Super Glitches 3: Stranded

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Four AM," I said quietly to my reflection. "Everyone is resting apart from me. I probably should sleep but I've got too much hope to do that. Wait, why am I talking to myself? Get a grip, Shaade."

You're probably wondering what I meant when I said 'hope'. Well, hearing Georgina's voice again had made me think. And whilst I was thinking I realised something.

Why not use both shadows and light?

Stupidly, I'd never thought of doing that beforehand. The light had counteracted the shadows in Sophie but it was a mixture of shadows and mortal things that killed Georgina. So if I used light to wipe the shadows out of her system and used shadows to throw away the bricks then in theory Georgina would be fully alive again.

"Allons-y," I murmured, sitting on the floor and holding one of Georgina's hands in my two cold ones. I'd been sat rigid for hours and I was starting to go numb.

"Wakey wakey," I yawned, closing my eyes and concentrating. I never explained what it felt like trying to give someone life, did I? Well, it's weird for a start. You feel cold and warm, tingly and numb, elated and miserable, all at the same time. Power is at your fingertips yet it feels impossible to reach. It is everything and it is nothing. Sometimes light will burst from my hand, sometimes it's shadows. Most of the time nothing happens and I get pins and needles and my fingers seize up.

"Ow!" I cried, springing backwards suddenly. I looked down at my hands. One was the same smooth skin as before whereas the other had nail marks in it. Not my nails, either.

"Did you just pinch my hand?" I asked the body that lay just in front of me. Unsurprisingly there was no reply.

"Be like that," I grumbled, holding Georgina's wrist and shutting my eyes. I close my eyes so that I can concentrate more on harnessing the energy and not letting it go. That takes a lot out of me; my mind is too active to focus on one thing. The attention span of a squirrel, that's what I've got.

Tick tock goes the clock. Only so long before the hotel come sniffing around and we're all toast.

Something moaned sleepily at me and I jumped, letting go of Georgina's wrist. I swore to myself and picked up her hand again. I had to stop doing that, letting her go.

If I let her go then she was truly dead.

"Okay I give up," I sighed three seconds later. Georgina's hand fell to the floor as she stayed limp as ever. I pursed my lips and started to think.

I'd tried shadows and light together. I'd tried shadows. I'd tried light. I'd tried re-starting her heart and I'd even considered leaving her dead. Where did I go from there?

"Maybe it's like in those fairy tales," a voice said. I looked up and raised an eyebrow. Rebecca was casually floating opposite me, grinning eerily.

"What do you mean?" I asked, pulling Georgina closer to me, away from the evil ghost girl. Rebecca widened her eyes.

"At the end of the fairy tales the princess is always woken by a kiss from Prince Charming," she explained. I frowned.

"Georgina is no princess," I tried to argue. "More of a jester."

"But we all know that you act a lot like a prince," Sophie added.

"With all your airs and graces and just general arrogant way," Emmi chipped in. I glared at her briefly and considered what everyone had said, ignoring Emmi's point. I came to a conclusion pretty quickly.

"You lot watch too many Disney films," I said. Rolled eyes and scowling accompanied my comment.

"Try it," Rebecca urged."Everything works out happily ever after."

"What about the after ever after?" I said slyly. Rebecca and Emmi groaned, Sophie facepalmed and Pengy hid under the bed. I started singing loudly, breaking into one of the best parodies of all time: After Ever After by PAINT (aka Jon Cozart).

*

"It's nearly five o'clock," I said happily, bouncing on the bed and somersaulting across the room. "I'm still missing my shirt and I can barely talk but you know what?"

"What?" Sophie said tiredly. I grinned.

"I'm happy!" I exclaimed. "I have no idea why but I like it!"

"Your happy is too loud," Emmi growled. "Why won't you fall asleep?"

"Or put all your sleepless energy to good use," Rebecca suggested. "Try bringing Georgina back again, come on."

"Yeah!"

"So long as he doesn't sing again I'm happy."

"Pip pip pip!"

"Alright," I said. "I'll be helpful, okay? Now get off my back about it. Yeah? Yeah. We're good. Okay. Eheheh. Yep. Let'sago! I'm not Mario, okay, okay. Stopping now. Calming dooooooown... Nope! Too hyper too hyper too hyper!" I broke off into manic giggling and collapsed by Georgina's side. I gripped her hand and wiped a tear from my eye with the other one.

"Ah," I sighed. "Okay, I'm fine now. Let's try this again." I shut my eyes and tried not to break into a hyper smile.

*

Five AM.

Power was racing through my like a rat through the sewers. Stars flashed in front of my eyes and blackness chased it away again. I was exhausted and covered in static electricty. Heck, I was working so hard I managed to slow down time! I'd worked three hours worth of labour into fifteen minutes. You do the maths.

Georgina was still being uncooperative. I'd managed to connect with her very breifly and my head exploded. Not literally - I just got a very, very severe headache and collapsed for a few minutes. 

"Shaade," Sophie had said when I came round. "Are you alright?"

"No," I had replied miserably. "I need a lie down right now but I was nearly through! I nearly brought her back!"

"Take a break," Sophie then suggested. "She isn't going anywhere."

"It would be better if she could," I had said sadly, hanging my head. Sophie patted me on the shoulder comfortingly and walked off. I kicked myself and continued.

I checked my watch. It was actually five more minutes before five AM. Hmm. May as well try. I've set five as my deadline; if Georgina isn't alive by then I give up. Her body is starting to rot anyway so I'm using even more power keeping her fresh.

Ew. I just realised how horrible that sounds.

Anyway, I sat back down on the floor and held Georgina's hand. I was fighting back tears as the clock ticked away the time I had left. My strength was fading and I hung my head, hair brushing Georgina's chin. I remembered how ticklish she was and smiled. The smile vanished as I also remembered that she'd never feel it.

"Come on," I whispered. It seemed like that was the only thing I was able to say. "Please, please, please... wake up, George. See? I didn't call you Lady Georgina. Now you have to wake up. Please?" I started to cry, my shoulders shaking with sobs. In all honesty, Georgina was the only friend I had. Sure there were Rebecca and Sophie but they teased me a lot and just came up with useless suggestions half the time. That wasn't my fault; I don't write their thoughts! They do.

"Shaade?" Rebecca said, confused. "Are you okay?"

"If you're having a breakdown, keep calm and keep breathing," Emmi called.

"Did I say something wrong earlier?" Sophie asked worriedly. I didn't reply to any of them. It felt like my mind was melting, becoming a soggy mess of grief. It felt like I was melting. 

"Stop leaking on me," a voice murmured grumpily. "Seriously, mate. Eff off."

"What the heck?!" I half screamed, springing backwards with my arms flailing madly. I cracked my head against a chair but it didn't register. One word was rocketing around my brain and that word was:

"What?" I said again. "W...what?"

"I said," Georgina repeated, sitting up and drying her face on her T-Shirt by pulling it up and over her face for a few seconds. "Stop leaking on me. Basically, quit crying. You're giving me a headache."