7. Young Fate (part 2)

Serene

"Donya." Unease and discomfort were heavily laced within her voice. "Doesn't this feel a bit odd to you?"

Donya shook her head, sinking further into her seat with a smile on her face. "'Course not. Kinda feels a bit...awe...some."

Donya's usually cheerful face turned into one that was relaxed and unmoving, showing that she had gone into some kind of deep slumber.

Matter of fact, everyone else seemed to be in the same state. No one was talking or moving and the only sounds that resonated were of this strange jet.

Its lights had suddenly strayed from white to red without even flickering, causing everything to look like some kind of scene from a thriller movie.

In her bewilderment, something odd was picked up by her nostrils. It smelt weird. The atmosphere around her carried a scent she didn't recognize. It smelt like, oddly enough, beauty and freedom, as if that were a thing, but at the same time smelt like twisted psychology and the remains of someone diabolical. Peaceful yet dangerous.

So weird.

What was happening to them?

She got out of her seat, then spied on the passenger in front. Anime was seated there, snoring loudly. So they were sleeping. It didn’t make sense but it was happening.

Serene stayed where she was, once again observing each person. Was she really the only one that wasn’t knocked out?

Then she noticed something strange.

Some of the persons who came on the jet with her, weren't with her.

She blinked and looked again. Yes, she was positive. The annoying Winston brothers were nowhere to be seen. Ginger's powered concealer lay in on the ground next to her seat. Serene started to feel panic bubbling in her stomach.

‘They were here weren’t they? They were right here and over there. I didn't see them leave at all. They were sitting and laughing, doing whatever without a care, so how come I can't see them now?’

Then it hit her.

‘More importantly, how come I'm not one of them?’

She had no idea why that thought came to her when it did but it was already there.

Sure enough, no feeling of drowsiness or dizziness washed over her. She felt perfectly fine.

That didn't explain why she seemed to be the only one awake.

Was it because she sensed whatever-it-was come over her? And she somehow braced herself?

Nothing made sense.

The jet rocking broke her out of her thoughts. Serene sat back down and tried to steady herself. It was nothing more than turbulence.

The shaking eased but was quickly replaced by a familiar feeling.

The feeling of an elevator going down.

The feeling of falling.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

The young girl stood up and handed her the bag in her lap. Serene stared at it, figuring that she wanted her to take it but she wasn’t sure if she should.

"What is it?" She asked instead.

The young girl replied, in a small but bold voice. "You want to go to the dance, don't you?"

"Well, yeah, but it's not like I can. Believe me when I say I wish it was that simple."

It didn’t come to her to question how she knew about it. Serene simply sighed and gazed toward the floor, pushing a fallen lock out of her face and behind her ear.

"Really, ‘cause I've been sitting here for some time now and all I've been doing is listen to you whisper to yourself about going there. My name is Brendava. Take this and go!"

Serene glanced at Brendava. Was this girl actually serious?

"I can't take it!" Before Brendava could speak Serene added, "come on. Your parents can’t be too far." She stood up. "They must be worried about you. Which end of the street do you live on?"

After stretching her legs and groaning, Serene lifted her arms into the sky.

"Not talking? If you don’t then we'll have to walk until someone notices you."

Brendava said nothing. She remained silent the entire time. Serene had a feeling Brendava was upset that she wasn’t listening to her, but it’s not like she could take something from a child that she didn’t even know. Maybe she should’ve measured her words more carefully in order to spare her feelings. Children are so much more sensitive than they appear.

Brendava shouted. "You want to find out what happened to your family don't you?!"

Pause.

“…what?”

Serene watched Brendava’s cheeks burn red. The end that became of her family, everyone knew that story. She dared to bring that up?! Really? Out of everything she could’ve used to get Serene’s attention, she chose that?!

Calm down, Serene, she’s only a child. Don’t get mad at her. She probably doesn’t understand how much this affects her.

Brendava’s blue eyes grew more intense. In her opinion, the little girl didn't seem so little anymore.

"Don't you want to know what happened to Brody and your mom, Mia?"

They were in a car crash, what more was there to know?

"What?" Serene hesitantly took a step forward, glaring daggers despite her mind telling her not to. "Who are you and how do you know about my family?"

Brendava became silent.

"Brendava..." Serene took her time, not wanting to scare away the child, and stooped down in front of her. "How do you know about my family?"

"The question is, how come you don't know about your family?"

Serene was slightly taken aback. She placed a hand on her chest after feeling a burning pain there at the mere mention of her older brother's name.

"W-w-what is that supposed to mean?"

"Everyone knows what really happened to your family except, ironically, the one person that’s actually in the family."

Feeling her legs getting weak beneath her, Serene took a seat back on the wall and gazed up into the horizon. Is what she was hearing actually true, or was she using posh words to play with her emotions?

"Hey," Brendava said. "I can see that you're thinking all of this out, but I'll have to leave soon, so please listen to what I am about to say because we might not have much time left."

Serene nodded her head. "But how?"

"All I can tell you is that you'll find out if you go to the dance."

Brendava looked behind her, searching for no one in particular. But moments later Serene figured out that she must have been staring straight into the remnants of the sunset, looking at it as if she's been held hostage since forever and now she's finally found her way out.