The Spirit Academy

Chapter 2 - The Spirit World

Dahlia

Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. Light. Light. Light. Light. Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain!

It was all over her body. The pain was excruciating, and she couldn't move anything. She felt like someone was sticking needles into her body. She tried very hard to be still, to breathe as little as possible, careful not to provoke more pain. Dahlia felt as if someone had ripped her whole body apart and then sewed it back together again. She lay very still for a long time.

Dahlia began to think. It came back to her but in fuzzed moments. The bathroom. The mirror. The paint. She knew she had moved, during the few seconds before becoming unconscious. Dahlia had felt the sudden rush of air pulling her in and out, like the ocean. She had been swept around in the air and bashed in the walls. It happened so quickly. At least that's what she thought. Dahlia had lost all sense of time and didn't know how long she had been unconscious. Could it have been hours? Days?  Dahlia reached for her necklace but groaned when she realised that she was still in pain. She wondered where she was. Maybe she had been kidnapped. There were large bangs on the door. But where was she now?

She opened her eyes. Light. Light. Light. So much light.

Her vision was impaired at first and she only saw blobs,  but soon she began to be able to see more clearly. Dahlia could only see the roof.

The roof was white. Dahlia kept staring at the roof for a long time, she still didn't move because it hurt too much. She was probably at a hospital. She'd hit her head and blacked out. That must've been it.

Dahlia heard a door creak open and footsteps coming closer to her,

Then there was a face in front of her, Dahlia blinked, it was a girl, in her early twenties, her dark brown hair was plaited up in an updo with flowers in it, it seemed to shine, she had hazel eyes that sparkled and her face broke into a smile when she saw me staring right back it her.

Who are you? Where am I? How did I get here?

So many questions swirled around in Dahlia's mind, and she opened her mouth, but she couldn't seem to form the words, her lips were chapped, and her throat was dry. She needed water. Somehow the girl understood and lifted a glass of what looked a bit like thick orange juice to her lips. She hesitated, she didn't know what it was, but she drank it anyway, if they wanted to kill her, they would've done so already.

The juice was like a sweet mango smoothie. It was delicious and Dahlia's parched mouth began to instantly heal, the warmth and sweetness spread throughout her whole body and she was no longer aching anymore. She sat up, and she gasped when she noticed the girls strange clothing. She wore a long dress, it seemed to be white and it sparkled, it was covered in flowers, so many flowers that you could hardly make out the fabric underneath, all different colours, pink and purple and blue. It looked beautiful.

"Who are you? Where am I? How did I get here? Why am I here? How long has it been? What do you want? Does this have anything to do with the mirror? Oh wait, of course it does. I don't have anything you want. Just let me go back. Please."

The girl smiled and sat down opposite Dahlia, "Do you have a preference on which I answer first?"

"You can't answer a question with a question," Dahlia complained.

"I know, but I'm afraid that I can't answer all your questions right now, I am Nawra."

Dahlia felt as if she was going to break down, everything was so complicated. She didn't trust herself to speak so instead she just nodded. Nawra grabbed her by the hand and pulled her up. Dahlia looked down at herself.  Her school uniform was covered in dirt and there was a hole in her tights.