Heavenly Moonlight

~1~

"Skylar, wake up! Wake up! Wake up, please!"

Skylar Lewis slowly opened her eyes at the sound of her mother's voice, barely aware of what was happening around her.

"Mom? Are you there?"

Her mother didn't respond, but a dull ringing sound filled her ears. Through half closed eyes she saw a bright light beaming down beside her, small dust particles swirling softly, visible from the light.

What happened? she wondered, shock making it hard to comprehend what had happened to her moments before.

She could hear loud voices all around her, shouts of command along with screams of terror.

Terror? What was--?

Her thoughts broke off as searing pain coursed through her body, the bones in her legs crushed under a heavy weight that had them trapped in place. The pain made her cry out, tears welling up in her eyes.

Come to think of it, every part of her body hurt. It was a pain she'd never felt before, not even after being in a cave in.

It suddenly came back to her.

She'd gone with her sister Tori to the snack bar in the safe spot they were staying in and was talking to a girl with dyed blue hair when they heard shouting and the sounds of fighting. She and Tori and along with the other girl had run out of the room to see what was going on when there was an explosion, causing the floor to collapse from beneath them and a searing, burning sensation had struck her body. She'd felt herself falling several feet before finally hitting the ground, and something heavy falling on top of her. . .

Tori. . .

The thought of her sister had her lifting her head up and gazing around, trying to find her sister. All around her were pieces of broken building and rubble, bodies lying deathly still nearby. It was all dark except for the stream of bright light.

She gazed at the area, her vision blurry, her head feeling like it was being cracked in two.

"Tori!" she croaked, her mouth and throat dry as cotton. "Tori!"

She thought she heard her sister's voice, but it was so faint she couldn't be sure.

She gasped in pain as she lifted herself with her arms. She cursed when she couldn't move her legs. She looked over her shoulder and saw that a huge piece of concrete was on top of her legs, crushing her, preventing her from moving.

"I found one alive!"

She looked up and saw a group of men wearing black armor that reminded her of a knight from the medieval times tearing through the chaos, throwing large pieces of concrete around like they were nothing. They were picking up bodies and throwing them over their shoulders and carrying them away.

Her heart dropped when one of them, a male with moon pale skin and ash blond hair, looked over at her. Their eyes met for a brief second before he picked his way through the rubble over to her.

She grunted as she tried to pull her legs from under the large piece of rubble but it was no use. It was too heavy.

In no time the man reached her. He grabbed the concrete that had her legs trapped and threw it to the side. She used her arms to try to crawl away but the man reached down and grabbed her by her hair.

"I have one alive over here!" he called out.

She felt the hair being pulled from her scalp. A burst of anger replaced the pain and she snarled, lifted her head and clamped her teeth down on the man's other hand.

The man yelled out. A coppery taste filled her mouth as the man's blood filled her mouth.

The man snarled and tightened his grip in her hair. She looked up and watched in horror as he brought his blood covered fist down and struck her in the face.

Her eyes rolled back in her head as pain exploded in her head. She felt herself fall forward face down on the ground, immediately descending into unconsciousness.