Short Stories

Another World

 "Our world didn't end in a bang, or a whisper, but rather, one scream at a time as the fallen ones began to rule.", a strange woman explained, out of breath. Just a few moments before, a young boy by the name of Aidan followed this woman into the woods after being chased by something he wasn't familiar with. Aidan was confused and tired from running. He wasn't even sure how he got into this mess. One moment he was hunched over a note, crying, gun to his temple, and the next moment he woke up in a familiar hospital that seemed to be abandoned. This girl Aidan was now with had near dragged him out of the hospital before it became an act of running away from someone or more like something. All he could remember about them was that they were black faceless creatures with what looked to be blood stained bones that jutted from their backs beginning the form of wings. They reminded Aidan of broken wings he's seen in countless pictures of fallen angels.

Aidan near collapsed, out of breath. He sat on the cold dirt ground trying to regain his senses. The strange girl knelt down in front of him to make sure he was ok.

"Hey, are you ok?", the girl was concerned.

Aidan nodded, "I'm fine, just continue explaining."

The girl sat down where she knelt and continued to explain. "Those people back there used to be good people, but because they killed themselves, they weren't accepted into whatever is up there. It's actually funny how they preach about God, the superior man that is accepting of all, but we weren't accepted. The funniest part about it, God doesn't exist. He was just a bullshit excuse to create irrational sense of everything."

Aidan was taken back. He didn't necessarily go to church, he wasn't exactly accepted there, but nonetheless, he still believed in God. He became defensive. "How do you know he isn't real? It's not like you were there to see!"

The girl was quiet for a moment. She realized she let her own beliefs and hatred fall from her mouth. "Ok, you're right. I was out of line for stating my opinion in such a hateful way. I'm sorry. I just have a hatred for superiors and for such an 'accepting' man, he isn't very accepting of us and that angered me."

Aidan took a deep breath and realized he was out of line too. After apologizing, he asked the girl to continue explaining.

"Well," she said, "A certain angel manipulated everyone up there, whatever is up there. He knew that down here, we're weak and fragile. We break so easily and a lot of us would do absolutely anything to get out of here. He wants to take over this land. I don't know why, but he does. In the end, you either join his takeover willingly or your wings are ripped from your back and you become a faceless pawn under his control. All there's left to do is run because if those pawns get you, say goodbye to your sanity and your wings."

A wave of confusion struck Aidan's face. Where exactly was he? Why was he there? He didn't have wings. Was he an angel? Questions stormed through his mind, overwhelming him. He tried to speak, but words refused to escape. Eventually, he took a deep breath to clear his mind and tried to speak again. This time it came out in a stutter, but it was better than nothing.

"Where are we? Who even are you? Why am I here? What do you mean by wings?", Aidan spat out.

"Ok, let's slow down with the questions. To start, my name is Hadlee. I don't know what to call this place, all I know is if you weren't accepted into the thing in the sky you come here. You can call it hell if you'd like, but there's no devil or satan, and we aren't demons, so it's entirely up to you on what you choose to call this place. I'm not really sure why you're here aside from you weren't accepted into up there and lastly, look towards your back.", the girl stated calmly.

Aidan hesitated, feeling sheer terror in the pit of his stomach. Was it some kind of trap? Were the pawns back? Fearful thoughts infiltrated his mind and tightened his chest. Aidan craned his neck slowly to look towards his back. A cold sweat began to form on his pale forehead and his eyes widened. Black feathers extended outward from his back, feathering out in a slight curve as they fell closer to him. They reminded him much like a bird's wings stretched out, except they stuck straight out his back. However, he was still able to let his wings extend sideways from his back. Aidan felt his mouth drop. He had wings. Within a moment the wings retracted, folding against his body. Aidan twisted his head quickly back to Hadlee, expecting answers. He froze in shock at what he was seeing. Hadlee had outstretched her wings while he wasn't looking, well, more like one wing. The other wing wasn't seen. Hadlee leaned her body forward, curling herself in a ball to reveal where her wings were attached. From there, Aidan could see the bone jut out from her back in place of a wing. The bone seemed to be covered in some feathers as if the wing wasn't ripped cleanly. Hadlee returned to a sitting position to face Aidan, who was still frozen.