Neso

The End of the End

2:00am, 2nd of April. Enso returned home to the outskirts of the city of Australia, dirty, sleep deprived and depressed. She knocked hesitantly on her parents door, the feathers of her wings fluttering gently in the breeze. Enso saw a light turn on in her parents room. As she heard their footsteps near the door, she was hit by a sudden wave of nausea. What if they still didn’t want her? What if they threw her out again? Enso couldn’t stand the thought. So she flew. She landed gently on the roof, her wings folded, and watched her mother walk out of the house, tired and confused she walked out into the street, looking around she called out a sleepy “Hello?” that is absorbed by the darkness of the street. Enso’s mum looks up, whispering “Enso?”. This one word could’ve saved Enso, but she had already taken flight, beating her wings as hard as she could. Up and up into the night sky she flew, until she was well above the tallest skyscrapers. Enso titled her head back and spread her wings as wide as possible, using the heat waves coming out of the concrete in the city to keep her up. Her hair had come loose from her braids and was being whipped around her face. She hung there, suspended in mid-air, her arms slightly outstretched, palms facing outward. The lights of the city stretched below her, and the lights of the stars went on for miles above her. She was stuck in the grey area between the two worlds. Heaven and hell.  Enso tilted backwards and fell. Her wings flapped in front of her as she dropped. At the last possible moment, she twisted, so she was lying parallel to the ground, and flung out her wings. They catch the air and she shoots up a few meters. She turned and began to fly towards the center of the city, darting between buildings. Once she reached the middle she gently lands and is hit with a sudden sense of foreboding. As if something has happened here, or that something will. She moves away quickly, wanting to rid herself of the strange feeling, and searches for a place to bunk in. She finds one, a cheap motel that you used to be able to find on long roads leading to beautiful places, the old Australia. The place is strangely nostalgic. She had to duck under the door to fit her wings into the room. She approached the sleeping man at the register. She reached out and shook him gently.  He woke up immediately, eyes wide. It seemed as if he had had a nightmare. His eyes darted around for a second, before they landed on her. He almost fell off his chair. He stuttered out a shocked, “It’s you! The girl with wings! I thought you’d gone away..?”
“Well, I’m back” a cold light seeped into her eyes. She asked for a room, then walked down the hall without another word, her wings brushed against the ceiling. After all this time, after everything that happened, she was still remembered as the weird girl with the wings. She reached room 36, at the very end of the hall and dragged the door open. The bed was small, sheets covered in mystery stains. The walls were grimy and the paint, a strong mustard colour, was peeling. Enso took this all in as she stepped in, she almost left, but reminded herself that it would only be for one night. It was early and she planned on sleeping for as long as she could. She dumped her bag on a chair and falls onto the bed, closing her eyes, falling into a dream that was anything but a coincidence.
Rain lashed the windows of the manor. Enso was running with a kind of franticness that could only be caused by being chased by someone, or something. She sprints around a corner, sweat mixing in with the tears streaming down her face. She finally reaches a door, flinging it open she rushes inside. She quickly turns, slams it shut and slides the bolt into place. She turns, taking in the grandeur of the hall. It was a throne room, with pillars leading up to the throne. Enso cautiously walks forward, each step echoed around the room. She approached the throne, climbing the small staircase up to it. The throne was gigantic, fit for a king. Something changed her vision and it was a few seconds before she realised what it meant. Neso appeared, lounging on the throne, feet dangling off one of the arm rests, head tipped off the side of the other. The usual too-wide grin was stretched across its face. Neso didn’t even have the curtesy to put any effort into the flick of its hand that causes Enso to go tumbling down the staircase. Neso turned and rose, lazily walking down the staircase that it had sent Enso down a few seconds before. Neso almost skipped to the place where she lay, groaning. Enso tried to get up, but Neso put a foot on her throat. It didn’t say anything, just kept smiling, slowly applying more pressure until Enso was struggling to breathe. Suddenly, Neso froze, looking up and around the hall. The bolt on the door slowly slid open. There were a few seconds that felt like years, then the door swung open, crashing against the stone wall. It was Mae! She stormed into the room and with one swish of her hand, she disintegrated Neso, who was just standing there with a shocked look on its face. Once she was sure Neso was gone she ran to Enso, who quickly sat up, rubbing her throat.
“I can’t be here for very long, Neso isn’t gone forever, just tell me where you are,” Mae was dead serious, looking into Enso’s eyes like she was staring into her soul.
“Australia... Mae, I’ve been looking for you for so long!”
“I know. I have to go now. I’ll be there tomorrow, 5:30pm, center city. Hold on.”
“Mae! Don’t go I have so many quest...” But she had already left. Enso shakily stood, leaning against a pillar for support. She could hear Mae’s voice echoing around her head. 5:00pm. Then everything went black.