To The Moon And Back

Illusion

When the hunt gets going, nothing can stop the attacker.

“If you're not human, then you have any clue as to what you are?” He asked breathlessly.

He was so stunned at the newfound information that his mind was having trouble grasping it.

“Not a single clue,” I lied smoothly, as I met his crystal blue gaze.

He didn't quite believe that as he chuckled forcefully as if finally coming to terms with what was happening. He looked over the place where Billy’s corpse was before he turned his petrified gaze upon me.

“I guess I'm next,” he said through quivering lips, eyes welling up and his heartbeat picking up its pace.

“On the contrary, no you're not,” I said, with what I hoped was a warm look on my face.

He genuinely looked shocked at my answer, but above all, he was mostly relieved to live another day.

“Thank the lord, I'm not ready to die yet,” he sighed in relief as tears of joy fell down his cheek.

Being-under the bunker was a good thing, considering how secluded it was and how noise-proof it was. Sam couldnt hear the screams of terror outside the metal walls nor the bangs on the door begging to be let in. So while I entertained his questions, another part of me was back on campus killing every soldier in sight.

***

My powers were returning to their full capacity and with that came a hunger for more blood. My hologram self, above the bunker, outstretched her hand and in seconds the entire field was engulfed in flames that laped and ate away at anything in sight. No one saw it coming, which was their undeniable doom.

Screams of agony and begs for mercy filled the air like music to my ears. The scent of burning wood and flesh filled my nostrils, giving me a thrill down my spine. Call me a sadist, but seeing humans beg for mercy as their last dying breath gave me a bit of a thrill.

“P-l-eease,” a dying soldier begged, crawling towards me with an outstretched hand towards me.

His flesh was melting like ice cream on a hot summer day yet he still somehow had the strength to keep moving. Humans really fascinated me. Just when I thought they were useless, they surprised me out of nowhere.

I scanned the soldier's mind and it seemed he wished to see his family one last time, especially his two sons. I cast a spell over his mind where it appeared he was with his family one last time, before burning his body to ashes with just one look. At least his soul was at peace before he died.

What a merciful God I was.

Too merciful

Lily growled in annoyance at how gentle I was being with the humans by giving them a quick death. I, for one, had no interest in wasting my time more than I already have. By the time every human was wiped out as well as any object in sight, I sighed in content. The field before me was scattered in ashes that began to be swept up in the wind. I manifested more heavy winds as it collected all the ashes and began gathering them up into a giant black ball in the sky.

“May you be at peace,” I said barely above a whisper as the ball burst into flowers that began to fall gently down to the ground.

Before me, what was once a military campsite was now a field of flowers that grew from the ground and scattered as far as the eye could see. A field of flowers that was beautifully created. My hologram dissolved into the air as its essence returned to my body underground.

***

“Time to go,” I said as I stood up suddenly.

“Go where?” Sam asked me sceptically as he got up.

“Anywhere but here,” I said before stretching my hand and allowing my magic to engulf us in flames and lead us above ground.

“Aaahh!” Sam screamed as he somehow got the expression he was on fire.

“You're not on fire i***t,” I said in irritation.

“Oh,” he said with an awkward laugh.

He touched the dancing flames surrounding us in a teardrop shape. He was fascinated at the feeling it gave him and I wondered what that feeling was. The flames burned through the ground and up to the surface before it closed up behind us.

“What the hell?” Sam asked as he scanned the place as if he was in the wrong place.

“Where are we?” He asked.

“Your campsite,” I said with a shrug of my shoulders.

“But-” he couldn't finish that sentence as his gaze fell upon me.

The blank look across my face triggered something in him as his heart picked up its pace. He took a shaking step back.

“What happened to everyone?” He asked, trembling on the spot.

“Your guess is as good as mine,” I said with a shrug of my shoulders.

He was too petrified by me to question me further nor annoy me.

“Right,” he said as he scanned the place.

Once again, I tried to use my powers to breech through his mind but that same stupid scene blocked me. A beach with the setting sun and a little girl sitting in the sand, a very powerful shield. The harder I tried to break through it, the more pain Sam felt as he was writhing in agony.

His hands dug into his head as he fell to his knees, grunting painfully with tightly closed eyes.

Stop it

Lily growled from within her cage, bearing her teeth. I wasn't quite sure what her deal was and why she didn't want Sam hurt, but she was persistent with me to leave him alone. I tried to push through his shield even harder and ended up writhing in agony myself as an agonising sharp pain sliced through my head.

*

“According to the universal laws that you have breached, I pronounce you guilty of all charges bestowed upon you. With the powers of the Gods, I hereby curse your soul from ever being whole. Your powers will never be fully recovered and your memory will be wiped clean. You shall awake stranded upon an unknown planet to live out the rest of your pitiful life that will last for eternity. With the sentences bestowed upon you, how do you plead?” An angel of God read out my sentence.

