Eve of Destruction (c) Chapter Eleven By Fiction Writer #13 (M/g, ped, sci-fi, paranormal) Her arms crossed around her chest tightly, hands gripping opposite elbows, pulling herself into a comforting self embrace. Her head cocked to one side, left ear nuzzling the smooth skin of her own delicate shoulder. A warm smile, the kind of grin that you never even realize you are wearing, graced her glowing face. She purred to herself, "He loves me," with her eyes tightly closed, trying to hold onto the memory of him carrying her down the corridor. Even with her eyes closed and all of her mind focused, the event ran it's course and could not be replayed; At least not in the crystal clear detail of her first trip through the past. 'I won't forget you Robbie, not again. Never again.' "Eeeeeeve?" a strangely familiar girl's voice called out. "Eve, get back here right now!" Sarah opened her eyes to find the rainbow bubble and corridor replaced by the same misty white oblivion she had first encountered. "Eve? Come on Eve, this isn't funny. Get back here now!" The irritated voice called from the fog but Sarah couldn't pinpoint from where. She caught movement out of the corner of her eye, turned but it was gone. "Hello? Is... Is somebody out there?" "He-he Ha-ha-ha!" Childish giggling echoed back from the mist. Sarah peered into the sea of white hoping to find the source of the laughter, but found none. A voice directly behind her caused her heart to skip a beat. "Is that you Eve?" Sarah spun around to find herself peering at her own reflection. A perfect replica of herself stood just a few steps away. The same blond hair, the same blue eyes, the same button nose, only this doppelganger had slightly longer hair pulled into a tightly bound French braid where her own shoulder length hair hung loose. There was one other major difference between the two of them. This other girl was wearing a dark blue dress while Sarah remained, now somewhat uncomfortably, nude. The clothed girl eyed Sarah warily before speaking. "You're not Eve." "No, I'm not." The girl stepped closer. "Then who are you?" "I'm Sarah, who are you?" Her twin looked confused. "I'm Sarah." Sarah was about to protest when a second version of herself ran between them, giggling. "You can't catch me!" the new version called out in a sing-song voice as her nude form disappeared back into the fog before either of the other two could react. "Eve, get back here this instant!" The clothed girl started to move off in pursuit, but Sarah grabbed her wrist. "Wait. What's going on?" The girl pulled her arm free from Sarah's grasp, scanned the fog, and then shot her a look to kill. "Damn it, she's gone again. Why'd you stop me?" "I'm sorry I..." A fit of giggling broke out behind her. She turned, but Eve was gone again. "... I just want to know what's going on." "Look, I don't know who you think you are, but I've got to get Eve back or else I'll never be able to get out of here." "I'm Sarah, and I'm trying to get out of here too." The clothed girl looked angry. "You, are not, Sarah. I'm Sarah." Nude Sarah shot back, "No you're not!" "Yes I am!" Eve skipped by chanting, "No you're not, yes I am, no you're not, yes I am, no you're not..." before vanishing into the mist again. The clothed Sarah lowered her clenched fist. "Look, if you help me catch her, we'll sort this out later, okay?" Not seeing any other option, nude Sarah nodded. "I'll go this way, you go over there, and we'll catch her in the middle." "Good plan." Sarah watched as her nicely dressed twin faded into the white fog, heading off in the direction she had sent her. It didn't take long before the sounds of bare feet came padding out of the haze. "Neener neener ne-ner! You can't catch me!" Eve was so caught up in her taunting that she almost ran into Sarah. She came to a skidding halt, arms wind-milling to keep her balance. "Yikes!" Sarah lunged at Eve in an attempt to grab her, but she wasn't quick enough and she was off again in a flash. "Get back here!" "Ha-ha, ha-ha! Slowpoke!" Eve cackled as she vanished into the mist with Sarah hot on her heels. "Umph! Ow! Let go! Le'me go!" When Sarah finally caught up to Eve she found her wrapped up tight in the other girl's arms. Eve struggled violently, legs kicking, hands grabbing fistfuls of hair to yank. "Let go, you big meany!" "Ow! Quit it you little brat! Stop fighting!" "No, le'me go! You're mean an' I don't like you!" "Ow! Shit! Stop biting!" Rather amused, Sarah slowed to a stop and watched the battle of wills between the two versions of herself. 