Episode Six: "Sync"

Episode Six: "Sync"

They placed me in a cell furthest from the front entrance. A young woman laid on the bed in a fetal position with her back turned. I didn't speak to her. I didn't care to speak to her. By this point I held on through the grit of my teeth; the anger towards the situation kept me moving forward. But I questioned how much further forward I'd truly travel.

I sat at the wooden platform opposite from the girl, and hugged myself. A small window allowed just enough light through to keep the shielded room gloomy and gray. With the dark paint chipping and flaking from the walls, my mood dampened further into depression, anxiety, anger.

Minutes seemed like hours, and hours days before the girl decided to shift.

"It goes by faster if you sleep." She said.

The second sun began its subtle decline into darkness when the stranger began conversing.

"I can't sleep at the moment." I said with my head pressed against the hard wall. "I'll sleep when the Sun settles."

"You won't have much of a choice. When it's gone, it's pure darkness in these cold rooms."

"There's not even a light in the halls?"

She rustled in the bed, and turned to face me. "There's nothing. It's so dark that I thought I had went blind on my first night here."

I worried.

"What's your name?"

I hesitated before answering, and I found it odd that she didn't already know. My blue hair gave everything away. "I'm Serenity Avaloure�""

"You're Serenity." Her voice became clearer. "But you're human. You shouldn't be here."

"My sister's husband is to blame. I'm suffering from his ill actions."

"Dear, I'm very sorry."

I expected something rough to emerge from the corner, a woman with an attitude full of contradictions, and built to destroy whatever laid in her path. Someone like Gairee. But this young woman tricked me as kind and gentle, or either her acting skills were beyond convincing.

"Who are you and why are you here?" I asked. "You don't strike me as someone who committed an unforgiving crime."

She rose up, and raked her greasy tangled hair from her face. "I'm Calice. And I'm here for warning everyone."

I sat in dumbfounded thought. "I don't understand. Warning people of what?"

"I can see everything that happens in my life. I see every event take place like it's happening right now. I see it all. As far as I'm concerned, I'll never die either because time isn't linear for me. It's more like a giant bubble weaved together by story-lines and events. Only I stand at the center of my own personal bubble, and I can see and visit every part of my life as if it were all happening at once."

I swallowed, and hugged myself. "That sounds like a curse. It sounds absolutely horrible. Why would you want to live everything at once?"

"I didn't choose this." She explained with little emotion. "Because I'd much rather live life as blind as this cell, waiting for tomorrow's light to come. But I already know what's going to happen, and it's truly disturbing. I'm terrified that I'll forever be trapped in this time."

"I don't wish to know what happens tomorrow. My past is terrible enough, so my future can't be that amazing either."

"Life is entirely random. Today may be beautiful, tomorrow becomes the mundane, and a week from now could be hell. There are no patterns to this story. I'd know because I see life as if you read words on a piece of paper."

"I understand, and I'm sorry you have to endure this gift."

The light faded as the night rolled on, and eventually our words were simply sounds echoing into nothingness. And Calice proved right, I questioned not only my sight but my sanity as well. Calice told me about her family and friends, the hardships she's endured. The beautiful part of her story was that she could remember every single detail as if she were living it at that very moment in time. Like a story in a book, she read to me days that shouldn't be remembered. Days that were so into the ordinary that I'd almost call her a liar.

"You never told me why they have you here." I said.

"I warned people."

"You told me that. What did you want them about?"

"I warned them about their ending, which is also my ending, and I was arrested for such. They believe that telling the future alters the future, but I've tried telling them that everything that happens has already happened and it will happen again the same way. I cannot alter the future, and I didn't quite understand that until it was too late. I was meant to be here sitting in this cell. You were meant to be talking to me now. We've already had this conversation infinite times.

"It's quite disturbing, really." She finished with low volume.

"I'm not too sure how I feel about that." I said.

"It's okay. It's difficult to understand. I can see it, but I'll never be able to put it in words. Just like how I'll never be able to understand your abilities."

"I don't have any abilities. I'm Human."

"You do. You mustn't know it yet. I've seen you, or I will see you. I thought you already knew. It's quite obvious, isn't it?"

"Excuse me?" My heart thumped in my ears, and my chest rose as I inhaled. "I can do nothing. I am nothing. I�""

"You have a greater meaning to history than you think. I don't know much more than that because I cannot see past my own demise, but what I do know is that people will love you and hate you for the things you can do."

