Xander, that must be the boy’s name. For a moment, there is an unspoken exchange between the creatures. Xander’s stare now lingers on his companion, where a cold, hardened expression is returned. And then silence.
My body freezes. Xander’s companion steps forward, shattering my paralysis.
‘W-well, actually it depends!’ I stutter, trying to steady the quake in my voice. ‘I know many Charlottes. How am I supposed to know which one you mean?’
I’ve backed myself up against the wall but the creature has halted in place. Okay, that’s good – I think. I look behind him. Xander is looking away, disheartened. As I look back at his companion, I understand why. A flash of dark triumph has lit up behind his gaze. I don’t dare look away from him. The creature moves forward until he is standing in front of me. The gentle waves in his hair hang as he tilts his angular but striking features to one side.
‘You’re lying,’ he whispers, a smirk playing on the edge of his lips. Xander grimaces in the background, turning away in anticipation.
A loud creak echoes through the room. My arms fly up in defence and I shut my eyes.
Nothing.
I peek through my arms at my attacker. He wears a similarly perplexed expression. His narrowed eyes widen as we both investigate our mutual confusion. He turns back to Xander. The boy shrugs.
The sound creaks loudly once again but this time there’s a sudden feeling of weightlessness. My screams fill the open air as I fall down into the dark void. Looking up, I can still see the two stunned expressions of the creatures as they peer over the edge of the crevice.
‘Heret-Kau,’ someone mutters, ‘every time.’ Darkness devours their faces.
After minutes of falling, the ground appears slowly below me. I brace for impact, scrunching my face tight and holding my breath.
I wait.
When there is no clash of my bones against the hard ground, I open my eyes. Gently, I float down to the floor. My shoes touch the white tiles, a heavy wave of gravity washing over me. I slump to the floor, touching the cold ground around me. Dumbfounded, a hysterical laugh escapes. What is happening? The peering faces no longer look down from above but I’m too concerned to be relieved.
I shudder. A whistling breeze flows from the darkness. It grows louder, singing and chirping. I stand in anticipation, staring out into the darkness. The singing intensifies, a horrible rumbling teamed alongside. It’s coming fast, so fast I barely have time to put my arms up. The hot air blasts past me, my hair whipping about violently. The darkness disperses, a loon flying past so close I feel the wind of its wings on my face. A scratchy substance catches my throat as I breathe. I cough, holding my sleeve over my mouth. My eyes sting and the heat is almost unbearable. The void is gone, revealing a dark forest. Tall trees encompass the surrounding area, so dense that, accompanied with the smoke, I can barely see a few metres ahead.
A snap of a branch allows me to witness a flutter of blue and gold fabric darting between the trees. I step off the white tiles and stomp my way through the undergrowth.
‘Hello! Is there someone there?’
Squinting, I see her. A girl appears in the distance, her clothes tattered and torn, mostly covered in mud and patches of dark red. She searches amongst the trees anxiously, pacing back and forth, muttering to herself erratically. Her dark auburn hair flows behind her in the hot wind. It’s hard to see her face clearly, but it’s human.
‘Hey – excuse me!’ I yell, but it’s lost in the dull roar. She lifts her head as if she might hear me. The wind howls through the trees, their tops rustling with the clashing of leaves. The smell of smoke thickens in the air.
‘Over here!’ I say, running towards her. She looks around again, bringing her hands to her head. Her voice is muffled and disjointed by the sound of crackling and snapping.
‘Will?’ she finally calls out. ‘Is that you?’
I frown. I’m not Will, whoever that is, but I’m sure finding someone out here is better than no one. The sky is starting to darken, the sun blocked out by the thick black clouds. I need to get out of here. A singed fox scurries past me, caution lost to the panic in its eyes. I swallow hard. The fire must be closer than I thought.
‘Where are you?’ the girl yells, adventuring through the dense trees. My feet mimic hers, leaping where she leaps, climbing where she climbs. I call after her but the wind carries my voice behind me. I dodge trees, logs and branches, my bare feet crunching through the dead leaves on the forest ground. I follow her out to a rocky ledge. Heat hits me like a wave. It’s as dark as night, her pale skin barely visible through the ashy cloud. She reaches out blindly into the black, calling to people that aren’t there.
‘Wait!’ I yell, with as much air as I can spare. ‘Stop! We need to get out of here.’ I bring my sleeve to my mouth in another attempt to filter the smoke. The girl disappears into the dark haze. It is no use; the heat is too intense.
A searing gust of wind crashes through the forest, causing the smoke to move in just the right way. I scream at the sight. The girl walks hesitantly through the darkness, teetering on the edge of the rocky cliff. Hearing my scream, she falters, looking around, panicked.
‘Stop!’ I scream again. ‘Don’t move!’
Our eyes finally meet through the chaos surrounding us. Electricity shoots between us, recognition flashing across her face. She knows me.
‘What? What is this?’ Her lips mouth the words, but the wind carries the sound away from me. Confusion slowly turns to horror as she staggers to her knees, arms feeling along the ground with purpose. She finds the edge she was looking for and peers over at the lapping flames down below.
‘Are you Charlotte?’ I shout, my sound finally reaching her. Tearing her intense gaze away from the fire below, she turns to look up at me. She seems to giggle, slightly manic.
‘Charlotte?’ she repeats. There’s something lost in her mind. ‘No.’ She pauses, her smile gone. ‘I’m not Charlotte.’ Her face twists, turning sour. ‘This is all his fault,’ she mumbles to herself. ‘Both of them. It’s their fault.’
I move towards her. ‘Come away from the cliff, it’s dangerous!’
She shakes her head, gazing fiercely. When close enough, she snatches at my hands. ‘Don’t go with them, Siara.’ She gestures to the surrounding area. ‘This is all his fault.’ Hatred creeps through her face, a snarl forming on her lips.
‘William.’
A large rumble vibrates through the ground. She scrambles as fast as she can, nails scratching at the ground. Even with her foresight, it’s too late. The cliff crumbles away, and before I can begin to comprehend what is happening, she falls from view. Her screams fill the darkness, fire consuming her. I crawl to the new edge of the cliff, searching for anything I could possibly do. Her screams fill my mind and I can only watch in horror as they begin to quieten.
Unsteadily, I back away from the edge. My body burns with pain, embers falling from the black sky. This has to be hell. I’ve been sent to hell.
Making my way back through the forest, tears dart down my cheeks. I pass the same white tiles from earlier, appearing clearly through the darkness.
This isn’t real. This whole place isn’t real.
I collapse onto the tiles, hoping they will lead me anywhere but here. My head bows down in despair. My mind turns over and over until the roaring of the world reduces to silence.
4
‘Heret-Kau, why are you interfering?’ The voice is cold, unfeeling and familiar. I lift my head from my hands. Xander’s companion faces a long white desk, where sitting silently are a pair of individuals. On the left is a small man, stern and plump, no taller than the desk in front of him. His eyebrows are a thick black tapering with whisks of long hair and his eyes, a mesmerising iridescent. Despite his loud appearance, it is clear from his bored expression that he hasn’t got much to contribute.