'Dr. Paul is never going to believe this,' she found herself laughing quietly to herself. "What's so funny?" the clothed girl growled while attempting to detach Eve's teeth from her forearm. "If she gets... away again, we'll be... stuck here. STOP BITING ME YOU BABY!" "I AM NOT A BABY!" Eve screeched before landing an elbow into her captor's gut. The shock of the blow left the girl momentarily stunned, and Eve slipped out of her grasp. "Oooooo... you little freak!" The clothed girl doubled over in pain. "I'm gonna kill you!" Eve scampered away, deftly dodging a wildly thrown punch. She ran behind Sarah to hide from the fuming girl. "You're mean, leave me alone." The clothed girl stood up, still gasping from her injury, but determined to get revenge. "Get over here!" "No," Eve replied flatly as she held on to Sarah from behind, guiding her between herself and her attacker. "Leave me alone." The other girl moved in to reach around Sarah to grab Eve, but Sarah put a hand out to stop her. "Wait; tell me what the hell is going on." Flushed red with anger and still panting from exertion, the clothed girl pointed an accusing finger in Eve's direction. "She's the only one who can make this moment end; I don't know how. If she doesn't do it, then we'll be stuck here; maybe forever!" Without turning around, Sarah spoke to Eve. "Eve, is that true?" A meek voice answered over her shoulder. "Yes." "Then why won't you end the moment?" "I... I was going to, but then she said some mean things about me. So now I'm not going to." The clothed girl threw her arms up in surrender. "This is ridiculous!" Sarah ignored her. "What mean things did she say?" A soft sobbing began before the girl spoke. "She said that... that... that I wasn' real. That I was... all made up... and... and fake. She said that I was a lie." "That's because you are, you freak! They made you up and put you in my place! You're not real; you're someone's sick and twisted idea of what I should be!" The clothed girl spat her words with venom. Sarah put her hand up again, this time to silence the clothed girl. "You're not helping so just be quiet." "Don't tell me to be quiet. For all I know you're a freak just like her. What did you say your name was again? Oh yeah. You said you were Sarah, but that's impossible because I'm Sarah." She punctuated her affirmation by stabbing a finger into her own chest. From over her shoulder she heard Eve whisper, "See, I told you she was mean." "I heard that you little freak!" The clothed girl made a move to get to Eve but Sarah intercepted her. "Hey! Knock it off! Do you want her to run away again? And for the record, I'm Sarah, not you." "No you're not! Robbie fell in love with me, not you, and not her. I'm the real Sarah!" Eve peeked around to look at the clothed girl. "Who's Robbie? Is he the boy in my dreams?" "You mean my dreams, freak. He told me he loved me, right before those people took me away and put you in my place. You are a lie made up by liars. You're a fake!" Eve's sobs turned to crying. "I'm real! I'm not a fake! Stop saying that!" "Fake, fake, fake, fake, FAAAAKE!" Eve maneuvered herself into Sarah's arms, seeking a place to hide her tear streaked face from her tormentor. "I'm real... I'm real... I know I'm real... Make her stop... please... make her stop..." Sarah held the girl to her chest tightly, feeling her warm wet tears against her skin. She felt bad for Eve, but couldn't help herself from agreeing with the other girl. Eve was a lie. She was made up. She did replace Sarah. Even still, holding her in this weird place, in this surreal situation, she was finding it difficult to dismiss her existence. 'Maybe she is real. At least maybe in my mind she is. She feels real enough. But if she is real, then, who is this other girl who claims to be me? Is she really Sarah? If so, who does that make me?' "It makes you someone new." The strange booming voice startled her out of her thinking. She hadn't remembered closing her eyes, but when they popped open again, Sarah and Eve had vanished, leaving her standing alone in the fog. "Who said that?" "You are no longer Sarah." The voice seemed to come from everywhere at once. "You are no longer Eve." She spun in a circle trying to find the owner or owners of the voice. "Who are you? Come out where I can see you!" "They are the past. You are the present. The future." "Knock it off! This isn't funny! Come out so that I can see you!" "You are what you were, what you are, what you will become, what you were always meant