Unexpectedly Undead

Unexpectedly Undead Chapter 12

-Falling Stars and Popcorn-

"Olivia." Was whispered in her ear, as if the person it originated from was standing right behind her. She twirled around in the thick darkness that surrounded her, yet found herself completely alone.

It was then that she realized she was standing in the middle of a field full of wildflowers, vibrantly lit by the fullest of moons, positioned high above her head in a clear sky.

She took in the sweet aroma of the honeysuckles, lilacs, and gardenias with a smile. When she was younger, her mother had kept many potted gardenias on their patio during the spring and summer months, and that smell in particular brought forth a wave of fond memories Olivia had nearly forgotten. She suddenly missed her mother deeply.

There were faint outlines of trees in the distance, but no inkling of a road or trail nearby. She wondered how she had managed to arrive in this field so late at night, yet -as she tried to recall- she couldn't remember anything that had happened in that past several hours, or days even.

Olivia drew her eyes upward curiously and -as they widened- marveled at the hundreds of thousands of stars above that seemed to shine clearer than she had ever witnessed. Their light blue twinkle mesmerized her melancholy and wonder of the universe.

"Olivia." She heard again, only louder than before. Her muscles tensed and her arms instinctively rose in defence as she once again spun about, searching for the source of the voice.

"Hello." She whispered upon the air, finally mustering the courage to speak. However -after a few moments of silence- no answer came.

Slowly, she witnessed the stars above begin to descend from the sky. They fell in to the field and began to gather around her. The small orbs of blue danced about the leaves and petals of the wildflowers and started spinning around her as if she were their axis, their center.

Faster and faster the stars spun around Olivia, creating a funnel. It was as if she was stuck in the eye of a shining tornado, unable to escape. The stronger the whirlwind of lights became, the more panic began to cloud Olivia's mind.

Without warning, the outline of trees in the distance began to melted away, revealing tall intercity buildings. She noticed fire spewed from the windows of many of the structures and clouds of white smoke began billowing in to the very sky that moments ago contained the stars.

A shiver ran down Olivia's spine as a woman's scream echoed in the distance, followed by another. She watched as the field of wildflowers disappeared, replaced with city streets littered with trash and debris.

Anarchy seemed to appear out of nowhere as more and more frightened pedestrians became visible on the city streets. They clawed, screamed, and battered one another violently as the metropolitan area crumbled around them. Clothes, then skin, were torn from helpless citizens as they tried in vein to flee. All the while, Olivia -trapped within the spinning stars- was forced to watch the horrors that unfolded.

She tried to scream, to call out to those around her and warn them, but her words couldn't escape her throat. The spinning vortex of small -yet brilliant- orbs of light that surrounded her kept her words at bay.

To her left, she noticed a hooded figure approaching at a slowed pace, compared to the chaos that ensued around them. As the young man walked closer, Olivia felt a strong desire to see his eyes, which were focused on the concrete below their feet. However, she had a strong inkling she knew what she'd see.

As he paused in front of her, the spinning lights the only barrier between them, the man raised his head and a pair of glowing blue eyes stared her in the face.