The yellow
orb appeared out of thin air and hovered directly above the Ashley’s head.
She
jerked back in surprise and shifted quickly into the defensive stance her father
had shown her but it didn’t make her feel any safer. She grasped the hilt of
the dagger hooked into her belts, focusing on the cold lick of steel against
her palm, the familiar feel put her at ease.
Ashley focused
intently on the ball of light. It was small and delicate like a star, drifting
solemnly through the air. The light was soft and welcoming, not cold and
distant as she’d expected. It glided towards her gently with a faint hum, a hum
that crackled with energy.
Waves of yellow light sprang from its core;
golden tendrils dripped across the charred dirt, over the tufts of grass and
slowly crept towards the scuff of her boots. She timidly stepped back.
A shiver ran
up her spine as the yellow spark became more intense. It pulsated and a faint gust
of cool air washed over her and the fire she’d assembled moments earlier.
Ashley watched
dryly as the fire quickly choked to cinders.
I spent hours trying to light that thing, she grumbled,
glaring at the orb.
Its presence
unnerved her. She didn’t understand what it was or even where it had come from.
Had it been there all along? Had it been following them?
No, observing us, she thought. Her heart fluttered in her chest. She
looked out to the waste, searching for a glimpse of her father but found only
darkness. Her eyes struggled to adjust amidst the brightness.
Her skin
goose pimpled despite the humid air and the wind had dwindled from its usual
maelstrom of air to nothing. The world had gone quiet.
Something
ominous lurked underneath that glowing façade and the world knew it. Her
muscles stiffened and she took a deep breath to steady herself. I need Dad, she thought.
Her leather garb
glimmered a peculiar shade of gold as the light flew closer, tracing her shape
out of the darkness, making her extremely visible, but very little else. The dark
seemed impenetrable around her, the wall of night had caged her in, trapping
her with the mysterious orb. Her pulse quickened.
Her eyes
drifted out into the wasteland around her. The darkness spread across
everything like a thick blanket of oil, the shattered remains of the stars
outlined the land in a faint stroke of silver. Shelves of earth jutted out of the
ground at sharp angles and charred remnants of buildings were littered in
between.
One in
particular, far off in the distance, was lined with a flickering orange light.
Inside Ashley could make out her father searching for supplies, his multiple
shadows dancing across the walls. Ashley sighed.
“Figures.”
she mumbled. He hadn’t even noticed the light. It looked like she was on her
own for now.
Ashley
returned her gaze to the orb. It was inches away from her face. She darted
back, stifled a gasp and thrust her silver knife out in front of her.
“What do you
want?” Ashley yelped and instantly regretted it. Her voice faltered and cracked
and her throat ceased up entirely. Still, she held out the knife shakily.
Her eyes urgently
searched the darkness, hoping her father would have heard her hopeless cry but
she found only walls of black and twisting shapes.
She gulped. There
was something out there. A swirling mass of shadows with claws and fangs and
haunting yellow eyes. The orb had been the perfect cover. The brightness had
temporarily blinded her; she’d failed to notice the darkness hiding just around
the corner, hiding in plain sight. It has
to be a trick, she thought.
She spun
from side to side, knife out, trembling in her palm, cold sweat running down
her cheek. There’s nothing out there, there
can’t be. She nodded to herself.
No doubt the
orb could see the hesitation on her face. It would see that the knife wasn’t in
fact familiar at all; she didn’t even know how to use it. She had only faint
memories of using something similar to eat food. But this was much bigger and
weightier and sharper. She gripped it tighter, remembering that faint slicing
movement.
Tendrils
lined with spikes spilled into the corner of her vision. She screamed and
jumped back and slashed blindly with her eyes shut tight. An unexpected wail
sang in her ears. She’d done it. She’d actually done it. She looked down to
find what looked like a strand of writhing shadows. She blinked and just like
that it was gone.
She shook
her head. It had been there, it had been real. Only seconds ago. She knew what
she saw. She stared at the orb. It was messing with her. It had to be.
