Dance Moms - Lorelei

Chapter 19 : Awakening

Defeated and heartbroken, Chloe gave up fighting, taking every bit of the bullying as self-redemption, of things she did to her friends.

"Give into yourself." her reflection said, now glowing in gold, her costume blowing under the hot wind, flapping in the air like a pair of wings. "Only then you can be free, and become the real Chloe you wanted to be!"

"Leave me alone! Leave me alone!" Chloe shaking her head in despair.

"Then get out of my life! Stop wasting my time!!" she heard her mother yelled. "I never want to see you again! I never should HAVE you!!"

Christi grabbed Chloe by the hair, pulled her to her feet and threw her to the ground again. Chloe rolling in the dirt, she felt completely abandoned, shaking and sobbing helplessly.

"See? Not even your mother wants you!" the reflection walked up to her defeated self. "You are Nothing!!"

There was a moment of silence, with nothing but hot wind blowing across the collapsed school ground. Suddenly, Chloe punched the earth, so hard it echoed like thunder.

"No!" she slowing pushed herself up and got her footing, stood up and wiped her tears. "My mother would never hit me! You are just a dream! MY DREAM!!"

The reflection watched Chloe torn out a piece from her hospital gown, wrapped it over her eyes and tied behind her head.

Aware of your consciousness! Take control of your dream! Doctor Arroway's words came to her head.

With her consciousness recovered, so came her courage, moments of bravery in her life all emerging at once, all the loves she ever received from friends and family, charging up her heart like a new energy. Chloe launched, sending a powerful punch to the direction of her mother, so hard it broke through the body.

Under blindfold she was clear as day, using her senses like before, searching for signs of movements - a breath, a step, a change in the wind, made by meaningless figures with blank faces. She took a hit from behind, but quickly turned and caught the attacker's arm, striking back with a powerful kick.

She didn't stop there, following the direction to her kick, estimated where the target would land, she lashed out a series of attacks, hitting the one target in front of her, until it shattered into dust.

"You are nothing but my failure!!" Chloe yelled, folding her arms and grabbed her elbows.

Gone into her combat position, she focused hard, her fingers found the pair of batons she always kept under her arms. She grabbed the handles and swung out to full length, slammed them to the ground so hard the earth shook.

She took on the next attacker, and the next, each time focusing on a single target, turning her emotions into energy, lashing out series of strikes in rage, and would not stop until the target was destroyed.

More attacks ganging up on her, trying to confuse her from many directions, but Chloe kept her focus, taking kicks and punches, but chose her target one at a time.

She has free herself as a protector, and shifted into something more aggressive, an unstoppable machine, cutting down her path, taking down anything that moves.

"Two can play this game!" the reflection said, swinging out her own batons, they were polished in gold, just like her dress.

Hearing the approaching steps, Chloe evaded the attack, knocking the steel baton away, sending her own towards the target, striking the reflection in midair. The impact knocked the reflection backward, but it made a back flip, landed gracefully in a distance, her eyes filled with anger.

Chloe ripped away her blindfold, her eyes now full of clarity. Her torn hospital gown has become a black tank-top, tactical pants and boots - her tactical fashion, ready to fight for what's right.

"I'm going to finish you once and for all!" she looked at her reflection with raging eyes.

"Me? Or us?"

The reflection split again, rapid in numbers, each of them was a face of Chloe, in different age and costumes.

"I won't fall for that anymore!"

Chloe shut her eyes, then opened again, now all she sees were that same reflection in the gold dress - her Failure.

The sea of reflections crushed over her like a stampede, knocking her down and piling over her, burying her under their weight, so many she couldn't breathe.

"Did you think it was that easy? I AM YOUR FEAR! I KNOW EVERYTHING YOU KNOW!!" the reflections said to her ear in many voices.

"But you don't know THIS!"

Chloe broke out an opening from the human grave, just enough to reach her arms out. She focused once more, putting all her thoughts on a single thing, the thing that has once turned her fear into courage.

Particles glowing in the air like a million fireflies, all gathered into a single white light, so hot it burned away the reflections nearby. And then it exploded with destructive power, blew across the land and knocked everything to the ground.

Chloe stood on the pile of defeated bodies, raising both hands to display the 18th century English long sword. The sword that once made her a warrior, its light faded into a cold steel blade, glowing with energy like the rest of her.

She cut the blade down, unleashed a powerful wave towards the reflection standing, a wave so strong it shattered the figure before it reaches, turning it into burning ashes, leaving a deep cut on the earth surface.

"I am Chloe Lukasiak!" she said firmly. "I AM A WARRIOR!!"

With her new confidence she launched her second blow, sent out a flaming wave that blew the world to flat land.

"STOP!! This is YOUR world! You're destroying your OWN WORLD!!" her reflection warned in fear.

"WRONG!!"

Didn't wait for her enemies to rise, she cut again, this time vertically, splitting the world in half. The liquid sky collapsed, shattered into raindrops and falling towards the earth, leaving a clear view of the hospital above.

"CHLOE!!" she heard her mother calling.

She looked up and saw her mother screaming from the crowd. High above was the familiar building, and where the searchlights focused was a tiny figure, standing on the edge of the roof.

My World!

She leaped from the ground, launching herself up the air, through the misty rain and concrete land, throwing herself towards her own body.