The Moments Between

by Christina J Thompson

  The pocketwatch was clutched tightly in her hand, and she glanced down at its face. Its hand hovered a mere hair before the final number, and she could almost hear the clockwork inside the shiny case wheeze and gasp with its final breath. A sense of urgency rushed through her veins, and she knew she had no choice. She placed her foot on the first step.

  She blinked, and now she was standing on the bridge, staring down at the gaping maw of a ravine that lay miles below her. Eli stood before her, his eyes full of pain.

  “Take my hand, Laice,” he said, reaching for her. “Your time has run out.”

  “She’s mine!”

  Her angel stood behind her, its eyes full of rage as it screamed.

  “SHE’S MINE!”

  Eli ignored it, his hand still outstretched.

  “Take my hand,” he repeated. “Hurry, Laice, there is no other way.”

  TOCK!

  The tiny sound was barely audible, but it resonated through every fiber of her being. She glanced down at the watch just in time to see the hand move to zero, and a moment later a low rumble rose up from the earth. She looked up in wide-eyed fear as the bridge started shaking, the rock fracturing into pieces beneath her feet.

  Eli’s eyes filled with tears. The bridge began to crumble, and her stomach leaped into her throat as the structure gave way with a final, ear-piercing crack…

  Laice snapped awake, her eyes wide as she lay in bed, frozen in place. She blinked in the darkness, too afraid to move, then recognition slowly set in. The ceiling twinkled with stars; she was still in the room, she was still safe. Her heart pounded in her ears and her chest heaved as she fought to control the fear that lingered in her mind, and she forced herself to take a slow, deep breath.

  Where was her angel?

  She rolled onto her side, only to feel an ice-cold shiver of terror flood her body.

  A pale, ghoulish face peeked over the edge of her bed, hovering in place as it stared at her. Its skin wrinkled as its mouth opened in a haunting grin, its milky, white eyes shining bright in the dark, and her mouth went dry as her breath caught in her throat.

  It sprang up from the floor, leaping into the air and pouncing on her.

  “Sleep, my love!” it crooned, pinning her down, and her skin crawled with horror as recognized the voice of her angel. “Just sleeeeeeep!”

  The beautiful robe it had worn was now a moth-eaten cloak of gray rags, and a swollen, distended belly protruded from beneath the sheer, frayed cloth.

  She managed to draw a breath and opened her mouth to scream, but it clamped its slimy hand over her face.

  “Shhhh,” it whispered, its foul breath hot against her cheek.

  Laice thrashed wildly, her cries muffled under the creature’s hand. It was strong, and it pressed its body against hers, forcing her motionless beneath its weight.

  With its spindly arms still holding her down, the creature lifted its body off of her and reared its head back, its throat and belly convulsing. It began to gag and cough, and a shuddering spasm travelled up the creature’s body, rolling through its torso until it reached its mouth.

  It threw its head forward, its stomach heaving as a stream of wriggling maggots spewed out from between its lips, drenching her face and chest. She screamed, bucking her body in an attempt to escape as the writhing larvae spread out across her skin.

  The creature lay back down on top of her, rubbing itself against her as if bathing in the filth. The worms began to devour her flesh, turning it into a putrid soup of dissolving liquid, and the creature leaned down to suck the slurry into its gaping maw.

  “You’ll never leave,” the simpering voice promised, gulping hungrily as her skin began to slough away. Its voice lowered into a menacing growl. “You belong to ME!”

  Bile rose up in her throat, and tears streamed down her cheeks as her body burned with pain.

  Then, the creature froze.

  She saw a sudden fear appear in its eyes and its head snapped around. Laice followed its gaze as it searched the darkened room for the presence she could now feel.

  A figure stepped out of the shadows, and she cried out with desperation as a flash of recognition pierced through the fog that had overtaken her mind.

  It was Eli.

  The expression on his face was dangerous, and a fearful awe seized her heart at the sight of the severity in his eyes. He slowly began raising his hand, but the creature didn’t wait for him to finish.

