16 | In Darkness

2044

Thousands of memories surrounded Allison's inner mind like a hurricane. They passed faster than she could glance at them fully—take any of them in. They cut her as they passed, little almost-unnoticeable cuts that she began to feel long after the memory passed. She tried to withdraw into herself, but no matter which way she turned the memories pushed themselves onto her. She tried to reach out to any one of them to grab hold—to end the onslaught of the many. There was a memory that was larger than the rest—closer to the front of her mind and instantly she knew of what it was. She reached out at her limit and felt herself evaporate into the mist.

~...~

The darkness outside the cathedral hall was only interrupted by the shimmering light that erupted from within. The boy—Felix, had curiously followed the girl he had fancied. But after confronting her and the golden ethereal wolf inside, he was separated from the both of them.

The light spilled from the wolf's eyes, mouth, and nose. It blinded both Ally and Felix as blustering winds filled the halls.

Ally didn't remember what happened next. She only next remembered waking up to a rough wind coarsing across her body. Her eyes opened slowly and her entire body felt like it had been put through the wringer. The sky was a deep orange color that seemed even more vibrant than she had gotten used to. She had to work slowly to lift her head—but when she did she noticed the shape of her stomach. It curved outward and just looking at it sent a flurry of thoughts through her mind. A million thoughts raced through at the speed of light. She felt sick, awfully numb and she let out a sad cry as she turned over to her side. Everything hurt. Everything ached. Nothing made sense and she was now in the middle of nowhere.

Looking straight out—it had seemed she was lying down in a rocky wasteland. Sand blew in waves carried by the wind across the horizon. If things were as they were she would have guessed she were somewhere near the Grand Canyon, although considering the east coast had been changed dramatically in its environment she realistically could be anywhere.

She slowed her breathing and tried to regain control of herself. She needed to ground her racing mind with concrete information. She was Allison Fae. She was twenty-three years old...although, the passage of time threw that out the window. She realistically could be either twenty-three or twenty-four. It seems as if a number of months had elapsed since she was Home with Felix and Issachar. She didn't know how she winded up here—although Issachar was the most likely choice. Why he dumped her here is another unknown factor.

She was pregnant. This was no longer a topic she could avoid. She was pregnant and she was in the middle of nowhere. Now, she had two options. She could give up—sit here and accept that life was simply too good for her to ever have. That everything up to this point meant nothing and that not only would she be throwing away her own life, but the life of her unborn child.

Or.

She could get up, push forward, and find a way out. Surviving has been her main priority since arriving in the new world. Just because it was a little harder didn't mean that that goal had changed. She took in a sharp breath and heaved herself up to a sitting position. She felt a hand on her shoulder and she smiled smally. She wasn't truly alone. Not ever again would she be. That thought helped like a cool breeze.

Jace helped her to her feet and looked at her with a similarly small smile. "So, what are you going to do from here, captain, my captain?"

She took in a deep breath, "I'm going to probably throw up in a few. I feel awful, but when that's done I'm going to start moving. Anywhere that has people. I need to start working back toward what I want."

"And what is it exactly that you want?"

She looked down instinctively, "...I don't know yet. Not fully. I still need to figure that part out. I don't have much of a choice right now but to survive. But...it is too late for me to end the pregnancy. Not that I had any serious ways of going about that here anyway. So, as much as I would love to continue my journey in finding Issachar—in finding Lilly—I have a responsibility to both myself and the baby...my baby...to let that goal go."

"I know you like the back of my hand, and knew that was going to be your answer, but I'll admit there were times where I was worried you'd let your passion cloud your judgment."

She looked at him, kind, "I worry myself every single day, Jace. But this feels right."

He smiled back, his golden hair shimmering in the sunlight, accenting the brightness of his expression. "That makes me glad. Almost worried I was going to have to commandeer the ship, my captain," He does an eloquent bow. "Your first mate remains."

"Cut that out," she laughed a hollow sound, but she was thankful.

"All right, so you're gonna need me, clearly. Ain't no way you're walking this whole wasteland by yourself." He dashed behind her and scooped her up in his arms.

Ally was surprised by the ease he grabbed her. "I'm a little more than surprised you can still carry me," she said.

"Well, technically you're telekinetically carrying yourself, if we wanted to cut it down to brass tacks."

"Makes you seem less heroic, doesn't it?" Ally asked.

"Dunno if I'd go that far," he smiled.

And so, he began moving throughout the wasteland. Flatland of cracked amber-colored earth with a similar-toned sky made the horizon point a blend of endless orange. The sky was cloudless and the bleating sun was the sole purple light spilling onto the canvas. Although, it looked to be more of an indigo than a straight purple—it seemed to fluctuate as the rays emitted.

Ally was tired—even though she had just woken up, the toll of taking in everything that had happened was weary on her body. She rested her head against Jace's chest, but he nudged her awake. "'Fraid I need you awake still to keep me going," he said. "Maybe when you have a solid breakfast and are stronger you can do that, but I don't want to leave you out here alone."

