by J Lynne
“She's the apple?” Alexis searched the room for the apple.
Lilia held her hand up and the apple appeared. “Yes.” She handed it to Alexis. “She can bring everyone back and even return the world to the way it was. Don't you want your mother back?”
“I do, but if I bite this apple, I'll die. It's evil, it's killed.” Alexis examined the apple.
“I promise you. You won't die.”
Alexis took a deep breath and fought away the warnings from her mother echoing in her head. She wanted to see her mother again. Wanted to see, feel, and smell her again. Raising the apple to her mouth, she paused. “Are you real?” Alexis asked Lilia.
“My mother has kept me alive all this time. I've been inside the apple with her. She preserved my body.”
“Why hasn't anyone seen you before now?”
“You're the last human on this earth. You can't reproduce, can't create another in our family line.”
“That makes no sense.” Alexis lowered the apple. “You're a child. You couldn't have had children.”
“I had a brother once. My father left us after mother started trying to treat women. He said it wasn't her place and that those women should go to a doctor. Only men could make decisions like that, he said, so he took my brother and left my mother and I behind.” Lilia raised the apple back to Alexis's mouth. “Please. Only you can save the world.”
Alexis closed her eyes and searched for an answer. Should she take a bite and ignore the years of her mother warning her about the evils of this apple? If she didn't, she'd be alone forever or haunted by this being. Maybe death was her only escape. She took a deep breath and a bite of the apple. She felt herself falling and opened her eyes to see a thick mist surrounding her. Her legs flailed underneath her, searching for solid ground but never finding any. The air around her was stale and old. Alexis found a small window in the mist and looked out. She saw the bathroom and Lilia looking back at her. A woman came into view and stood behind Lilia. She reached down and Alexis felt herself rising up. The woman looked just like the picture from the book the old man showed her.
“Don't worry. You'll be safe inside the apple.” The Black Witch smiled at Alexis.
The End
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