"You told me earlier than you knew I was Human. I don't understand."

"I called you by your title. I didn't call you for what you are."

I paused and breathed in the darkness. "I don't know what to say."

"Say nothing."

-----

A vast body of water laid before me. The waves washed over the lace of my gown as my bare feet sunk into the sand. It called me as if by my name.

"Ayva." A man who's voice I knew spoke to me. "Ayva, please come back."

I refused to look the man in the eyes, but I said to him "I'm not coming back. I'm leaving this land for good."

"We need you here. Phayton needs you. I need you."

The crest of the waves broke against my knees, and the dampness spread up my dress. My silky blue hair rolled in the wind, and it was the wind that I longed for. It's touch against my skin was out of place as I looked hazily into the horizon.

"Phayton didn't need me. Phayton needed Ray, and the wind will never be the same again." A salty drop of water fell into the corner of my lips. I tasted it.

"The wind may never be the same again, but we still need to sea. The sea lives."

"The sea is dying now." I said. "Her waves are weaker without the wind. She needs it."

"I need the sea." He whispered over my shoulder. "I've needed her since the day I first laid eyes on her."

His hand fell on my arm. I reached for it, and pulled it away. "If it's the sea you want�"" I backed away from him, my skirt dirtying as I drug it across the sand. "�"then there is the sea. We've shared words before, Drake. Ray was murdered, and I've sworn to kill Haxrin. I loved Ray. I loved him, not you, and I will not apologize for that again."

"You cannot kill Haxrin." He pleaded with me. "He will come back again and again."

Through my hardened teeth, I wept. "Then at least I'll feel better if I kill him this one time. And when he comes back, I'll do it again."

-----

I woke to a pair of hands shaking my shoulders. "Serenity, get up. We're getting out of here."

Night continued to sit on us, and I cried out as I reached to grab the stranger. He slapped his hand across my mouth. "Serenity, it's Kaze. It's me. Don't make a sound." He whispered.

"Kaze, what are you doing? They'll arrest you."

"They won't. Get up. Come on." He spoked quickly.

He took my hand as the hallway began to fill with a flickering light. Voices came with the light.

Kaze cursed. "Lay back down, and throw the sheets over the sides." He demanded.

He climbed under the bed and I did as he instructed.

A guard hollered down the hallway. "This cell door was left open."

"Check into it." Another voice called.

The cell lit up as the guard eased himself into the chamber. He placed the torch in the holder against the wall. "Who opened the door?" He asked.

I didn't flinch. I kept my eyes opened beneath the sheet and observed his silhouette step around the cell. Water sloshed from under his boots. Calice too stood silently still.

"I need some answers from one of you. Wake up and stand." He commanded.

A swish of water sounded, and the guard fell from still-standing onto his backside. Calice never flinched as Kaze slid out from under the bed, and struck the man across the jaw. The guard reached to grab Kaze's neck, and just as the guards skin touched Kaze's, Kaze struck him one last time. His arm fell limp with a splash.

Kaze waved his hand at me urging me to follow him. I came to my feet, and stepped in the water. At least an inch covered the floor.

Kaze took but a quick glance down the hallway, grabbed the torch on the wall, and dropped it on the ground. It sizzled and steamed out. Darkness fell upon us again.

Kaze grabbed my hand. "Don't let go of me." He made known as he pulled into into the dark hall.

The other prisoners began to stir. Some of them yelled out curses, and various other complaints. As we turned, a light shone at the end of hall. He pressed the back of my hand against the wall, and I followed his lead as I came flat against it.

"What happened to my torch?" A guard shouted.

Kaze pulled me as we ran. Our footsteps echoed down the corridor, and easily gave us away.

"Someone's escaped!" The guard called.

We turned. We turned again. And it reached a point when I no longer knew if we turned or not. And within seconds I heard a door creek open. Light poured from the cracks.

"They're just outside." He breathed his words more faint than a whisper.

I listened to a swift rush of air as the guards screamed out, and the light around the rim of the door vanished.

We ran into the outside. My legs grew numb with adrenaline. Kaze released me, and I suddenly froze. I listened to him stagger and cry out in pain.

"You're going to have to jump the fence." He commanded. "Jump it now."

I grabbed the top of the fence, and though I knew what felt like nails cut into the palms of my hands, the adrenaline kept me rushed and care-free. I swung my body high enough to prevent my thighs from rubbing against it, and I struck the earth like a sack of coins.

Kaze grabbed my hand. "Run."