Don't Look Back! Part 2

Chapter Fifteen: Let there be Light

Surrounded by darkness, Lucy kept walking on, through cold, dark nothingness in the hopes of finding someone or a way out.

Hello, is anyone there?

Surprised at the sound of a voice, she halted, an invisible force urging her to keep going, but it pushed her in the opposite direction o the voice. Too curious to follow the force, Lucy ran towards the string of light that the voice had left behind in the air.

Can you hear me? Where are you? Lucy ran faster as the light in the air grew brighter.

Lost in the dark, Aris stumbled over the strange uneven ground that stretched for eternity and the sky above, if he could call it that, had the same colour, so did the walls, or trees, or posts, around him. A sudden string of light appeared before him, carrying Lucy's voice. His heart beat faster at the realisation of another person being nearby. He ran as fast as his shaky legs could carry him, but his lungs gave out not long after and he dropped to the ground, out of breath and too exhausted to continue. Help me, please

A dark figure peeled from the empty around him and picked Aris up, to carry him off into the dark. Over stone or rough ground towards the brighter string of light resonating from Lucy's voice. He lifted Aris again to not lose him, and yelled out, but no response came. Lucy

Jack?

A gleeful laugh reached his ears as he hurried through the dark to where the string of light flickered before dying out, and at the end of the string, stood Lucy, waving at him. He placed Aris on the ground and went to hug Lucy, but upon his touch, her face and body turned to dust and flew off into the dark.

Jack?

He spun around to see another figure in the distance, Lucy, surrounded by darkness. Once again, Jack lifted the unconscious Aris off the ground and ran towards Lucy, but again, she turned into dust and flew off.

Jack?

Following the string of light that led to another figure, Jack halted, a cold draught tearing on his shoulders, urging him to walk another way, but he remained on the spot, the eyes on Lucy as she smiled at him.

Neither of them moved, not towards another, not away, but they remained silent and still, their eyes on the other one in the distance.

Jack! Lucy called out at the sight of Jack walking through the dark. He did not respond and instead walked farther away, following a string of light. Her legs grew tired from the running, but determined to find Jack and the boy that had called out to her before, Lucy kept on searching the empty for them.

The dark around her grew different, shadows peeled from the nothingness around and slithered over the ground towards her. Strange figures walked in the distance and snickered as she stumbled over invisible objects on the ground. The force that before had urged her to keep going, now lingered above her, like a heavy rain that pattered upon her sin and drained her of life and energy.

Another figure stepped into the corner of her eye, broad and tall, the face covered in darkness, but it reeked of death and decay.

Run! Her mind took over so fast, her body did not know how to react and so Lucy stumbled and fell, her head hitting the ground as the eyes searched for the creature, but at the same time, she fought back to her feet and ran off. Through nothing and more, over uneven ground and through darkness upon vast fields of emptiness towards another string of light.

This time, Lucy called out, not in her head, but with her tongue. "Jack, where are you?"

At the sound of her voice, the darkness fled and gave sight to a stony ground and moss growing in between. It did not take long until the echo of her voice gave out and darkness took its place before her, but Lucy grew still and watched her surroundings.

"JACK!" she yelled at the top of her lungs, and before her a path of stone grew, on either side trees and a bench, and far beyond the line of sight, the silhouettes of buildings intrigued her. Every few steps, Lucy yelled out, not just Jack's name, but random words.

"LIGHT!" And the world turned into a bright park. The stone path turned into gravel that lead over a grassy field and through trees, over a small stream towards a fountain in the middle.

With a tear in her eye, Lucy sat onto the fine grass that caressed her fingers as she lay down and stared into the bright blue sky, the clouds that moved across. Birds chirped in the trees and a squirrel ran past her feet towards another tree, spiralling around the bark until it vanished inside its hole.

Laughing, Lucy sat up and had a look around. The fresh air, a cool breeze brushing through her hair and the bright light of the sun from above. A whole different world, calm and peaceful, not like the darkness before, and this time, it did not vanish, it remained bright and warm, colourful and beyond compare.

Still stunned by the Lucy look-alike, Jack stood still, Aris in his arms as he began to move and opened his eyes. "You? I know you" Aris yelled out and when his voice reached Lucy, she did not turn to dust, but into a flower.

All the way to the flower, the ground took colour, grey like stone and rough, but so did the darkness above, it turned brighter, not for long, but enough time for Aris and Jack to look at one another and at the same time, they both yelled out.

With every scream, the world grew bright around them, and they kept going on until they reached a gate, locked, with ivy growing over the walls to either side and the lock itself, old and weathered, coloured red by the rust, refused to let them pass.

"LIGHT!" The voice came from the other side of the gate and as the melody of the voice reached the lock, it cracked and dropped to the ground, shattering upon the stone.

The gate swung open and let the boys enter the broad park. Over grass and gravel, through beds of flowers and past a set of swings and a sea-saw, Jack headed straight towards a fountain where another figure jumped around in the warm water.

"Lucy" Jack mouthed at the sight of her and ran across the square to the fountain, his arms wrapped around Lucy so tight, she struggled to breathe.

As her eyes met his, Lucy snuggled tighter. "Jack" She stood still, the sound of his heartbeat in her ears. Just as she opened her eyes, Aris walked across the square towards them and waved. "Hey" Lucy let go of Jack and ran over to Aris to hug him as well, but he stepped back and had a seat at the edge of the fountain. "Are you all right?"

"What's happening to us?"

Jack had a look around and pointed at the buildings in the distance. "It looks like a city of light"