MY EYES GREW wider with a look of wonder as his great majestic wings fanned out fully. As I looked into its fiery-red burning eyes, I felt a sudden, soul-shattering chill.
"I'm losing my mind." I looked incredulously at the six-foot tall raven-haired creature who stood before me.
"No, you're not. I know you've been in this world many times before and saw several of my kind." He walked closer to me and his movement exuded a dark aura.
His penetrating eyes and the darkness that seemed to emanate from his body was creeping the hell out of me. I took a few steps back.
"Who are you? What kind of place is this? Why did you bring me here?" I asked in rapid succession.
His wings hung down his back. He looked at me again and said, "I did not bring you here. You brought yourself here. These two worlds co-exist in your eyes. You can cross between realms, Anathema. And that what made you so special."
It was just as he spoke -- a swarm of spirits came advancing toward us.
Quicker than I anticipated, a soul of a supernatural creature passed through me. The pain ripped through me as though I had been stabbed with thousands of knives.
I fell to the ground. I began to convulse violently, my eyes rolling back into my head. The pain seemed to get stronger as the souls relentlessly passed through me.
"Anathema, fight it!" He rocked my body. His strong arms supported my back and held me steady against him.
I screamed like it was the worst beating I had ever felt in my life and it seemed to spread throughout my entire body.
"Leave her!" A resounding roar filled the desolate forest.
"Alex!" I exclaimed, gazing at him in shock.
Two massive wings tore through his rash guard, grew and expanded. I looked up at him, mouth hanging open in disbelief.
He swung his sword at the closest spirit. His every movement exuded bright white glow.
"Pass through your own Nexus!" Alex yelled.
Wave after wave he slaughtered their souls. Screams and lighting flashed everywhere.
"You may want to work on your swordplay, Alex." The black-winged creature laid me on the ground and helped Alex. He continued to slice those in his way.
"Ani." Alex knelt down and held me.
I screamed into his chest. The pain I felt was unbelievable, and I doubled over at the force of it.
"Leave this place! Now!" The black-winged creature shouted.
White puffs were the only remains and soon after the spirits vanished into thin air.
"Ani! Ani!"
I was freaking cold and wet. Slippery wet.
"Ani breath! Damn it! Ani!"
It smelled sundried seaweed. Salt and fish.
"Ani!"
And it was loud, just a few inches from my ear. So loud yet so far away.
I could feel the slippery, wet pebbles cutting into my right cheek. Some were smooth, just caressing my cheek; others were rough and pointy, digging into my skin.
"Ani, come on."
I couldn't feel my body. There was no room to breathe and no space to live.
"Ani please…"
Someone was pounding on my chest, and whoever it was, they weren't being gentle about it. The pressure exerted by each pound didn't help me to breath in.
Something soft pressed against my lips and blew air into my lungs like a balloon being inflated.
My torso arched and with coughing I threw water out of my lungs. Like a fish on dry land I began to gasp for air frantically and as I opened my eyes I saw my friends faces right above me.
In shock that I'd nearly drowned, I tried to take a decent breath, but choked on it, as leftover water continued to hamper my effort.
I weakly coughed and choked for a while, making an attempt to sit up.
"Ani, breathe slowly. Look at me. It's all right. I got you, Ani. I'm here. We are all here for you." Paris sat next to me with her hand on my back.
"Are you all right?" Deidre asked, when the coughing started to ease.
As I began to think clearly again, I remembered what was happening. What had just happened. A groan escaped my lips.
"I-I…how…where…" Finally, I managed to sit straight. I looked at Paris and Deidre, both at my sides, who were holding me up.
"You almost drowned, Ani. I thought you were a better swimmer than me," Alex said in a stinging voice.
"Alex!" scolded Daisy. "Come here, you need something dry and warm." She pulled me in a firm embrace and helped me to get up.
"Let's go," Paris said wearily.
"We'll follow in the car." Lance tapped my shoulder and gave it a squeeze.
* * *
"Drowned? What?" Mom thundered and stared at me for a moment.
"Almost, Mom. Almost drowned. Please calm down." I corrected as we huddled in our living area.
"Calm down? No, no, no, no, no. I can't calm down. I can't believe this. What happened? I shouldn't have let you surf!"
"I'm fine, Mom. I'm okay." My tone was slightly embarrassed the way mom wrapped her arms around me much too tightly. "See? Still here."
"Right, right." Mom seemed to compose herself for a moment, though she didn't loosen her hold.
Fatigue finally set in as I reluctantly slumped against the couch.
"Fortunately, the lifeguards are particularly efficient," Mom said, soothing my back.
"Oh no, the lifeguards didn't save her. It was Alex. Good thing my brother knows CPR."
"Really? Oh, thank you, sweetheart," Mom said gratefully, beaming at Alex.
For several minutes, neither of us moved or said anything.
"Oh, crap!" Lance erupted, ripping me out of my thoughts. Evidently, everyone else had been elsewhere too, because all of us jumped in surprise.
"Geez, Lance. What?" Deidre's tone was slightly annoyed.
Lance grasped the top of his head, pulling at his hair with a stressed look on his face. "I forgot to do our term paper!"
Deidre and I sighed and shook our heads. Paris was the only one that was very concern, staring at Lance with her jaw dropped.
"That's due tomorrow!" she exclaimed.
"I know! Damn it!" Lance's voice cracked.
"Watch it!" Alex's tone was sharp, glancing quickly at my mom.
"Sorry." Lance rushed the word out carelessly, as he always did and stood up from the stool. "I need to get home and do it."
"I'll go with you dude." Alex moved toward the door.
"Alex!" I called.
He stopped dead in his tracks and slowly spun around.
"Thank you for saving my life." Not just from getting drowned. Alex knew exactly what I was talking about.
I walked up to him and slapped him hard.
"Ani!" Mom shrieked.
"I thought I was going crazy and you even made fun of me?"
"Sorry," he muttered. "We better go. Daisy, come on," he told Daisy and to me he said, "We'll talk once you're ready."
Daisy scrambled to her feet and murmured, "What was that all about?" a little too loud as they walked out the door.
"I'll just go up to my room. I need to rest."
"Oh-okay," Mom managed to say, still in a bit of shock with what I did to Alex.