Climax of Ascension

Prologue

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Gentle reminders. This is the majority of the texts Nancy gets from people she knows now. I know because I'm always with her when she needs me. When she doesn't take her meds, I tell her I keep the time she needs to on my phone. When she forgets something on a checklist, I'll bring it to her within the next ten minutes. When she needs to talk, I'll lend my ear for as long as she needs. It's just little things that I feel bring us closer together, and I like spending as much time with her as possible.

Today we were supposed to meet up to run errands. I called her this morning, she answered, I told her the details. She forgot it again. She can't help it. I told her to meet me in the centre square, at the entrance of the Queen Victoria Building, because it's her favorite place to shop in Sydney, which is where we live.

I was ready ages ago, but she always ends up being late. That's why I was able to catch her waiting to cross the road, aimlessly looking around. I could hear her cussing under her breath, like she couldn't find something. Couldn't find me. She's terribly short sighted and refuses to get new frames or contact lenses- the last glasses she got when she was twelve, and hates the ones she chose. She settles for blindness over ugliness. She really isn't ugly at all either way, but I rarely tell her that, unless she needs reassurance- which isn't often. She's my polar opposite.

"Nancy." I pat her arm. She jolts, I see her go into fight or flight mode, then she sighs when she sees me, and just nods. I nod back, looking down at her. She's half a foot smaller than me, which I always like to tease her for, but I never mean it.

"...Tori." It takes her a little to say my name. I smile at her, patting her head.

"That's me."

A silence falls over us, and the buzzing of people talking over each other blends together in my head, and I try to find the sound of the crosswalk traffic lights ticking before the little figure turns green. I reach for Nancy's hand. She takes it.

The crowd suddenly pushes forward, and we are pushed with them, Nancy separating from me as I was keeping my grip too loose. I will never forget the day I made this mistake.

"Nancy!" I know she probably can't see me anymore. Everybody seems to look the same as I wave my hand around between bodies. I'm unable to focus on when we're meant to finish crossing . The little figure is out of my sight, and so is the end of the walk.

"VICTORIA!"

I hear her shout my name. But I can't see her. Her voice mixes with yelling and bickering and rushed, heavy breathing- of which it is my own.

A hand reaches for me in the mass. I take it, letting it pull me forward. But I know she's getting lost too. I can tell, because her palm is slick with sweat.

Suddenly, she hesitates, and I know something has gone very, very wrong.

She turns back to me. I meet her eyes, full of fear and longing. I hear her try to yell over the noise.

"Tori!- I-I can't see what colour the light is!"

She's counting on me to help her cross as well as myself. But I too no longer see the little figure, telling us to get out of the way. I just want her in my arms. I want to help her cross the road. The path. I want to keep her safe.

But fate.

Fate has other plans for us.

As the crowd of people hurries past, some of us lag behind. Me and Nancy are included. That's when I watch her head snap to the right. She freezes up, therefore I do too. But not for long enough to think of a plan. There wasn't enough time.

How can two vehicles take down so many people at once? Since that day, that thought...it always escapes me. And why did God choose to have us in the firing line?

The last thing I see is Nancy's face. She's tugging on her hand, trying to pull me along. She's screaming, 'let's go'. She sees the car coming closer. She reacted faster than I did.

With my last remaining thought, I disconnect our hands. I fall in front of the racing blur of metal. My ears ring in time with her agonizing scream, and my vision fades to black. The last thing I feel is guilt.

I just hope she made it.

Welcome to my passion project! Climax of Ascension is an original work by me! I hope you enjoy the chapters as they come out~

I wonder what will happen next?

-Arrou (❁'◡'❁)