Ethereal Fall [Undergoing Major Editing] | #Wattys2016

Chapter Five

What? The memories weren't coming? Oh... That might be a problem.

Suddenly, Charmeine appeared behind us in a flash of light. "There's an emergency!" she screeched.

We all turned.

"What happened?" I asked.

"A dead soul arrived with an abnormally large set of memories. It's clogging the Memory Chute, so the memories of other arrivals aren't going through to Disposal, either!"

"Is that bad?" Draco asked.

"Very!" Charmeine's face was red and contorted. "That means that there are souls roaming around with their memories still intact! If they start rioting, we wouldn't be able to defend against so many!"

I blinked. What...? My first night as manager of Disposal, and something already goes wrong. This is bad. But I didn't possess the ability to panic or break down. No, we in Ethereal do not let the stress and pressure deteriorate us.

"Then we must get to Stelli Hall first," I said. "We must break open the chute and crush those memories."

My co-workers looked at each other. They nodded, reaching a silent agreement.

Climbing into the elevator, we ran out onto the first floor and outside. Everything was...fine. All the houses and buildings were still intact. Nothing seemed out of place.

Boom!

Our heads turned in the direction of the sudden sound. I had spoken too soon. Red flames curled from the windows of a nearby house. I stared at the colors. I've seen pictures of fire before, but it would be too destructive for the perfect world of Ethereal. The man must've used some earthly trick that he remembered from his time as a human.

Just watching the white house being charred black and the souls running around in confusion sparked something in me. I don't know what overcame me, but I suddenly started sprinting towards the direction of the fire.

"Asteria?!" I heard Charmeine call after me. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to take a look!"

"It's dangerous!" Charmeine shouted.

I turned around. "I'm already dead, ma'am. What's the worst that could happen?"

She didn't respond to that.

I continued running down the hill until I reached the house. Clouds of black smoke were rising into the air. Nearby houses were evacuating.

I saw a woman run out of a nearby house. Catching up to her, I grabbed her arm. "Excuse me, ma'am. What happened here?"

But when I got a good view of her face, I dropped her arm. It was contorted. Very. Her eyes were misplaced, and the top of her head was shooting out sparks. The glow from her Star was very dim. She reached forward and grabbed my hand tightly.

"What...?" I tried prying my hand out of her grip, but she just pulled me closer and started opening her mouth...

"Watch out!" a male voice shouted behind me.

A streak of light flew dangerously close to my face. Time seemed to slow down at that point. When it sped up again, the woman had crumpled to the ground, shrieking. I stared at her, watching as the glow of her Star faded, and she disintegrated into fine dust.

"Are you alright, Asteria?"

I turned and squinted through the thick black smoke. The man had...wings. An Angel.

"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you very much, sir."

The Angel floated forward. It was Elder Xapham. His hand was smoking, and he was holding it tightly. That burst of light must've cost him a great deal.

"What is happening, sir?"

He clenched his jaw. "Those damned souls have been creating makeshift weapons and arsenals to set fire to houses. The citizens here aren't sure what's happening, and their simple brains that don't understand emotions are starting to deteriorate from all the chaos and confusion."

"I don't understand, sir."

"Of course you wouldn't." Xapham rubbed his face and exhaled. "Just... Right now, our top priority is to destroy the men and women whose sanity is slipping."

Suddenly, someone grabbed me from behind and held something sharp and shiny up to my throat.

"I advise you stop this, Angel," a breathy, male voice spoke against my ear. "Or else this precious girl is going to die."

"Excuse me, sir," I said. "We're already--"

"Shut the fuck up!" he growled. "Who told you to speak?! And show some fear, would'ya?"

"That's impossible, boy." Xapham's face was abnormally white. "The dead souls here don't feel emotions."

"I knew it." The man brought the metal edge closer to my throat. "Would you like me to kill her before your eyes? Or are you willing to--"

"Boy." Xapham's face had turned from abnormally white to abnormally red. "Take a good look at your hostage's face."

"What the f--"

"Just do it!"

The man huffed, grabbed me by the shoulders, and turned me around. A weathered-down face. But young. Eyes a deep shade of blue. Curls of blond.

His eyes seemed to widen as his eyes lingered on my face and traveled downwards and back up again. His cheeks held a tinge of red. I didn't understand why.

"I'm willing to give this young woman to you if you call off your crimes. You may do whatever you like with her."

What? What was Xapham saying? And why was he avoiding my eyes?

"Deal," the man said with no hesitation. And without another word, he grabbed me by the hand and pulled me away.

✧

Hi everyone!

PLOT TWIST! Please tell me what you thought of it! Was it too rushed? Too slow? Too boring? Gah!! I am so addicted to writing this book!! XD

Until next time, please

Vote,

Comment,

and Share!