Background:
Why is school so difficult to keep up with? Every time I turn around
there’s a whole pile of Japanese work – and that’s just one
subject. Without further ado, four new short stories
Short
Story #16 – Turn
Not
a guard in sight, Nue turned toward the neat row of multi-coloured
shipping containers and smirked. Their prisoner was a most wanted
figure of sorts, the reputable Mr. Harrowleigh. She found the very
humanlike man in one of the least likely places, a shipping container
with holes and mould. Its walls were flaking, chipped red paint
stripping away to reveal the rust underneath. Nue took a small breath
and stepped inside, its door slightly ajar from its thick broken
hinges.
Nue
didn’t turn on the light, a single bulb that was suspended from the
ceiling. In the middle of the space directly below the bulb was a
gurney, a middle-aged figure tied by wrists and ankles to its bars.
His eyes were shut, gagged with a black cloth; black hair fell into
his eyes. She had a brief moment, imagining what he would have looked
like in his youth. Handsome no doubt, in that way teenage rock stars
were.
She
moved forward, taking in the outline of the scalpels and other
medical equipment whose names she did not know. The silver shone
darkly with blackish liquid, remnants of whatever horrible things the
scientists had been doing to him. She looked at him again, his skin
unmarked and barely touched by wrinkles. She was a Valkyrie, a woman
sent to the bravest of figures to determine whether they deserved to
live another lifetime. What had this man done to deserve such an
honour?
She
stepped closer to him, frowning as some distant memory of the past
tugged at the edges of her mind. Her skin took on a luminescent glow
as she stepped out of the moonlight drifting calmly through the door;
she reached for the man’s cheek, her skin brighter than the sun as
the memory sparked.
A
thousand memories shared between the two flitted through her mind,
both hers and Mr. Harrowleigh’s as she looked at his teenage years.
Indeed he had been handsome, smart and a little arrogant, too, but a
constant feature in his memory was her smiling face.
Nue,
sitting under the cherry blossoms of the house she’d rented,
pretending to be the new girl in the neighbourhood. Another memory:
her first day of high school through Mr. Harrowleigh’s eyes, his
admiration flaring inside him. She hadn’t changed – no Valkyrie
ever did, except to lessen their beauty to blend with humans – and
he had loved her instantly.
There
were other memories too, some very dark and depressed. The good were
of their first kiss, so beautiful and free, but everything leaked of
colour as she looked at his memories without her. Even his wedding
day to his stunning wife looked bleak in comparison to his memories
with her. She staggered back a step but stopped as a warm hand
wrapped around her wrist.
Mr.
Harrowleigh – Ayd – was awake and watching her, his face full of
hope and love. His eyes were the only thing that hadn’t changed
with age, as wide and brilliantly blue as his youth. Within her she
felt her heart stutter, responding to the soul mate she had left
behind.
“I’ve
missed you,” he said quietly. He offered her a joy-filled smile and
touched her long deep violet hair. “You haven’t changed
whatsoever.” Nue smiled sadly, gazing deep into his eyes.
“I’ve
missed you too,” she whispered, a tear sliding down her cheek. Ayd
reached for it, his fingertips barely grazing her cheek before her
hypnotism had him pinned and his hand dropped limply.
She
wiped the tear away fiercely. “You are exhausted,” she murmured.
“By power of the Sky and Earth, the Valkyries and Higher Powers, I
carry your soul to the next life.” She climbed onto the gurney
beside him, eyes fixed on his. “We shall meet again.” She gently
kissed him, watching as his eyes slid gently shut. She rested her
head against his chest, listening to his heart as it slowed.
“I
love you,” he whispered, wrapping his arm around her drowsily. “No
hypnotism is strong enough to stop me.” Nue couldn’t stop herself
from crying, watching as her glowing skin turned to flame and they
disintegrated into flame together.
“I
love you too,” she whispered.
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