Losing Her Wings

Chapter 47

It was almost another three weeks later when everything hit the fan. Skylar was happily sitting in her dorm room, doodling in her notepad, little love hearts around Ryan’s name, with the clear knowledge in her mind that he was going to do whatever he could to keep her with him. It was the only thing that kept her going and believing that whatever happened, she would get through it sometime. Her job was done and there was really no reason for her to stick around except for the fact that she wanted to and she loved Ryan, so obviously she wanted to stay with him. And why wouldn’t she? The night before he had taken her on a midnight picnic to the lake, reminded her of how much he loved her and promised her he would never let her go. He was such a romantic. He had stayed the night to prove that and only left in the morning because he had one class and then was going to come back to her dorm room to lay about on her bed and relax for a while. They were trying to spend as much time together as possible and had managed to do so, but when she realised there wasn’t long until he got back from class, she made a move to the full length mirror to straighten out her hair, excited to see him. He was trying so hard to make her happy and keep her mind off everything that was happening so the least she could do was be waiting for him with a smile and a little bit of glamour for eye candy.

What Skylar wasn’t happy to see, was the reflection she caught in the mirror as she stood in front of it, fixing her hair. Link stood behind her, a little bit further back with a look on his face that said he had less than good news. She almost didn’t want to turn round in the hope that she was seeing things or having another vision of things to come. “Skylar…dear, it’s time to go.” His voice cut into her thoughts, making her let out a deep breath she didn’t realised she had been holding and closed her eyes in dismay. Ryan was on his way to see here, it was the most inconvenient time but no matter what she said to Link he wasn’t about to turn round and leave her alone.

“Alright…” She sighed, turning to face him and faking a smile for his benefit as he stepped forward and cupped her hair in his hands, apologising for not giving her any notice, but she knew it was for the best. If she’d have known, she probably would have told Ryan and then he wouldn’t have left her alone. It was better if he wasn’t there. But she wouldn’t even get to leave him a note…thankfully, she had prepared for the eventuality. “I haven’t written a note to explain. Ryan’s coming over soon. Would you stay behind to tell him I’ve gone. You won’t have to explain, I’ve already warned him I’d have to leave.” She asked softly, tears in her eyes that he hated to see but there was nothing he could do about it. He couldn’t change the rules and he had been told to ignore the ‘waterworks’ and do his job, bringing her back home and setting her to work again.

“I know. I can’t say I approve but it’s best he’s not left in the dark. I’ll stay here to tell him. He won’t be long now.” Link wasn’t surprised by her request, knowing fine well about her explanation of what she had told him her ‘job’ was and all that it entailed, but he didn’t bother scolding her as he should have, it was hard enough for her going home, he didn’t need to make it worse. He could see how upset she was, tears flowing down her cheeks and unable to speak because she was so disappointed and unhappy at having to leave behind the man she loved. All he could do was extend his hand to her quietly and offer her a smile as she placed her hand on his, hesitantly, and closed her eyes to the bright sunshine that blazed behind her as he gently pulled her into the comfort of his arms. The bright light was supposed to soothe her fears but Ryan was on her mind from dawn until dusk and even then as her material body dissolved to the earth fragments of wind and rain and earth molecules that had formed her body in the first place, all that was on her mind was Ryan. How he would take her disappearance, how he would take to Link trying to tell him that she had ‘gone home’ and he should keep his nose out of it. He just wouldn’t take it well at all.

And what consolation was there? None. The girl he said he loved was gone, the girl he expected to find in her dorm room was gone, deteriorated into the air, the particles of what was left of her body disappearing out the open window. There would be no-one to tell him what had happened, no-one to explain it to him in a way that he would accept and understand. All he would get was a brief, very harsh order from Link that would tell him to forget everything he knew, forget her and forget about their relationship. He would be told to start over and pretend that he hadn’t seen anything or done anything, and if it was up to Link then, he would have erased his memory if he had had the power to do it. If he had the power, he would have made it appear and feel like she had never been on the plant for everyone involved. If he had that kind of power, he would have used it on her parents, who were still grieving, on Ryan and all her new and old friends, all the people she had ever laid eyes on and herself…so she would never have had to remember the life she had lived. Her parents and her friends, had no idea she had been back on earth, no idea she had been breathing again, but they could never know. However much she missed them, they could never know anything…even if she had been back in the land of the living for good, then she could never even have let on that she was still alive. Her appearance would be explained off as being a doppelganger and that would be that. With Ryan, it would be a little harder to explain but she couldn’t do anything anymore. She was gone.