Eternal Silence - Sigils

Chapter 2 - State of Dreaming:

I heard someone screaming my name. I could barely see right in front of me from all the rain pouring down. I was kneeling on the ground, soaking wet and muddy. I looked at my hands, noticing all the cuts and bruises on them. I was so confused. Trying to see through the heavy rain that painted the landscape white. It was difficult to do, even the noise of the drops hitting the ground was too overwhelming. I had to put my hands over my ears to try and mask the sound. My brain was hurting.

While trying to keep the noise out of my head, my eyes searched all over for anything relatively alive or just as an indication of where I was. I saw two black silhouettes appear a good few feet away from me, and I somehow felt a bit of relief. They made quick and agile movements, it all seemed rather aggressive. I frowned. I heard thunder roaring louder and saw lighting flashing more frequently. Everything was moving faster, and I heard my name being yelled again.

I tried moving my legs, but I couldn’t find the strength to get up, I just kept splashing water in all directions. My vision became blurry while I was looking down and a blinding light caught my attention. My head shot up and the loudest noise filled my ears causing me to cover them as I saw something that shook me internally.

I began screaming at the top of my lungs as a feeling of sorrow washed over me. My eyes teared up and I started crying, feeling a great deal of loss. I placed my palms deep in the dirt and I began pulling, forcing my body to move. Determined, I crawled towards a body that was lying on the ground. My hands were raw and burning and my arms kept giving in, nothing was going to stop me.

“No,” I breathed, holding back a waterfall of emotion. “Not you, it can’t be you!”

My fingers ran over his cheeks, I turned his head to face me. I shook my head in disbelief. This couldn’t be happening, could it? It’s too soon for this.

He opened his eyes after I laid my forehead on his shoulder. His one hand was able to touch my cheek, he barely kept his eyes open as he drifted in and out of consciousness. I smiled faintly, hoping this was a good sign that he was able to look at me. He tried speaking; I could see he was struggling to find the breath for it.

“Arlia, you have to wake up.” He murmured weakly when he pulled his head from my grip.

I frowned. I didn’t understand what he meant.

My vision became blurry as I looked at him, I saw him mouthing the words again just as static filled my ears and the rain turned to ash. Everything was hovering all around us.

The sensation of falling came over me as everything began spinning. I lost my grip on him and saw him disappear into the horizon while I was being pulled back over all the ground I covered by crawling. Leaves went flying, twigs stuck to my body piercing my skin and water splashed in my face. I began calling out while being hauled away from him. I couldn’t see a thing while being dragged at shutter speed.

I felt my body hit a curve and my eyes shot up while I was falling backwards down a cliff. My body met the ground and from impact, the water created a crystal pod around me, before gravity made them surrender down onto my skin. I was silent, just staring up to the grey matter formed in the sky, while tiny drops kissed my face. My arms were draped above my head and my legs were bent, I felt nothing, not even pain.

My breathing was steady and the only thing moving was my chest from breathing. I couldn’t keep my eyes open, they felt heavy and my eyes slowly shut by themselves.

I breathed in quite loudly and deep when my eyes opened again, I sat up retreating my head from my hand. I saw a few people looking at me, as I just sat back in my chair, folding my arms. I felt something hit my shoulder softly and looked to my right. I saw Echo mouthing a few words at me and point to the ground.

When I looked down to the wooden floor, I saw a tiny crumpled up paper lying right next to my feet. I watched her intense gaze with a slight frown and gathered that she wanted me  to pick it up and read. lightly.  I gave her a grin, bending down to my right side, gently kicking the paper towards my fingertips. Once I grabbed it, I started unwrapping the tiny piece of off-white paper and began reading.

“What the hell was that?!”  The note was from Echo?  I frowned looking at her.

I made eye contact with her once more and shook my head, I wasn’t too sure what she was referring to. Her hand signals and facial features started telling me a descriptive story and I figured it had something to do with me dosing off during class. I nodded at her and then wrote back my own little answer.