to be." "Who are you?" she called out into the nothingness. "Find them, seek them, gather them... unite them against the rising darkness. Balance must be restored or all will cease to be. You are one of the chosen. You are the flame that will guide them in the coming darkness. You are the Uniter of the United." "What are you talking about?" "When the time comes, you will know." Sarah looked straight up, her heart pounding, her legs trembling in fear. "Are you... are you God?" "We are the Messengers. The Watchers. The Arbiters. The Scales." The voices began to diminish in volume. "We are witnesses of infinite beginnings, of infinite endings; Restorers of the balance." The voices faded away into silence, leaving Sarah once again alone in the sea of white. "I'm never going to get out of this place." With no better ideas, she began to walk. No direction in particular, but any where was better than where she was. The mist swirled all around her, obscuring anything more than an arm's length away. She sighed, 'I could be walking right next to an exit and I'd never know it.' The sound of crackling under her feet with each step caused her to stop in her tracks. The mist hid everything below her thighs so she had to crouch low to find her feet. The floor seemed to be covered by an odd crust. A thick layer of dark green glass, so dark it almost appeared black, covered the ground. Under her feet the glass had cracked and splintered, revealing coarse gold colored sand underneath. As she examined her discovery, she noticed that her nostrils began stinging, soon followed by burning eyes that watered uncontrollably. She stood once again, holding her hand to her face to cover her mouth and nose from the acrid air, squinting against the sting. The mist was no longer mist, but a cloud of shifting white smoke. As it moved and swirled, caught up in a breeze that she could just now feel, it revealed glimpses into this new scene. The crust of glass seemed to stretch out in all directions. Breaks in the glass revealed more sand underneath. The largest of these breaks were huge bowl shaped holes that looked like they had been scooped out of the earth. Others looked like the craters on the moon, with high walls of broken glass and sand surrounding them. Sarah carefully made her way up the side of one of the craters, hoping to get a better view of her surroundings. The glass crunched and squeaked under her bare feet, causing her to flinch with each delicate step. 'Please, please, please don't let me cut my feet!' As she made her way up the lip of the crater, the smoke began to clear. The diffused white light of the fog gave way to a much darker green hue that filtered through the wafting smoke, casting everything in an eerie glow. Still she climbed, making sure that every hand and foothold was strong enough to take her weight before she moved on. It was much steeper than it appeared on the ground. The smoke thinned enough for her to catch glimpses of the sky above, though she wished it hadn't. Clouds, black as oil, roiled overhead, angry clouds that almost seemed to be alive in their movements. She'd never seen such darkness before, even when looking at the night sky back home. It bubbled and crawled across the sky, blanketing it, blotting out the sun. She took a moment to catch her breath and looked back to see how high she had climbed. The smoke had cleared enough for her to see well off into the dark distance. The sea of glass seemed to stretch on forever, but it was pockmarked with a large number of craters just like the one she was scaling. It didn't look like there was anything living out there, but she couldn't be certain. Finding nothing more to see, she continued upwards. A flash of white pulled her eyes off to her left. Sitting near the top was a round white rock, or maybe it was an egg of some kind, she couldn't tell in the darkness, but was determined to find out. Higher she climbed, closer and closer to her new goal. She was within a few feet of touching it when the sand suddenly shifted and it rolled towards her. "Gotcha!" she cried out triumphantly once it was in her grasp. She turned the thing over to find a pair of empty eye sockets and a toothy grin staring back at her. "Eeeee!" Sarah tossed the skull away as if it were a hand-grenade, watching as it bounced down the slope of the crater. "Ewww, gross! Yuck!" As the skull traveled down it caused small landslides to form, revealing more white "stones" hidden just below the surface. Dozens of them broke free of their sandy graves to