter, she steadily pointed her palm to the direction of the chaos, bringing out a calm breath that simmered her aura down of corrupted red.

It’s too late to hold back now, Sarah.

Sarah arches her brows, a tiny dot of light exploded out of her palm. Sarah takes one last deep breath and retracts her arm, shooting her palm at the chaos. The ball of light ignited, bursted into a huge storm of spiralling fire out of the centre of her palm, expanding itself as it reached towards the swirling clouds. Her flamethrower attack consumed the clouds and engulfed the world around them in a blazing hellfire. The town’s completely eviscerated.

With the entire town engulfed with infernos as hot as lava, the roaring flames were reflecting off her glowing red eyes. Sarah’s hair flutters violently from the blazing winds and the power of the blast shooting out of her palm. She’s in disbelief at the amount of destruction she’s creating. It’s almost freighting at how devastating her new found abilities were, enough for the goth girl to make her eyes water in sadness. Sarah felt regretful of her actions, her acceptance, and this encounter. She’s having second thoughts and decided to simmer the inferno created by her hand.

“I… I don’t believe this…” said Sarah with a saddened tone.

Feeling conflictions within herself, she evaporated her aura and brought an end to the giant fire storm. What am I… really, mom?

Covered in bruises, her clothes torn, ripped, and having fresh red scratches throughout her body, Sarah sighs with regret. She’s hoping this was the end to this bizarre madness with that attack. Sadly, from out of those new depths of hell Sarah just created, the figure slowly arises out of the burning swirling inferno, giggling up a storm and opens her arms out to the sides. In doing so created a mass indux of flashing white winds, clearing out all the fire and smoke from the entire area. This move also fixed the town and cleared it of any damage.

Sarah gasped in utter shock and began to sweat intensely. The figure didn’t give Sarah time to even think of retaliating or react, it flew at her faster than light, slapping her back on the town's already cracked road. Sarah lands horribly, bouncing off the pavement instead of landing like a meteor and tumble weeds around on the ground. She’s confused as to why she wasn’t shot into the earth like a nuke. She coughs and lays on her side, blood dripped out of her nose, mouth, and she rubbed her cheek from that horrific slap.

The figure floats back down and towards Sarah. Sarah quickly stood back up with some struggle and pointed her arms at it, shooting out a giant gust of wind and managing to push the figure away for a moment. It tilts its head unamused and floats casually through the stormy winds created by Sarah.

Sarah’s mad and felt as if she were being toyed with. “Damn you, damn it all!”

She stopped the storms and grew into a blind rage and ran towards it. The figure stopped moving and watched the angry goth girl run at her. Sarah extended her hands out sharply and the figure did too. Both entities collided palms, making glass close-by to break and fall on the streets by the shockwave created by their palms.

The two stayed in their positions and looked into each other's eyes. “You’re, you’re mocking me… aren’t you?!” said Sarah as she grinded her teeth.

She did everything she could to overpower it, but she struggled to push it back. This thing wasn’t budging, not even an inch. Instead it causally places small pressure towards Sarah’s pointless momentum and pushes Sarah back even further. Sarah stomped the ground with each foot to stay in place, but her feet were dragging and eventually pushed into the ground and dragged on the road. The figure continued pushing and Sarah kept pushing back with failure.

The apparition moaned in boredom. “Perhaps, you’re right… Rackfire. I might be toying with you.”

That struck a nerve into the goth girl, making her grit her teeth and scream in anger. Sarah managed to stop it from pushing her any further by exploding her aura back out, showing the figure how much of her strength she was using to stop it. Sadly though, it did nothing but bring the cost of using more of her mana, and consequently dropping her to a knee. Continuing to bleed in frightened anger from both her nose and mouth, her aura dimming, despite feeling defeated; Sarah’s eyes were fiercely determined. The goth girl still had one more thing in mind, but before she could enable this thought into fruition, she wanted to ask this thing one last set of questions.

“What-What are you?!” Sarah coughed out blood as she struggled to keep her arms steady.

The apparition giggled and tightened their grip.

“Why don't any of my spells work on you! What are you after… Why did you kill all those people?!” Sarah tried pushing and pushing but it was no use.

The figure pulled an arm back, and started transforming its smokey nature. Before she could finish her arms transformation, as it kept staring deeper into those glowing crimson eyes, she figured something familiar about the goth girl.