I appeared to be in some court filled with all creatures of different races. They all seemed to be having the same conclusion. I was guilty.

What was I guilty of?

The angel on the altar had four wings on his back with an unimaginable amount of power radiating off him in waves. One could easily tell he was a deity or god of sorts. I seemed to be chained to some gold handcuffs that drained all my powers, leaving me as defenceless as a human.

“Not guilty,” my lips moved on their own, my voice sounded foreign to my own ears.

Gasps echored around the room, the angel on the altar lost his composer as he gritted his teeth and showed his anger.

“How dare you come before the divine one and lie in his presence.” He growled in anger.

I wasn't quite sure who this divine one was but they sure did surround the place with their essence that caged us all in this room.

“I don’t lie,'' I growled, bearing my canines, which further angered the crowd and the angel on the stand.

“That's it, we’ve had enough of your filthy lies. Be gone with you.” He spoke with a deep hatred as if I had killed someone dear to him.

He outstretched his hand and I could feel my soul becoming unsettled.

“Your soul will be split, one half caged and the other scattered across the universe. What will be left will be an empty vessel. Your powers are now revoked and will not be returned unless deemed so by the divine one. And your memories wiped clean. This punishment is too far lenient for my liking, but the divine one deems it so and so it shall be. Be gone from my presence.” He growled before a hot white shimmering light blinded me before everything faded to black.

*

The darkness dissolved as colours returned to my vision, my eyes dragged across the ground towards Sam, who still seemed to be in pain. Something stirred inside me which left Lily pacing deep in thought.

I had no patience for riddles as I used my magic to heal my aching head as well as Sam’s. He sighed heavily in content as a warmth spread throughout his body like a favourite memory flooding through his mind. With heavy footsteps, I walked towards him and knelt down to stare deep into his shaken eyes.

Something familiar shone deep in them, like a magnet to metal. I was drawn in without realising it and my body leaned in until my nose touched his.

“I believe you have something of mine,” I said blankly.

My lips gently touched his with every word, a light electric buzz travelled through my body with every touch. A very familiar feeling.

“W-what?” He stuttered out of breath, his cheeks flaming up.

“Hold onto it for me for a little while,” I told him authoritatively.

He nodded repeatedly as his heart raced out of control.

“Good,” I said gratefully.

I pressed my lips against his and breathed life into him, a gift of eternal life bestowed only by truly powerful Gods. My actions seemed to make his heart beat race even faster for some odd reason. I wasn't quite sure why that was. Perhaps it was my position, I was pretty close in between his thighs on my knees as I gave him a gift.

His large paw-like hand cupped my cheek, which puzzled me even more. Humans were truly bizarre creatures.

“Hands to yourself soldier,” I told him with a hard tone.

“Yes ma’am,” he cleared his throat, raising his hands in a surrender motion.

I stood up before I began walking towards the road.

“Where are you going?” He quickly asked me as he got up.

“Getting you a ride.” I said blankly before I used my eyes to see miles and miles ahead of the road to see the nearest car which was thousands of miles from us.

I used my powers to bring the car in front of us within a blink of an eye.

“Watch your feet,” I warned Sam, who stood too close to the road.

“Why?” He asked curiously.

A large gush of wind nearly knocked him to the ground if I hadn't caught his arm and pulled him up.

“That's why,” I said irritatedly.

Sam gasped as he looked at the car which had an unconscious woman in her mid thirties.

“What did you do to her?” He asked in concern.

“Nothing, she's just asleep.” I told him.

‘For now, Lily added with a sinister smirk, I ignored her.

I opened the car door and got in.

“You coming or what?” I asked him with a raised brow.

He quickly sat at the back with me before the car drove backwards at the speed of light. We arrived in town within a matter of seconds. No one noticed anything strange as I shielded us from the world before the car parked in an empty parking lot. I removed the shield around us and planted a memory in any creature alive that the car was there the whole time.

I got out of the car before Sam followed suit and looked around in relief.

“Civilization,” he sighed in relief.

“Enjoy,” I said before I began ascending into the air.

Sam gasped, still not used to seeing me use my powers.

“Where are you going?” He yelled as if I couldn't hear him.

“I have some unfinished business,” I said, barely above a whisper, but allowed the sound to travel to his ears.

“What am I supposed to do here?” He asked.

“Like I care, just keep your mouth shut about knowing me and keep my property safe.” I told him through gritted teeth before I made myself invisible.

“God help us all,” He sighed heavily into the sky before he began walking towards the supermarket.

I ignored him before I ascended higher into the sky before flying towards a specific destination at the outskirts of the town.

What greeted me upon my arrival made certain memories flash forwards. Most of the memories were about Hannah and Sarah and some I didn't recognize, they just brought out a hot sizzling anger that chilled me to the core. The little red house still had some firm foundation that didn't get engulfed by the flames, but otherwise the entire place was in ashes.