Groggily, she nodded her head and kept a focus on the horizon. The unchanging environment became their constant companion. Finally, Jace had to slow down. The sky started to fade as the sun, too faded behind the horizon—streaks of indigo light filling the void above them. Ally had to force her eyes open because the exhaustion was too much. Jace bent to stand her back up—balancing on her own weight was a challenge once more. She felt the energy leave her body as she wanted nothing more than to undo her curiosity and fall back into bed with Felix.

"If you're out there...please answer."

No response came.

"I wish I could carry you the rest of the way," Jace said, visibly strained. "I don't want to just drop you, especially now. I sense something different continuing this way. I can't tell what it is specifically, but I'm hoping it's a settlement."

"Thank you Jace, I...I'm so sorry you have to rest."

He smiled, "Be sorry I'm gonna come back jacked. Take care, I'm always with you," he said, and faded from view.

"I know..." She reached out for him as he faded and let her hand fall, silently. She had also sensed something different up ahead, but it was faint—it would be another hour's walk if not more. The thought didn't inspire confidence. She stretched her arms high into the sky and felt the familiar rumblings in her stomach. She knew what was coming and she reached back with one hand and grabbed up her hair in both of her hands and held it back as she bent over. The feeling erupted in a deep stinging sensation in her lower stomach and it burned coming up. It was a debilitating feeling, but as she got control back she felt the pain in her head lessen. She stayed bent over for a minute longer hoping for it to clear more, but when it was clear that was as good as it was going to get she wiped her mouth off and shook her hand away to avoid cleaning it off on herself. She looked down at the both of her hands and saw how rough they were—how many callouses and blisters had formed in what used to be harmless little hands. She gripped tight and unclenched, facing up and closing her eyes—mentally feeling out the source of the energy she had felt, and continued moving in that direction.

The night was full in effect by the time the settlement entered her view. The stars above shined and called out their haunting melodies throughout the vastness of space—melodies that seemed to resonate with her inner being. She felt like they called her to keep walking.

And so she did until she could no more. She was still about a hundred yards away, but her feet would carry her no further. She simply collapsed and felt unconsciousness hang heavy over her mind.

Allison's memory threatened to fade from her grip just as Jace had faded on that day nearly twelve years ago. They swirled around her eyes back in the darkness once more and she remembered the villagers discovering her unconscious body, thinking her dead they started to bury her. She remembered half waking up during the burial process and Jace had helped her out of that situation too.

The situation flew away from her like a phantom, and she reached with all of her might to break free of the darkness. She got halfway there but was dragged back down to the swirling memories. They were not done with her.

She gritted her teeth and plunged an arm back out and sank back below her thoughts.

She woke up gasping for air. She had been staring up at the sky through the earth. She felt immense weight pressing down and she groaned. Jace had erupted into a column of light that blasted the dirt, sand, and rocks skyward, freeing her from her tomb. Ally coughed and rubbed dirt out of her mouth. Slowly she pulled herself up out of the hole. Standing over the edge with a confused look was a man who looked like he was nothing more than skin and bone. A large sunhat shielded most of his features, but she could see his face was pure shock.

"I...I'm alive," she said, looking down to her hands.

"Yeah, guess you are," the man said in a tired voice. "Spent the past few hours diggin' that hole." The tone in his voice made it seem like he would have preferred she not woken up.

"Well...I'm sorry, but you don't have to anymore."

The man simply stared at her. "You some kind of witch?"

She was aware of Jace appearing behind her, "Not going to attack you or anything like that."

"Doesn't really answer the question," the man said, "but I guess that doesn't matter so much." He let the shovel he was holding drop to the ground and he slowly started to hobble away. He stopped and cocked his head to the side, "Probably should get out of here. People here would burn you if they knew you lived."

"And what about you?" Ally asked, swallowing hard.

He shrugged his shoulders. "You saved me a night of burying. Guess you can't be too bad."

"Is there anywhere you know out here where I could find something to eat? Or sleep?"

"Can't magic yourself none of that, eh?" He asked, chortling. "No, unless you go out by some abandoned houses maybe out ten-fifteen minutes out west. Too sandy for our tastes. Whatever's there is yours." And then he continued back to his shuffle.

Ally looked at how close the settlement was—buildings of clay, stone, and straw looked to be so close. So close that she could imagine sitting in an actual bed and sleeping soundly.

"He's probably right," Jace said, his arms were crossed, head cocked to the side. "They saw you and made the call you were dead. Of course anybody of reasonable intelligence would have checked your pulse, but that kind of shows who we're dealing with here."

"Yeah...I know, part of me just feels bad for not, you know, trying?"

"Gotta pick the battles you want to fight. We can come back when you've got something in you."

Ally nodded.

"You did get some rest, I can carry you to the abandoned zone," Jace offered.

"You sure?"

"If you weren't carrying for another I'd be way more upfront in my sarcasm. Yes, I am sure."

And so the decision was made. With the starry sky above with slightly more dark blues spread across Jace began the trek with Ally in arms. The wind started to pick up around them and into the night they vanished.