The ghostly figure softly gasps. “Hold up… now that I’ve seen you up close, you remind me of—”

As the figure tried talking to respond to the goth girl, Sarah shouted and her aura exploded, and stabbed into the dark sky with the mark on her arm glowing brightly, ripping apart the edge of her rolled sleeve.

Sarah shouts with frustration and a huge explosion burst between the two. They both fly away and the goth girl rolls away. Sarah stopped herself and quickly got into a position, she took no time to rest. She stood with might and allowed herself to power up. Sarah lifts her arms again, closing her eyes angrily.

“Hail-Hail to the….” Sarah coughs out more blood, “Guar-Gaurdians of the south, allow me to use you to engulf my enemy to your fiery kingdom! Hear me!”

The skies again cracked, creating thunderous claps that vibrated the earth.

“Hail to mother nature herself and hear my calls of selfishness, allow the guardian of the south to consume my enemy and cleanse it’s spirit with flames enough to burn it’s sins away!”

Sarah’s creating a spell taught to her from childhood when her mother read her a story about a group of Witches and Crusaders. Before she thought the spell was ridiculous and especially this whole situation, but being a witness and enduring this new reality made her believe more in her mothers words. Her teachings, her harsh training with slow ancient nomadic dances, it all made sense now. She’s only seen a small glimpse of it when her mother demonstrated small and harmless spells, but never in her life she thought these were the same ones taught to her. Sarah let out a monstrous roar filled with all her frustrations and the cracks on the ground were beginning to glow a fiery red as if hell is about to open its gates and lay waste to this world.

“Hear me! Please allow me to defeat my enemy and return your peace when all is done! Hear me!”

Sarah’s aura’s hotter than ever, the darkness around its inner red, melting the buildings around them, the ground around her swelling away, and shooting out swirling black waves of plasma-like winds around Sarah as she powered to her maximum. The ground beneath them started to quack, melting into a mishaped crater and a huge crack formed between the two.

The ground shakes furiously thousands of times greater than a 10.0 earthquake, the intact, melted buildings wave around and rock back and forth as Sarah continues to breathe heavily. The goth girl opens her eyes, exposing a change in her eyes. Her pupils were bigger, darker, the red around it was brighter and had an outline of black. Sarah glares at the figure with a fierce glint in those already red eyes now glowing the brightest red!

Sarah expresses anger, death towards it and grits her teeth. “I’ll have you regret ever mocking me, spirit!”

The ground began to rip open, splitting the earth in two and a huge glow of red erupted into the skies, piercing the clouds and ripping apart the darkness to bring down sparks of fire to rain down upon the town. The heat coming out of it was immense, skin melting, and beyond sweat dripping. Sarah slowly lowers her arms and collapses her hands together. The intense chainsawing aura of magma around her collapses off her vicinity, disintegrating into the ground. It flows down to the cracks below them.

“Taste this spell I held previously throughout my childhood, demon.” Sarah clenches her hands tightly and out from the ground a huge flame erupts out, stabbing the skies and twirling around like a giant inferno tornado.

The apparition stands up and laughs up a storm, bothering Sarah yet again and the mighty swirling flame grew bigger than the tallest skyscraper humanities ever built. It transforms and takes the shape of a horned womanly figure with the feet of a bull, arms that of a man, and eyes staticy like an old dead television. It towered over whatever's left of the area and looked down at the figure with those static eyes as hot as the sun.

Sarah unknowingly summoned Animals made out of vines that were running towards the area and arrived shortly. Those vined animals then ran around the smoky girl surrounding her. She was surprisingly amused by all of this, enough for her to continue her laughter as birds of purple lightning flew around the town now. Sarah finally opens her hands out and shows a sad yet gentle smile at the figure.

“They summon my calls of aid and stir me, show your glory to my enemy and cleanse it’s poor hurt soul…” Sarah’s about to put everything that she had left into this thing, everything that her mother taught her since she learned how to complete a sentence.

She thought she was ready for a fight like this, but in reality, she wasn’t. Instead she’s using her new found abilities recklessly and uncontrollably, that’s why the figure’s laughing at her. It knew from the moment Sarah started using these powers that she stood no chance against it.

The figure hugged itself in amusement, giggling up a storm. “Dumb… dumb, dumb girl, idotic Rackfire! You stupid girl, using these gifts recklessly, you’re totally losing it… you damned being of greed!”

