The Radiant Rangers

Chapter 29

Nighttime stretched ahead as long as the road they had travelled in the daylight hours, now charcoal hued and cold. The birds were silenced and there was no sound. It was dead silent. Dark spruce forest frowned on either side of them. The trees had been stripped by a recent wind of their white covering of frost, and they seemed to lean toward each other, black and ominous, in the fading light. A vast silence reigned over the land.

The woods began to widen and thin layers of fallen pine needles and sentinels disguised the perilous and rocky terrain. Cynthia was walking towards her house. The forest looked so different at night. The trees twisted up into the darkness of the sky. Gwendy was behind Cynthia, walking at a distance, cautiously.

Gwendy didn't want to get near Cynthia. She wanted nothing to do with her. The silence was like a gaping void, needing to be filled with sounds, words, anything. The silence was poisonous in it's nothingness. Neither of them spoke. Silence clung to them like a poisonous cloud that at any moment could choke the life from them. Silence seeped into their every pore, like a poison slowly paralyzing them from either speech or movement.

Cynthia approached her house. It stood alone in the dark woods, the lights were on though, Juliet and Danielle were home.

Cynthia felt her hands tremble and eyes water when she reached her hand towards the door knob. Her body felt hot and sweat started to trickle down her neck. Her ice powers were out of control. She didn't want to hurt anyone else. A sharp pain was ripping at her insides. Cynthia let out a long breath and  finally opened the door.

Juliet and Danielle were inside. They were in the kitchen with another girl. The girl had light brown hair with a few strands of blonde highlights. It laid on her shoulders like a waterfall flowing mildly. Cynthia wasn't sure who this girl was, or why she was in her house. From under side bangs shone eyes the color of honey.  The girl smiled at Cynthia, but Cynthia didn't smile back. Juliet's eyes widened and she came running towards Cynthia.

Cynthia's eyes scanned the room. Another stranger was in her house. Her eyes were sore and tired from crying. She felt lost and helpless. The stranger had silver hair which looked oddly familiar. Cynthia narrowed her eyes and looked past Juliet. The stranger turned around and Cynthia's heart dropped. Crimson was in her kitchen wearing one of her dresses.

"Cynthia!" cried Juliet. Juliet gave Cynthia a big hug. Danielle came walking over towards the two of them with the other girl. Cynthia pulled away from Juliet's grasp and her eyes widened with anger.

"What is he doing here?" yelled Cynthia. Cynthia pointed over to Crimson.

"I tried to call you." Laughed Juliet. "And you didn't tell me you killed his friend!" Juliet smirked. "That's awesome man!"

The room got quiet. Gwendy came into the house a few minutes after Cynthia. When she walked in everyone stared. Juliet scanned Cynthia's face for a reaction but a voiding silence hung in the air. Cynthia's icy blue eyes were cold and lifeless. Juliet wasn't sure what was wrong, but Cynthia was not the same.

"Why didn't you answer any of my calls?" asked Juliet.

The paralyzing hurt spread through Cynthia's body like icy, liquid metal. She couldn't speak. The sadness flowed through her veins and deadened her mind. A bitter unforgiving pain. It was a poison to her spirit. It was as if a black mist had settled upon her and refused to shift, and no matter how bright the day was, she would feel no sun and hear no bird song. For the world was lost to her and she knew of nothing that would bring it back into focus.