Ethereal Chaos / on hold for a little while.

Ethereal Chaos;o2

A/N: Dedicated to lightningstorms for the awesome cover.

The next day I was standing outside my locker before class began. I was just pulling my fourth period textbook out when Kacey appeared, swinging the rucksack she always carried accompanied by a hangdog expression.

     "Hey, Rima." she said a little forlornly. Kacey leant against the locker next to mine as I stuffed the textbook into my bag.

     "What's up?"

     "I can't do the beach today." she sighed, crossing her arms. "Father wants us to have a bonfire tonight, so we need to go mega-food shopping. Also, Granddad'll be coming - you know, the one who tells all the stories? - so all my brothers are driving down. You're invited, of course. Fine Emma and tell her for me?"

     I nodded and she flashed me a smile before striding down the hall, leaving the scent of raspberry drifting around. I wrinkled my nose and closed the locker door, curling my wrist slightly.

     "You okay?"

     I looked up; Emma was keeping in pace with me, obviously having come in late. The halls were nearly empty now. "Its fine at the moment." I frowned down at the arm close to my side, then smiled reassuringly at her.

     When Emma had rung me last night after Kacey, she was a lot more sympathetic. She also advised telling Jo and Paul, which I quickly vetoed. Instead I tossed a few painkillers down my throat with a glass of water this morning, hoping it would numb the ever-growing pain. 

     It did, for a while, but the dull throbbing was returning slowly.

     "Did you tell your parents?" Emma asked, looking down her glasses at my wrist. She reminded me of a cross librarian.

     I shook my head. "No. They didn't come home last night."

     "Shouldn't you be worried?"

     "Emma you know they stay out most evenings."

     "I guess. I wish my parents were so... lenient."

     I gave her a tight smile in response as we reached my class. The teacher hadn't arrived yet, and many of my fellow classmates were up and about.

     "See you later, Emma."

___

Because of my many failed attempts at driving, I was unable to get a licence approved by the local police. So I was made to walk to and from school everyday, keeping to the path on the outskirts of the woods. 

     It was sunny on the way home, but the trees on either side of me looked dark and forbidding. I shivered at the thought of going beyond the first silhouette, and pulled my satchel closer.

     I was almost at my house when a black shape skittered past, startling me. Immediately I dropped my schoolbag, and a loud clunk sounded as it hit the floor. I took no notice; my heart was beating erratically, and my eyes stared openly into the woods, searching.

     A faint chattering sounded, causing my head to whip round. My body tried to react as well, my limbs slow, rain dribbling down a windscreen. I hit the ground with an impact so hard my head shook.

     Pain everywhere, in my legs, my elbows, but especially my wrist. I tried to move but shuddered and gasped under an immense weight that was slowly crushing my body. A throbbing, beating pulse reverberated through the air towards me, rushing and twisting like a serpent. 

     From this angle against the path, I could see my bag, text books and papers spilt out in a disarray of colour. They were so surplus on this tarmac ground, in the woods, that my senses were stolen and warped.

     Using my elbow to dig into the uneven ground, I struggled to my feet. I stumbled, my foot tangled in my bag's strap, and lost my balance once more. My eyes closed involuntarily, tightening against the pull of gravity.

     There was no impact. There was no gulp of oxygen as my body crashed back onto the tarmac below. Instead I felt a weight on my back, rough and cracked and smelling of oak. I opened my eyes to find I was standing - no, leaning - twenty feet away from my dropped school bag.

     Against a tree.