FOURTY-FIVE: What Kinda Fucking Fairytale...?
Words: 1370 (including non-story related words such as these)
Author's Note: ceguytgdrueygfceucyg
***
~in the void~
Ali's mind, to say the least, was lost.
She couldn't control anything in herself. She couldn't move, couldn't flinch, couldn't speak. Nothing. Everything felt numb. The only feeling she felt was the feeling at the balls of her feet. It was the feeling of levitating air as she proceed to hover and float up higher and higher.
She could think, but that was all she could do. She could feel her face frozen in a look of utter terror and hopelessness. She couldn't changed that look on her face if somebody had hit her with a hammer.
The only real feeling she could feel was herself drifting away. Mind, soul and all.
Most of her thinking mind told her to just quit fighting. To quit holding onto whatever she could and just let go. Just to give up and float.
She was going to die anytime in her life anyway. Better to die young and live young forever, her mind said.
But her heart, her soul, slapped her something awful and told her mind to shut up. To grip onto whatever she's got left of herself and fight it. Fight it. Fight It.
Fight It.
Neither part of herself was winning but she guessed it was amusing.
But though she didn't want to let her soul's side lose, she could tell her mind was winning now as she could feel herself weakening with each passing mili-second. It was only a matter of seconds, she reckoned, before she would lose herself completely.
***
"Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!"
Bev, Eddie, Richie, Stan, Mike and Ben had been screaming at Ali for five minutes, though it seemed like five hours, now and they were losing hope fast. Well, they as in 'they with the exception of Edward Kaspbrak.'
Richie had known Eddie almost his entire life and he swore he had never seen his old friend so determined and strong-looking.
There was a sharp look in his eyes that held a striking resemblance to how a superhero might look on the cover of a comic book.
It scared Richie something bad, that look in his eyes. Eddie looked as if he could kill if it meant bringing Valerie Sumner back. But at the same time, that scary look was inspiring. It was probably one of the only things that kept the losers going with their whole screaming-fest.
"Should we splash water in her face?" Mike suggested.
"What water, Mike?" Ben sighed.
Mike looked around them, specifically at the sewage water on the ground.
"You really think I'm gonna let you let greywater touch Ali's face?" Eddie almost sounded offended.
"Do we have any other options?" Stan rolled his eyes. "Look at her, man! How the fuck do you wake someone in her state up?"
Suddenly, there was a sharp cracking sound as Beverly's hand connected with Ali's cheek. She had slapped her.
"What the fuck?!" Eddie almost screeched.
Beverly grimaced apologetically. "I'm sorry. I didn't know what else to do..."
"Giving her a numb face won't fucking wake her up." Eddie glared.
Nobody had ever seen him quite so...angry? No, not angry. Just frustrated. And scared. Yes. Fear was definitely there. But fear was drowned out with worry and worry was drowned out by upset.
If it weren't for the haunting look in Ali's eyes, Eddie would have broken down in tears or just tossed himself out a window (if there even was one in this place) but instead, he narrowed all his emotions down and set them onto anger.
"Maybe it will." Ben shrugged. "We don't have much options, Eds."
"Don't call me Eds." Eddie snapped.
He walked up to Ali and stared into her empty eyes.
The tears he had been holding back suddenly glistened in his eyes as he let out a small whisper.
"Where are you, Ali? Please come back."
***
A voice. Yep. Ali had definitely just heard a voice.
'Please come back.' The voice had just said.
Who's voice though?
Eddie. It was Eddie's voice for sure.
But what the heck was Eddie's voice doing here?
Then the voice called again.
'I don't know if you can hear me. But please. If you're still in there, anywhere. Please. Just give me a sign you're still there?'
Ali still felt numb but she had surely felt her eyes widen in shock.
'I'm still here! Eddie, I'm still here!' Ali tried to scream out. But nothing came out.
She was stiff, numb, dull and frozen. It was as if she were in some kind of catatonic state but it was worse.
'Just please. Anything. Show me anything.'
Yes. It was certain. That was Eddie, alright.
Suddenly, Ali could feel her fingertips slightly. She tried to wiggle them...and it worked!
They wiggled in only the slightest bit of motion, but they moved! They moved!
She felt numb as a brick still but she was a brick who now had control of her eyes and fingertips.
'Here, Eddie! Here! I'm right here!'
Still not a sound.
Ali waited a bit more and sure enough, Eddie began to talk again.
'Please, Ali?'
Eddie's voice had lost its calm and it was now shaky. Ali could hear a raspiness to it too. It was as if he were wheezing. Like he was gasping for air.
His asthma. Surely something had happened with his asthma, hasn't it?
But before Ali could think more of it, she felt the rest of her numb body....melt.
She could feel her toes, her legs, her hands, her arms. Everything. She had control of herself again.
Her mind, heart and soul celebrated and she felt joy and relief swell up her throat.
She could feel herself floating down.
'Eddie!' She called out. This time, her voice echoed and bounced off the void. There was sound to her voice. "Eddie! I'm here! Wake me up! I don't know how but wake me up!'
***
"Did you guys just hear that?" Richie had gone ghost-white. The stress had gotten to him and he looked set to puke.
The others nodded.
A voice, Ali's voice, had just echoed. It was like a ghostly thing. Ali's lips never moved yet they heard that voice. It was as if it came from somewhere else. A void or something. They didn't know. But they heard it, they most definitely heard it.
"Wake her up! What does that mean?!" Ben was suddenly panicking again.
"I don't know! Try anything!" Stanley stared in disbelief. "Slap her again?"
"No!" Beverly facepalmed.
Stan, Ben, Beverly, Mike and Richie proceeded to argue about whether to splash shit water in Ali's face or slap her while Eddie continued to stare into Ali's eyes.
The whole scene with Ben and Beverly replayed in his head.
The sparkle in Ben's eye. The twinkle in Bev's when she realized he had kissed her. He wondered if...
He turned toward Ali.
Well. Better to try than to not.
With that, he leaned in.
***
The white void.
It was...decaying.
The void was disappearing. Changing.
It was as if somebody had come in with a magic eraser and wiped out half of the void away.
Ali stood watch in shock.
What had just happened?
She suddenly felt a tingling sensation on her lips and hands.
She looked down at the palm of her hand. They were...disappearing too.
In twenty-nine years' time, there would be a Marvel movie that would come out and it was called "Avengers: Infinity War." There would be a scene in which beloved superheroes, including Spiderman, Scarlet Witch, Black Panther, the Guardians of the Galaxy minus everyone's favourite trash panda, and Doctor Strange, all disappeared due to Thanos' snap which devastated the whole universe. That scene in which the superheroes had faded away, as they turned into dust and faded away. It looked much like how Ali looked in that moment.
The disappearing ash-like feeling reached up all the way to Ali's arms. When they did, she closed her eyes as she felt herself drifting away and prayed she would be okay.