Doubt seeped
into her mind. If the orb was capable of playing mind games she wasn’t entirely
sure she could take it on alone. It was only mildly comforting that she could
in fact use the knife to defend herself, though she questioned for how long.
She despised
herself for not having listened to all of her father’s discussions about
training. After all, they were in the
middle of the Burnout. She hadn’t expected there would be anything alive out here besides them. It was
nothing but ash and ghosts.
She wasn’t
sure whether to run. It was clear she was in over her head and this was more
than just a harmless light ball.
She
stiffened as the orb’s spindly yellow wisps skulked across her fingers. The
colour soaked into her pores and twisted her stomach.
The thick
tendrils swept out the meet her, floating and twisting in the air before
shooting towards her blade and yanking it from her grasp.
Then the orb
exploded in a volley of blinding light.
Ashley shielded
her eyes as quick as she could but it was too late. The orb had stunted her
vision. She stumbled forward, grasping the dirt, her ears ringing, her breaths
ragged and the world spun in striking yellows and blacks.
Black spots
swarmed her vision, each one exploding in a burst of colour as the world returned
to her in a painful blur.
Her fingers,
the dirt caked under her nails, her knife resting metres away, glittering in
the unsettling yellow light underneath the orbs, the Orbs.
Ashley
turned ice cold and her heart plummeted. Thousands of balls of light were
drifting across the plains in radiant formations. They swam through the air
gracefully, rising and falling, sinking and shifting, all the while igniting
the wasteland in the same disturbing shade of yellow.
Her mind
went blank.
She suddenly
felt extremely small. The world shrank around her as she sunk into the earth,
the world giving way beneath her. Her body trembled overwhelmed by the glow of
a thousand tiny stars.
Father was
at her side in an instant. Ashley jumped at his sudden arrival and quickly
tried to hide it. She was thankful for the mess of tangled hair that fell over
her face concealing her petrified eyes.
“What are
they?” she gasped, failing to hide the fear in her voice.
His gaze was
trained on the orbs, the light swimming in his irises. They were cautious of
his presence, dimming slightly and hovering closer to the ground, like it was
waiting for something.
“Nothing
good,” he replied, keeping his voice low.
He rested a hand
on her shoulder protectively and Ashley shrank into his frame, grasping at his
loose shirt. He hugged her to him awkwardly.
The lights
flashed an unnatural blaze of red and started to move erratically. The orbs
burst out in spikes and twisted wildly, churning up spouts of dust as they
struck the ground. Ashley squealed.
She spun
sideways, her eyes wide with terror.
“Should we
run?” she blurted.
Father’s
eyes glinted in the red light; the harsh glow tracing the thick scars on his
skin.
His cool
gaze found Ashley’s and he gave her that
look, “Worth a shot.” he grinned slightly before making a dash for the cabin
he’d been poking around in.
Ashley sprinted
after him frantically, hurdling across the shelves of dirt and leaping off the jagged
shards to propel her forward. A burning pain stabbed at her lungs and she
chastised herself for being so unfit. She glanced over her shoulder to see an
angry stream of yellow spiralling towards them. She pushed herself harder and
ignored the burning pain in her lungs; she chastised herself for being so
unfit.
They thundered up the sagging steps and burst through the
front door; a habit as it was hanging off its hinges. The room was completely
empty, if you could call it that. The windows were non-existent and half the
surrounding walls were missing. Wind beaten pillars were the only sign there
had been walls there at all. A few loose
planks and debris made up what remained of the floor. Father led Ashley towards
the far wall which was relatively intact and pulled back a loose plank.
“Get in, quickly!” He motioned her inside.
“Are they Warpers?” Ashley blurted, shaking visibly.
“No…” Father gritted his teeth, “It’s something much worse.”
Worse. Worse than Warpers. Ashley didn’t even
think that was possible. Her mind raced with nightmarish images and she shivered.
Ashley held her father’s gaze for what felt like a lifetime.
