Innocence Forsaken

Ch 6. Nightmare

Eve-Anne stood in the alleyway, the shadows casting over her eyes and face, obscuring her vision. She stepped forward slowly, looking around into the darkness. Her head pounded and she felt dizzy.
How did she get here?
But something felt familiar to her, something ominous and scary. She came to a wall and looked around. Her sister was there too, walking down an alleyway opposite her.
“What’s going on?” Eve-Anne asked as Jessica approached her.
“I don’t know.” She responded. This wasn’t a dream, it couldn’t be. She knew Jessica was actually there, she could feel her energy.
“Maybe a shared dream?” Jessica said, although this was laced with doubt. Eve-Anne shook her head. The feeling was different, too different, to be a dream.
Eve-Anne looked down another alley, she was almost sure it wasn’t there before.
“No, it wasn’t,” Jessica replied.
She didn’t really like it but Jessica still read her mind sometimes, probably because she was the only one she could.
Jessica started going down the new alley, the darkness enveloping them even further they went and the alley walls seemingly closed in like they were in a forest.
“Careful.” Eve-Anne said as she pulled her sister back, “This may look like our world, but we can’t be sure.”
“That sounds like rubbish.” Jessica pouted but did as her sister asked. She was right, they had to be careful.
“We’re the definition of rubbish then,” Eve-Anne smirked and took the lead, carefully navigating the small alleyway as quietly as she could.
Eve-Anne stopped and pulled her arm out to stop Jessica in her tracks. In front of her, stood a group of people.
She scanned the group, men mainly and a few women. They didn’t stand out. They had no energy. Eve-Anne couldn’t feel them there, or anyone except Jessica for that matter.
She stepped out of the shadow. As she suspected would happen, no-one paid attention to her.
“Eve-Anne! What are you doing?” Jessica exclaimed in slight worry as she followed her out of the alley.
“I’m trying to see them better.”
Eve-Anne went around the crowd. They had weapons, but none of them stood out a great deal, until a younger girl, about Eve-Anne’s age, stepped out of the shadows and sucker-punched an older, and muscular man. She was familiar, her black hair went down to her shoulders and she wore a school uniform like the one from Eve-Anne’s school.
“Myra?” Eve-Anne muttered under her breath, and looked towards Jessica.
“I think so.”
“The boss ain’t pleased with you.” She half yelled as she kneed him in the abdomen, forcing him to his knees.
“Tell him I’m sorry! It won’t happen again.” He was cowering, fear overwhelmed him.
“Who even is the boss? How do we know he’s not just some wimp?” One of the others stood up from his seat on a couple of wooden boxes. He was skinnier than the other, but still, quite fit.
“Do you wanna meet him?” Myra asked, somewhat sweetly now. “Only if you promise not to threaten our informant again?”
He nodded furiously, his layers of shaggy hair waving.
“If you say so.” She stepped back and knelt down in a sort of meditation like pose. The others looked slightly confused.
Within a few seconds, a creature, no- more like a monster, was pulling itself out from her back.
“The-- what?” Jessica uttered, confused, but the group stared wide-eyed in a childish like fear.
“Thank you, my child.” The monster said in a broken and distorted voice. It was a creature of shadows with what looked like hoof-like feet and long shadowy black tail.
“No problem, mate.” She said confidently as she stood and smiled.
“What- what is it?” One of them cried, Eve-Anne just rolled her eyes and looked at the event as if it were some old B-movie.
“My name is Arzan.” His distorted voice echoed throughout like a lion’s roar in a cavern. “Why have thou called me forth?”
Myra looked up at him and sighed.
“They wanted a meet and greet or something.” She responded and shrugged her shoulders lazily.
“Is the one they call Mrs with us?” He questioned.
Myra sighed, and slapped her face with her hand.
“Mrs is a title. Her name is Susanna.” Myra said, laughing a little.
Eve-Anne looked towards Jessica.
“This doesn’t mean anything. This might not be real.” She tried to convince her sister, but both of them couldn’t believe that.
Eve-Anne stomped away down the alley again.
“Stop. Don’t you want to know what that is?” Jessica yelled down the alley as she chased after Eve-Anne.
“It doesn’t matter.”
Eve-Anne sighed, and hoped that this was a dream. She kicked her.
“Wake me up.” She said as a knife appeared in her hand and she threw it at Jessica, knocking her to the floor. No blood poured from the wound, and her body disappeared.
Eve-Anne looked around, the world beginning to shake and fall. She was sure she was meant to be awake. You couldn’t be in a dream and know it was one.
“Watch out.” A voice said into her ear, but before she had time to look, she was pulled out of the dream by Jessica.

Eve-Anne was hot, and her breath was heavy. She looked around. Her sister was just sitting down on her bed.
“You killed me.” She said grumpily as she crossed her eyes.
“Think of it as a video game.” Eve-Anne forced a smile as she stood up and tossed some clothes over her pajamas, she grabbed her coat and threw it on.
“Where are you going?” Jessica asked, a hint of concern gracing her soft voice.
“Out.” She said as she left the room, and closed the door behind her.