Alice and the aliens: Part Eight

*This is part eight of my “Alice and the aliens” stories. Gacha Club character designs are under my forum titled “My character designs<33”. Enjoy!*

Alice didn’t think. She just did.

She let go of A2614’s wrist and placed her hand on the ground, trying her best to part the funnel made of screaming orphan ghosts.

The ghosts screamed on and on. There was a little peace, but only a little.

Alice decided to try harder, digging deeper into their lives.

But it all jumbled into sufferings made of one. The orphans were not bright-eyed nor hopeful, all they did was cry louder.

Alice was thrown towards the side of the aircraft, heart racing rapidly, blood on her stomach.

The orphans were attacking her. Trying to kill her. Furious at her for “interfering”, as they called it.

Alice could see A2614 biting his claws nervously, but Sage’s bottom lip curled into a snarl.

“Captain D9302 has made these orphans become consumed by their hatred. It’s not just Alice who needs to help. We’ve got to part the orphan ghosts ourselves. Come on, don’t just stand there! You too, Victoria! We need all the help we can get!” Sage barked.

A2614 leapt towards the glass window and broke it open with his fists, reaching towards the ghosts and…and pushing them apart?

Alice noticed that they were all conjoined together, arm to arm, hip to hip, to keep the funnel moving.

Even little Victoria was pushing them apart with her tiny claws. Alice watched them both tiredly, her eyes catching a glance at Sage freeing Evanna.

Her eyes narrowed. Why was Sage freeing her? Evanna was a captive, she had to be locked up.

But Evanna didn’t run away. She joined A2614 and Victoria, working to bring the ghosts apart with her claws. Sage came along too, making a gesture at Alice to hurry up.

Alice closed her eyes and reached into the minds of the ghost orphans. They were starting to calm down since they were being broken apart, Alice could sense that in the lessening hostility.

But if she didn’t help them pass on, then they would be trapped in space.

She faced the group of frightened, dirtied children. They clung to each other, unsure of their fate. Alice and the orphans were in a garden that was both dying and growing, the place in between Heaven and Hell, the place where souls were judged.

Though some of the children were not six but sixteen, that didn’t make them any less valuable. All their lives, they lived in fear of what was to come. They wanted families, but they wanted good families. Families who didn’t hurt them.

They all died in the past, ranging from the nineteen twenties to the nineteen fifties. Old ghosts, yet trapped in a state of youth. Children that were failed. Children that fell to the elements of sickness and disease. Children who weren’t cared for properly by the orphanage director.

“It’s okay, it’s over now. You’re safe now. You can rest now. Look.” Alice said.

She spread out her arms and opened up a pink hole in the sky that drifted between night and day. The scent of flowers flowed out of the hole like a waterfall, and her anxiety was beginning to quell. Was it hers or the orphans’? She wasn’t sure, they were so interconnected.

They didn’t move at first. Then one small boy flew up. Then a little girl. Then some of the older kids. Then the younger ones.

Soon, they were all rising up to the eternal garden of Heaven, the place of rest, the place where they could be children without terror, the land of the fresh flowers and the blue sky.

Alice sighed, letting out a breath that felt like crisp, cool air.

Would all her fears disappear once she went to Heaven?

Alice found herself back on the floor of the spaceship, in A2614’s arms. The paranormal world had faded away like a watercolor painting, as natural as waking up.

Sage, Evanna, and Victoria held onto each other fearfully. Why were they shaking so much? Weren’t the orphans saved?

She paled. A2614 held onto tighter, as though he didn’t want to lose her.

For although the orphan ghost funnel was gone, the aircraft was plummeting rapidly towards Earth, causing the space controls to move in a frenzy from the speed. No one could control where it landed, they were at the mercy of the UFO.

Alice couldn’t sense any more ghosts trapped, but how could she tell? They were moving at such a speed that nothing seemed to make sense. What was Earth like? Were her friends okay? Was B392 okay?

Was Melissa okay?

Alice burrowed her face further into A2614’s chest. It was unrealistic to hope for the best, but it’d make her feel better.

Even just one glimmer of optimism would help.