Her eyes welled up the longer she stared. All the jesting had drained from his
face, his wrinkles were deeper and his sly grin had dwindled into a thin line.
His once childish eyes glistened like slate under the starlight.
He smiled encouragingly. A smile that said everything would
be okay and Ashley grasped onto the thought with a vice like grip.
She took a deep breath and nodded. Father laid a hand on the
small of her back as she reluctantly crawled into the space between the boards.
The inside walls were riddled with damp, the slimy coating rubbed off on her
skin and made her gag. Her coat tugged and her hair pulled as she struggled to
find a crack to glimpse through.
Father stared through the slats, hoping for one last glimpse
of the girl he swore to protect. He placed a hand on the boards and Ashley’s
glided to meet it. He slowly closed his eyes and sighed, shoulders drooped. He
shook his head in defeat, eyes still closed and grudgingly moved away. His hand
trailing across the wood until his fingers tips could no longer reach it.
He ambled across the room and pulled up the floorboard he’d
chosen to stash his weapon, a weighty sawn-off shot gun he liked to call Brass
Rain. “Hello darling.” He said as he wistfully caressed the rusted metal. He
was done dwelling on past mistakes, tonight he would make a difference.
The yellow lights were upon them. The ominous glow dripped
through the damp boards and rounded the corner in a pulsating swarm. They
hovered effortlessly over the threshold of the collapsed wall, completely
ignoring the doorway Ashley noticed.
Father stood his ground and aimed. He didn't need to check
if it was loaded. He pulled the trigger and sparks flew.
The lights burst apart and a terrifying screech pierced the
night. Ashley flinched but Father was seemingly unaffected. The lights quickly
fizzed out and transformed into an angry mass of black shadows.
“There you are.” Father grinned. Three livid clusters of
shadows descended on Father while a fourth broke off into the desert.
Boom! Screech!Wood splintered, stone cracked. The
flash from the shotgun blinded, the acrid smell of gun smoke lingered in the
air. Ashley breathed shakily and her skin tingled with cold sweat. She tugged
her hair away from her face, and slid back and forth between the boards
following Father’s movements and theirs.
They were like ghosts, drifting by in slithers of darkness,
taking different shapes and dispersing as rapidly as they had formed, always
changing, always moving, never giving Father a chance to hit something solid.
They swarmed like a living tangle of monstrous things, claws, fangs and spikes.
Ashley hadn’t imagined them. They were real.
They toyed with him, shifting and striking viciously,
relentless in their efforts to destroy him. He stood steadily in the center of
the commotion, his eyes darting from shadow to shadow as they raced about him.
His jaw set, he pulled the trigger and held fast for the recoil. Another show
of sparks ignited the room. He whirled to face another and precisely fired a
shell into the glittering meld of shadows that rose up to meet him.
“Come on!” he baited, his smile brimming with exhilaration,
“Hit me!”
The shadows surged into spikes, furious at his taunt. The
slivers of dark speared towards him. Father quickly dived under his leather
coat, clumping it in his fists tightly. It hit him like a freight train. The
force surprised him and he stumbled back several feet. His foot connected with
a loose plank and he grasped it. He gritted his teeth and swung the plank round
forcefully.
A jet of silver powder erupted from the shadows as they
crumpled.
The darkness shrank backwards and pulsated as it calculated
its next move. Father grunted as he slotted fresh rounds into their barrels. The
shadows lunged. The gun flashed. A cloud of ash surged upward. The round
misfired. The powder singed his brows. He blinked away the sting in his eyes
and straightened up, reloaded and cocked Brass Rain once more and took aim. The
shadows shrank into thin mist as he pulled the trigger.“Smart-ass.”
he muttered.
Ashley knew it was a matter of time. A shotgun was only as
useful as the ammo you supplied it with and she knew they hadn't had much. The
shotgun had been their last case scenario; it made too much noise and attracted
unwanted attention. She thumped against the damp timber, pleading with the
wood, urging it to loosen and fall away. Ashley cursed.