join their companion at the bottom. Sarah was so rapt in observing their ghastly presence, that she hadn't noticed that she was perched near the rim of the crater. The glass covered ground beneath her cracked and screeched under her weight. "Oh, crap!" The lip of the crater collapsed, falling inward toward its center in an avalanche of sand and glass, taking Sarah with it. End over end she tumbled and slid. Black sky, yellow sand, black sky, yellow sand, over and over her vision swapped scenery until she finally came to a sliding stop on her belly in the very heart of the crater. She spat out a mouthful of sand. "Ow, that sucked!" Slowly she hauled herself back to her feet, taking time to brush the sand from her skin and pick tiny fragments of glass from her flesh. 'Okay, what now?' she pondered as she looked at her new surroundings. The walls of the crater she was standing within were high and steep, too steep for her to climb back out. The angry black sky still slithered and crawled above, keeping her in near darkness save for the eerie light that barely seemed to reach anywhere. The ground was a mix of sand and tiny beads of that strange green glass, covered by black soot. As she walked, the soot stuck to the bottoms of her feet, leaving her footprints behind in a stark contrast. 'At least there's no dead people in here.' The thought of facing more skulls sent a cold shiver down her spine. 'So gross.' Sarah plopped down on her butt, the sand warm against her skin. "Uhg! What am I doing here?" A sudden bright flash of light drew her attention back to the sky. It was quickly followed by several more flashes that lit the bulging clouds in chiaroscuro relief. "Great! What now, a storm?" Her answer came in a series of booms that rocked the ground beneath her. "That's no storm." The time between flashes and booms got shorter and shorter. They became so loud that the walls of the crater began to crumble inward. Sarah quickly got to her feet, scanning the shifting rim for any signs of trouble. Gun fire erupted from somewhere outside of the wall, loud pops that echoed wildly within the bowl. The sounds of battle grew so loud that Sarah had to cover her ears. The fighting slowed after a while, except for a few stray shots now and then. Feeling the worst was over, Sarah pulled her fingers from her ears. Now she could hear a different sound. Clump-clump, Clump-clump, Clump-clump... Hooves. A horse was quickly approaching, and Sarah wasn't sure she wanted to meet its rider. The wall on one side had collapsed enough for her to escape, but that was where the galloping hooves seemed to be coming from. Clump-clump, Clump-clump, Clump-clump... "Damn it, there's nowhere to hide in here!" She paced nervously back and forth, desperately trying to figure a way out. Suddenly she stopped and smacked herself on the head. "I'm so stupid! Magic! I can make myself disappear!" Clump-clump, Clump-clump, Clump-clump... Sarah closed her eyes and filled her lungs in one long inhalation before beginning the process, one she could do in her sleep if she had to. She didn't even have to speak the words anymore; she just needed to imagine them in her mind to get the spell to work. It was the first trick Dr. Paul had ever taught her, one that her Grampa had insisted she learn before all the others, and now it might just save her life. The tingling began in her toes and rapidly worked it's way up her torso until her whole body felt as if it were filled with fizzy soda bubbles. Clump-clump, Clump-clump, Clump, clump, clump... "That trick doesn't work anymore, not since the Veil fell," a woman's voice called out to her. Slowly Sarah opened her eyes, peeking out between thin slits and eyelashes. Thirty feet away stood a majestic white horse, its muscles rippling beneath its shiny coat despite the fact that it was no longer running. The horse was saddled and bridled with black leather. A long sheath hung from the saddle, the hilt of the sword it contained gleaming even in the diminished light. The beast's rider was no longer seated, but had slipped from the saddle and was now marching straight towards Sarah with a very feminine sway in her hips. The rider certainly dressed strangely. She looked like a cross between a medieval knight in plate armor, a police officer riot gear, and Conan the Barbarian in warm furs. None of it was complete, just pieces joined together in an odd mishmash of styles. She was tall and lean, sleek and muscular, just like the horse she was riding. Her left arm was armored with plates of