Between Two Worlds

I open my eyes and sit up. Stupid dreams, never do make sense. Faint moonlight pierces the darkness. Its light reflects off the lake, and I can see the water is calm. What woke me up, some sort of noise? Loud snoring noises are coming from my right, and I turn to see the outline of someone sleeping nearby. Pretty sure that’s Kat. But I don’t think that was the sound that woke me up. Movement nearby catches my eye, although I can’t make out what it is. Shadow moves against shadow, and for a moment, I wonder if the creature has found us, again. Maybe this time it’s come to eat Kat and me. “Hello?” I call out but receive no answer. As I squint into the darkness, the shadow creeps closer, and then I realize it’s not one but two separate creatures. I swear I hear growling noises coming from one of them. I quickly crawl over to Kat and gently shake her awake. “Kat!” I whisper loudly.

“Mmmm.” She mumbles.

I place a hand over her mouth to keep her from attracting the attention of the creatures. I’m not entirely sure they saw us. Maybe, they are just passing through. Of course, I’m not that lucky. I notice that the shadows are moving in a straight line, toward us.

“Why is your hand on my mouth?” Kat mumbles through my hand.

“Ssshhh.” I whisper. “Something is out there, two somethings. Possibly that creature we are looking for.”

Kat moves my hand off of her mouth. “Two of those creatures? You better hope you are wrong; we won’t survive two. Whose out there? Answer me now or I will hurt you.” The same silence I got; she is now getting in response.

The shadows are moving toward us, quickly now, and then they appear to leap into the air. I shriek, close my eyes, and wait to feel the pain of teeth and claws in my flesh. After a few moments, I open my eyes and see two pulsis lanterns lit and being held by Carina and Gelyan. Where did the creatures go? The lantern light dances in the darkness as Carina and Gelyan laugh.

“What’s so funny?” I ask.

“Your face!” Gelyan laughs.

“Seriously, you should see yourself,” Carina says. They look at each other and laugh again.

“You were so scared. You looked so stupid. What, did you think an imaginary monster was coming to get you?” Gelyan taunts.

“No, not an imaginary one, a very real monster,” I say defensively.

“Ha.” Carina scoffs.

“Look,” I say as my heart rate returns to normal. “There is some crazy stuff going on around here. Kat was telling me about these creatures she ran into on another planet; killed a whole bunch of her people. The Dini captured some of them and are experimenting on them. One of them wandered into our camp the other night, I thought I was going to be eaten alive.”

“Whose Kat?” Carina asks.

“You know Kat. Our classmate, my life partner, the girl sitting right next to me.” I say.

“I don’t remember anyone named Kat, do you, Gelyan?” Carina asks.

“No. Maybe the girl is so lonely she just made up a friend. She’s such a loser.” Gelyan says, laughing.

Kat is strangely quiet, so I turn to look at her, but she’s gone. I don’t mean gone as in walked off, I mean gone as in there’s no sign she was ever here. No sleeping bag, nothing. What the heck is going on here? Where did Kat go? Why are Carina and Gelyan acting as if they’ve never heard of her? I was just talking to her a few minutes ago.

“Little loser girl is making stuff up. I bet she’s lying to Altair as well. I bet that’s how come he’s so interested in her. There’s no telling what kind of lies she’s told him.” Carina says.

“I’m not making stuff up!” I shout, climbing to my feet. “I can’t help that Altair likes me better than you. He knows a beautiful woman when he sees one, and you aren’t one!”

“Why... you... little...” Gelyan says through gritted teeth. She storms toward me, and I know I’m in big trouble. “Altair won’t be in love with you, for much longer.” She slams her palms into my chest, and I stumble backward, toward the lake.

“Get her, Gelyan!” Carina cheers.

“When you turn up missing, I’ll be there to comfort him. After a few days, neither he nor anyone else will remember your name, or remember you ever existed.” She slams her palms into me again, and I stumble backward, again. I feel the cold water soaking into my shoes. “I hate you, Rayanna. Everyone hates you. You aren’t even human. You are some mixed breed experiment, and no one will miss you when you are gone. So just do us all a favor and die!” This time she shoves me really hard and instead of just stumbling, I actually fall backward.

There must have been some sort of drop-off because I don’t hit the bottom of the lake. I sink in slow motion; the little bit of moonlight keeps shrinking until it disappears, and I’m surrounded by cold dark water. I try to right myself, to move my arms and legs, but they refuse to work, they feel like deadweights. My chest starts to burn as if it were on fire, and I understand that I am drowning. If no one shows up to save me... There is no one to save me. No one cares. Why should I even care? Why should I even try? My head starts to hurt and then I no longer feel the water. I’m still surrounded by darkness, but I feel dry, this does little to improve my mood. Since I seem to be alone in this darkness, I just let it envelop me both inside and out. I scream I cry, and then I just give in to it. It’s not so bad here. No fears, no secrets, no pain, no anger; I feel nothing, and I am perfectly happy with that.