Until Ragnarok

Part 5: Shadows

She realized she had taken a lot for granted. She was supposed to be a normal person going out for fun. Now Kaida didn't recognize the world she was in. She woke up a normal person and now had powers but could save no one. Not even herself. She had assumed she would have a good night with Kimi and they would both survive. Now Kimi was lying dead in an alley, alone. Kaida had also taken for granted that the ground was solid. And below the asphalt was dirt that would lead to solid rock and then the earth's molten core. That was not where she was.

Kaida was submerged beneath the street in a cold grit that made her skin burn and left a copper taste in her mouth. The solid asphalt had become a liquid sludge, and Kaida did not know why. It was cold, wet, and suctioned around her tighter than the grip on her leg. But the deeper she was pulled, the dryer her surroundings became. The ground became less muddy and more like sandpaper. It scrapped and squeezed her.

There was no air. One more thing she had taken for granted. Her scream at the surface left her breathless. Kaida continued to be pulled down. She was being squeezed hard enough that she couldn't struggle. The longer she was pulled down, the more aware of the distance from the surface Kaida was. She worried she would be crushed by the weight of the earth above her before she would ever reach the street again.

Kaida heard popping and cracking like the sound of stepping on thin ice before she fell into a free fall. Her stomach tensed into knots and she gasped, but nothing filled her lungs. Her arms flailed out but touched nothing.

The vice grip on her leg continued to hold her while her lungs burned. She had her eyes shut before, trying to keep the dirt out. Now in free fall, her eyes opened, but she saw inky blackness. Nothingness surrounded her. Nothing rushed past her body. Not air or any non-breathable gas. Only her knotted stomach hinted that she was falling.

A creature started wiggling through her hair. Kaida slapped it and felt something pop with a squishy, wet slime that now covered her hand and was matted in her hair. A shiver ran through her body. This wasn't nothingness. Just nothing she could see.

The burning in her lungs became unbearable. She was going to die in darkness. Unless the small crawly things got her first, she would suffocate.

Kicking out, she contacted the hand holding her. Her leg was released, but her ankle was grabbed. Her descent had not slowed. Without this anchor pulling her, she would still go in this direction.

The burning had spread out from her lungs to encompass her ribs and doubled her over. She couldn't bear it any longer. She was going to die.

Before that happened, Kaida felt a shattering before landing hard into a breathable world. Kaida lay flat on her back, trying to suck in all the air her lungs could hold. Her head pounded, but her ribs were no longer on fire. Air sucked into her lungs, and she was grateful for the act which she had done since birth but put so little thought into.

"Next time, don't scream," Angrboda said holding a long jagged knife and staring into the closet.

Kaida looked around and gasped for air. They were in a dark empty room. Kaida saw a street light from the window. "What... the hell... was that?"

"It's the Ginnungagap."

"You say that... like it's a word... and it should mean something." Kaida rolled onto her side. "What are you doing?"

"Making sure nothing follows us through."

Kaida frowned, staring at the woman looking at the empty closet. Like an overprotective mother about to battle a child's closet monster. Kaida's eyes widened as she remembered the crawling creature that had been in her hair. She looked at her hand and saw the dark, slimy film. She frantically ran her hands through her hair and then patted down her body, scared to find another creature.