Evermoon

Chapter 6

The rest of the lunch hour passed by quickly, as they all discussed different possible costumes. The bell rang, signalling the end of the lunch break, they packed up to go to their different classes.

"Hey before we all go to Founders Day, can you come along to the store I want to show you something, bring Callum too, then maybe we can go together?"

"So that means you're going?" Rose asked expectantly.

"You're coming" Celeste shouted over her shoulder as she walked off, catching up with another student from her class.

Walking towards her last class for the day, Frankie reassured herself for the fiftieth time that what she was deciding to do was a good decision, trying real hard not to talk herself out of it. She reached the door to her class and felt a surge of electricity run through her body and closed her eyes, watching as the memory took over...

It was night time and Frankie was standing on the second floor landing in her old house. Tip toeing as quietly as possible, aware that everyone was sleeping, she tried to make it to the stairs to go down and leave, but she knew that's not how this worked. Ever since she was a little girl, whenever these visions took over especially the long ones, there was a specific electric pull to the element it wanted her to see. This particular electrical pull, pulled her first towards her old bedroom. She peeked inside and saw a figure lying in her bed. Pushing the door open wider, she stepped further in. What she wasn't prepared for was to see herself, snuggled under the covers, her red fiery locks tumbled and flowed over her shoulders as Frankie's younger self breathed evenly in her sleep. Her younger self, yawned and rolled over, giving Frankie a glimpse of her braces. I don't miss those, she thought. She looked so peaceful, so young, and full of innocence – something which Frankie wished she could feel again, before her parents disappearance. As soon as the thought appeared, that familiar electrical pull was forcing her once more in another direction, towards her parent's room.

As she slipped into their room, she felt like that small innocent girl again and what she saw brought her to tears. It was both her parents sleeping side by side. Sadness tugged at her heart and an aching of loneliness, panged in her stomach, the feeling of missing them a dull ache at the bottom of her heart. She wished she could take back all the horrible things she said, she wished she had said I love you more often and she wished she appreciated more the time they spent together. Instead she blew them off not understanding nor coming to terms with her new powers that were awakening inside of her, but she knew in her heart that despite all that, they loved her. A crackling sound sparked in the air beside the bay window, snapping Frankie's head to attention, before slowly dying down. Curiously, Frankie walked towards the sound, checking her parents weren't disturbed by the sound. As soon as she got closer to the window, the crackling sound erupted again in bright lights and loud bangs, the force of the eruption blew Frankie across the other side of the room. The crackling sound transformed into one swift rip, the sound of rubber on tar and before she could scramble to her feet, freezing cold gale winds shot through before reversing into a suction. Frankie braced herself, but the suction was forcing her forward, she held onto the leg of the bed as her body hovered with the force of the wind. The source of the wind had grown and now resembled a dark hole in time and space, black foggy tendrils slithered out through the hole and weaved itself around the dark circle as if it were widening the hole. Electricity began to buzz around the foggy tendrils, zipping and zapping excitedly whenever they touched. Frankie could barely hear with all the noise, photo frames smashed to the ground, drawers and cupboards were ripped off and swallowed whole by the dark circle. Frankie's father finally appeared, disheveled in his long pant pj's and t-shirt.

"Leonara, wake up!" He shouted through the noise.

Frankie's father started chanting, lifting his hands towards the thick black ring. As soon as he began chanting, time slowed down slightly enough so she was able to stand and see just how much devastation this was causing. The house was shaking, she knew exactly what was happening, she ran towards the door. Leonara ran right through her as she made her way through the hallway, stopping suddenly in her tracks. "Mum?" she choked, Leonara shivered, glaring in the darkness where Frankie was standing, not seeing anything, she continued on to young Frankie's bedroom. Wiping the lone tear that escaped and focused on her dad as he continued to chant. Frankie noticed the ring had stopped growing although it sparked occasionally from the electricity coursing around it and her dad noticed too, calm began to restore to the house and Leonara came back into the room, asking the same questions Frankie was thinking - who? What? How? And most importantly, why?. Frankie waited patiently, to return back to the present she knew how this night would end, she didn't want to have to relive it again.

After a few moments, the electricity around the ring began giving off sparks, as it did so, tendrils from the smoke lashed out billowing ominously as a seam from the top of the ring appeared, slowly and eerily, it zipped itself down. Frankie's father shouted for her mother to stand behind him. Everything was happening so fast, she didn't know what to pay attention too.

Another black foggy tendril slid out from the opening, slithering slowly and seductively towards Frankie's father, forming the shape of a hand, it touched him at which, he immediately groaned and dropped to his knees to the floor in pain. The black tendril let him go and he fell forward. Leonara rushed to his side screaming as she futilely fired some of her magic in its direction, the black tendril simply touched her and she dropped forward. A faint cackle was heard coming from inside the ring and the owner of it, poked his head through, looking straight at Frankie. A bright light emanated from behind, shadowing and obscuring the major details. From what she could make out, where eyeballs should have been bright lights shone through two hollowed out sockets - this shocked her, the strangers lips curved up into a maniacal smile as he lifted the bodies of Frankie's parents, pulling them both, through the portal. Suddenly, the electricity sparked and flashed and in the blink of an eye, disappeared entirely, a lone ember floated gently in the air before settling on the broken debris along the carpet and it ignited with a roar.

"Mum? Dad?" Frankie heard her younger self say. The ache she felt as her younger self looked at what happened echoed in her stomach and reverberated within her body, creating a new electrical pull, bringing her back into the present.

At that moment, Callum walked pass on the way to his class, noticing the look on Frankie's face, conflicted he rushed over to her. "You okay Frankie, you don't look so good, you're pale." All she could do was nod. She had never had a memory like that before. So vivid and real yet not foretelling of the future but of the past, but one thing she knew for sure, her parents were taken but by whom?

"Thanks Cal. I guess I'm getting a bit nostalgic, I'm gonna miss this place" She thought quickly on her feet. "Oh what did you say to that Priya girl?" Frankie asked trying to change the subject.

"Yeah I told her I would meet her at Founders Day, she seemed pretty pleased. So I'm looking forward to it." He said awkwardly.

"Maybe you'll bring Lucas" he said stressing the end bit.

"Yeah maybe, see you after school" Frankie turned and ran into her class. She sat there frozen allowing all this new information to sink in, her powers were definitely on the fritz today. She never had to deal with so many magical and ordinal problems in one day, unprepared that is. And never had she experienced a memory so vivid or interactive before, it was as if her gift was amplified somehow, which was impossible surely? With all this swimming through her head she sat back in the relatively empty classroom, waiting to hear the last bell to signify her freedom and apparently newfound adulthood.