An alpha fell from the sky

Chapter 7 Illusion

Hannah.

“Things are getting a little complicated," he said in a contemplative tone. "The video of the accident yesterday has been posted online, and a lot of people in the town are already watching and reposting it. It's really bad!"

"Bad?" I sneered. "So, you think I'm causing you trouble?"

"True, I might be in some trouble," he said. "But not because of you, but because of that video."

"Oh!" I said, "I thought that video would affect your standing with the girls. Especially Gina. She's your girlfriend, isn't she?"

"What?" He looked up at me longingly. "Oh Hannah. I can feel that you're still grieving because I rejected your confession yesterday."

"Of course, I'm sad," I muttered. "Besides, it was my birthday yesterday."

Silence.

"I knew it would be," he seemed to be talking to himself. "I'm sorry about you getting yelled at in the campus forums. Look, I don't want innocent people to get hurt because of my presence."

If you had not refused me, I should not have been hurt. I looked at him with repining eyes, while his thoughts seemed to drift far away.

"Look at me, Hannah," Ian put his hands lightly on my shoulders and looked me straight in the eyes.

"Forget that you ever liked me, forget that you confessed to me, forget that I saved you yesterday. Forget everything about yesterday!"

His voice was incomparably soft, like a beautiful song from afar, and everything around him seemed to stand still. Immediately afterwards, a pale golden light shone from his mesmerizing eyes, and my body was electrified.

I felt my scalp tingle, and my breathing seemed to cease for an instant! Why was that?

"Do you feel better now?" Ian's voice was brisk.

"I don't know, maybe." I was in a bit of a trance.

"Good," he turned my body around, "now I need you to get back to your friends."

My legs wobbled forward as if I were treading on cotton. It was as if a force was draining the energy from my body, I could not concentrate and my vision began to blur.

The sound of the wind rustled in my ears, and a blinding light came straight into my eyes, causing me to shut them.

When I opened my eyes again, the clear sky was gray, the white clouds were dark, and the leaves were waving in the wind. I looked around and I was the only one left in the playground.

Loneliness and unaccountable fear enveloped me, and the wind came from afar in noisy whispers. The brownish-red school building was gone, the flowers and trees on both sides of the road were gone, and everything about me was changed.

There was a sharp shriek behind me, and I turned to look. A dense flock of black crows were flapping their wings in my direction, with blood-red eyes and sharp beaks.

"No!" I screamed and ran away.

The ravens pursued me as I ran to a deserted graveyard. I hid behind a huge tombstone as a flock of crows screamed and flew overhead. Suddenly, a flash of lightning fell from the sky, and the struck ravens fell around the tombstone, and the blood flowed and seeped into the fissures in the ground.

"What sleeps will eventually wake up, and the dead will be resurrected!"

A murmur of voices drifted through the air, and I clung to myself, crouching behind the tombstone. It soon became a low chant, and sounded so lonely and forlorn.

"Wake up..."

"No, don't come near me." I covered my ears to keep out the garbled sounds.

"Hannah, Hannah."

A long shadow wrapped around me, and I lifted my head cautiously. A figure hung in mid-air, a pair of very large wings spread out behind the figure, covering the sky as he stared at me in the darkness.

"Who are you?" I shouted at him.

He was silent, only gazing at me in silence.

The darkness hid his face, and only the eyes shone blood-red in the gloom.

"Hannah, Hannah."

"No!" I woke up screaming.

Ian's face appeared before me, and I started.

"Are you okay?" he asked with concern.

"Where am I?" I looked around uneasily at the bright windows, the clean hospital beds, the pungent smell of disinfectant.

It all came back to earth!

"You're in the infirmary!" Ian says, "You just fainted in the playground."

I fainted? Why should I know nothing?

Dr. Anna pushed her way in and said to me, "I'm glad you're awake. I just examined you and you should be in a temporary coma due to low blood sugar."

She came over to me and shone a light in my eyes, then told me, "If you need to go home and rest, I can get you a leave of absence from your teacher."

I was about to tell her no, but Ian beat me to it and said to Dr. Anna, "I can take her home."

"Then I'll leave her in your hands, Ian." Dr. Anna's eyes filled with laughter.

"I think I can get home on my own."

"I'll meet you in the parking lot." Ian couldn't help himself, "I'll see you in 5 minutes."

Five minutes later, I was in Ian's car with my backpack. For the rest of the day we were characteristically silent.

I felt exhausted, as tired as if I had run ten laps of the playground. My mind was in turmoil, and the nightmarish vision was still fresh in my memory.

"What slumbers shall awake at last, and what is dead shall rise again!"

I repeated the words over and over in my mind. What do they mean?

The car stopped and Ian's hands gently fell from the steering wheel as he turned his head to me and said, "We're here."

I looked out of the car window at the familiar house, then back at Ian. How did he know that my home was here? I had not yet given him my address.

"Thanks." I grabbed my backpack and pushed open the car door.

"Hannah," Ian called to me as he got out of the car.

"What?" I asked.

"Are you okay?" He sounded a little unsure.

"I don't know, Ian." I looked at his handsome face, and the sorrow of my lost love came over me.

"I'll get over you." I said, "But I need some time."

"You what?" He wore a shocked expression, and soon his eyes were full of confusion.

"You remember what happened yesterday?"

"I don't just remember what happened yesterday." I said calmly, "I remember you saying that you wanted me to forget about you, and I think that will happen."

"No!" His brow furrowed and his eyes went from puzzled to annoyed. "Why is that?"

"Look me in the eyes, Hannah," he gripped my hands tightly. "Look at me!"

"What are you doing?" I struggled, but his hands were as strong as iron, and I could not even break free.