Queen of Angels

The Queen of Angels campsite was nothing like how I remembered it. It was lifeless. Nevertheless, dad tried lifting our spirits up with his cheerful attitude. This seemed to do the trick for mom and I, but Andy stayed glum.

On the car ride over here, Andy was freaking out, going on about the end of the world. This type of stuff from my sweet, younger brother was concerning. What had gotten into him? I wanted to get to the bottom of this.

"Hey, Andy," I said. "You good?"

"To be honest, Mel," he started. "I'm not feeling great."

"What's wrong?"

"I found these stone tablets on the hill behind our house. They had some scary stuff written on it like how every person on this planet will die. Before I knew it, I was zipping them up in my bag."

That's why his bag was so heavy when I was unpacking them from dad's truck. I nod for him to go on.

"I'm so scared," he started weeping. I hugged him and thought, what the hell were these tablets he was talking about? When mom and dad came over to comfort him, I slipped into the tent Andy and I shared to look at these tablets that were causing him so much distress.

His bag was resting on its side at the back of the tent. The stones reveal themselves as I unzip his backpack. For a second, I thought I saw Andy's severed head instead of rocks stuffed in there. Startled, I fall over backwards. Judging by my parents' shocked expressions looking through the tent's entrance I had screamed without realizing.

Sitting around the campfire, I make a futile attempt at forgetting the grisly image of my baby brother's head in a bag. My stomach lurches as if I'm about to vomit but I manage to keep my composure. If this is what's causing him to lose it, I completely understand. Tears start to well up in my eyes. Poor Andrew. I wish I knew what to do to make him feel better.

"Melanie," dad says to me across the fire. "Remember when you had your 5th birthday party here?"

I smile and nod. That birthday was great. My friends from school were there, mom and dad hired a magician too. The magician did that trick where he "saws" a person in half. Everyone was frightened except for Andy. He knew what was up, shaking his head the whole routine. Highlight of that party was the polaroid camera my parents bought me. Oh, that reminds me...

"I forgot I brought my camera," I said, making a hasty grab for it from my purse. "I'll take a photo of you guys."

Click. I take the film when it comes out and shake it around. As the image develops, the first thing I notice is a bright light across my mom's head. Mom looks at it over my shoulder and says, "Damn bugs ruined the shot. Well, that's okay." I shrug. I don't know what else it could be.

"How you feeling?" I ask my brother. We're in the tent now, just got into our respective sleeping bags. He manages a weak but sincere smile and tells me he's doing better.

"Remember when we were younger?" Andy muttered. "We used to play on the hill behind our house and pretend we were pirates or something, prince and princess. That was fun. We should do that again sometime."

I can't help but smile because I do remember that. Life was much simpler then. I'm graduating high school soon and everything will change. I hate to leave this little dude behind.

With a start, I wake up. Something feels wrong. The first thing I do is check up on Andy. My heart sinks discovering he isn't there. I turn the flashlight of my phone on and shine it in the direction of his sleeping bag. His backpack was now empty.

I immediately leave the tent, forgetting to wear my sneakers. Calling his name, I only get quiet in reply. The silence of the campsite is deafening. The only sound I can hear is my ragged breathing and the beating drum of my heartbeat.

I hear the faintest voice in the distance and run in its general direction. It is here that I realize that I should have worn my shoes. Rocks and tree roots jam into the soles of my feet. They're beginning to feel raw. I stop. The pain was becoming too much to stand. I illuminate my feet with the flashlight and what a bloody mess.

Beyond some more trees, I hear the voice louder still. I proceed towards the sound but then...

I regain consciousness. Sitting up was a terrible idea. My body doubles over. The world is spinning so fast. Eyelids are too heavy. Tempting to go back to sleep.

"Oh my god!"

Mom? Oh no. Her frantic screams can be heard so clearly in the still air of the forest.

"Melanie!" Dad scoops me up in his arms like he used to when I was a kid. "Jesus Christ!"

It seemed so out of character for my dad to be this worried. What's happening? Dad scolds me for leaving the tent in the middle of the night but he's more afraid than angry. I attempt to explain the circumstances. I can't seem to find my voice.

Mom is violently crying on the ground, grasping at her hair, trying to understand what was happening. Andy was 10-feet off the ground, suspended in midair, tablets in both arms.

I glance at the reflection for a second before dad lays me down on the back seat of the car. My head seems to have been split open and blood was dripping down my face. The world was still spinning.

The commotion had not settled down outside. Mom tugged on the bottom of Andy's pants and she instantly burst into flames. She fell to the ground. Dad screamed in panic. He jumped into the driver's seat and slammed on the gas, he had no time to mourn just yet.

Dad was too preoccupied to notice the stereo was blasting the news, he was driving quite recklessly. Through the rumble of the soil beneath the car, I can barely make out a report on civil unrest and mass killings happening worldwide. "The end," the reporter says.

A voice from the heavens, so loud it was if it was being broadcast directly into my brain said, "It is high time to reclaim what is rightfully ours. You human beings have misused this planet for long enough."

It wasn't long till the road smoothed out and we were in the city. In every direction windows were smashed in, smoke was billowing from massive fires, and cars were destroyed. What happened between the last time I was here and now? Everything had changed so drastically in such a short period of time. It was pure chaos.

Suddenly, another vehicle crashes into the car, driving us directly into a pole. In his haste to escape the campsite, dad forgot to wear his seatbelt and is now splayed out on the hood. The other driver had died as well.

It feels as if my femur fractured from the impact. Now both my head and leg hurt like hell. I force my leg free, open the door, and crash painfully on the asphalt.

Looking up at the sky, a man looms over with empty eyes at the carnage and at me. His blank stare burns until it is too painful to bear.

I hope I can wake up from this nightmare. I want to be with Andy on the hill. Dad is coming to carry us home soon.