Into the Void

Chap #7 - A Bump in the Night

"~ To your bedroom you stagger and stumble ~"

I let loose a scream that is lost in the howling of a sudden wind. The door of the room flies open, banging against the wall with a sound that makes me jump. Ella is lying on the cold floor behind me, hopefully staying fairly hidden from view. Her golden hair splayed out around her face. Her skin is pale, and a stain of dark red blood has collected on the back of her shirt. I have a sudden urge to run towards her, but can't risk bringing any attention to her. If the void notices her... I stumble further into the room, hoping that I can lead the void away from Ella and she'll be relatively concealed.

This isn't actually Grandpa. I can fend it off.

A sound behind me makes me tear my eyes away from my sister and flick my gaze towards the open door. A shadow looms in the doorway...mooing.  A screech crawls its way up my throat, dry in anticipation. My breathing is ragged, quite in contrast to Ella's faint exhalations of breath behind me. But right now, my attention is focused on the runted cow that charges in from the doorway with a ferocious battle-cry.

"Lippo!" I scream, but I'm not sure if the old cow can hear me through the storm that's surely brewing outside. "Stop, Lippo! Stop!"

He turns his head, his eyebrows furrowing, to give me one last sad look before leaping to a height that I didn't think was possible for his old age and throwing himself forcefully at the void. My heart sinks. He's going to pass right through.

The old cow tumbles head over heels in midair, mooing wildy, and is about to collide with the void...

"NO!" A scream tears loose from my throat, rage and other mixed emotions boiling up inside of me. I've lost everyone in my life. I'm not ready to lose Lippo too!

The cow, a childhood friend, an understanding companion, a friendly shoulder to lean on when you just couldn't hold yourself up anymore, disappears into the void, and there comes a blinding flash of light, then utter chaos. I can't see, but stumble in the general direction of the couch, trying to find Ella and make sure she's alright - the definition of which, at the moment, is: not dead.

Several long, low moans cut through the room. Hanging in the air, I see two voids. One reeks of death, and rot and decay, but the other smells familiar and is wider than the first. I can only think of one reason.

Denial is all I can feel. It courses through my body, hot in my veins. My throat is already sore, hoarse from calling out, but I give one last mournful shout:

"Lippo...?"

Needless to say, there is no answer.

A tear traces a path down my cheek, hot and wet. A fresh wave comes, the sobs wracking my body, the droplets falling thick and fast onto Ella's face.

Ella.

Everything is fuzzy, but my vision goes clearer as I comprehend the situation. She's lying on the floor. Something about the blood that clots her shirt tells me that she was keeping something from me earlier, that she's had this wound for a long time yet, That she didn't just faint when she saw the void.

I mentally slap myself, angry at all of the time that I could've seen that she was gravely hurt and actually done something about it! From where I stand, a few meters from the voids, I drag myself the few steps away from the eerie black cloud-like things that hang in the air like deflating balloons. I make my way slowly, stunned, towards the toppled over desk that lies in the corner of the room. Here, I lower myself to the floor and peek behind it, looking to see where I left Ella.

She's still there, her crumpled form barely visible from where I'm crouched on the cool, hardwood floor. The pale evening light washes over the tiny, practically empty room. A desk drawer sticks out from the splintering wooden table, and its paint is chipping, peeling off in white, grimy strips, as it's laying sideways on the ground. Its clawed legs are suspended in the air. The metal fastenings of the desk are rusting and squeak protestingly as I shove it aside to reach my sister.