Worlds

Chapter XIV

Kila felt as if she was walking though darkness for a long time. Step after step after step, it never ended. After what felt like days Kila started to wonder if this was what it felt like when someone died. She didn't feel any more pain, but she was sure she heard someone speaking around her but she wasn't sure so she just kept walking.

"Kila," it was Lry's voice from somewhere in the darkness and it was calling her. Kila started to run towards where she thought she heard Lry's voice. "Kila." She kept running, her brow breaking out in a sweat and her legs burned but she kept running. "Kila," Lry's voice was getting louder and Kila saw a light up ahead. She pushed on.

As though the light was moving forward towards her as she ran towards it, it got bright fast and enveloped Kila quickly.

A room filled in around Kila, she was looking up a younger version of her mother as her mother looked down at her. Kila looked around the room. She was in her family's kitchen, only it looked different from her memory. She looked up on top of the cabinets; there was porcelain doll with its feet hanging over the edge. She stared at it; she broke that on accident when she was eight. She paused and looked down at her hands. They were tiny, she looked at her clothing. She was wearing her Star Academy uniform for the elementary division. She looked back up at her mother,

"Did you finish your dinner honey?" She looked back down at her hands; they now had a small plastic bowl in them.

"Yup!" Kila heard her voice, it was small and childish. Kila felt her face arch upwards in a smile. "Wanna see a magic trick mommy?" Her mother's brow turned inward.

"Sure?" Her mother crouched down so she was sitting on her ankles, she smiled. Kila knew now in her older years that the smile on her mother's face was fake, all in her mouth and not in her eyes.

"Okay!" Kila turned her bowl over, which had contained potato soup, and tapped it twice, then she turned it back over. "Look mommy it's all clean! How cool is that!" Kila grinned up at her mother but it faltered as her mother's face turned to a scowl. "What's wrong mommy? Don't you like my magic trick?" Tears started to leak down Kila face as she started to cry. She dropped the bowl and it rolled away. Kila rubbed her eyes as she wiped the tears away. By the look on her mom's face Kila felt like she had done something wrong.

"No honey" her mother wrapped her into a hug, "that was a very good magic trick." Kila felt a sharp pain in the back of her neck and everything went white just for a moment, as if the rods in her eyes were bleached. When Kila blinked her mother was standing by the sink.

"You can go play now, okay?" Her mother turned and smiled at her. Kila reached up and rubbed her eye wondering why it was wet, had she been crying? But like any other small child Kila dismissed the thought.

"Okay!" And she turned around and ran into the living room. For a moment it was like Kila was expelled from the smaller Kila as she watched her younger self run into the living room. The older Kila was left standing in the kitchen, looking over at her mother. She thought really hard. She had no memory of ever showing her mom that 'magic trick.' Kila watched her mom's back for a moment. Then everything froze and the kitchen turned white, her mother disappearing.

*

She looked around; she was standing outside the tavern in Danu. From where she was standing she watched as Lry, Simogan, Tarthan and Alex carrying her body walked up towards the front door.

"You have to be careful!" A voice said behind her and she spun around. The two girls were back standing in the darkness of the tavern again. "That could have been you." The girl with blue eyes turned and looked at the group walking inward.

"I know..." She spoke softly. Kila watched the two girls as they watched the group for a moment.

"Lry," Kila spoke from the corner of the tavern, but over where Alex was holding her mouth moved. Lry ran over to her.