Twisted Fate (The Music Freaks)

Chapter 3 - Nightmare Come True

           Silence. The suffocating, desolate measures of disquiet, agitation, and apprehension compose a complicated, meaningless meaning as the rhythms await the main melody to resurface.

           But worse than silence was the descent of the double bar lines, the dwindling of a song—never to continue past its unfulfilled ending. 'D-E-A-D  S-I-L-E-N-C-E' the coin uttered, its usual smooth currents replaced by a jagged, snaking motion like the clashing of the chaotic sea. The gentle music in the background fell to disregard, swallowed by the emptiness of a space chasm, seen only by the dark, perceptive eyes of the galaxy. The notes that once resonated in their soul were now drowned out by remiss. The silence couldn't have been more deafening.

           Hailey became speechless, the rosiness of her face draining into colorless marble. She gawked at the coin, which was now resting peacefully on the torii. The fear only seeped deeper with the lengthening of time, the burdening realization stabbing into her shoulders as she shuddered. She felt trapped by the ordeal like a bluebird confined in a cage of thorns, surrounded by the shadows of ferocious lurking monsters. There was no salvation, no escape from what was rumored to be an agonizing defeat no matter the path chosen. She could only feel the spinning of time as she neared her fated end.

           The coin, so seemingly insignificant, seemed to glow with an immense power of superior foretelling. A shiver went down her spine as something seemed to brush against her hand in contact with the coin. It was a feather-light touch soft as silk like the ripples of water sliding over her skin. Yet it was far more unsettling than reassuring. They were definitely not alone. The ghost-like feeling gently flew upwards, curving around her neck before a recognition—the burden of truth dawned like a deafening waterfall. Hailey's dread only increased as she just barely made out the message in the haze. Since the world was so cruel, there was no time for respite, no time for the insignificant voice of the heart. Prudently observing had been her greatest ability, a talent that allowed her to clear the shrouding mist of fantasy that had blinded the others. But she wasn't prepared for the consequences of the prophet's foretelling... for peril was inevitable.

           It would be a malevolence beyond imagination. A diabolic far worse than the vitriolic distaste of an aggravated and disappointed audience. Hailey knew she had already caught the eye of a certain elusive fiend, as ominous as a looming stormcloud reflected on a crystal lake. The bluebird's bright feathers of cerulean swirling in the depths of the dark blue oceans of a world turned upside-down, hazy fangs of crystal soon to collide with glowing crests.

           In a perfect world, the galaxy proudly presents the stage for another costly, glorious performance—the preview of the splendor written in the stars and etched into the constellations.

           But in the Music Room, the dawn of irreparable despondency descended. A wave of horrific tranquility engulfed the motionless Hailey, anchored solely by the very coin that spelled the curse of her trickling lifeblood as a fate encased by the ashes in an hourglass. The urge to disperse the horrific daggers of dread in one glass-shattering cry and escape this horrible damnation with the spread of wings retreated as quickly as it surged.

           The awful feeling tore at her heart and stung like an open wound agitated by the brackish depths of the Dead Sea. Then it disappeared altogether. All that was left was unseen adrenaline, so twisted and out-of-place it was almost misperceived as amusement.

           "Please return to the shrine gate," Luke declared in place of the dumbfounded Hailey, the girl lost in the expansive nothingness of her mind. Like a disruptive solar wind, a transcendental chill swept through the room, drawing out any residual laughter or amusement from the prior badinage. Her pupils shrank to pinpricks with consternation and she quietly sucked in a breath, practically choking on the invisible tempest.