The Parallel Paths

Another Dimension

The air felt softer, like a gentle wisp.

The sunlight— a warm embrace around their bodies.

The birds chirped softly, as if trapped in a childhood dream.

Slowly, Zack slowly gained consciousness. His body was aching— but the warm dirt and soft swaying grass eased him in a way.

Without a second thought his body quickly jolted up, likely instinct.

"Ugh.. what the.." He muttered and rubbed the back of his head, trying to even out his blurry vision and clear those clouded thoughts.

He could feel a sharp pain behind his head, as if he fell from a four story building and landed on damp shallow mud.

Vision blurry, head spinning, he tried to connect to his surroundings— clear the blurred scene.

He started to gain consciousness to his surroundings bit by bit. The soft sunlight now beaming on his pale, aching body. The gentle, brushing green-grass rubbing against his limbs.

His vision cleared more and he could see his surroundings start to fade into a complete different scenery than what he last remembered.

He wasn't in the library anymore, no— but a completely other reality it seemed.

The plants were different, impossible to even be thriving. The sky was white, deep clouds covering around it— trees covering its beauty with their thickest of leaves.

As something brushed against his hand, his eyes instantly darted down to the source. A two- headed lizard, dark black with golden circles around its body scurried within the grass.

He sat there, not even scared— just confused.

Followed by a rustle, Elara began to awaken beside him. She groaned faintly, her body weary next to his.

Eyes wide, heart lifted, he immediately went to assist her yet paused—

She was.. different.

Her hair was a gentle golden color, glistening in the sunlight like bursts of beauty. Extended, her hair draped down her back, like a mystic waterfall..

Yet that wasn't all.

She turned to face him, her now golden star orbs meeting his. Markings around her eyes swirled like light waves, gently etched into her flawless brown skin.

She was ethereal.

"Zack..?" Elara mumbled faintly, the weakness in her body evident.

Her gaze lifted to meet his. Once a soft, weary look now shifted into a more surprised— horrified one.. as if he were a monster.

He hadn't realized it yet, but he wasn't any more normal than her. In her eyes, his hair was scruffy black, tainted with deep red streaks, as bloodshot as his eyes. His red, luring eyes bled like a wolf, the deep red color intimidating..

Zack sensed something was wrong, the way her face drastically shifted made it plain obvious, yet they still recognized eachother—

so what was so damn scary?

Elara couldn't pull away, drawn into his iris as the tempting red convinced her. He couldn't break the contact either, as if the golden warmth of her eyes made him feel something different.. something he wasn't ready to pull away from.

For a second— it's as if the world stopped. The forest fell quiet for a moment, allowing the tension to ring against their ears—

until that tension was sliced by the softest voice.