shining steel, her hand protected by a gauntlet. Her right arm was completely bare, clearly displaying numerous tattoos of tribal design. A grey fur cloak hung over her shoulders, bulging slightly on the left shoulder where the armor that covered that arm terminated. Form fitting black leather boots extended up past her knees to mid- thigh. The boots were adorned with an intricate pattern of stitching, and what looked to be a sheath containing a dagger was secured around each calf. Nearly but not quite touching the tops of her boots hung the hem of several strips of white animal fur, which looked like a skirt around her waist. The strips were attached to a thick utility belt that hugged low on her hips, and holstered some kind of hand gun. As she moved the furs split and shifted, exposing her nude thighs, and every so often a tantalizing glimpse of her shaved sex peeked out. Her midriff was bare, exposing a tight six-pack of abdominal muscles. Above that she wore some kind of black body armor, like a Kevlar vest, but it appeared much thinner and lighter than that stiff and cumbersome material. The vest clung to her chest, hugging and accentuating every curve of her breasts, clearly defining the woman's hard nipples. It moved with her, stretched and flexed, but somehow Sarah knew that it was as strong, if not stronger than, the steel plates the woman wore. Upon the rider's head rested an ornate helmet which appeared to be made of mirror polished steel inlaid with mother of pearl. Wings of a white feathered bird in flight protruded from the sides. Through a "T" shaped opening in the front, the rider's penetrating blue eyes peered out, focused entirely on Sarah. "I said that trick doesn't work anymore, so you can save your energy. You don't need to hide from me." The rider reached up and pulled off her helm, releasing a wild mane of honey blonde hair from captivity. She spoke with a comforting smile through ruby red lips. "I've been waiting for you for a very, very, long time... Sarah." Sarah staggered backwards, her eyes wide in shock. "Mom?" The woman stopped in mid-stride, first surprise then amusement washing over her face as she began to laugh heartily. "Not quite! I don't look that old, do I?" Sarah quickly shook her head, not wanting to offend this woman anymore than she already had. She looked strong, powerful, important, and yet friendly. "No no, not at all. It's just, you look so..." "Familiar?" "Yeah." The woman smiled again as she moved closer, her head cocked slightly to the side. "This is so strange. At the time, I swore to myself that I'd remember everything she said to me, but now here I am, and so much has happened since then. I can't remember a word of it, except..." She paused as she knelt down in the sand before Sarah, taking the young girl's hand in her own. The smile faded away, replaced by a deadly serious stare. "Very soon you will be asked to do something that you don't want to do, but you must. No matter how much it hurts, no matter how much your heart breaks inside, you must do what he says. If you don't, it will have all been for nothing. Losing your family, losing Robbie, losing your memories and learning about magic as Eve; everything will be lost. Everything. Do you understand?" Sarah pulled her hand free from the woman's tightening grasp. "No, I don't." "Just promise me, when he tells you to go, don't hesitate, just go." "I don't know what you are talking about." "That doesn't matter, just promise me." Sarah didn't know who this woman was, but she felt compelled to agree with her. "Okay, I... I promise." Relief clearly showed on the woman's face as she heard what she wanted to hear. "Good girl. Make me proud." She smiled as she stood upright again. "Who, who are you?" Sarah nervously asked. "An old friend." "But, I've never met you before now." "I know, but I've known you all my life. Just trust me, okay?" The woman moved away towards her horse but motioned for Sarah to follow. "I guess so. Hey, um, what is this place?" "This, little one, is the frontline. Actually you are smack dab in the center of the battle field, the Dead Zone. Nothing for miles except for, well, death and destruction." "Who's fighting?" "Light against Darkness, good versus evil, us against them," she chuckled. "The same as in every war, except, this time such black and white terms are accurate." "What happened to the sky?" "Wow, did I ask so many questions?" the woman whispered to herself before answering, "The world is burning, little one. Oil fields, cities, forests, you