Here is another installment of my story Ethereal Space. Just so you know I have around 100k words already done, but I'm editing and rewriting as I'm posting it on here, so you can look forward to a lot more content! I hope you enjoy it, let me know if you have any feedback, follow me if you want to easily keep up to date with my story and if you are just starting, I recommend starting here. Enjoy!
1. Pouring down (2/5)
A flash of light followed by thunder rumbled through the sky. The pedestrians stopped walking; the cars stopped making noises and puffing fumes. Rain came to a stop in the middle of the air. Her mother smiled, still looking at her with eyes of pure joy and relieve. Her father looked at his wife while holding her in his arms, a small grin on his lips, his eyes betraying his deep affection. Both frozen in time.
The little girl looked around once again confused. What was happening? She tried to move but her father was holding her tight. She looked around but everything was still. Her eyes were drawn to a drop of water hanging in front of her. Curious she touched it, cold and wet, but it didn't move.
Suddenly the sound of scraping shoes made her look up from the drop of water. A pedestrian that had been standing still like the rest was now turning towards her. Lifting its black umbrella, a faceless head coming from underneath. It looked at her through unknown eyes but it kept its position.
The faceless man looked back at the other pedestrians all dressed in black as looking for confirmation within their unmoving ranks before his head turned back towards the little girl. Then again, it turned towards its fellow pedestrians, nodding its head in what seemed to be a question. Seconds passed before all the pedestrians nodded back. The little girl felt no fear for the pedestrian without a face, nor did she find it strange that it was moving while nothing else moved but her. Curious of what was happening, still feeling safe in her father’s embrace.
The man took a step forward, his black leather shoe hitting the grey concrete sidewalk with a thud. He took another step forward and the little girl looked at him, a growing discomfort rising in her chest. She tried to shake her daddy, wake him up, whispering to him "Daddy, you have to wake up now, there is a strange man walking towards us." Her daddy didn't wake up.
The strange man took another step forward. The worry took over as she looked at her mother, still smiling at her, but unmoving as the rain hanging in the air. She looked back at the faceless man, she tried to wiggle herself out of her father's arms, while her breath seemed to get stuck inside of her chest. She screamed "Daddy wake up now, It's not funny anymore!" Desperately trying to get out of his grip.
The pedestrian took his final step before standing still. The little girl stopped her efforts and just curled up against her daddy. Closing her eyes, and covering her ears, whispering a mantra against his shoulder "Please let the bad man go away, please let the bad man go away…" before two loud bangs rocked the still world.
Falling through the rain. She hit the sidewalk with the back of her head before something heavy fell on top of her. Raindrops fell on her puffed up cheeks. The sound of cars making loud noises and puffing fumes into the air returned. Shuffling of feet around her. The heavy weight on top of her didn't move, her head hurt, sobbing again she tried to push it away.
After a while the little girl came out underneath of the heavy object. Tears had returned to her face as she sat on the wet concrete, looking around through her blurred vision. Her mommy and daddy were lying on the ground next to her and there was a lot of red stuff. She tried to shake her dad awake, whispering to him "Daddy wake up, you can't sleep here." She looked at her hands why were they red? Then she remembered the faceless man. She looked up, he was still there. His head hung down, there was smoke coming out of his umbrella.
She stood up, knees shaking, new tears of fear and anger flowed passed her cheeks, clenching her little hands into fist she screamed at the faceless man "What did you do!" The faceless man looked up at the little girl before he said in a raspy tone "I'm sorry." He pointed the umbrella at the girl who could see its hand shaking.
She felt scared, but why was the scary man scared? "What did you do, mister?" She asked again, this time with doubt in her voice, she looked at her parents on the ground. Red stuff poring onto the grey concrete, they were deep asleep. "Why won't my parents wake up, mister?" She asked, panic making its way down her throat. Fear rising, she screamed "What have you done!"
The faceless man's hand shook more, turning his head to the side, something grey splashed onto the concrete sidewalk. It wiped its hand passed its head, whispering "What am I doing?" He dropped the point of the umbrella, staring at the little girl that was now sobbing, hiccupping every so often, still staring defiantly towards the faceless man. "What have I done?" He whispered in a low voice once more, pointing the pointy end of the umbrella towards his chin. The faceless man's head exploded. The little girl screamed.
Sophie woke up screaming, covered in sweat, sitting up straight in her bed. her brown hair a mess, her bright blue eyes were staring in bewilderment around the room. She was in her room, it wasn't real, nothing happened. Except it did. Her parents were dead, fourteen years it had been. When a man shot them down in the streets.
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