The Land of Nightmares and Fire

The Arrival

It was a late night in the summer of 2018 after I had come home from the worst night of my life. I snuck out to a party to surprise Jackson, my boyfriend, who had recently moved back after Jackson, and I were separated for some time. My friend Mavis had messaged me saying he was there and offered to help me by surprising him. I had not known he was back in town, so I assumed he would surprise me. So, I decided to beat him to the punch. I pulled up to the party and met up with Mavis, who patiently waited outside, equally excited about the surprise. We walked in together to search for Jackson in the sea of people; I caught a glimpse of his curly blonde hair in the corner of my eye and began sneaking up behind him.

As I was about to hug him, this girl with the prettiest wavy black hair and bluest eyes I had ever seen wrapped her arms around his neck and gently kissed his lips. "Jackson?" I said, sadness lacing my words. Upon hearing my voice, he spun around and looked down, only to face my shattered expression. "Iris...this isn't what it looks like." He said this, and I wanted to believe him, but his eyes said it was a lie. "Babe, who's this?" the wavy-haired girl asked, confused about what was happening. "Babe?" I mimicked scoffing as I crossed my arms with an expression mixed with pain and amusement.

"Ava, not now." He said as he ripped his arm away from the girl. "Ava, was it? Hi, I'm Iris...his girlfriend." I said, looking at her as shock slowly set on her face. "Girlfriend? But we've been together for a little over a year now." She said, looking from me to Jackson, expecting an explanation. "Well, we've been together for four years now..." I said, looking from her to Jackson. "So, a little over a year away, and you cheat on me after I patiently waited for you to return?" I said with so cold eyes it sent shivers down both spines. "Oh, come on, Iris, like you never thought of cheating on me while I was away." He said in a harsh tone, defensive.

"No, Jackson, I didn't because I'm a decent human being, and I loved you," I told him as I felt the rage bubble inside me. "Well, maybe if you weren't so basic and replaceable, I wouldn't have cheated on you!" He yelled, causing Ava and me to flinch. I scoffed, grabbed a drink from someone who happened to be passing by, and threw the liquid in his face before hitting him in the face with the cup as I stormed off. I heard a loud grunt and saw Jackson kneeling and holding his groin. Ava ran up to me with a smile on her face. "I figured he deserved that too." She said, causing me to grin. "Shall we slash his tires?" I asked her, causing her to laugh. She grabbed my hand, and we ran to his car, seeing Mavis outside.

She handed Ava and me a pocketknife before I could get a word out. "Get to it, ladies; we don't have all night." She said with a grin, more devious than ours. We grabbed our pocketknife of choice and slashed one tire in the front and one in the back. We ran to my car and got in before driving off for victory milkshakes. I exchanged numbers with Ava because she seemed like someone I could genuinely vibe with before dropping her and Mavis off before going home. I made my way up to my room, where we were now currently reminiscing on the night. I slowly make my way to bed before sitting down and placing my head in my hands as the tears slowly trail down my cheeks.

I laid my weary head on my pillow, burying myself in my comforter before closing my eyes. I cried harder than I ever had until my body became weightless, slowly falling into a deep slumber. I opened my eyes to be met with a wooden ceiling, the smell of alcohol filling the air. I sat up so suddenly it felt like my brain was doing backflips. I stood up a bit wobbly as I walked outside. I looked around to see a beautiful starry sky and a village of people covered in tattered clothing. I eyed them curiously as they did me. Some whispered, and some closed themselves in their houses. I shrugged it off and wandered the village before stumbling upon a sign that read 'Ever Moon Kingdom.' My eyes sparkled as I walked right past the sign into the kingdom, missing the warning at the bottom that read, 'Enter and face the King's wrath.'