A few civilians were taking pictures across the police tape while some strange men looked for evidence in the house. My feet gently touched the ground in front of the house, my body still invisible to anyone on sight. I scanned the place and wondered what had happened.

I could feel an enormous amount of my powers surrounding the place, for one. I guessed my very presence was filled with power which could explain that. Yet I had an unsettling feeling that it was something else. I walked further into the burned house. The further I walked, the more the unsettling feeling grew, it was like an itch I couldn't scratch.

‘Perhaps I can help’ Lily smirked deviously in my mind.

“I would rather be trapped on this planet for eternity,” I spat through gritted teeth.

‘Suit yourself’ she shrugged her shoulders as she sat down in her cell watching everything through my eyes.

As I reached the kitchen part of the house I felt a familiar feeling stir in my heart. An ache that made me turn around at a side glimpse of something. The space around me experienced a time change, everything being reversed in slow motion. The house suddenly rebuilt itself from the bottom up until it was the way it was when I left.

I was in the kitchen and watched from the entrance as a hologram of myself walked into the kitchen with dimmed eyes that seemed to be elsewhere. A serene look plastered on her face, Sarah smiled at her presence.

‘Wanna help me with lunch?’ Sarah asked, her voice robotic with no warmth nor emotions.

My hologram self stopped in front of her and did something unspeakable that shocked me. I lost my balance for a bit before regaining my strength and swallowed heavily at the sight before me.

My hologram self stuck her hand straight through Sarah’s chest without warning, her hand going straight through her chest. Sarah’s slightly beating heart clenched in my hand before I crashed it, blood drenching my hand.

Sarah couldn't scream nor make a single sound, compelled by my magic, she fell to her knees with wide eyes staring into my cold dead ones before life faded from her eyes. Her body made a light thudding sound.

Watching everything unfold before me gave me an unsettling feeling. Why would I hurt her when I liked her?

‘You're a mindless killer, that's what you do’ Lily said, casually checking her nails as if this situation bored her to death.

“Die,” I growled in irritation as I watched myself walk past the kitchen, my hands no longer drenched in blood.

‘Where would the fun in that be?’ Lily smirked in satisfaction at annoying me.

I watched as my hologram self walked towards Hannah’s room.

‘Oh hey Lila, you ok?’ Hannah asked as she suddenly noticed the cold look in my eyes.

I said nothing as I walked towards her desk and grabbed her neck, squeezing it hard.

‘What are you-’ she choked as I squeezed harder, silencing her voice.

She gasped as she choked, her arms trying to claw at my skin, which made no difference. She managed to grab a pen from her desk and tried to stab me in the head, but the pen merely broke upon impact. Her eyes widened in shock as her body began to shut down, my face remained emotionless as I watched her struggle to breathe.

Soon her body became limp, her head lolling to the side. I could still hear her dying heart beat but it wasn't going to be long before it gave out. I could tell she was playing dead, so, I let her believe what she wanted to believe. Her body fell hard on the chair, she gasped low, hoping I couldn't hear it.

What better thrill was there than playing with your prey?

I turned around and headed towards the door, I heard her heartbeat accelerating as she grabbed something and slammed me with it. The plastic chair broke as my body fell on the ground unconscious or so I wanted her to believe. She ran out of the room at top speed, locking me inside the room.

‘MOM!’ She yelled breathlessly as she ran around the house looking for her mom.

I stood up and easily broke the door down before I followed her heartbeat. I found her crying over her mother's corpse. When she saw me her eyes widened as she trembled on the spot. She had something sharp in her hand that she clenched hard.

‘Come any closer and I'll kill you,’ she warned through gritted teeth.

She was a fighter, I'll give her that, but I had my fun and I was done playing with my prey. I walked towards her, she stood up on shaky legs holding the butcher knife in front of her. The closer I got, she slashed in front of me but I simply dodged every attack effortlessly. She was losing hope, which was a good thing.

I grabbed her wrist hard, snapping it with the knife in her hand before I turned the knife towards her stomach and slowly pushed it into her flesh. She sucked in a deep breath as pain shot through her entire body. I used her hand to carve a circle on her stomach and watched as she fell backwards choking on her blood. Her mouth opened and closed before her body finally gave up and I watched as her soul escaped through her mouth and rose into the air heading to its destination.

I watched my hologram self walk towards her bedroom and lay on it as if nothing ever happened. Mere moments later, when the sun was setting, I watched her get out of bed and walk out of the house. She looked back with that blank expression and soulless eyes before the house lit up in flames.

Without realising it, my hand stretched towards her, she looked at me as if looking into my soul.

‘Weak’ she spat before turning around and left.

The illusion before me faded away and I was once more in the burnt house.