SWNOVELS Chapter CHAPTER 2
The most amazing dream was starting to fade from Alina’s mind. Happiness multiplied by a thousand, coursing throughout her was nearly indescribable. She had never felt more accomplished in her life, and then to have had Dominic by her side through the whole ordeal just made everything even better. Darkness was taking over as the dream skirted away. Coming to, Alina blinked her eyes a couple of times before they fluttered open completely. Cocking her head to the side, curiosity ran through Alina because she felt like she was floating.
At first, she thought it was one of her weird dreams because in many of them she had been floating or flying. Realizing she was awake though; she began to question herself as to what had happened. She searched the space around her that she was hovering in, trying to find any of her friends and family. Especially Dominic, since he had just been holding her in his arms moments before she blacked out.
Everything around her just felt wrong somehow. For one, even though she is a witch, she knew she shouldn’t be floating in mid-air. And two, the fact that she couldn’t find any of her friends nor her family solidified the wrongness of the situation. She should have been surrounded by people. The white foggy, smoke-like clouds that continually rolled beneath her feet didn’t help ease her thoughts that ‘something just isn’t right about this’ either.
Alina figured out that if she focused hard enough, she was able to stop herself from being suspended in the air, though as her bare feet touched the ground beneath her, she wasn’t quite sure if she actually wanted to stand on the weird, sponge-like ground. It felt weird and squishy under her feet, nothing remotely like the grass and dirt of the earth.
Hesitantly, she began to place one foot in front of the other until she found herself wandering through what felt like an eternity of space. I wonder where in the world I am, Ali thought to herself as she walked around.
A dark grey sky hung above her which she found odd, since she didn’t really feel like she was outdoors. She began to wander through the weird space but as she did so, she suddenly felt like she had been punched in the stomach as realization crashed down around her and she saw spirits floating, flying and walking by.
“No, no, no! This can’t be right,” she said out loud as she shook her head back and forth. “This wasn’t supposed to happen. How did I end up here, am I dead? I don’t understand!” But even as she questioned her surroundings Alina knew she wasn’t on earth though she wasn’t quite sure where she was. The only thing she knew definitively was that she could no longer feel the chord, the bond that connected her to Nic. She couldn’t have felt more alone than she did right at that moment. So, when another spirit suddenly appeared in front of her, she sobbed a sigh of relief.
“Helloooo. And who might you beeeeee?” It was hard to determine at first as to if the spirit was male or female because it didn’t have a true form, but once Alina heard the raspy, scratchy voice, she was pretty certain it was male.
“Oh, um, hi. My name is Alina.” Human habits being hard to shake, Ali put her hand out to shake the spirit’s hand in greeting. The male spirit flickered in and out a few times before his appearance took on a slightly more solidified image. It tilted its head as it stared at her hand curiously. “And who are you?” she asked as she continued to stare at the spirit.
As he raised his gaze to her eyes, Alina gasped in shock. The spirit had the most amazing eyes she had ever seen. They were such a golden honey color that they appeared to glow as he looked at her. “Who, meeeeeee? My name isssssss Cal.” The way he spoke sent shivers down her spine and a cold chill across her body. He emanated such evilness that she wanted nothing more than to get as far away from him as possible. But she was stuck. She didn’t know how to get away from him.
“CAL!” Ali turned her head to see who or what was shouting the spirit’s name. Behind her, two elder ladies approached. “You know you are not to interact with the new spirits, Cal.” One spirit said tsking him as the other chimed in directly after; “be gone you miscreant!”
With a sneer that was supposed to pass as a smile, Cal faded from their sight, but not before Alina heard him laughing the most menacing laugh she had ever heard, and it scared her immensely! She offered the two kind souls in front of her a smile of gratitude. “There, all better now that that nasty Cal is gone, right dear?”
“Yes, thank you so much. That spirit was really starting to give me the creeps. And I couldn’t figure out how to get away from him.” Try as she might she couldn’t stop her body from trembling.
“Eh, for the most part he’s harmless. My name is Grace by the way. And this is my sister, Maggie. We are the spirit guides for the after world or as I think the earth-walkers refer to it as, the Spirit Realm.”
The sisters looked identical in appearance, nearly mirror image of each other. Both wore cropped, curly, white hair, gentle hazel-colored eyes and were dressed in very flowy iridescent blue gowns of sorts, giving them both angel-like appearances. They probably weren’t more than 5’4 in stature and had the most pleasantly sweet smiles upon their faces. “Nice to meet you both.” Alina replied to them, sharing their smile. “My name is Ali. You two wouldn’t be able to tell me why I’m here, would you?”
Maggie and Grace looked between themselves, pondering how to respond to Ali. “Hmm, dear we are not quite sure what you mean when you ask why you are here. Was it not your time to come to us? Destiny doesn’t tend to make mistakes when she sends Death to pull a spirit up.”
“B-but” Alina stuttered. “My soul mate and I followed the words of the prophecy. We did everything we were supposed to do to avoid my death upon our accomplishment on earth. We successfully ended the war between the witches and the hunters. Destiny, fate, whatever you want to call it, has definitely made a huge mistake this time. My tale was not supposed to end yet. I didn’t even get to say goodbye to anyone. I know Nic must be going through hell at the moment, too!” Ali babbled, unable to stop herself from her rambling.
“Oh my,” Grace exclaimed. “We will have to chat with the Powers that Be on that issue. For now, though, how about you follow us, and we will show you where you may spend your time until we have this little mess sorted out. ”Ali nodded her head and began to walk with them as they turned and made their way through a brightly lit, tunnel-like hallway.
“Wow,” Alina said in awe as they entered a building that seemed to be made completely out of silver and gold. “What is this place?” she asked as she spun around on her heels, taking in the overwhelming view before her.
Maggie came to stand next to her before speaking. “This is the waiting station, dear.” As Ali gazed at her in confusion, Maggie continued to talk. “Here are where all the spirits wait until the Powers that Be decide the next journey for them.”
As Ali looked around, she felt as though she were standing in the center of a large airport or rather a combination of an airport and a train station. Where the ceiling should be, arched gold and silver bars were set high overhead with crystalized glass and a view of blue skies beyond it. Many spirits from different times, centuries, drifted by her and a long drawn out ‘O’ fell from Alina’s lips. “How long do spirits typically stay here?”
Both of the ladies shrugged their shoulders and then Grace said, “time is irrelevant here, dear. One day is the next already passed. When your soul is called upon, you move on. Time is not a factor.”
“Oh,” Alina spoke, stunned by what they told her. The word faded from her lips as she looked at the ladies; trying to process all the information that she had learned.
Cal chuckled menacingly, amused that Alina thought fate and destiny had a hand in bringing her to the spirit realm. “Ha, ha, ha! What a silly girl. Even death is unaware that it was my hand pulling the strings. That I am the one who was able to manipulate the grim reaper into taking her before her time. How could I not want her powerful essence after having felt the ripple she caused throughout the universe and surrounding realms?” It had caused a hunger to stir within him to become earth bound once more. A longing to be the being he once was.