What Could've Been

"Lyvia"

     "Lyvia has come of age and she must return home. Send Alastair to find her at once, we cannot waste time."~ King Viscot

     The loud beat pulsed through my veins as the music blasted from surround sound speakers. I scrambled around in the dark to find Fran; the flashing lights made it hard to see anything. I spotted Fran's bright red hair across the room and quickly made a beeline towards her. She was drunkenly holding a beer in one hand and stroking the arm of some girl with another. I put on a smile and turned towards Fran, taking the beer out of her hand in the process.

     "Hey Fran, we really have to go, its 2 am" I said taking a sip of her beer before setting it down on the table behind her.

     "You know we have a class in about five hours, right?"

     "Aw, already? I was hoping we could PARTY ALL NIGHT!  WOOOOHOOOO!" Fran screamed as the Dj turned up the music.

     I gave her a stern look and shook my head, "Come on Fran! We can't be late again tomorrow or Jenkins will whoop our ass."

     She let out a dramatic sigh, "I guess you're right. Too bad I have to leave this beauty, she's a law student" Fran replied while winking at the girl standing across from us.

     She quickly jotted down her number and slipped it into the girl's bra. I rolled my eyes and grabbed her arm pulling her out of the club, in the process, stepping in vomit and bumping into EVERYONE. It was so like Fran to find someone every time we went out. Her phone was filled with endless booty calls and ex girlfriends where as I haven't had a single guy interested in me since forever. Sometimes I wonder how she does it. All she has to do is smile and any girl or guy within a one mile radius will fall in love. This might be due to the fact that she is gorgeous. Standing at 5'6 she has short bright red hair and shimmering green eyes. With one small smile she can have you to your knees and her sharp cheek bones stand high on her face. She is the definition of beauty.

     We finally made it to the door of the club and stepped out into the crisp cold air of November. We both shivered and ran towards our car, a silver Toyota with a broken back window from the time Fran left the keys in the backseat. Our heels clacked loudly in the empty parking lot and the beep of the car unlocking echoed against the slight breeze. I felt someone watching us and scanned the parking lot. No one was there. Weird. Shaking off the feeling of uneasiness I climbed into the drivers seat and quickly shoved the key into the ignition and put the heat on blast.

     "You know, we really should get that window fixed. The tarp is great and all but it really lets all the heat escape." Fran said while indicating to the black tarp we had recently taped over the broken window to delay getting the car fixed.

     I laughed and shook my head, "Yea we can totally get it fixed if you have the money."

     She nodded thoughtfully and replied, "True, sometimes I forget we're broke college students living off ramen and grape juice."

     Giggling I pulled out of the parking lot and started on the way back to our apartment. We both are still paying off college debts and working on weekends to cover rent. My parents worked hard all their lives and deserved every penny they made, I couldn't possibly had asked them to pay my tuition. But it was true, we had been living off of ramen and grape juice but so was every other college student we knew. Its hard sometimes but its life, what can you do?

      I parked the car in front of the apartment duplex and looked over at Fran who was lightly snoring. Hmmm...this seems like the perfect opportunity to get back at her for the time she stuck gum in my hair when I was asleep. I opened the compartment next to me and dug around for a sharpie, smiling when I found a neon pink one. I opened the lid and began my masterpiece on Frans face. I drew for ten minutes until I was finally satisfied it was complete. I leaned back to observe my work and snickered.

     "FRAN WAKE UP, WE'RE HOME!" I screamed into Fran's ear while violently shaking her by her shoulders.

     "WHAT THE- HOLY SHIT BRI, YOU SCARED THE LIVING HELL OUT OF ME." she said while shoving me.

     I laughed and climbed out of the car. The two of us made our way into the building and up the stairs, careful to avoid the leaking pipe on floor two. As we finally reached eighth floor we were both out of breath and had our heels in our hands.

       I huffed, unlocking the door, "Damn, they really need to get an elevator, I'm too out of shape for this."

     "You'd think after two years of living here we'd be used to climbing eight floors everyday." Fran mumbled and entered the house behind me.

     I locked the door behind me and waved night to Fran, making my way to room. Too exaughsted to even remove my clothing or wash my face I collapsed onto my bed. Pushing all the books and papers off with my feet, I grabbed the edge of my blanket with my hands and rolled myself into a burrito and fell asleep.

     I was dreaming. The ground was full of smoke and the the world around me was scarcely visible. I could feel someone watching me; I could feel their judging eyes but I couldn't see them.

     "Hello? Can anyone help me? I think I'm lost?" I said into the void.

     No one answered. I started to walk but my legs seem trapped by something. I wiggled around and the hold just seemed to grasp on tighter. This seem to go on for hours until the smoke finally cleared. It appeared to be like a forest, similar to one you'd find in your backyard. The leaves were scattered all over the ground and everything seemed normal except the color of the leaves were black. The kind of black that'd you'd see in a black hole or maybe when you close your eyes at night. I felt something move around my leg and I looked down. My eyes widened as I let out a scream when I saw a bloody, dirt covered hand latched firmly onto my ankles. A young girl walked up to me, she was beautiful, her face was heart shaped and her complexion was flawlessly pale, her platinum white hair flowed down her shoulders and caressed her cheeks, everything about her seemed absolutely amazing except for her eyes. They were purple with red specks through them; they looked hallow and empty. She reached and touched my face gently. I tried to move but I couldn't, my whole body was frozen in place and all I could do was stare.

     She bent towards me and whispered in my ear, her breath was light and airy. "Do not worry my dear child, we will find you and return you home, Lyvia, we miss you."

     "Who's Lyvia? Please let me go." I tried to say back but nothing came out, then everything went black.