The Midnight Flare

The Journey's Beginning

I awaken in my cell. Everyone else is asleep. I stand up and look down at the bed I've been sleeping on. And see my body.

"Don't worry, you're not dead young one. Just, temporarily out of your body," A beautiful voice towards the bars of the cell says. I look over to the voice to see a ghastly figure of a young girl. She has silver hair with two streaks of color. One a fiery orange. The other an icy blue. Her eyes are both violet. Just like me. She's wearing a white dress that's been burnt and torn in places.

"Ok, so explain to me why you look like you just came out of some alternate dimension where everyone's gender is the opposite." I say.

"Just follow me and let me show you something. It's important." She says, her voice getting slightly angry. I get up and follow, phasing through the bars like a ghost (though technically I am one).

She leads me up fifteen flights of stairs, all except one for prisoners. The other is for a mess hall of some kind. When we reach the top, (which makes me realize that the bottom floor is for 'hybrids' only) I am met by what looks like a very old bedroom. As if the place used to be home to royalty. The place is covered in cobwebs and most of the walls are peeled away.

"You know of the 'origin story', correct?" She asks.

"Yeah, why do you ask? Is this the old room of one of the original elves?" I ask, saying the first thing that comes to mind.

"Yes, actually. This is the room of the murderer to be exact. Of course, this is boarded off. And they took down the stairs. Just in case you couldn't tell. What your seeing is just remains. Why I brought you though, is a different story. The owner of this room placed a spell on of the windows. That way, when one looked through it, it acted as a telescope. But only elves that can wield both fire and ice can look through it that way. You understand my point, right?" She points to a window to the right, covered in a burnt curtain. The curtain starts to burn, and within seconds, all that remains is ashes. She puts her hand down.

"I could've done that you know." I say to her. She smiles slightly, then points back to the window.

"Look out there."

I walk to the window and look out. Sure enough, I can see all the way to the alley. And what I see sends a shockwave of relief through my veins. Demi is sitting on the roof, not a scratch on her. Good, at least one of us didn't go through Hell. But as I get a closer look, I can see the many tears that have streamed down her face, past and present. She grabs something next her. One of our supply bags. She pulls out a root beer and cracks it open. She chugs it in seconds and throws it down. More tears stream down her face. She gets up and pulls up a black bandana over her face. She puts a sweater on and pulls a hood over her bright blue hair. She throws the bag over her shoulder and jumps down from the roof. She lands on her feet, rolls, and starts running. Running towards the prison.

"No way she's doing what I think she's doing. It's not going to work!" I yell, anger and sadness flowing smoothly through my voice. I turn around to the ghost girl. "Why did you bring me here? To show me what a suicide mission looks like?"

"No. I brought you here to show you the reason why you're in here and not her. Hell, why she's even alive. She might be smart, but she needs you. There is much you haven't learned. People you haven't truly met. Unless you don't want to get out, you need to get out. And I will help you. Just make sure to come back here when you sleep. Don't worry, you'll know when you can. Just one word before I leave. Don't die. Your the only one who can bring change here." As she says the last words, I am sent flying backwards, back down the stairs, and back into my body. I sit up and breath heavily for a couple minutes. I decide to lay back down and get actual sleep. And sleep is more welcoming this time.