Oblivion

A whispering gust of wind woke Tanya from her sleep. It wasn't a particularly windy night but the wind had all of a sudden gained momentum and was stirring chaotically outside. Peaking through the narrow slit in between her eyelids, Tanya could see that she had forgotten to close her bedroom window. She stepped out of bed reluctantly and slowly made her way towards the window. The silence of the dark had been broken by the rigorous wind whose sharp whisper took a crescendo as Tanya got closer to the window. When she reached it, the window was shaking vigorously. Tanya had to use her hand to shield her face from the stream of cold air that had invaded her room as a result of the whirlwind forming outside. She clumsily slammed the window shut. Everything went silent all of a sudden For a split second Tanya caught a glimpse of a stiff silhouette of a man, watching her from behind one of the trees. It was a man, a little too tall to have been Leonard with a dark top hat and a cloak which was swaying in the wind like a Like an aged flag. She shook her head and just decided that her mind was playing tricks on her after she saw the figure disappear.

The next morning she woke up with a splitting headache. She was extremely grumpy and had bags under her eyes.

"Someone's looking grumpy today," said her mom as she made her way to the table for breakfast.

"I just had a bad dream," she shrugged and took her seat.

"What was it about, you used to tell me about your dreams when you were little," the concern in her voice growing with each word.

"Well back then all I'd dream about was insects and soccer, right now I can't even make sense of anything," she said this then yawned. Her face exuded pure exasperation.

"Well anyway you can tell me if you're too sick to go to school, maybe you could stay home, watch my series with me," said Tanya's mom.

"You aren't going to work today?"

"We have a trip next week so I get this one off," said her mom, "are you sure you'll be alright?"

"I promise mum, I'm ok,"

Tanya had only three lessons that day but it felt like she was in an infinite loop of stress. She had slept through more than half of the last period and spent the remaining half forcibly listening to her teacher ranting on about how her "reluctance to focus" will degrade her grades. The throbbing in her head erupted into a sharp block of pain.

She closed her eyes and ears as her migraine exacerbated the situation. At that moment her mind was devoid of any noise coming from outside and Tanya could feel energy radiating off her. Her headache reduced greatly after she emitted a great pulse of energy and felt a subtle tinge of relief. Looking around, it was just a few minutes to the end of the lesson and she decided to soldier through it. The teacher's voice became a distant buzz when the bell was rung. She hastened to pack up her things as the teacher concluded. No sooner had she left the classroom than she burst out into the corridor, making her way to the locker rooms to change for soccer practice.

She bypassed the door to the janitor's room and she felt a pulsation cruising through her. Her head started throbbing again and this time her nose bled along with it. She had never actually entered this particular room at school but this time she was attracted by something uncanny. She pushed the door slightly and felt the cold air from inside pierce her skin as a massive force sucked her inside. It took almost less than a split second for her to hit the ground with a thud.

The air around her was cold and still when she landed but slowly stirred into a blistering humidity, Tanya begun sweating almost immediately. She couldn't see much in the hovering darkness but she reached out, touching the ground in front and she immediately drew it back. The ground was made of bones. A burst of shock ran through her as she hastened to get back on her feet. The whispers she'd heard the night before came back to her at full volume. She started running. Her heart was racing and a colony of bats emerged right out of the darkness hitting her straight in the face. The stream of bats seemed endless and each one had the courtesy to lacerate her face as it flew past. She let out a scream but it came off as soft whimper. This was a place devoid of sound. The bats scattered when a woman appeared. She let off an eerie aura and a soft glow of magic emanated off her skin. She had a long cloak covering most of her body and only exposing her legs with each step she took towards Tanya. Tanya had fallen to the ground in fright as the cloaked lady grappled her and carried her into mid air. All Tanya could see beneath the hood of her cloak were striking yellow eyes. The lady had a blood-curdling essence about her and she let off magic coming from her mouth stretching out to Tanya's own. Amidst soundless screams, Tanya managed to muster a little energy. She set off a weak pulsation that only managed to toss her assailant away from her. The lady regained her footing almost immediately and begun hovering towards Tanya. The latter scuffled to regain stability as the dark presence loomed over her again.

It was an unusual occurrence for Tim to nose bleed without having used his powers. More so when he'd been sleeping for the last two hours. But there it was, dripping gracefully out of his left nostril. He was still pondering the reason behind it when it hit him. Tanya must be in trouble. He didn't know of her whereabouts so he decided to pay Chris a visit. The walk to his house should've taken at least ten minutes but in dire moments like these a quick teleportation does the trick.

"So you no longer use the door these days, " said Chris, not at all startled to see Tim appearing in his living room, wiping blood off his nose.

"Where's Tanya ? " asked Chris, seeing the weird look on Tim's face.

"That's actually what I came here to ask you, have you seen her anywhere? " Tim's efforts to hide the concern in his voice were all in vain.

"Actually," said Chris, "I saw her stay back at school, thought she was headed to your place." He stood up to get Tim a tissue to help with his unceasing nosebleed. Tim disappeared into thin air before Chris could do anything else. Chris just stood there bottling up gallons of consternation. He'd never seen Tim so perturbed so he decided to call Tanya.

Tim crash landed in the girls' locker room and to his relief found nobody there. He bolted out into the corridor, following a sound coming from just around the corner. It led him to a small room at the end of the next corridor. He touched the door and bundles of energy run through his hand. The sound was coming from inside. He recalled his hand which was throbbing in pain. That's when the sound became familiar. It was Tanya's ringtone. He put his shoulder against the door and soldiered through the pain to force it open. He finally got in and found Tanya seated on the ground. Her legs were crossed and her eyes closed but her face was making fearful expressions. He touched her shoulder and she was immediately yanked out of her trance. Her body was a stiff ice cold block which ironically, was drenched in sweat. She looked at him weakly, her blue eyes showing great relief and absolute fright, she then fainted into his arms, the warmth in her body returning slowly as Tim carried her up and teleported away.