“This lecture must really — “. My note got cut short by the bell ringing and a bunch of college kids jumped up, grabbing their things and hustling out the door. I crinkled up the little piece of paper in my hand and stood up as well. I grabbed my bag and threw it over my shoulder, meeting Echo’s curious face at the door.

“So?” She asked as we exited the class into the hall of our college.

“…So?” I teased her as she scowled and grabbed my hand shaped like a fist and fished out the note from it. She seemed excited while trying to unveil my unfinished sentence, “I didn’t even write anything”

“I can clearly see that.” She told me looking a little disappointed, "But for real though, what was that? You were spaced out for the entire forty-minutes that was an exhilarating lecture on the findings of Greek mythology and how they created theatre and all that other crap we love.”

“I don’t know, I just spaced I suppose,” I replied with a shrug, but the truth is I don’t remember a thing.

“Well, I hope you don’t space out during the concert tonight. That would be a shame and I am pretty sure Frank would spit you with water if he saw you weren’t into it,” Echo said as I cringed at the idea of someone spitting me with warm mucus water.

“Gross. I hate when that lands on me. I would kill him though,” I told her as we made our way out the big glass doors that lead to the outside.

“Don’t know what you expect though, it is a concert. People smashing into you, breathing on you…” she began explaining and got all close to me breathing heavy, “Getting in your face, sweating and yelling. s**t gets crazy.”

“Yes, that s**t gets crazy, and I go home cranky because someone sweats on my favourite sweater and stepped on my favourite toes.” As those last three words came out of my mouth Echo looked at me with a perplexed expression.

“Favorite toes, huh?”

“They are the only toes I have!” I exclaimed and looked down to my feet wiggling my toes.

“They are pretty cute toes though,” she said as I thanked her, feeling good about the decision I made last night when I chose to paint them. “Enough of this old lady nonsense though. Your butt will be there tonight, in the crowd with me.”

“Will you be massaging my neck after all that headbanging you plan on making me do then?” I asked her.

“I am glad you think I will be able to move mine, but if I am able to look left and right before crossing the street tomorrow, you can bet on that massage!” Echo promised me and held out her pinky.

I raised my right brow at her, looking very sceptical, but within a few seconds, I caved because she smiled sweetly at me.

“Fine,” I agreed and made our pinkies meet halfway, doing a nice old fashion pinky-promise.

“Good. I am on my way to help with the setup and sound check, sure you don’t want to come with me?” she asked as we stood at the end of the pavement where our paths would separate.

“Erm…no. I am okay, I have to work on an art project so I will be cupped up in my room blasting music mostly,” I politely declined her offer.

“Not too loud, grandma. You know how that loud music hurts your ears,” she said mocking me for my previous whining about concerts.

“Oh ha-ha, sure, mock the sensible one!”

She chuckled and gave me a hug. “You’ll be okay though, right?”

“Of course, I will be, why wouldn’t I?” I asked back frowning slightly.

“Because you’ve been a bit off since yesterday, so I am just making sure…”

“I am fiiiiiiine!” I lightly pushed her away from me while putting emphasis on the word fine. “Now go and do your thing and I will see you later.”

She nodded her head in understanding, waving at me before turning around and heading in the opposite direction. After standing there for a few seconds watching her walk away, I decided to start my journey home as well. Luckily, we only lived ten minutes away from school, so walking there is quick and painless.

I didn’t have music to accompany me today, so my life had no awesome soundtrack to stroll to. While putting one foot in front of the other, I could observe a lot more of my surroundings, reacting to what I was hearing around me. Lakewood was filled with parks and such pretty trees that looked like they could brush the sky. I think that was one of the main reasons I wanted to move here — the gorgeous scenery. The whole of Colorado was amazing, there is so much to do, and you can go on great hiking trips up the mountains and through the forests. I don’t know, I just really like it here.

Getting home wasn’t just a straightforward left and right, I had to cut through apartment buildings and parking lots to make the route a bit easier, otherwise, I would be walking a lot longer. On my way home, I pass a lovely park where people are constantly playing soccer or sitting in the sun, with their friends and family, hanging out.

