Silver line 2

It's true what they say . . . it never rains but it pours . . . what's with tragedy and death following her around. She thought dryly as she made her way through the thick forests with a single destination in mind. She remembered the last time she was a teenager and she had come to this side of town with a group of peers which ended up in a tour that landed them in this dense side of the forest. At the foot of the forest, her body was suddenly induced with a creepling fear, the same as she had felt before that seemed to want to push her as far away from its existence as possible. A force so repelling that she shivered but still regrouped her courage, her mind made up.

This had to be done!

She wrapped her arms tightly around herself to ease the goosebumps and took the next step to her complete entrance and she felt enshrouded in a fleeting darkness before she blinked and continued on her way. Guilty tears filled the brim of her eyes but she couldnt afford to back down now.

A lot was riding on her decision and she knew at heart that she was doing the right thing. She was being the bigger person. She felt the course material of the thick rope on her left hand and squeezed them tight as if being any relaxed with them might rob her off a golden opportunity. Just ten or so minutes of walking she saw the tree she had thought was mesmerisingly beautiful and strong, she smiled wryly at the fond memomry before coming close enough to touch it.

"I'm sorry if this might cause you any grief or misery . . . even bad luck but I couldn't think of any better suited tree" she brushed the brown-reddish bark of the oak tree before throwing the rope in an arch motion, up high so it could hang on the high branches that were well over 10 feet high from the ground. She sobbed silently thinking about her mom who spent her night sitting on a hospital plastic chair until the breaking of dawn, praying for her husband's wellbeing.

"Tragedy and eventually death will always follow in the wake of your trail unless you stop it"

The older women's last words still rang loud and clear in her head as if she was still listening to her laboured words. Losing acquaintances although strange had been durable to some extent but the thought of losing her superhero left her mind stripped of all time, sense and defense. It was not durable . . . not feasible by any stretch of the imagination and so she decided that if all it would take is just her giving up her miserable life then it was a small price to pay.

Was that how the people who sacrificed themselves in her namesake felt? That their lives were just a small price to pay? But in exchange for what? What is it that people believe she can do to give up their lives like that . . . that is if, and a big if the story the older woman spun her in her deathbed was true, could she be mistaken? Does a person at death's door grip at fleeting straws? Why would people even do something so barbaric?

She couldn't fathom!

She chuckled dryly thinking about the irony. Will they think she was ungrateful? Yes, she never asked them to sacrifice themselves for her but they did . . . so will hanging herself to death be a mock to their sacrifice?

Aargh!

She muttered in flustered exasperation. Why does the responsibility weigh so heavy on her. She checked the time again. Good, there was still a good hour before the sun would rise to mark a new day and she would be long gone by then. She comforted herself with the knowledge that a lot of lives would gain meaning . . . an awakening of sorts through her death, nomatter how small but or seemingly insignificant the lives of those people are, they are still people and their right to live remain just as pivotal as hers so she failed to understand their reasoning.

She sobbed again, letting the tears free fall.

She climbed the tree, holding onto the lower branches until she felt balanced enough. She tied a tight knot on the rope, making it adjustable while leaving just enough space for her head to fit in, she put the rope around her neck and sobbed again.

This is final.

She thought of last words and smiled sourly, who is there to listen to her final wishes anyway? She decided it's not worth.

She walked to the rear of the oak's mature branch that creaked lightly with her every step.

"Goodbye mom and dad. I love you guys, always" then she took a huge gulp of air before jumping.

"You can still tell that to them, you know"

She couldn't have anticipated having someone with her in the dark forest, so it wasn't a surprise that she got momentarily frightened and lost her steps before the chocking rope made her wheeze, flailing her hands which resulted in the rope turning her to this direction and that. She couldn't bring herself to make a sound.

"You must know better not to act on impulse in grave situations Princess. The easy way out is not always so bad but in your case, it dooms all of us to eternal darkness or have you no care?" the manly voice resounded again as if carried by the wind to sound like a broadcast from the four corners of the world.

She still couldn't bring herself to utter a word partly because of the growing unrest in her head and partly because of the burning pain stemming from her neck. She still couldn't do anything about the tears that seemed to flow ceaselessly on her face.

"Is this what you truly want Princess of the Druids?" the man question again in the dawn before emerging from the shadows

'Huh'

Dana tried to hold on to something to find her voice again. How did the old man find her?

"Don't you know it is forbidden for the living to step into the land of the dead?" she listened at yet another one of the man's endless questions before realising he said something about the land of the dead.

The man raised his hand that was in a fist form and muttered something under his breath.

Snap

Plop

She blinked before rubbing her back that stung with the fall. She raised her head to look at the branch she had been hanging from just a moment ago and flinched from the shooting pain that resulted from her moving her head. The old man came to her and squatted next to her before holding his left hand out for her, she looked at him with mystified mirth.

"What do you mean by I stepped into the land of the dead?" she asked the burning question in her head

"You must've felt it when you stepped in here for the first time"

Her confusion grew with the old man's chatter "Am I dead?"

"No, not yet Princess. You stepped in the land of the dead subconsciously the first time and then you stepped in just over an hour ago"

Her eyes almost bulging out from their sockets, she briefly recalled the time she had heard crickets behind her bathroom door only to lend in a forest.

"Was that . . . but how did I . . . I don't understand . . . I wasn't even . . ." She pressed her lips into a thin line after realising not a single coherent phrase could be formed in her mind. She clutched the temple of her head in puzzlement and raced her thoughts.

How can this be?

"It seems that you've been drawn into the dark forest for sometime and got infected by its desire to induce madness, one way or the other. Tell me, why are you so upset Princess" the old man inquired lightly as not to imtrude but to let the girl know he is willing to listen if she needs an ear.

"She was right . . . tragedy and death follows me everywhere" she sobbed, grief overcoming her once more "She never really liked me but now, now I feel like I wronged her . . . maybe my breathe is a plague to many" She drooped her head so that it hovered above her knees.

"Come with me" the old man issued the command, "I promised I will train you and if you still feel the same way afterwards then I will let you hang yourself to death"

She stood up and staggered a bit before regaining her balance. The old man took her hand in his and led her out of the dark forest. The sun already peeking in the horizon was suddenly covered by a dark cloud that threatened to growl in its full might. She flinched lightly but followed the old man anyway

"Why does it seem like the sun is shunning me or forbidding me from laying my eyes upon it?" she asked the old man hoping he doesn't say it's all in her head.

"The thread . . . it's to keep the balance in all nature under the heavens. You see, there is but a thin thread separating sunrise from sunset, darkness and light and all things alike. The significance of each carrying a massive responsibility for different creatures walking the Earth. In order for light to be significant, there needs to be darkness. The silver line between the two phenomenas is the deciding factor for all mankind, if you lose the line, shadows walk the Earth in daylight causing mass destruction in their wake, for imbalance is born when you shove the light so that darkness may reign in the significance of the other"

She tried to make sense of it but her mind seemed enstranged from the context of the words uttered by the old man in regards to her question.

"So you're saying I am the imbalance?"

"I am saying the emergence of an imbalance has occured to push the balance to oblivion"

"You're saying this is not the natural order of things? That it wasn't my decision to hang myself? Are you telling me that someone is trying to kill me . . . using me?"

"You have been manipulated" the man now wore a grave expression "Time is up, you must come with me now before the exits are blocked"

'What'

She couldn't finish that thought as she was suddenly pushed to the ground just as a spear flew above her head, missing her by just a strand of hair