Sarah begins to cry in fear, feeling as if the girl's mockery was not only at her existence but at her using her new found abilities. Shut up… Shut up!

Sara’s had enough, and shouts her last chant. “I invoke thee, I invoke thee, I invoke thee! Manon, filled inside me! Answer my prayers, please! Lay waste to my enemy and purify them with our anger!”

The gigantic flame figure pummels its giant fist of molten red upon the laughing ghost girl, punching down at the figure and forming a tornado of fire around her from its tremendous impact. The animal’s made out of vines jumped into the inferno and changed the colour of the flame to a depressing bluish colour. The birds of lightning struck the tornado with bolts of plasma by flapping their wings and dove into it shortly afterwards. The tornado shot out those bolts of plasma back out into the skies like giant arteries of lightning, expanding across the never ending black skies.

Sarah slowly brings her arms down and thanks the guardians as the fiery tornado and roaring lit up skies were being devastated. The tornado swirled so intensely that within the centre it imploded and formed a tiny blackdot. That blackdot was a blackhole, and it sucked everything around it. The giantess, the fire, the explosions, everything around it was being sucked in. Rubble, fire, structures, and all of that went inside and finally, the dot exploded, flashing the world into a brilliant white. The flash lasted seconds, but felt vastly longer. Eventually the brilliant whiteness faded. In the wake of the aftermath, the vanishing pulsing superhot energy, all that was left was sparkles of purple and white particles, floating all around. The area was vastly different than before and Sarah saw the giant crater that it created along with the empty void where the apparition once stood.

The crater was ginormous and the area around them was turned to a desert of rock and charcoal. “It's over…” Sarah drops to her knees and places her hands on the ground.

She’s exhausted, hurt, and nauseated. “Fi-Finally… but w-was it worth it?”

Sarah tried catching her breath, but couldn’t. She’s breathing heavily, and it made her clutch her chest. Mom, I’m sorry… Please don’t be upset at me for doing all this.

Wiping the sweat and blood from her bruised face and coughing uncontrollably, Sarah couldn’t help but cry tears of pain and frustration. She’s never experienced something of this magnitude, she’s surprised that she survived such painful, ruthless, devastation. Quickly though she wonders if any of the helicopters on the town over caught their fight and exposed the truth to anyone. Did anyone feel the tremors? Saw this world ending explosion? These were all thoughts circulating in Sarah’s dumbfounded mind. But as Sarah gazed around with her head hung, something still felt off, because when the moment she looked up—

“H...uh…?” Sarah spots a girl in a gothic romantic white dress standing before her.

The girl looked down on Sarah with her hands behind her back and had a huge calm smile on her face.

She bends down to Sarah’s level and lightly grips her chin. “Don’t worry. I won’t hurt you no more, and the world around us has been replenished.”

Sarah looked over to the girls' right and saw the entire town area intact. “Wha… Wha….” Sarah’s completely speechless.

The girl looked directly into Sarah’s crimson eyes and the goth girl felt amazed by her dimmed yet beautiful purple eyes.

She leans in close to Sarah and pats Sarah’s head. “So, you must be Sarah huh? The one I could never reach into.”

Sarah responds with nothing but her quivering, glistening eyes. Her voice was so gentle and soft to the ear, it was almost sleep inducing from how soothing it sounded.

“I thought so, since I did mock you before. But it was a while ago, wasn’t it?”

Sarah gasps quietly, surprised at the fact that she knew her name but answered some of her questions.

“The last time I tried getting into your dreams was when we were just little kids. Sadly, I got out of hand, was set free by a pig, and got carried away. I was going through a lot when we first met; Yet somehow you figured it out and you caught me at the wrong place at the wrong time, hehe. Oh how time flies by!”

Sarah’s eyes shook uncontrollably, she felt an extreme amount of fear throughout her body. “What, how do you know who? And wha-what I am? If you knew all along…”

Sarah then remembered something, the woman in red’s words quickly echoed back into her blanched mind. “I want you, Sarah, to reveal yourself to the girl in white and let her know of your presence.”

Sarah feels used, and blames herself along with her curiosity for falling into that woman's tricks. Sarah couldn’t stand it, she’s unmotivated to do anything now, and ultimately, has given up.