  It let out a shriek of fury and terror, the sound exploding through the room and destroying everything in its path. Then, with one final screech, the monster fled, evaporating into thin air along with its vomit.

  Laice could feel muscle and skin rush back into place to fill the voids that had been eaten away, and the haze of confusion that had been woven by the angel’s words instantly lifted from her mind. Bolting upright, she screamed as she gasped for breath, her eyes quickly surveying the room. There was no sign of the creature and Eli was gone; she was alone.

  The beautiful furnishings in the room had turned to ash in the wake of the creature’s cry, and the mirror had shattered into pieces. The painting of the sky had withered and cracked, leaving no trace of the magic it had held when she had first seen it, and the stone walls lined with their magnificent pillars were crumbling.

  The room shook as it began to collapse, and she struggled to her feet. As she stood, the canopy bed with its torn, satin curtains suddenly ignited, and she jumped back as it became a raging inferno of flame. It burned for just a moment, then the fireball extinguished itself, leaving nothing but a pile of black soot in its place.

  Laice felt movement against her skin, and she looked down to see the nightdress vanish before her eyes, leaving her dressed in her old clothes. She felt something hard in the pocket of her trousers, and she reached for it, her heart racing.

  Four.

  The watch’s hand moved slightly, finishing its downturn and beginning its ascension, and her chest began to ache. She had been a fool, taken in by the sweet, drunken words of a monster in disguise, and she had lost even more time.

  The floor began to quake, and what little support was left in the pillars surrendered to the weight of the fractured arches above. Laice glanced up fearfully as the ceiling started to fall, then her eyes darted around the room. The windows and doors had become mountains of rubble, their twisted, wrought-iron frames and splintered glass now buried beneath the falling walls that blocked her in.

  There was nowhere to run.

  Hopelessness washed over her as realization sank in, and she fought the urge to cry.

  “Please,” she whispered to the disintegrating room. “Let me go.”

  The polished stone beneath her lurched, and Laice screamed, instantly shielding her head with her arms as the ceiling caved in above her and the floor buckled under her feet. She stared up in horror as the heavy arches plummeted towards her, then her stomach filled with butterflies as the floor gave way, dropping her into the nameless depths below.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Laice held her breath, bracing for impact as each moment that ticked by felt like a lifetime. When she couldn’t bear it any longer, she finally dared to take a peek, then her eyes opened wide as she glanced around in bewilderment. She wasn’t falling; she was standing on solid rock at the edge of a shadowed, desolate valley.

  She slowly turned, taking in her surroundings. From her vantage point, the valley appeared to be a bleak wasteland of jagged rock cut through with dozens of twisted, winding trails, each seeming to lead in the same direction. A cloud of darkness hovered above her, giving the illusion of a low-hanging ceiling that seemed to smother her with its weight. Cold, stagnant wind howled and whistled its way through the emptiness before hitting her with force, and she set her shoulder against it.

  As she leaned into the powerful gusts, she felt her foot slip. Her stomach leaped into her throat as she teetered on the edge, her arms flailing as she tried to regain her balance. It was no use, and she braced herself
as she pitched forward, tumbling the short distance down the steep, rocky incline into the valley below.

  Landing in a heap, Laice winced as she sat up, clenching her teeth as she waited for her cuts and bruises to heal. She stood to her feet a few moments later, sighing with frustration as she looked around. There was no way back up, and she knew she had no choice but to go through the seemingly-endless paths.

  A bitter loneliness rose up in her heart as she stepped forward, and she swallowed hard, instantly feeling naked and exposed. Where was Eli? And what had become of Seph?

  The wind smelled cold and lifeless; each breath was a struggle, as if the air itself was not meant for the living and refused to be drawn into her lungs. The uneven, rough terrain was difficult to navigate in her bare feet, and she didn’t make very good time, pausing often to let the bleeding cuts on her feet heal before continuing on her way.