All she needed was a moment, a distraction to get them away
from him. After that they could run. It was evident the shotgun was useless.
Her fingers slipped awkwardly over the surface before finding a workable
opening. The wood groaned as she pulled and pale silver light slowly filtered
through the crack.
“Don’t you dare, Ashley!” her father shouted gruffly. Her
chest tightened as she locked eyes with his. He was a ruin. The supple leather
of his coat was torn through like tissue paper, dangling off his hard frame in
strips. Sticky blotches of burning skin marred his once chiseled face. He swung
the barrel to the side, another flash exploded, tendrils of shadow collapsed
inwardly. Ashley gasped. Crimson leaked down his right shoulder and spilled
across his shirt but he remained unfazed.
“Better.” He jeered.
He rummaged in his pocket for more shells. They took him
from both sides. He whirled to meet the first, smashing the butt of the gun
upward into the mass of shadows. He spun and brought his arm up to block but
fell short as the other crashed into his side, driving him against the crumbled
remains of the east wall.
Ashley’s screams died in her throat. They went down hard in
a spray of stones. Father roared as he elbowed his assailant, bone slammed
repeatedly into the mess of black coils as they slashed wildly.
“DAD!” Ashley shrieked,
digging her nails into the wood.
A hand flickered in the darkness. It clutched at the shadows
and drew them closer. The creature’s high pitched wail pierced Ashley’s ears
before it exploded in a shower of stardust, revealing two smoking barrels
gripped firmly in her father’s tattered hands. His pained gaze fell on the wall
that served as Ashley’s hideaway. She leaned against the boards and gasped. The
tendrils had cut deep across his face and sliced through what remained of his
shirt. Red slowly trickled down his cheek.
He sat against the rocks, his chest heaving, heart pounding
against his ribs. He saw the world through a crimson haze and he knew it was
over. He’d used up nearly all of his ammo and yet had only successfully killedone.
Father grimaced, hauled himself up and flung his weight onto his shotgun using
it as a crutch as he stooped.
The darkness circled him restlessly, fading in and out of
the true shadows as if they were born of it. Father plucked the remaining
shells from his coat and stared at them intently. Ashley swallowed,what
is he waiting for?The shadows danced before him and
coalesced into a fluctuating shape. Two eyes, glowing like lanterns, spun into
existence, their golden wisps of light swirled and churned coolly. The eyes in the shadows.
Father straightened, wincing as he did so. He offered his
palm to the creature that waited silently, like a ghost. The shells rolled off
the tips of his fingers and chimed off the hard ground. Ashley held her breath.
What is he doing?He
awkwardly bent over and scooped up the fine silver powder scattered about his
boots.
The creature stared. The remaining shadow moved to flank its
better formed cousin. Father smiled as he let the powder sift through his fingers
like time through an hourglass, watching as it glided away on the wind, lost
forever. The creature’s eyes tilted curiously.
His eyes returned to the creatures, “We’ll all be stardust
in the end.”
He motioned his hands to the skies,
gazing into the darkness before coughing gruffly. The creature’s eyes glinted
and the darting shape burst apart, fusing with the other to stand several feet
tall before looming over the defenseless slumped figure of Father.
He gazed in
Ashley's direction and cracked a blood stained smile. Ashley bit her lip as the
burning wall of tears blurred her vision. He reluctantly turned away and stared
into the swirling yellow eyes of his foe, his smirk quickly faded into a
menacing glare.
“What are
you waiting for?” He roared, blood spittle escaping his lips. The dark crashed
down on him like a tidal wave of blackness. And just like that, he was gone.
And so was
she.
I like the looks of using thoughts I love how amidst this unnerving roam of the orb, she is ticked that it put out the fire she labored to erect! xD The sudden introduction of "us" is also a stellar transition, now you've got us wondering who is there besides Ashley, awesome hook-er! <---*Looks at that last word* *face palm* *breaks it up with a dash, for pleasantries*
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