Endless

Chapter 5

"Could you all just lower your voices? What's there to chat about anyway?" Will yells over everyone waiting on the base before level one hundred and ninety-three. I roll my eyes as I line up in our specific order. Brooklyn mutters bitterly, "Who put him in charge exactly?" I brush her off. I'm not in the mood to joke around.

When it's my turn, I quickly evaluate the level before I begin. Ahead of me there are nine bright blue, small squares to jump on in order to reach the other side. I hop onto the first one. My arms are out by my sides again for balance. I continue to hop as carefully as I can onto the next tiny square. I'm nearing the end when a shrill, piercing scream rings in my ears.

To see whose mouth it came from I spin violently and lose balance for a moment. I quickly steady myself when I see Aimee hanging off a square a few obstacles behind me with one shaking hand grasping the edge. Brooklyn, who is on the square directly behind me, is turned and watching Aimee in horror.

"Help!" Aimee screams. "Taya! Brooklyn!" She screams again. Her frail body is quivering in mid-air. Brooklyn is utterly frozen in shock. Suddenly, without thinking it through, I jump onto the square behind me, joining Brooklyn. "What are you doing?" Brooklyn screams, still traumatized. "Saving Aimee!" I scream back at her as I jump onto the square that Aimee's trembling hand is holding onto.

I crouch down and try to grab Aimee's wrist. She screams, "Taya! I'm slipping!" I grab hold of her wrist tightly and quickly reach down with my other hand to grab Aimee's other wrist that is flapping in the air aggressively. "Give me your hand!" I order fiercely. Aimee tries to swing her hand up to me. However, her sudden movement causes her wrist I was holding onto to snap back forcefully. "Aimee!" I scream as I stretch farther down and swipe the air, trying to grab hold of her.

But it's too late. Aimee is falling. She tumbles rapidly through the air. "Aimee!" I scream again as I watch her body get smaller and farther away, still hearing Aimee's frightened screams. I'm shaking in consternation.

Soon, to my dismay, she's completely vanished in the never-ending sky.

I slowly sit up from lying on my stomach over the edge of the square obstacle. Brooklyn mumbles softly, "Come on, Taya. We have to keep going. She's gone."

Brooklyn's words hit me, hard. I'm suddenly out of breath. Aimee is dead. Or still plummeting through clouds screaming for a miracle to save her. That dropping feeling in her stomach is probably torturing her, if she's not already dead of shock. The haunting feeling of being the cause of Aimee's possible death begins to torment me.

Still, I have to continue this level. The guilt is burning my insides. My organs are crisping up from the flames of shame. I slowly trudge on, and somehow I've made it to the next base. I drag myself over to the pad in the center of the base and touch it with my shoe.

I don't sit down. I am frozen in an awkward standing position in the middle of the base. I am merely gazing out into the infinite sky. Where is Aimee now? Is her dead body still falling? Will she be falling forever? Is it really because of me? I could've saved her. But I wasn't able to. Grayson pulls me out of my thoughts. His voice hints of sympathy as he mutters, "It's not your fault, you know." He is standing behind me searching for what I'm gazing at in the indefinite sky.

I argue, still gazing out into nothing, "Yes, it is. I could've saved her, but I didn't." Grayson takes no time in answering, "But you tried. You gave her hope." I snap, "And then I failed her." I pause, "Just leave me alone, Grayson. You're no help." He does as I ask and walks away. I continue to stand immobile, allowing myself to sink into a pool of remorse and grief.