  As Laice made her way farther along the path, she found herself closed in by walls of rock that formed corridors carved into the valley’s floor. Her instincts bristled with dread, and her heartbeat thumped wildly beneath the bruise on her throat, pulsing with such force that she was sure her skin would burst from the pressure.

  Each noise she made sent out hollow echoes that sounded in the emptiness, only to come racing back in twisted and contorted whispers that tried to convince her she wasn’t alone. The dim, yellow haze that hung over the valley cast shadows that danced back and forth across her path, their fleeting, slender figures adding to the eerie foreboding of the place.

  She was afraid.

  Every so often, she was faced with a fork in the trail, each leading off into shadowed darkness. Each time, without fail, she moved to the left, but as time passed she began to feel more and more unsure every time the path split. She had been walking for what seemed like forever, and she felt like she should have already reached the other side of the valley.

  The watch read half past three, and Laice furrowed her brow as she snapped the gold case shut. It didn’t feel right, she could have sworn that she had been wandering the endless paths for much longer than that. Her sigh of frustration floated away, disappearing down the trails and echoing back to her in a haunting cry, and she cringed as she wiped cold sweat from her forehead.

  She took a few more steps, then stopped at another fork in the path. As she stood there, contemplating, she noticed that one of the many walls that surrounded her had crumbled, leaving a pile of boulders in its place. It was tall, just tall enough.

  The short climb was easy, and Laice reached the top of the pile in only a few moments, her arms outstretched for balance as she straightened. Her heart sank as she gazed about, trying to get her bearings; she was in the middle of the valley, nowhere near the other side. The endless maze before her had taken on a tighter pattern than when she had seen it from the valley’s edge; it looked like a spiral now rather than random trails, each ring constricting in on itself in a left-handed twist. In the very center, there appeared to be a small clearing carved into the rock, and somehow she knew that’s where she needed to go.

  Leaping to the ground, Laice began walking.

  “Keep to the left,” she whispered, her voice trembling.

  The sound of each footstep seemed to transform into a sharp wail of despair, plaguing her with hopelessness as she navigated through the many twists and turns. Her clenched teeth grated in her ears as she made her way forward, each moment feeling like an eternity, until she finally caught sight of where the path opened up.

  Letting out a cry, Laice began to sprint, ignoring the pain in her feet as she covered the short distance that remained in bounding leaps. Then, as she entered the rock clearing, she suddenly stopped. Something else had caught her attention.

  Just to her right, where the wall split into another path, was a tiny carving of the sun.

  Her heart raced as she stared it, remembering the first carving she had seen. This one was much smaller, but its shape burned with the same orange light as the other had. Unable to resist, she slowly stepped forward and reached out her hand, instantly finding herself on the same grassy, sunlit hillside as before.

  “Shhhh!”

  Amy lifted a finger to her lips, her soft brown eyes narrowing with caution.

  “But Amy―”

  “He’s sleeping! Hush!”

  Amy gestured to the ground in front of her feet, and Laice’s heart began to burn with a sudden anxiety. Her view was blocked, and she slowly edged forward, her breath disappearing from her lungs…

  Laice’s mind snapped back, leaving her staring at the tiny carving as its light faded. It was no different than the last time, and her heart wrenched with sorrow. Something was missing, one tiny little detail, one tiny piece of a memory that would somehow make her understand. Crestfallen, she turned away, resigning herself to the overwhelming sense of helplessness that weighed on her shoulders, when she caught a glimmer of light just a little further down the path.

  She ran towards it without a second thought, hope swelling in her chest when she saw that it was, indeed, another carving. She reached for it, feeling her body stiffen as the images filled her mind once again.

  The corner of a white blanket came into view, nestled amid the grayish wildflowers, and her body instantly began to ache with desperation. With a gasp, Laice darted forward, unable to bear another moment, but Amy stopped her.

  “He’s not there.”