The girl in white felt the un-motivation from Sarah on how she felt heavier from her chin grab. It annoyed her and brought out a still face on the girl in white. She drifts her soft snow white hand to Sarah’s neck and starts placing pressure.

The girl in white clutched Sarah’s neck and frowned. “Aww, don’t be a Debbie downer now. I was just so glad to see your determined face with my actual face since our last encounter. Don’t give up on me now.” She grew serious and grew a glint in her eyes. “That means, if you’re this close? You might know where He might be.”

He… who’s-who’s… he? Sarah wondered.

The girl in white giggled without a smile as she continued placing pressure on Sarah’s tiny windpipe, making her struggle for air. “This might be the chance I’ll have to get back what I lost two years ago.”

Sarah grabbed the girl's small wrists and tried breaking free. “Wha-What do you, mea-mean?!” She said in a distressed breath, “I don’t kn-know what you’re talking ab-about?!”

Sarah coughed as she felt her life drain out of her slowly. The girl felt her words were true, and she sulked. It hit a nerve of reality to the girl and made her shed a single tear of black.

“What’s this? You’re not lying it seems… So-So that means, that means you don’t know where he is?”

The girl in white ground her teeth and shook her head. Sarah’s eyes were growing dimmer and she felt weaker.

“No, no, no… No!” The girl in white squeezes even more with a horrific maddened face, “I knew a Witch like you wouldn’t know where he’s at!”

Sarah’s vision began to blur and she slowly dropped her arms. “Pl-Please… don’t do-do this…”

Sarah’s eyelids were shutting as she’s about to draw her last breath. The girl's eyes were broken and lifeless, not expressing a single twinkle like earlier now.

“It’s still surprising that someone like you would be related to a Witch, no wonder I couldn’t make you mine, but none of that matters now…” She jerks Sarah’s body as she crushed her windpipe with a broken emotionless face, “Don’t worry, we’ll meet again… someday when I get back what’s mine!” She continued making horrible noises as she tried breaking Sarah’s neck with her bare pale hand.

Sarah’s body wobbled from every jerk, and her head bounced around. Sarah’s mouth streamed red as she closed her eyes, thinking this was the end for her. But before she drew her last breath, and lost all senses, she heard one last thing that shocked her enough to completely black out. And that was the girl in white saying a dead friend's name, that being when the girl in white shouted ‘Jack’s’ name.

Everything went black and the girl's cries were muffled out. Sarah thought she was dead until she felt all her air come back to her. She could even tell she was on something soft and warm. She opens her eyes and finds herself in a hospital bed along with her mom asleep by her side. She sits up and grabs her head, it was in so much pain, much worse than a migraine.

“H-How did I?” Sarah reached an arm out to her sleeping mother and gently shook her. “M-Mom…”

Her mom felt her daughters touch and opened her eyes, exposing their unique platinum nature. She yawned and rubbed them. Immediately Sarah’s mother embraced her daughter with joy the moment she caught her vision.

Sarah’s mother rubbed her face all over her daughters and giggled. “My beautiful blossoming wonder of life! Are you better now?”

“Mom, how did I end up here? And the girl, the walls, how—!”

“Shh, sh. Now Sarah, relax okay. Everything's okay now, let your magnificent mother tame your stress. Save the questions for later.”

Sarah’s mother was astoundingly beautiful, pinnacle. She had a relaxing yet sounded oddly identical to her daughter's voice if it matured. Her hair was the same hair as her daughter, her skin too, their eye shape, everything about them was identical. They basically looked like twins other than what they were wearing, their eye colour, and how Sarah’s mother had her bangs formed over an eye barely exposed.

Sarah shook her head and grabbed her mothers hand. “Mom, please… I need answers. How did I end up here?”

Sarah’s mother gently smiled and rubbed her daughter's head. “Okay my sweetums. To answer your first question, they found you passed out outside of the wall near the quarantine zone.

Sarah’s surprised to hear that, raising both brows. “Is-Is that true?”

“Of course it’s true. Men in white were patrolling the outside walls when they came across your bruised up bleeding body. Honestly you gave me the scare, Sarah!”

Her mother pouted and looked away briefly.

Sarah lowered her in shame. “So-sorry mom…”

“Ah, that’s okay. If it weren’t for them, I’d eventually find you sooner, my love. But you were pretty banged up if I must say.”

