From The Other Side

Chapter Six

It seems I start every morning like this, wake up, leave the house, several students missing, a demon on my ass, me wanting to shove my head into a desk. Y'know, the usual.

I rolled to the side of my bed, sheets fluffing up.

You have four new messages

Le Redhead: Vi, it's me.

Le Redhead: Vi?

Le Redhead: Violet. This is important.

Le Redhead: Whatever. Meet me in the backwoods at first period today. Bring your book, don't bother asking, you know the one. Wear a hoodie, come alone. Nobody can follow you.

Fucking Sierra. Didn't know when I was sleeping, or nightmare-ing. It was safe to assume what things would be said at such meet, considering it was in the middle of the woods, during bear season. I looked up. Goddamn hole, still there, in all of its not so glorious glory.

That must be where the demons came from. Where R came from. Maybe we could sew it shut?

That seemed a little too out of the question. Although it seemed out of the question was my middle name today.

I laced up my black platforms, which were the only clothing I had that could manage to get through the thorns in those woods. I pulled on a think camo jacket, like the ones hunters used to hunt deer.

I looked like what happened when you crossed emo with middle-aged redneck dad. Aka, nobody better see me, or otherwise, there's gonna be fisticuffs, because nobody is ever going to see me like this.

I walked through the back door out into the woods. If there wasn't a demon hunting my town, a hole in the sky, and everyone's favorite ginger trying to warn me about imminent death, then I'd be alright, considering it was a fairly nice day.

The leaves crunched under me as I set foot outside. The twigs from our oak trees tried to stab me in the eyes.

Hey, if I'm going to die, dying here wasn't too bad. Only a few more steps to where I figured she would be. And there it was, the clearing.

I remember studying here, back when I was in eighth grade. Nice place, hard to traverse.

I pulled out a small cushion from my pack. This was going to be a long story, by the looks of it.

I heard other leaves moving. Fuck, I was followed. 

I raised a small swiss army knife, "Whoever you think you are, get out and fight me!" I shouted, desperately trying to be the warrior in the situation. It seems that's easier when you're choking in a dream than when in a fight.

A face peered from the bushes.

Familiar tan skin, braids, accented by highlights of blue and teal dye, little freckles, and brown doe eyes.

"MARI!?"

"VI?!"

We said at the same time.

"So, she got you roped into this too?"

I asked.

"By she you mean Sierra? Because yes, yes she did. Y'know, when I said we should ditch, I never said to be in the woods. I meant a mall. Or a vacation." She replied.

"Oh god, it is you, Mari. I swear, Maria Ana-Lucia Rodriguez if you do that again,"

I was interrupted.

"Ahem!" 

I turned to see the woman of the hour, adorned in her classic Ginger's have more fun shirt.

"It's come to my attention that we're in a great amount of danger." She started, "But first, let's wreak some havoc. Take your guesses as to why you're here."

"You have no clue how to ask a guy out, or you're gay."

I chuckled and Sierra sighed.

"Ok, I'll admit, that was a bad idea. And, Mari, I'll address that comment later." She stated, winking.

"Have you been in contact with someone by the name of R?"

My pupils grew to the size of saucers.

"I'll take that as a yes, then." She replied, "It's dangerous to be near her. She isn't as she says. She never was."

"Aaaand what's so dangerous about a letter?" Mari asked.

"You are too innocent," Sierra explained. "She's a threat mostly. Tell me, when you look up, is it there? In your dreams, are there questions? Have you seen people with black eyes?"

Mari slowly nodded.

"And you, Violet?"

"All of the above."

"It's worse than I thought, then. I figured we'd have a month, at the lowest, three weeks. It's been ten days."

Ten days of the hole, she meant.

"Take these. They're charms. Made by yours truly, they should keep her away."

These charms were in the shape of black crosses, with a ruby in the center.

"Trust me, it's not as satanic as it might look,"

Only you, Sierra, only you.

"Now, we get into the problem at hand. First of all, I'm not who you think. I'm Sierra Hunter, yes, but I'm not exactly from your plane of existence. I'm a celestial being. In my home kingdom, I rule over a branch of the military called the Angel's Cross. Our family has ruled this plane since our creation. Last year, I was first in line for the throne of my mother and father, Katherine, and Ash. That's when this started. You could call it a battle, you could call it a rebellion, you could call it "daddy issues"." She paused. 

"You might be wondering how does this relate to a hole in the sky. It does. For the last year, the remains of the Angel's Cross and I have been on the run. From R, that is. She's been targeting me, out of what I assume is envy for the throne. The thing is, I know what she'd do if she had that kind of power."

Mari piped up, "What would she do?"

"Dictate the entirety of that plane. In our world, there's magic, both dark, and light. Demons, or her army, are on the side of dark magic. She'd try to enslave us. So it's my job to do anything in my power to stop her from taking the throne and using the populations of other universes to do it."

"And why does that involve us?" I asked.

"Because you two have the one copy in existence of our prophecy. It's our dictionary to everything magical. You two have some of the most knowledgeable minds about the story. So why not enlist the help of the very people who know you better than yourself?"

There's definitely more than that.

"AndIhavetheemotionalburdenofherbeingmyyoungersister." She speed-talked.

That makes a lot more sense. 

These were going to a damn crazy few months.

----A/N

Anyone wanna leave questions for either characters or me?

I've seen this and felt like I might wanna try. Leave em in the comments!