Falling
Her shimmering white hair flowed in waves behind her, as if the strands were banners that were moving with the rhythm
of the dark wind. It was too much for one person to handle, immortal or human. The air felt dead around her, the chilly night whipping
at her with intense prejudice, as if its single desire was for her to die, and die horribly at that. The feeling of hopelessness was
now threatening to consume her whole being, and so she would allow it, if she could. But nothing would be able to consume her this
night. Nothing seemed able to rescue her from this internal agony.
She peered over the edge of the skyscraper, taking in the
busy city below. Vehicles of different shapes and sizes were milling around the grid of streets. They all looked like blurry, chunky
dots in her tear-filled eyes. She wiped the liquid drops from the corners of her pupils as they transformed into crimson flower petals
and were swept away with the wind to start the long trek down toward the hapless beings below. She cupped her fragile, trembling hands
over her face and took a deep breath. The smell of roses filled her senses with a sudden beauty that made her heart smile slightly.
Her
mind flashed back to clips of her evil mother, Evanescence, or the Great Witch, as she had heard some call her. She was a breed of
evil that the world, this world anyway, had never seen. She had given birth to Pearl, but that was where the connection to the two
ended, at least in Pearl’s mind. Pearl had been born at the ripe age of eighteen. Nobody else on Earth had been born at such an age,
and she quickly reminded herself that this was indeed Earth. This wasn’t Heaven and it wasn’t Hell…yet, anyway. It was about to be
hell on Earth, and she didn’t want to be here for that. She didn’t want to see the slaughter, the fire and brimstone, the end of the
world. The end of this world.
The visions she had in her mind of the ways those on Earth were going to perish were gruesome and
morbid, and had prompted her to try and end her life, unsuccessfully. She didn’t know if she could be killed by another, but even
if she could, she didn’t want to put that guilt on anyone else. Neither did she want to die by her mother’s own enchanted hands. She
knew the witch would torture her, listen to her own daughter squeal with erratic horror just before ripping her tender heart out.
This
is why Pearl had to do what she was setting out to do. She had to escape this horrible planet. She wanted to be with her father. She
wanted to go home.
She wiped the blur from her eyes and peered off the edge of the building again. The end was so near. What
better time to meet her creator? Before the whole planet became swallowed in darkness, she could go be with the one who had actually
formed her, despite what her mother tried to make her believe.
She stepped up to the edge, the wind threatening to knock her
off balance. She certainly didn’t want to tumble down the side of the building. That would be painful. She wanted a quick, easy way
out. A way out of my responsibilities? Perhaps. But staying here was not an option at the moment. Not with what she knew was about
to occur on this poor planet. This poor, defenseless planet. They don’t stand a chance.
She heard a loud bell ring in the distance.
She listened for a moment, keeping her balance on the ledge, until she was able to count eight chimes in all. She then closed her
eyes and tipped her body forward.
For a long moment, she felt herself caught in a gust of air, as if she was flying. The feeling
was spectacular, but then the tremendous pull of gravity yanked at her dress, at her skin, at her very soul, and beckoned her toward
the streets below. As she fell, she smiled at the thought of being in Heaven tonight.
Her face swept through some of the rose
petals she had cried earlier as their floral scent added a beautiful irony to her coming death. The sounds of the streets grew louder
and louder. Someone shouted something about her falling through the air. Then the noise ceased altogether…
To be continued inBlack Earth: End of the Innocence...