Sarah’s memories felt mushed by all these complexities, but the entire fight was the one that stayed embedded. “Mom, about that. I have one last question.”

“Hmm, what would that be my beloved wonder of life.”

Sarah frowned and sulked. “What are we…”

Sarah’s mother kept her smile and gently patted her daughter's head. She stroked her hair and played with her bangs then tapped her forehead. Sarah suddenly fell asleep and laid back on the bed.

Sarah’s mother giggled and brushed Sarah’s bangs off her face. “My dearest daughter, rest. I’ll tell you when you’re ready, but for now—”

Her mother stood up out of her seat, revealing her elegant black dress in all its glory. She walked over to the hospital window and glared at the distance without expressing a single emotion. She’s staring deeply into the location of those isolated towns, the skylights swinging back and forth and the helicopter's rotors being heard from afar. Her eyes were sharply glinted, inside her mother was furious about the situation, but she already knew what happened to her daughter.

“I read your memories like a book my daughter while you were asleep. You don’t have to worry for now. One day, I’ll make that girl pay for what she’s done to you—”

Sarah’s mother arched her eyes and frowned.

“No one should ever lay a finger on my precious creation of life—Whoever does shall pay and repent with their life… This isn’t over, you harbinger of greed.”

Sarah’s mother’s eyes glowed lightly with an outline of violet. Her hair softly fluttered, representing her anger. Outside into the night sky clouds of the darkest red rolled over from behind the building hovered over the hospital. The clouds silently created flashing lights behind their ugly fluff, producing a hum of destruction vibrating the entire city of Detroit. The next day came by and Sarah’s awake, eating a healthy breakfast of toasted bread with organic eggs her mother prepared for her.

Sarah felt confused about how she ended up falling asleep when she was conversing with her mother yesterday. How did I fall asleep? Whatever the food is delicious anyways.

Sarah’s mother walked into the room with a new set of clothes for Sarah. “There we are sweetums. I got you some of your clothes from the house.”

She set them to the side of the bed on a desk and sat next to her daughter. Sarah ate in silence until she finished her meal. Drinking her coffee lastly, the goth girl still had questions for her mother. She sets aside her platter and takes a deep breath.

The fight?! I wonder if it ever made it to the news… Crap I hope I didn’t expose us to normality.

“Mom… about the experience I had.” said Sarah in a worried tone, clinging onto the hospital bed sheets.

Her mother raised her hand and flailed it. “Whatever’s perplexing your young mind, don’t worry about it my love.”

“But mom, I-I think I exposed us to—”

“Sarah, it’s okay. Everything’s fine, your amazing mother has taken care of everything bestowed upon her by the guardians.”

Sarah felt at ease. If anyone could fix any of her problems it would be her mother. The goth girl let out a deep sigh and frowned, bringing a burden of worry to her mother.

That girl's face… those-those ominous eyes, those eyes filled with sorrow and death, and her voice, that damn soothing gentle voice. I can’t stop thinking about her…

Sarah quietly got out of the bed and stood next to her mother without looking at her. “Mom, sorry for worrying you.”

Sarah’s mother patted her daughter's head with a soft smile. “Not to worry my beautiful daughter. I knew something like this might happen eventually, it was only a matter of time.”

Hearing her mother say that made Sarah gasp beneath her breath. Wait, did Mom read my mind? Knowing her, she might’ve. I’ll ask her more questions later…

“I’ma use the bathroom, I’ll be back quick.” said Sarah.

Sarah’s mother rubbed her daughters back to ease more of her burdens. “Take your time sweety, my little gem of life. I love you”

Sarah makes her way to the bathroom, walks in, and stares at herself in the mirror.

All that pain, all this frustration, and fear. What more lingers in our world's shadows that Mom won’t currently expose for now?

Sarah looked at her arm and the marking’s gone, but quickly flashed itself in a transparent state. She blames the girls doing and as well as the woman in red for screwing with her mind, but that girl said one thing that really opened her eyes before she came close to death. Not only did she know her name but the one thing that rubbed against her ear drums and stayed permanent was that she said a name she thought she never would’ve heard again.

A name that means so much to her two best friends. “Why did it say, Jack? Of all names, could it be a misconception or perhaps I heard incorrectly…” The goth girl glared into the mirror and slammed her hands on the sink cabinet with anger. “Whatever the case may be, I’ll find you again—And put an end to your miserable existence, spirit.”