Leeandra

something I thought of a while back, a start....

There she sits at the table, waiting for me to return from the bathroom. I stop and grab a couple more cosmopolitans at the bar, watching her from a distance. I feel my heart melt in my chest. She is beautiful, only she does not know how beautiful she is. She does not know that when she smiles she lights up the whole room. When she speaks everyone is quiet to listen. She cannot see how people stare at her, trying to pick her apart and understand the complextiy of her. She has hair like dark silk, and bright blue eyes that look right through you. You cannot lie to her. She will figure you out in a heartbeat. She is the kind of woman that will look at you and already know so much about your character.

 

I had to supress a laugh as I thought about that. I would always bring my dates to her to figure out. She was always right about them. She would talk to them a little and observe them, in a short period of time she was able to tell if someone was good or bad, full of honesty or lies. She could tell if the person was a cheater, loyal, drug addict, abusive, controlling, or anything else. It was not that I couldn't figure these things out for myself. It was just that it took longer for me to do, and when I already knew the truth, I would comprimise with myself. I would say,

 "Well, maybe this one is different. Maybe I will give him a chance." In the end she was usually right, and I only took the hard way out.

Her name is Leeandra, but some of us call her Leah. We grew up as close as any two sisters could be. We shared the same hardships, sometimes the same dreams, and visions and emotions. We grew up as eachothers best friends and confidants. We were indeperable. We thought looked and acted like twins, really she was a couple years younger than I was.

 

 She was always jealous of me growing up, she said I was the pretty one. I always laughed at her and playfully hit her shoulder. That was far from the truth. She was the pretty one, I was always the one jealous of her. She was very special.

 

 I smiled at the bartender and grabbed our drinks. Leenadra smiled when I sat another Cosmo in front of her.
"Thank you." She said taking a sip of the sweet red drink. "I can't stop thinking about last night." She said with a shake of her head. "The dreams have just gotten stronger. I feel like I am in a constant battle, and I don't know what I am fighting for."
"Your fighting for your soul." I said. "You have insight. You have a gift. It is yours, not anyone else's. They will try to take it from you. Those of the other world do not want us to see what is really there. They want you to stay quiet. But, we are in this together and we will not stay quiet." I took a big drink and sat my glass down, tapping the leg of it with my fingernail. Leenadra's eyebrow raised, she cocked her head and looked at me intently.

"What are you thinking?"

"I will help you tell your story. I understand you, perhaps not fully, but I do. Sometimes I am there with you. Our souls are linked. We were ment to fight this together. Remember this is a war for the souls of mankind. Soon it will all be over. Look at us, this is disgusting." I said tossing my hand to our buzzing surroundings. "The world is falling apart. Were all blowing eachother up, gettin swallowed up by rising natural disasters, were shooting our teachers, killing brothers and sisters, families turn against eachother and betray thier own blood, no child is safe from this place. Every day is a fight just to live. We should know that better than anyone. They will know what is really there."

 

 Leeandra only nodded and took another sip of her drink and closed her eyes. I felt my heart freeze in my chest, as though someone had clenched thier hand around it. The room grew silent as I looked around. It was happening again. Not now, not now. Within seconds the room was as dark as night, faces jumped out of the darkness at me, their hallow eyes and gaping, elongated faces laughing. My ears were filled with thier hissing and teasing. I looked around the club. There were so many empty people. Dark beings danced in and out of them, puling at thier hips, biting thier necks, whispering in thier ears. No one noticed, no one could see. I shook my head and it went away. Leeandra looked at me,

"Are you okay?" She asked. I nodded and finished my drink. I would need alot more than this tonight. It was not going to be a good night. Leeandra and I retreated to our apartment and began to wind down for the night. "I have a feeling they will be back tonight." She said to me. I frowned. There was nothing I could say or do to help her. If I could walk through hell for her I would do it without hesitating.

Covered by the nights blanket we drifted away. Leeandra did not twist and turn. She couldn't if she wanted to. Laying there she stared into the darkness of her eyelids, when the figures began to form. The world began to shake, and then she was falling. Two strong hands caught her and pinned her against a wall, putting his hands over her mouth. It was him. There was no telling who this man was. He was not a man at all, but either of heaven or hell. His hands moved to her neck, choking her, taking her breath away. Leeandra thrashed about, crying, trying to pull away. Why wouldn't he ever leave her alone. The dark one was covered completely in a black hooded cape, his hands a pale white, almost greenish, his nails sharp, his breath reeking. All of a sudden he was gone, she was left panting on the floor. Still, she knew he did not leave, but was hiding in the darkness.

