Paige and the Lost Library of Atlantis

Paige and the Lost Library of Atlantis Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Paige was alive. No, she felt truly alive, wired with energy. Light seemed to course through her veins. Everything around her dropped away, leaving only the light. It consumed her so thoroughly; she couldn't have told anyone her name if asked. Vibration spread from her hands, spreading to her chest, her thighs, to her whole being.

Something in her started to change. Her body began to shake. Her chest ached, and her head split with agony. Every fear, every sadness aching within came rushing at her. As she screamed, her body maxed out in emotional and physical pain. She felt something breaking within her, as the light started to fade. Her vision closed in, and she felt herself fading. Billie's name, the last thing whispered upon her lips.

Billie sat upon the marble floor, watching. As Paige's body began to shake violently, she stood up and ran over to Paige.

"Don't touch her!" The Curator warned. "Last time you were thrown into a pillar. Do you have a death wish, Miss Turner?"

Billie reluctantly stepped back. She helplessly watched as the woman she loved began to scream in agony. Seeing Paige in pain was too much. Tears spilled openly down her face as she wept. Crashing to her knees, as close to Paige as she dared, Billie put her head in her hands. She had just found her person, her partner, her love. Billie had found, amidst all of this chaos and pain, her happiness. She found a lover, who was too good for this world, or any world. Now she had the lucky ticket to the front row seat of her girlfriend's death.

Billie wondered if maybe she had died, and this was hell. To get what you want, only to have it violently ripped away from you. Her parents, her Paige, her world, they were gone. Anything that made her life make any sense was gone.

She lifted her head, her face swollen from crying and being bashed into a concrete pillar. She watched as the light faded from the woman she loved. She bore witness as Paige's hands fell from the metal plates. Billie reached her arms out to catch Paige as her body failed, and fell, gently into her arms.

Billie silently cradled Paige's limp body. The Curator walked over and knelt beside them. She leaned down and uncharacteristically placed a kiss upon Paige's forehead. Making the motion of an infinity symbol over her chest, she stood up and walked away slowly, unspokenly giving Billie a moment.

Billie caressed Paige's wrist, checking for a pulse. She wasn't a doctor, but she hoped against hope she was wrong. Her wrist was cold, and there was no slow rise and fall of her chest.

Billie stood up, carrying Paige's body. She was surprisingly light as if whatever had given her substance was gone. Without being asked, The Curator walked next to Billie, taking half of her burden. They started to carry what used to be Paige slowly down the staircase.

Her body, however, began to shimmer. It was almost if Paige was fading. Before their eyes, Paige's body began to disappear. Soon, they were holding nothing but air.

Awoken from her shock, Billie was furious. She only saw red as she shouted into the ether.

"You can't just kill her! You erase her memory! You make me lie to her! She sacrificed herself to open this stupid door, and I can't even put her to rest!"

Billie ran back up the stairs, beating on the ornate doors with her fists. Deja vu hit her clouded mind, as she had just watched Paige do the same thing. Suddenly she heard a high pitched wail behind her.

The Curator was running up to the doors. She kicked the door with her heeled foot. "You sit in your hideout, safe from the horrors your creation has brought upon the worlds. You read your stories and educate yourselves on every possibility. But I see your education does not get in the way of your ignorance. I have read all the stories, all the possibilities, and our story can not end this way! Now get off of your cushy bums and let us in this instant!"

With that, she sat upon the floor in an angry heap. Billie sat down next to her and placed an arm tentatively around her shoulders. The Curator patted her hand twice, and gently placed her pink coiffed head on Billie's shoulder.

The doors, suddenly, and without ceremony, gently creaked open.