I heard a dog barking close to me and I turned my head to look where it was coming from. When my head moved to the right I saw a bright green tennis ball fly past me, and a very determined dog following it closely. I smiled as the dog ran past me, having my gaze following him only a few feet away from where he found the ball. When I saw him trotting back proudly, with the fuzzy ball in his mouth, I stopped and went onto my haunches to pet it.

The dog was white and grey, with long hair and about medium height. It looked a lot like a husky, but of course, I couldn’t be too sure. The dog came to me and dropped the ball while wagging its tail. I held my hand out towards the dog so that he could smell it, so he knew I was friendly. He began licking my hand and jumped on me without warning. Because I wasn’t anchored down in a sturdy position, I fell right down on my butt and had this big ball of fluff on top of me, licking me to pieces. I couldn’t help but laugh while trying to push him away from my face.

“Titan!” I heard someone call and he ceased his licking, looking up towards the person calling his name.

My hands were lost in his fur as I chuckled and was able to sit up. A tall guy came walking up to me and began apologizing for his dog. He then continued to take Titan by his collar and pull him off me.

“He is so adorable!” I told him while I got up and began shaking off the dirt from my pants and my palms. While looking down at myself, I noticed some clusters of hair that formed on my clothing.

“Adorable, but sheds like crazy.”

“Well that is okay, I would take some stray hairs lying around in exchange for unconditional love,” I said correcting my bag over my shoulder again.

“That is true too. He is very lovable, but it creates some problems at times as he would just willingly go with strangers,” he told me and clipped the leash to his collar. Titan was now focused on everything else around us, with his pink tongue sticking out.

I got a smile on my face while looking at the dog, he was so happy and just wanted to run and play. Dogs are great.

“I best get going, before I kidnap your dog,” I warned him, because I could feel that is where my mind was going to. “Nice meeting you Titan.” I bent down and rubbed him behind the ears while his pretty blue eyes were now focused on me.

“Come on, boy.” He tugged on the leash as they began jogging away from me.

I sighed; I really wanted a dog. Sadly, I couldn’t have one yet as our apartment building didn’t allow them. I will have a beautiful dog one day… Just had to keep reminding myself of that, otherwise I would lure a dog away and keep him as my own.

“Stop contemplating k********g!” I blurted out while keeping my eyes on the husky now running far away.

I turned around and saw a concerned lady holding a little boy’s hand near me. I stared back at her and looked at the kid, he was about two years old. I had no idea why she was looking at me the way she was, and then the wheels in my head began turning, my k********g comment.

“Oh no-no,” I wanted to explain, but she immediately tugged the kid away and scurried on to other ladies who had kids.

She began pointing to me while talking to the ladies around a big wooden table. I figured it would be a good time for me to power-walk as fast as I could to get away from there. Glutes-of-steel here I come.

I rounded a corner and then relaxed my muscles a bit, my thighs were burning from pinching my buttocks tightly for the power-walk. I am terribly unfit, I think I need to drag Echo with me to a class to do some Yoga, or Pilates, or something that will just help me breathe better after running away from a misinterpreted loud thought, now roaming the radars of people with kids. I will get on that.

A few deep breaths later and many steps forward, our apartment building was in sight. I began digging in my bag for the keys, and once my fingers met the cold metal, I grabbed them and pulled them out. While strolling up to the door, very happy that I finally made it home, I noticed a charcoal car parked across the road. It was filled with so much stuff and was surrounded by boxes that had marker markings. Somebody new was moving in, or somebody old was moving out. I don’t pay enough attention to know which one of those options it would be.

While the key met the lock, I unlocked the door and made my way in. As I turned my body to close the door, my eyes caught someone walking down a few steps to the charcoal car across the road. My eyes widened and I could feel my pupils dilate, because of the lovely male specimen I was now staring at.

I don’t know if it was his black wavy hair, the red plaid shirt or just the way the great Lord designed his face, but something about how all of it came together made me swoon.

