This is the third chapter of my continuing story "The Fallen". It is not a stand-alone tale, so I recommended the first two chapters be read first. Much is revealed in this part, and I only hope I've made this exposition-heavy chapter interesting enough to hold your attention. As always, thank you for your interest.
The usual disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. All characters involved in erotic scenes are over 18, even when not explicitly stated.
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THE FALLEN
CHAPTER 3: AWAKENING
I stand just inside the entrance of The Third Eye, a new-age magic shop. After the chaotic night I've had I'm hyper-alert and prepared to bolt at a moment's notice.
Aw, hell...who I am kidding? I'm paranoid and freaked out too.
At the other end of the room, past all the trinkets, books, and bottled herbs, is an older gentleman in an English cut three piece suit of blue and gray. He has kind eyes and salt-and-pepper hair, with a slightly sad smile gracing the lips of his handsome but mature face.
Lounging atop the sales counter is the woman Danni and I ran into at the mall earlier today. Her black hair and heavy, goth makeup still match her all black outfit, and she leans back with one leg swinging idly over the counter's edge.
"
You
," I whisper.
"I
did
say I'd see you later, didn't I?" she asks with that faraway look in her eyes.
"Emma," I exhale the woman's name.
"Yes? Am I still Emma Ravencrest? Ah, I believe I am, and this is Graves...though he's not as scary as his name sounds. He's actually quite the teddy bear."
"Good evening, young lady," the older man says with a bow, displaying old school manners. "Please be at peace. We mean you no harm, but you may want to step away from the door."
"What? Why?" I say nervously, my limbs tensing as I prepare to flee.
"Subvolo foemina intrinsecus," Graves mutters under his breath.
His hands move in a series of complex gestures, and his echoing whisper makes the hairs on my arm stand up. I hear the sound of a car door opening behind me.
"Ahh!" Danni squeaks in high-pitched surprise.
I spin to look and see the Outback's rear door closest to me has opened. I see no one and nothing on that side. Either the unconscious Trina kicked it open, or...speaking of Trina, she suddenly
rises
into the air and floats on her back from the car toward The Third Eye.
"Erykah?" Danni calls out in trepidation as she spills from the other side of the car.
I step aside and try to accept the fact that Trina is hovering past me and into the shop, though it flies in the face of logic. It wouldn't be the first thing to do so tonight. Danni walks in behind the levitating girl, and I'm guessing her look of "oh boy here we go again" mirrors my own.
My expression falls when I see Danni's thoroughly bloodstained clothing, the splotchy red soaking her pants and shirt. She looks like a horror movie refugee. I note that no more blood seems to be dripping from Trina's wounds.
Danni's alert eyes scan the room before they come to rest on the odd couple at the other end. She seems strangely okay with Trina hovering through the room, barely paying it any mind as her eyes examine Emma and Graves.
"What do they want?" Danni asks me, eyeing the pair suspiciously.
Before I can answer, Emma says in a low tone, "Late to the party again, Danni? Tsk tsk...what is that on your dress?"
Danni inhales sharply and gets a look like someone just slapped her across the cheek. The goth woman's words hold obvious meaning for the blond next to me, but I don't get it...Danni isn't even wearing a dress. Either way, it would seem Emma's words have shocked Danni to silence.
With a scowl I ask Emma, "What's that supposed to mean?"
"What's over is done at this changing of seasons. Can't you feel it crawling in your veins, this error in your genesis?" Emma responds as if speaking from a dream.
She's pointing toward Trina.
I stare at our levitating, unmoving classmate at the center of the shop. Now that she's in the light I can see the deathly, waxen pallor of her skin. I look back to Emma and Graves. Emma makes a small, sweeping gesture with one hand, and I hear the door behind us close sharply. The sound makes me jump.
Though I'm pretty sure I know the answer, I still ask, "Were you the ones who drove our car here?"
"Of course, my dear. That was I," Graves informs me with a slight bow of his head.
Now the million dollar question.
"Why?" I ask.
Emma smiles and says, "Why Hansel and Gretel, the birds have eaten your breadcrumbs."
The goth woman hops down from the counter, landing on her fuck-me boots with a loud "clack". The noise makes me flinch involuntarily.
"And the old woman was about to shove you in her oven," she adds. "Neverland has no words for the childless heart."
Emma steps over to Trina's floating form and walks a circle around her. As she does so she pulls a thin, square case of silver from her back pocket, opening it up and producing what appears to be a hand rolled cigarette. She returns the case to her pocket and places the smoke between her lips. It's tip sparkles and flares briefly with a tiny flame that seems to come from nowhere, and Emma inhales deeply.
She exhales a thick cloud of roiling smoke over Trina's body. I'm pretty sure it's not normal, but I can see tiny, twinkling flashes shimmering chaotically within the billowing haze.
"You said you didn't smoke," is all I can think to say to this improbable, mystical display.
"I don't smoke...cigarettes," Emma tells me before taking another drag.
Then the smell hits me, the pungent and unmistakable stench of marijuana. The woman leans close to Trina and turns her head to the side, as if listening for something.
"Emma?" Graves asks meaningfully.
She presses two fingers against Trina's pale neck for several seconds.
"Hmm...the girl is dead," she pronounces in an unemotional tone, as if she's telling us 'dinner is ready' or 'your shoelace is untied'.
"Oh no...Trina," Danni gasps in disbelief, her hand rising slowly to cover her mouth.
I can't believe it myself. This isn't the first time someone I know has died, but I never thought it would happen again so soon. Trina was a dangerous, shape-changing supercunt, but still...what a horrible way to go. If only there was something I could do about it. Danni shouldn't have to see this. She held Trina in her lap while the girl died. She's drenched in the other girl's blood. I can't imagine how terrible this must be for her.
This is the sort of thing that can haunt a person for a very long time.
A thought occurs to me. I walk over to Trina's floating corpse and hold out my shaky hands. Maybe, just maybe. I press my palms against the two holes in her leather jacket, her blood still warm and sticky. I try to summon the same feeling as when I brought Danni back from the dead, but...
I can't bring her back. It doesn't work. Dammit, why won't it work?
As if she knows what I'm attempting, Emma tells me, "Anger worships her inside the darkened mazes of your mind. Forevermore flies away from one not ensconced within your heart's hallowed halls of light."
It's a truly odd way of putting it, but I think Emma is trying to tell me I must love someone to bring them back. I step away from the dead girl with tears in my eyes, my mom's face coming to the fore of my thoughts. If only...
"Your mother's death is not your fault, child," Graves says with a sad shake of his head. "Nor is the passing of this girl. Her own choices led to her demise, but you may yet save her."
I didn't like Trina much, but I don't want to see her dead, either. I feel like I'm going to cry so I bite back the tears. Danni takes my hand in hers, and I look over. My love seems incredibly shaken and disturbed by Trina's death as well, her eyes pasted to the levitating body.
What Graves just told me finally registers through the haze of my grief. He had said 'you may yet save her'.
"What do I have to do?" I ask, determined to fix this.
"Only make a single choice," the sad-looking gentlemen tells me cryptically.
"Graves?" Emma asks, her spaced-out eyes turning to look at the older man. "Are you sure?"