  Laice’s eyes filled with tears of confusion and heartbreak as she pushed past, only to see an empty blanket spread out over the grass.

  “Who, Amy? Who was it?”

  Laice’s mind returned to the shadowed path, frustration instantly seizing hold of her heart. A wave of determination flooded through her veins a moment later, and she set her jaw as her eyes gleamed with sudden resolve. There had to be more.

  Breaking into a jog, she began making her way farther down the path, her eyes darting back and forth.

  It wasn’t long before she found what she was looking for.

  She stared at the blanket, tears spilling down her cheeks.

  “Who, Amy? Who was it?”

  “You don’t remember him,” Amy breathed, her face crumpling with contempt. “Of course you don’t.”

  “Tell me!” Laice cried. “Please, I need to know!”

  She lunged forward, nearly tripping as she reached for the next carving.

  “You don’t deserve to know!” Amy spat, her eyes narrowing with hatred. “He’s better off without you!”

  The sky filled with black clouds, sending a shadow racing over the grassy hillside.

  “Please, Amy. I’m begging you, I don’t remember! Please, help me!”

  The grass began to wither as darkness seeped into the ground, strangling the flowers until their colors burst and drained into the earth like blood.

  “I’ll never forgive you,” Amy hissed, her face full of rage. “Never.”

  Anguish filled Laice’s heart at the pain she could hear in those words, and she fell to her knees as Amy turned her back and began walking away.

  “What did I do?” Laice wailed, her hands outstretched in pleading. “Please, Amy, don’t leave me!”

  Laice sank to her knees, sobbing uncontrollably. She glanced up through bleary eyes, casting about for another carving, only to see a solid wall of rock looming up before her, blocking her path. She had reached a dead end.

  She replayed the vision in her mind, trying to make sense of it, but her memories were trapped, lost in a place she couldn’t find.

  Who was Amy, and why was she so angry? And who was he?

  “Why can’t I remember?” she cried, rocking back and forth as she clutched at her hair. “Why?”

  Hear me, and you will remember.

  Laice’s head snapped forward as the words echoed in her heart, her tears instantly drying up.

  Eli.

  It seemed like forever since she had last thought of him, too lost in her pursuit, and now her fingers trembled with fear as she withdrew th
e watch. Holding her breath, she forced herself to look at its face.

  Three.

  Relief mingled with anxiety; she had worried that it would have been much longer, but she had lost time nonetheless. Laice struggled to her feet as she tried to focus, quickly realizing that she hadn’t paid any attention to which way she had come. In her frenzy, she had thought there had only been one path, but now, as she prepared to retrace her steps, she was faced with two.

  “The suns,” she whispered. She had followed them in, so she could follow them back out.

  As quickly as she could, Laice began following the trail of dead carvings. There were dozens of them, many more than she remembered, and for a moment, she couldn’t help wondering if she was going the right way.

  “It has to be,” she reasoned aloud, trying to reassure herself as she passed yet another etching, but she couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling that roiled in her stomach. She slowed, paying careful attention each time the path split, and each time, she took the path marked with a carving.

  The rock clearing was nowhere to be found, and Laice had to fight to keep herself calm. It was taking too long, and she knew something wasn’t right. The large stones that had littered the path had turned into a fine blanket of razor-sharp sand that sliced her feet to the bone. Cold fingers of panic began sinking themselves deep into her heart, and she felt tears sting her eyes despite her efforts to hold them back. She began to run.

  She almost didn’t notice the pain from her bleeding feet as she raced through the winding trails, too terrified to focus on anything beyond finding her way out. She came to another fork in the path, then another and another, until finally she stopped. Gasping for breath, her chest heaved from exertion. She was lost.

  The walls that closed her in were much taller now, too tall for her to climb to get her bearings. The watch’s hand was well on its way to half past two; she was running out of time.

  Sobs of helplessness burned in her throat as she buried her face in her hands, trying to gather her thoughts, and she shook her head despondently. There was no hope.