𝐌𝐘 𝐈𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐑 𝐃𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐒 ❪ 𝘣𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘦 ❫

Twenty-two

My feet touch the soil of Azarath a few seconds later. At first, I can see nothing, because I have landed on the edge of a forest. As I emerge from the trees, I freeze. My heart skips a beat. My blood runs cold. 

Nothing could prepare me for what I see before me.

They lie like puppets around the city once known as Azarath. Their limbs are twisted at odd angles, and parts of their bodies are dismembered. I can feel the cold air around me as I walk past each body. Each corpse was once a person. A person with a family, with friends, with a purpose. Their hearts that once beat with love and life are still. Their minds that held so many thoughts are silent. Their eyes that once shed tears are locked in the position of their death. Some have their eyes tightly shut, most likely trying to hide the fear they had when the creatures killed them, while others have their eyes wide open, frozen in time when their murderer had succeeded in their goal.

Some have been murdered by nature. I can see their scorched hair, their burnt flesh, the burns on their bodies. Others have been victims of water. Their faces are still cold and wet from the wave that hit them. However, some victims have been annihilated by the unknown. Claw marks are engraved deep in their faces, with dried blood on their wounds. 

I pass rows and rows of what were once buildings, but now all that is present are the heaps of bodies. I'm aware that there are no survivors, but I shout anyway. 

''Hello?'' Only cold and sinister silence answers me. ''Anyone here?'' No one answers again, but as I walk further, a bright beam of light shines into my eye. 

I walk in direction of the light, stumbling over the dead corpses, trying not to notice their horrified faces, in case I recognise someone and the tears come back. 

Eventually, I reach an area filled with water. I fly over the pond, and I reach some land where not many bodies are present. 

The light shines at me again, and I get closer and closer to the light source. It looks like a piece of glass propped up against a rock, but as my eyesight becomes clearer as I get nearer, it looks like a photograph in a frame.

I pick up the broken frame, and I look at the dislodged photograph. I stiffen as I realise it's me. 

My purple hair is waving in the harsh wind on this particular day when the picture was taken, and my pale hand is clutching the hand of a girl with blonde hair. 

It can't be.

But I know it is.

Ariel. 

In the intense silence, I scream as loud as my body will let me from deep within my soul. I can feel the tears escaping from my eyes and a terrible choking sound fills the air around me. I clasp the photograph in my pale clammy hands, staring at the face of the girl who I have missed so much. I can feel the scream ripping my body in two, my mind constantly reminding me of what must have happened. 

I stumble to a nearby tree and my stomach aches and twists with every step. I keep swallowing, but I cannot stop the bile from erupting out of my stomach. I clutch my stomach after the release, feeling my throat tighten and my breathing becomes irregular. I try to take a deep breath, but my body stops me. I start to hyperventilate. 

I'm not breathing.

No, I'm not breathing enough. 

I settle down next to the tree, and I take some time to rest. When I finally return to a normal state, the trauma begins all over again. 

I catch sight of the long blonde hair of a girl lying on the floor, the dried blood mingling with the soil beneath her.

In life, I knew Ariel as a girl who was always smiling, always ready to help you. In death, her milky blue eyes are lifeless, staring up at the sky, her face frozen in horror. 

Her skin is bruised and engraved with deep claw marks, and her limbs are twisted at sickening angles. Her hands are digging into the soil, the skin peeling off from her fingers. Parts of her neck are stained with crimson blood, and her face is almost unidentifiable apart from her eyes. 

Every part of her has been mutilated, covered with wounds and bruises, scars, and cuts and burns. 

I can only imagine what she has been through. 

''Tell yourself she deserved it,'' my mind whispers. ''She deserved it.''

I fall onto my knees, stroking her fair hair, rough at the edges where it has been singed by the fire.

''She deserved to die.''

Her clothes have been torn, exposing a deep bloody wound located on her upper torso.

''I'm so sorry Ariel,'' I whisper as the tears run down my face, falling on her forehead. ''I'm so sorry. This is all my fault.''

''Tell yourself she deserved to die!'' my mind shouts, intensifying the rush of tears running down my porcelain cheeks.

''But she didn't! She didn't deserve it! Ariel was the most innocent girl I've ever met! She never should have been murdered like this! She should have lived a long, long life!'' I scream, my voice becoming hoarse towards the end. I tremble, shaking the ground below me, but I can't stop.  The tears, the screams, the shouts and the choking keeps coming. 

''You caused this.'' 

''I did! I did cause this!'' I shout, drenching my clothes. ''I'm a monster,'' I whisper, planting a kiss on Ariel's wet forehead. I use my powers to gently create a hole in their barren soil, and I move Ariel's body underground. I bury her, and I put the photograph on the grave. ''I'm so sorry.''

I croak the words, ''Azarath Mentrion Zinthos,'' and I stumble through the portal back to Earth.

Whoops. Crying again. I feel so bad for Ariel now! Raven's going to take this really badly. I hope BB can show her that everything will get better.