Strings - Camp NaNoWriMo 2017

«Mirror Worlds - 4»

I ran as fast and as far as my legs could carry me, barely glancing down to see if Chimi was still with me. My fear only fueled my adrenaline, so that I barely felt the stinging branches cutting across my face and limbs, or the pounding of the dirt and rocks through the thin padding of my shoes.

We finally reached the village again, no doubt in a mess of mud and leaves. As soon as I slowed to a stop, I could tell that something was not right. I heard the distant cry of a gathering crowd. Lights everywhere were on, yet no people filled the streets, as they normally did on a summer evening. Instead... I saw smoke.

A gunshot rang out in the air, sending me running. I skidded through the alleyways, skipping steps, taking shortcuts through yards. Meanwhile, the sounds only grew louder, the roaring of the crowd more overwhelming. Chimi was always one step ahead of me, her tail just barely brushing against my legs.

Finally, I permitted myself to slow, rounding the corner at a light jog. A crowd of people filled the courtyard, shouting, shoving each other to get a better look.

"Excuse me?" asked a voice to my right. I turned around with a start to face a young girl with a long, light auburn braid trailing down her back. "What's going on?"

"I don't know," I said, recognizing her as one of the young children that lived near Mr. Gabriel's. I turned away. "I don't know..."

I took a few tentative steps to the left, becoming increasingly aware of the sinking feeling that was settling in the pit of my stomach. I spied an open door of a shop, barely sparing anything a second glance before I walked in, opening the back door that read "employees only." Ignoring the warning, I pushed it open, scaling the narrow flight of steps to the upper floors. Once there, I pushed through boxes of supplies and towards the window, climbing out onto the balcony.

My work was interrupted by a soft mew. I glanced down to meet Chimi's pleading gaze.

"Sorry, girl," I apologized. "You have to stay."

I proceeded my work, stepping onto the metal railing and using my arms to pull myself up onto the roof. Every movement was quick and precise, never wasting a moment. The cries of the crowd continued to grow louder and louder. A low tremor began to pick up in the ground.

I finally was able to climb up onto the tiled roof, sticking my hands out for balance as I struggled to find a foothold. Once I found my center of balance, it was considerably easier to scale the slanted surface.

I ran along the rooftops, using my momentum to launch myself from house to house, the wind rushing at me, stinging the raw marks which covered my skin. Finally, I was right above the courtyard, standing two stories above the ground.

The people on the sidelines stood in a cautious circle a few feet away, sensing the danger. The front row consisted of our city's police force, crouching down, aiming their weapons, large, deadly swords and rifles. The air in the center of the clearing rippled like a wave in a stormy ocean, collapsing in on itself and then swirling out again. I gasped, my arms dropping down to my sides. It was exactly like the one in the forest.

Panic, frustration, and fear rushed at me all at once. The rifts were opening up everywhere - there would be no running away.

"Think, think," I muttered to myself, unable to tear my gaze away from the our impending doom. A thought suddenly occurred to me. The people! Everyone was still standing around in a semicircle, eyes wide, gaping. They had no idea of what was to come.

Nearly tripping over my own feet, I dashed to higher elevation. Once I had scrambled up onto the rim of a chimney, I started yelling and waving my arms. "Run!" I hollered at the top of my lungs. "You have to get away!"

Nobody noticed. I fought the emotions struggling to rise up my throat. "It's dangerous! Run!" I yelled, my voice cracking at the end. I couldn't keep this up forever.

This time, a few people heard me. They turned to their neighbors, their collective talking sending up more noise into the air. People began to point up at me, and I yelled some more. Stubbornly, nobody budged.

Just as I was about to call out again, the rift gave an lurch, expanding to double its original size. People screamed as the white shapes began to pick up, slowly forming.

The people in the front began to push against the people in the back rows, trying to get as far away as possible. Their reaction caused a ripple effect, and the whole mob started panicking, the people that had once been focused on pushing to the front now turning on their heels and running for their lives. Terrified screams rose up. People fell, only to be run over by the rest of the crowd. Children wailed, attempting to keep up, but were soon swallowed up by the writhing masses of bodies.

I looked on in terror, hardly realizing that I had been holding my breath. Even the authorities in the front row stopped what they were doing, following the rest of the civilians. I turned back towards the rift, a stone-hard feeling of dread rising within me. It kept growing and growing in rapid, uneven increments. I clenched my teeth in resolution, sliding down the roof and onto the awning below.

From there, I dropped down onto the floor, trying with all my will to turn a blind eye to the stampeding chaos behind me. Although it killed me to do so, I had to focus on the rift. I couldn't save everyone, but closing the rift would definitely save the majority.

Through some sort of miracle, I spotted Chimi bounding towards me. I ran towards her, kneeling down on the ground to come to her eye level.

"Chimi you have to help," I said urgently. "What do I do?" The animal only stared back.

"Come on," I pressed. "You know about this. You come through gates like these practically every day." My speech began to speed up, mirroring my mounting stress levels. "Please Chimi. Anything you have for me will be an improvement."

Chimi paced in place, turning her head this way and that. She seemed to be as distressed as me. Suddenly her ears perked up, and she whirled around, dashing towards the rift. I was up in a flash, running after her.

Suddenly a pearly-white form bolted away from the rift, followed by the rest of the group. I ducked, covering my head with my arms as the shapes rained down on us and the rest of the people, an unwelcome storm. "Chimi!" I yelled, but the sound was lost in the sea of screams. I looked up for a split second, only to witness her glance up at me before being hit squarely in the chest by one of the phantoms. The impact sent her flying backwards, yet the creature continued to run, going right through her. Chimi staggered for a few steps before falling down and dissolving into particles of reflective dust, shimmering and falling down to the ground.

"Chmi!" I yelled again, but it was too late. She had already returned back to her realm. I didn't want to think about what would happen if I got hit.

I dashed back to the cover of the buildings, trying to get out of range as fast as I could. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a white shape, hurtling towards me. In a daze, I turned around to face it.

As if in slow motion, the form plowed into me. I glanced down, stunned, watching it pass through my chest as if it were nothing but air. The breath was knocked out of my lungs as I stumbled backwards. If felt as if my consciousness was being ripped right out of my body.

Then the world shifted, warping into unnatural forms, and everything turned a blinding white. The noise died out. The scene changed again, although the sound did not return.

I opened my eyes once again, dully aware of the fact that I was no longer in the courtyard.