eternally || txt

beginning of the end

She takes the step.

One foot off of the platform and into the sky. Under her weight, the glassy surface instantly starts to ripple like water, despite feeling completely solid beneath her feet. Three different sensations clash in her mind, making her feel weightless for a moment, her mind slightly foggy. Everything feels so much less real than everything unreal that's happened so far, making her feel slightly out of it.

Still, Naia takes calculated steps to the other side, occasionally flickering her vision from her feet to the boys awaiting her on the other side. They encourage her softly, but the words form a blur of sound in her head, making her feel more and more detached from reality. 

When she's halfway across, she starts to question her state. It seems that with every step, her mind grows fuzzier, like an old-fashioned radio losing its connection because of a badly placed antennae. When she looks up, the boys are still calling for her, hands reaching out, ready to pull her into the doors with them. They're the clearest thing in sight right now, her vision tunneling from the buzz in her head. 

What the hell...

Her eyes start to feel warm, like a headache is on its way. She tries her hardest to make it across, but the buzzing grows. Now she's stumbling, footsteps not as smooth as they were when she started her trek. She's afraid the invisible surface might collapse in a second, sending her tumbling into the abyss of clouds and light. 

But the ground stays solid. 

So she keeps going, her brain starting to feel like mush in her skull. She tries to call out to one of the boys, tries to tell them that something feels wrong, she feels wrong, and that she needs help. 

But her tongue feels like wet cotton in her dried out mouth, rough and heavy against the skin of her cheeks and the back of her teeth. Her lips are chapped and cracking, and her head grows hotter, blurring her vision momentarily.

"You're almost there."

Naia lifts her vision once more, and sees Soobin, reaching his hand out to her. Unlike what he'd said, the distance seems so much farther than she's initially seen from the safety of the first set of doors. The rest of the boys are behind him, some looking as if they've already begun descending a set of stairs on the other side, but Naia casts that away, only focusing on Soobin's hand, the action already tiring her out with all the fuzz in her head.

Now, white noise seems to rise in her mind, like someone cranking up the volume of a staticky TV in her ears. Desperate to get on solid ground, she reaches out for Soobin's outstretched fingers.

She reaches out, 

but her hands touch nothing.

|

Alarms. 

Blaring, screeching, and echoey against her eardrums. 

Naia's eyes are blown wide, her vision and mind clear as she stumbles around the room beneath the flashing, swinging lights. She's confused, her mind feeling empty and blank as nothing remains in there. She feels a strike of fear. This is how she felt when she'd woken up beneath the destruction of the city; she'd felt alone, empty, with nothing but her name and the clothes on her back.

Then, everything ceases.

Everything shuts off, instantly dousing her in darkness. Only a slight red glow emits from the windows, slick with condensation. Naia peers around, slightly panicked, and notices four more silhouettes in the room with her. 

And then, she remembers. 

The LEDs begin to flicker back to life one by one, still, not shaking in the slightest. Around her, Naia recognizes the boys, and this time, she remembers them.