He bent down and opened a box placed in the trunk of the car, I tried seeing what it was labeled as but I couldn’t get a good view, so I moved a tad to my right and bent my head a little. He rummaged through the box for a few seconds before he found it and stood up again. He reached for his trunk and when his hand went up to take hold of the door, his shirt lifted a little and revealed a bit of his skin.

I was so intrigued that I had to move closer. My nose was now touching the window as I leaned against the door, letting out a little sigh. I am assuming that the little sigh I let out was the feather that broke the camel’s back, because as I breathed ou,t the door I was leaning against gave in and swung open, making a big noise. I fell forward with the door, but luckily, I was able to stop myself from falling on the ground. My head shot up to see if our cute new neighbour was looking this way, and indeed there he was, looking straight at me while holding a box in his hands…… Was really hoping he was deaf.

I smiled awkwardly and stood up straight. I pretended like I was looking up to the sky and the building, pointing my finger to where I was looking. The door swung back and bumped me off balance. I sighed again, grabbing the door and just slowly moving back into my apartment building, throwing a last glance towards him and I saw him smiling at me. I could just imagine that this little display earned me the “weirdo” label.  Great that makes two in one day.

Making my way up the stairs I felt really embarrassed by my actions. I never do things like that, but I just couldn’t help it, I had to get closer. It was a weird feeling, he had me mesmerized. Luckily that was over, and I never had to see him again. One upside about only staying indoors and not having a social life.

Two flights of stairs later, I found our apartment and went inside. After shutting the door, I popped into the kitchen for a glass of water to drown my sorrows in, maybe wash away my memory a little. I took a glass from the cupboard and stood at the sink while waiting for the clear liquid to fill the glass. I took a big gulp of water and stood there for a good 2 seconds, looking out the window.

“Nope, still remember,” I said out loud and took another big gulp of water.

I filled up my glass again and retreated to my room to get started on my art project. I threw my bag down on my bed and put my glass down on my desk before I also plopped down on my bed. I was facing my ceiling and put both my hands on my face, covering my eyes. I tried mustering up enough will power and motivation to start on this project, but my mind was drawing blanks.

I grunted loudly and jumped up, using my mattress as a mini catapult. I opened a drawer under my desk, taking out my A3 sketch pad, a handful of different sketching pencil, ranging from soft tips, charcoal all the way to harder pencils. In an artist’s language I would be telling you my pencils range from 9B to 9H.B means soft, H means hard; the higher the number the harder/softer the pencil is. Boring huh? Yeah, I know.

I sat down on my chair with scattered pencils on the table and the sketch pad on my lap. Where do you start when you have no beginning to recall? Teachers are always giving me projects when inspiration is at its minimal and I used it all for smart witty comments. What a waste.

With the sketchbook on my lap, I tried reaching over to my bed, to get a hold of my bag. I wanted to fish out my laptop to listen to music. Perhaps something will tickle the correct part of my brain or awaken my muse from her six-month hibernation period. My fingers were very far away from my bed’s edge, but for some reason, I kept trying to bend my body far enough to grab my bag. Eventually, my chair had enough and tipped over with me in it. Luckily my head missed the bed and I just laid there, face down on my floor with a sketchbook sticking into my stomach and a black chair lying on its side.

I began chuckling for a few good seconds because I was an utter disaster today. Clearly my mind was not my friend today, and my clumsy actions were proof of that. I tried getting up slowly and moved my sketchbook away. Getting on my knees, I placed my elbows on my bed and grabbed my bag to get my laptop. Once that was done, I stood up and put it on my desk as well, opening it up and turning it on. I got my chair in its natural position and sat down neatly. I retrieved my book, this time placing it next to my laptop and took a pencil in my hand.

My laptop started up and when I saw my awesome warrior girl desktop image, I put the pencil in my mouth and began opening my iTunes to fill the silent void that had my brain at a standstill. iTunes was put on shuffle, as I wanted random songs from classics till now to hit me up and get my creative juices flowing.

Now all I had to do was sit back, listen and wait.