Skiels ✔[Complete]

Part 4

Hundreds and thousands of multicoloured hearts dance around me. An explosion of colour that used awe me, but now it is just an ephemeral feeling. Many are orange and yellow; good and joyful, some are green, red and tinted with grey. Some are blue.

All of these swim before my eyes as I try to remember the meaning of different colours. Green is jealousy or envy, red is anger and rage. Blue is calmness and sometimes between good and evil. Purple is timidness and seems very small in some. I spot an almost fully pink heart and feel a little spark of hope in humanity. Love still existed amongst some.

I am almost attracted to it and walk over. It was better to walk than fly in the Earth realm as everyone pointed and questioned. The heart stops moving. "Excuse me?" A very girly voice fills my ears. She has an accent and pronounces the words differently.

"I'm sorry...I'm new here and...I'm blind," I answer very vaguely. My voice sounds so small because of the ruckus around me. People laughing and talking in some language I fail to understand.

She gasps. "Oh no, I'm sorry. What do you need?"

Not your pity, I think. "Is there a University or school around here?"

"No university, but there is a school a few kilometres from here. You will need to take a bus. Just behind me, there is a bus stop. Do you want me to help you?" I am glad that I had been educated about various transports in the Earth realm.

Without thinking, I pull out my Pernach and use it as a walking stick. "I'm not fully blind...I see blurry things. It's fine. I can manage. Thanks for your help." A silence follows. Then the heart bobs away and I start walking in the direction she instructed me to. I stop when I see a line of hearts climbing up into something, which I assume is the bus. I manage to squeak out a hi to the person in front of me.

"Huh?" A gruff, manly voice asks.

"I-is this the bus that goes to the nearest school?" His heart has more purple than most and a mix of all the other colours. He seems like the perfect person to do the job.

"Ndiyo." I blink. What language was this?

"Sorry? What?"

"Yes. It's the right bus." He starts moving away and I follow him. He climbs up and I try to copy, but it's hard to as I can't see anything except glowing hearts in a black void. I slip on something and fall face first, my weapon dropping out of my hand. I cry out and graze my knee on something hard. I hear gasps and a snigger, while two hands grab me and pull me up.

"Thank you...I can't see..I-" I start but am interrupted by the same male I talked to earlier.

"It's okay. Here, hold on to that." My hands find something cool and I clutch it. "Now, move two steps in front of you and sit down." I do as he tells me to. I see his heart move away from me and then come back. "Here. Your walking stick." I reach out aimlessly and grab hold of it. I grasp it to my chest and wait for the pain in my knee to wane. The wound is starting to heal. I feel him seating himself next to me. "Are you alright? Does your leg hurt?"

"No. I'm fine. Thank you."

"Nzuri."

"What language is this?"

"Swahili. Most people mistake it for Afrikaans." I nod and hope that my face does not reveal how clueless I am. I don't even know what place this is. I thought everyone spoke English in this realm and one other language. Clearly, there were more than three.

"Mahali?"Someone asks. It is also a male and his voice is very raspy. His heart is gold and silver, longing and grief. I feel like hugging him. The male sitting next to me answers him while I stare at the hearts around me. The bus lurches forward and we are moving.

"You have to pay me back five Ugandan shilling."

"What?"

"Money."

I stare into the black void. Money? What is that? "I don't have it right now."

"You still have to pay back!"

"Okay! I will, just not now, please."

"But....fine," he grumbles and he is silent throughout the ride. When I see his heart jump up and feel the bus stop, I am confused. Is the school here? I follow and he instructs me as I get down. All around me, hearts are moving. Some running, some walking. It looks like stars, but more colourful. "We're here. Do you have a specific destination in your mind?" I open my mouth to answer but stop when I see four hearts walking in our direction.

Three of them are grey, gold and green, a very deadly combination. The fourth one is purple, with a dash of red. I almost hope he is a male so that he can do the job instead. "My, my! Look who finally decided to show up." The voice is raucous and bitter.

"Cael," another bitter male voice spits.

"I hope you brought it, you jasho!" This voice is tight and shrill, clearly female. I couldn't believe a female heart could be amongst those. The purple heart is behind everyone, cowering in fear.

"Yes," a small male voice butts in. He sounds like he is going to burst into tears.

Cael stutters. "Of course-I-I yes. I-here!" I hear a rustle and a cry of pain which sounds like it came from Cael.

"You good for nothing! This amount is too little! No, no! Terrible," the female yells.

"I'm sorry! I had to pay for her!" He seems to point at me and silence falls. They have acknowledged my presence.

"Who is this? Your girlfriend?"

"No! She is blind and was looking for the school!"

"Blind, you say?" The male with the rough voice asks. The heart is getting closer and I backup but get slapped in the face by him. It stings and my hand flies to my cheek to decrease the burning, but he smacks my hand. He twists it until I whimper. The others laugh.

"STOP!" The boy with the wobbly voice yells out. He steps in front of me. "Don't touch her," He says through his grit teeth. "It's not nice."

"Get out of the way, Heros. I mean it," someone warns him. The voices are getting harder to distinguish as I am hyperventilating.

"Just leave it! Here, take this!" He seems to hand them a bill. I hear a snort, but the hearts start moving away.

"We are only doing this because you gave us pesa, wanjiga!" I hear a sharp intake of breath from Heros and the three of us wait until their footsteps fade.

"Thank you," I croak. He mumbles something incoherent under his breath. "Come on." Heros pulls my arm and drags me somewhere, Cael trailing behind us.