Phantasmagoria

Am I in...water?

I can see an airy blue liquid all around me; I'm in it...but at the same time...I'm not. I feel like I'm floating as well. I'm mesmerised by the beauty of this pure blue water.

It looks so...beautiful.

Oh, if Hannah could see this.

It's amazing...

''Hello, Nash,'' I hear a female voice say in my head. The voice sounds...almost...unreal. It's hard to describe it...it's sounds like an echo...

I look around the blueness until I come to an explosion of colours that emits from the centre of it.

What is that...

A female figure appears, adorned in resonating lightness. She looks...ethereal...She has...white hair that flows softly in the blue liquid, and white eyes with no irises...She's floating effortlessly in the blue...as if she is one with it...

I'm...speechless.

Utterly captivated by this sight...

Who else can say that they have seen this?

No one.

I am...the only one...

Oh, and maybe the girls...

But I am the only participant that has ever laid their eyes on such a hypnotic being...

I am in awe of her...

She extends her glowing hand and caresses my face.

No, she's wiping away-

A tear.

I didn't realise I had been crying.

''Thank you,'' I manage to respond. My voice is all but a whisper as I struggle to comprehend the dazzling sight I see before me. She pulls back her hand and begins to pull a smile.

''How...who are you?'' I say as I make my tone clearer. I know who she is.

Diana.

But who is she?

What is she?

''I am...the possessor of insight,'' she answers in my mind.

''Insight? What do you mean?'' I say aloud.

''I...have insight...into your minds,'' she replies.

She's telepathic. But I knew that already...

''I...have insight...into your lives,'' she speaks again. She's repeating herself.

Is she...really real?

Is she...a part of the game?

Was she made up by the girls?

''I am real,'' she says to me as she leans forward and touches my face again. Her touch...is so warm. It reminds me of Hannah's.

I wish I was with her now.

I look closer at her...the blue liquid acts as a mirror...I can see my reflection...and...

What is that?

I peer closer into the blue. I can make out...something. But before I can ascertain what that is, suddenly, the blue liquid turns red, and Diana pulls her hand back from my face. Her whole body turns red...her whole aura...

She's angry.

Upset.

But why?

Why is she...

''Step away from her, Nash!'' I hear a voice.

No.

It can't be.

It sounds like...

Reuben.

What?

What is he doing here?

I slowly turn around, and I'm face to face with a desperate-looking Reuben, with a gun in his hand...

Pointed straight at me.

What is he...doing?

Why is he here?