The Relentless Past

Ch. Seventeen

Ch. Seventeen

Audrey was terrified.

She'd been falling for a while now, nothing to grasp on except the air around her. The door that had opened seemed to close in on her and she could see it moving further away from her. Right then, like a rescuer of some sort, appeared in a fleet of gold.

Audrey vaguely recognized him as William. His determined face moved closer to hers, he was falling too. William was saying something but she couldn't hear him, his lips were moving and now Audrey was focused on that, she was convinced she'd almost memorized it by now. She closed her eyes as William drew near her.

She was woken from her daze when she felt a hand slip around her waist, and a forehead rest upon hers. She opened her eyes and soon regretted it for now she was lost in those green eyes. She was so close that she could clearly notice the moment William's pupils went wide. The greenery in his eyes reduced to a bit.

She was hyperfocused on the hand encircling her waist and it was portrayed in such a way she could clearly indicate his hand was huge enough to wrap around her entire waist. Given how tiny it was and how massive his hands were.

The forehead pressed against hers provided her comfort in an odd manner. She wasn't scared now, just a little shooketh.

"-drey, Audrey, Audrey!" William snapped his fingers with his other hand, demanding Audrey's attention. Audrey looked up. To William, she looked so unlike the Audrey he'd first come across. She had been so distant, aloft and even cold but now she looked timid, scared and like a child in need of protection and William would be happy to keep her safe. He didn't understand this weird attachment to her but it felt just right.

"Don't be scared, it's okay. Its just a fall,  we'll brace the impact. It's okay" William tried to keep her calm but he was losing it himself. He wasn't scared of the fall, he was more terrified to do something stupid if Audrey kept pouting like that. Her hands twisted into the edge of his cardigan while the close proximity of her face did things to William. He was sure he'd mispronounced some words he'd just said.

"But. But we've been falling for a long time, this can hurt us or kill us." Audrey said, her red hair under neath was scattered and flying in the air and it looked beautiful.

"Hush it'll be fine. I'll protect you. Just don't turn back, I'll tell you when we reach the ground and you can be prepared then." William said, he absent mindedly brushed away a strand of hair that threatened to cover Audrey's cheeks. He noticed the action after he had done it and blushed.

"Here it comes" William could see the floor now, it was grey in color and by the looks of it, it would be soft but he didn't want to take any chances. He embraced Audrey, who had already pulled herself against him. William noticed Audrey's hands had gone behind him to hug him properly.

They were 2 or 3 meters above the ground when William felt her face being pushed up against the crook of his neck. They both involuntarily closed their eyes. Here goes nothing.

Audrey was still shaking in William's grip when William unwillingly extracted himself from her. She opened her eyes, that were now sparkling with the tears.  She got up on her feet and looked around.

"We are okay?" She questioned, bouncing on the rubbery floors. They were incredibly soft and if their footsteps weren't light there was a chance their heels would dig into the ground.

"Looks like it. " William cocked an eyebrow, it shouldn't have looked that flirty but it did. Audrey looked away.

"The question is where are we?" Audrey asked, William shrugged. She walked along the floor and observed. It was just an empty room with grey walls and floors all around and when she looked up, she could see a ceiling. Which was weird, considered that they had just fallen from there. 

"Hey" William hit her shoulder lightly, then when Audrey gave him a look, he smiled innocently and pointed over his shoulder.

"There's a door over there." He said then before she could reply, held her hand in his and sprinted on the other side of the room.

They were almost there when the floor got way too soft and William wasn't exactly light weighted, he fell on the ground. His right leg was dug into the ground upto his thigh.

Audrey went down on the floor near him, she touched his shoulder comfortingly and asked, "Is your leg hurting?" That was a stupid question to ask for she knew how miserably it ached. She could see the ground, it had become transparent now, and it closed in around William's leg. It would break his leg into pieces if it sank any closer.

"Shut up, I'm tough." William laughed, "this doesn't ache at all." William wasn't very good at lying, thats what Audrey discovered.

She brought one of her feet forward, rolled up her jeans a little, pulled her socks downwards. Audrey took out a little pocket knife and held it over the spot on William's legs. She thought it would be easy to just cut the bits off as the floor was transparent and she could see. But then, all of a sudden the floor returned to Normal and she could only see the layer above.

"Why do you have a-" William was interrupted as Audrey placed a finger on his lips and hushed him.

"Look I know what I'm doing, I know you're in pain. I'll be cutting through this layer, if the knife comes in contact with your skin, ask me to stop." Audrey said, then removed her finger. William nodded.

Audrey took a deep breath and then began slicing through it. She had been cutting for a while, when William held her hand. Audrey got the signal and then placed the knife beside her. She dug her hands through the part she had cut and began separating them through her bare hands. For the floor being soft it was definitely hard now.

William helped her too and his leg was free in a matter of moments. He stood up and cheered until he was held back by Audrey who leveled him with a stare, "Be careful, will you? Stop jumping around that much." She received a curt nod from William, She shook her head.

Audrey grabbed William's arm and very carefully but steadily walked them both towards the other end of the room.

"Wow, the grey is blended so well the door is almost unnoticeable from the other end. It's really cool whatever it is." William said, he examined the door until he found a handle and was about to pull it open when Audrey said,

"Then how'd you notice it?"

"Hawk eyes" William winked.

He pulled open the door and had to immediately shield his eyes lest he go blind by the bright light that shone into the room. He covered his eyes by his arm and held the other arm before Audrey to protect her from the light. It came to him naturally.

The light made the whole grey room seem colorless. Then it was gone and the grey room completely disappeared like it had never even been there before and the two students found themselves in the most beautiful meadow they had ever come across.