 

A dark wasteland appeared. Smoke rose up from the ground, buildings were crumbled, no life existed. The sky flashed with sad faces and crying eyes. She tried to scream but nothing came out. It was cold and dark. Where was God? She began to wander, unable to escape. The only way to go was forward. Looking around she saw it was the street we lived on. There were no windows in any buildings, grafitti covered the bricks and the roads were broken into huge slabs of blacktop. The ground was hot, rivers of orange fire raced below it, bubling up here and there. She came to a cliff, and stood on the end. On the other side was the rest of town, and I stood there reaching to her. She again tried to call out but could not. The dark wind picked up, tossing our hair around, bringing to our nostrils the stench of rot. The sky parted like a veil, revealing a bright blue sky. Leeandra smiled and looked into the beauty of it, the blue sky she took for granted was now a piece of heaven. A kind face passed behind it hidden in the clouds. Then the sky was slammed shut, a great dark cloud passed over it, raining fire onto us as it closed out our hope, a loud scream echoed throughout the sky, sending us to our knees with our hands over our ears. We were trapped....

Reviews

[Reeti]

The relationship between the two friends has been strongly portrayed. There is no hint of betrayal or dishonesty but a true and desirable sisterly connection. Both the narrator and Leeandra conform to each other's views. The narrator is very protective of Leeandra. That's a very pleasant and affectionate approach. But, how come she does not protect her when the dark figure arrives and almost kills her? That is a big mystery to me, and so is what happens afterwards at the end with the scenario changing into a dystopian one. The description u've put in the end specially reflects a true writer's potential. There are a few spelling mistakes here and there, but, we, the readers, conceive the meaning you are trying to convey through your remarkable writing anyway.

[Ashly Christen]

thank you so much for the review, im happy that it left you with questions, as it should, I plan to elaborate more on this sometime, happy you read, thank you :D

[Reeti]

you're welcome, Ashly. send me a nudge when you have elaborated on that certain point. i'm glad you find my review satisfactory. =)

[Ashly Christen]

:) will do hopefully sooner than later

[Everett DeValle]

A gripping story...I really enjoyed the bar scene...I felt like I was there...the ending was suspenseful and unexpected...a great job overall. :)

[Ashly Christen]

thank you!

[Everett DeValle]

You're welcome. :)

[Silhouette]

A lot of suspense and excitement...I enjoyed reading it.

[Ashly Christen]

thank you, :D

[Silhouette]

you're welcome :)

[Fabian G. Franklin]

You have a few editorial issues that a good proofreading might resolve. But I enjoyed the story as a whole. Keep writing. Peace and love, F.

[Ashly Christen]

ive never been too good at the editing part, just writing lol, thank you fabulous fab

[Fabian G. Franklin]

Like Kojak used to say, "Who loves ya baby?" (smile)

[Ashly Christen]

:P

[Jordan's Back]

This is a nice Story!

[Ashly Christen]

thank you so much for reading :D

[Jordan's Back]

No problem thanks for sharing :)

[Patrick Henry]

You two are certainly geared for a bit of mayhem!! I felt, at first, like my sister talking about my older sister Kim who died.... where they had those tiny bouts of jealousy and understanding that you couldn't get from most friendships. Then it turns into girl's night out, pretty clothes, gorgeous girls, laughing, having fun.... and then I'm surprised to start seeing what usually nightmares are about, happening all around you. It was like you two were destined to affect Armageddon or something. Do you remember those black ghost things that would hover over Harry Potter and try to suck out his breath? Even with the darkening skies above you, and chaos that is becoming more evident, I still picture "selfishly" these two girls looking gorgeous and giggling at parts, being that they are good friends and also have liquor in their bellies!! lol I love it, Ashly!! xoxo -Your Mark

[Ashly Christen]

Adriana?
and thank you for the review again, love reading them :D
my sister was the inspiration for this piece, and we are most def best friends in all ways and know how to have a good time lol
I love that you were my first reviewer on this piece, perhaps I will have more to add, as long as my hands keep up with my mind lol

WRITING IS LOVE!

[Patrick Henry]

That last line you wrote, is so much the way I think of my version of "writer's block". The idea, the paper, the random thoughts, and then there is the many many ways of the poems and stories going in all directions while it's getting written!! lol Sorry about the name, Adriana. I had the name on the brain for a while...... : ) xoxo -Mark

[Ashly Christen]

lol maybe ill have to use that name in something now :P

[Patrick Henry]

No no no!! lol She is someone I read everyday on here, so sometimes the name stays in my head THROUGHOUT the day. I've done the same with YOURS!! : ) I have a connection to the name: Ashly. I always wanted to do something crazy with an Ashly, and always did. The name: Adriana: Protects my intelligence in the way that the name itself connects me to thoughts of nature, love, lust, space, and music. I don't know why. Tomorrow it may change a bit. In your story, I noticed that I haven't heard the name "Leah" in soooo many years. My uncle's step-daughter is named Leah. When I was a kid, I didn't know who some of these people were. I just saw an awesome looking girl with crazy long hair that would swear a lot!! lol All different kinds of writings do various things..... and YOU do this on a regular basis to me, and I LOVE you for it. xoxo -Mark

[Ashly Christen]

lol ok then ill have to go have a read, hahaha always wanted to do something crazy with an ashly, hmmm, well if I come up with any ideas ill be sure to let you know, how do u envision an ashly? so happy to be an inspiration to u love