An Solas – YA

Eight Years Ago

The black smudge appeared on the horizon. Small, at first. And then it wasn’t. The churning mass spread across the sky, devouring the few fluffy clouds and pristine blue like something straight out of a horror movie. It swallowed the sun as well, and snuffed out the golden hue of the ryegrass along with it.

I dropped my apple. It hit the side of my foot and rolled away to hide beneath the dried spindly strands. I should’ve done the same. Just spun round, sprinted for the trees behind me. Dad was screaming from back at the house, telling me to take cover, so he must’ve seen it coming too. I'd never make it back to the house in time though, but I could easily make it to the trees. 

My stupid feet wouldn’t move though. Not one single, itty-bitty nanometre.

I stared up into the black belly of the storm as it moved over my head. There was no wind. Or rain. Just a flickering light, darting in and out of the clouds. 

Raising my arms in front of me, the fine hairs along them lifted towards the sky. My scalp prickled. It was like the air was humming or something, and it was inside of me, too. A vibration, building and building like buzzing bees under my skin. 

My stomach heaved. I dropped to my knees as acid flooded the back of my throat, making me gag.

There was a brilliant flash and then …

Smoke. 

My eyes fluttered open to darkness. I lifted my cheek from the rough stone floor, and the sweet taste of apple still on my tongue stirred the icky feeling in my tummy. 

I smelt it again. My eyes adjusted to the gloom and I could see it too, a white haze, hanging in the air above me. My heart started racing, Mum’s voice shouting in my head: Get up right this instant, young lady. MOVE!  

On hands and knees, I pushed myself forward through the swirling mist. It stung my eyes and caught in my throat. I coughed. Where do I go? My hair whipped my face as I looked wildly about. I didn’t know where, just away from the terrifying crackle of flames I could now hear over the sound of my own ragged breathing. 

I coughed again. The stone bit into my bare legs as I felt my way through a doorway and around pieces of furniture, the tears blurring my vision, making it hard to see anything properly. But there had to be—

There. The dark blob up on the wall—a window. I crawled toward it and fell straight on top of something. Someone. I rubbed my eyes and gasped. An angel!

Her eyes were closed, and she was wearing one of those long white dresses that reached right down to the tops of her bare feet. And the firelight made her blonde hair look all shimmery and sparkly around her head, just like a halo.

She couldn’t be an angel though. Angels couldn’t die. Because that was how she looked. She looked dead.

Wiping away the sweat and tears stinging my eyes, I squinted down at her. Terror squeezed my stomach. It was getting so hot now, and the crackling was growing louder. I needed to move. I needed to move right this instant. 

But what about the girl? Do I just…? The smoke was so thick, it was sticking in my throat. My eyes flicked towards the window as I coughed violently again. 

No. I couldn’t leave her. Even if she was already dead, I still couldn’t leave her to get all burnt up in the fire. Mum would’ve wanted me to try and help her. 

Gripping the girl beneath her armpits, I pulled. I pulled and I pulled, dragging her across the room with me. Every step took us closer to the only way out I could see, and I didn’t let her go until my back hit the far wall.

Spinning round, I stretched up onto the tips of my toes to open the window. There wasn’t one. There was only a rectangle-shaped hole in the stone where the glass was meant to be. The cool night air touched my hot face. It felt so good, and I greedily sucked in a big gulp of it, and then another. It was right there, my way out—  

No! I gotta help her first. I turned away from the window and back to the girl, and back to the flickering flames now inching their way along the big wooden rafters towards us.

Another cough ripped its way out of me, leaving my chest burning on the inside. I wiped a shaking hand across my sweaty forehead, and reached for the girl again.