name it and it's burning somewhere. We only get about an hour or two of sunlight a day, right around dawn and dusk. That's when I like to fuck with 'em. They hate the light. I ride in, stir up their nests, cause some havoc, and ride out. It pisses them off something terrible, but it's great for morale. We have so little to look forward to, so I like to do what I can to entertain the troops. I need to show them that the enemy isn't as all powerful as they believe." They soon reached the horse which nuzzled against his owner with affection. "This is Telestial, one of my best friends. He's saved my butt more than once out there, and he never complains." "He's beautiful." Sarah spoke in awe of the large animal. She reached out a hand to tentatively touch his snow-white mane, and found it very soft. Telestial sniffed the air, his nostrils flaring open and closed, before turning his dark eyes to face Sarah. His nose brushed against her chest, caressing her as it had its owner. "I think he likes you." Sarah just smiled as she stroked Telestial's flank. "I've always loved horses." The warrior woman effortlessly hopped up into the saddle. "I have to get going before they start to worry, but we'll meet again, I'm sure of it." "Wait! How do I get back?" The woman smiled. "You never left." With that she donned her helm and bolted away, galloping back towards the collapsed opening of the crater. Suddenly she stopped and spun the horse back to face Sarah. "Remember your promise!" "I will!" Sarah called back. "Oh! And when you see that brother of yours, punch him in the arm and call him an idiot for me, okay?" "Sure, but why?" She laughed hard. "For all the crap he put me through over the years!" The horse spun back around, reared up on its hind legs, front legs kicking. It was at that moment that the sun, low on the horizon, broke through the thick cloud layer. Sunlight streamed in through the opening in the crater wall, bathing horse and rider in a red-orange fiery glow. "Give em' hell, little one!" she cried out before disappearing through the gap. Sarah stood in silent reverence as the sunlight became brighter and brighter. It became so bright that she had to shield her eyes against it, or go blind. Even behind her tightly closed eyes, the light burned through her lids. She suddenly felt heavy, exhausted, more tired than she could ever remember feeling before. The world around her spun dizzyingly fast. She lost her balance and fell, but did not hit the ground as she expected. Falling, falling... faster and faster... further and further... down, down, down. Still she kept her eyes closed to the burning bright light, fear of losing her sight over-ruling her desire to know if she would soon reach the ground. The sensation of falling slowed to a stop. She floated, and yet the light still burned. A voice rang out. A boy's voice, Robbie's voice, filled her ears... "I would tell her... I would tell her that I loved her... I would say it loud enough for all to hear... I would cry it out from the highest mountain top... Fuck anyone who tells me it's wrong... that I shouldn't feel this way about her... Fuck them all... I know what I feel is right... true... honest... Maybe the only thing I've ever really known is this... I love you, and I always will... SARAH!" ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Ahhhhh!" Sarah's eyes bolted open as her scream filled the air, but it wasn't just her screaming. Dr. Paul was there, his face red, his head tilted back, his mouth open wide in a duet of pleasure with her. She could feel him under her, his cock still pulsing seed deep into the depths of her womb. They were drenched in sweat, hearts beating rapid tempos, lungs burning from exertion. Out of the corner of her watering eye she caught glimpses of little orbs of colored light before they extinguished, plunging the room into complete darkness. The darkness only lasted a moment. The candles flared back to life, the tiny flames casting Dr. Paul's room in dancing shadows. For several minutes the two of them sat, joined in silence in the after- glow of their sexual union. Sarah trembled uncontrollably, the wake of her orgasm still sending tiny jolts of pleasure through her. It was Dr. Paul who finally broke the long silence. "I know what I have to do now! It's all so perfectly clear!" He wrapped the confused little girl up in an embrace and held her tight. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Continued in Chapter Twelve.... 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