There was a tower which had some shops or bookstores in. And under the tower, there was a gloomy basement. People fought there or committed some crimes. One day, a kid appeared in the basement without any alerts.
She was totally alone in the beginning, but after a few minutes, she heard some noises. It was like someone or something was dragged forward on the floor. The scary feeling climbed on her back. She was shivering but calm. She didn’t know what to do but she knew it was dangerous to be there, so she got up from the floor and started to run upstairs.
It was bright up there in contrast to the basement. She dashed through the bookstores, shops, and some restaurants. Someone or something was chasing her…
Her heart beat fast and she breathed heavily... She hoped that thing had stopped chasing after her.
While she was resting, someone came, grabbed her left arm, and led her through a door secretly hiding in the back of the bookstore. She was too confused and shocked to refuse, but she saw some guys parked their motorcycles three or four hundred meters away from the door.
“Is that thing coming to me again?” She worried. However, the person leading her brought her to open ground and they finally stopped running. That was when the little girl finally got to see the person. He was tall and dark. His eyes were shining. He wore a black cape with some stars on it. The guy walked away and came back in a minute with a brown cape in his hand. He gave it to her. She took it and was confused.
“Wear this, so you can fly.” The guy said.
So the girl wore it. Then she recalled what she saw.
“I saw there were people parking their motorcycles in front of the door! Is that...?”
The guy looked worried, but after a few minutes of consideration, he smiled and patted her head and said, “Don’t worry. They are on our side.” The girl felt a huge sense of relief. She cried loudly but she finally didn’t have to worry that she would be killed anymore.
After staying there for a few days, the girl knew that the guy was called Frank and most of the situation in that strange but fascinating world. There were a bunch of people living in fear because of a terrible dark creature, krill. They would try to take away people’s lights. And without lights, the people, also called “the children of the light”, couldn’t fly any more until they got their lights back.
“Mary, do you want to go somewhere with me?” Frank named the girl a few days later after she settled down and asked her while she was daydreaming under the gray sky.
She nodded and held the guy’s hand. They flew together and because they held each other’s hand, they could fly far. The guy landed on the edge of their place. There was grass, a black horrifying cave, and a dried river. The girl stood far away from the cave. Somehow, she thought something terrible would come out of that. The guy saw but said nothing. He pointed to a kind of plant. It was withered.
“Why do you show me this? Is this plant dead?” Mary asked innocently.
Frank shook his head and said, “It’s not dead, just need some water.”
Mary tried to find some water nearby but in vain. She looked disappointed.
“Don’t be disappointed; one day, it will grow beautifully just like it used to be.” That was the first time Mary saw Frank smiling.
“Alright, it’s time to leave now.” Frank offered his hand and was ready to bring her back.
Mary was too concentrated to notice his hand. After Frank coughed, she held his hand. But before they flew into the sky, she saw something, or someone appeared. It was dark smoke first, and then it gradually had a shape, a human’s shape. It was in a wink time. That smoke turned out to be a man with black and crooked horns. His eyes were bloody red but some gold surrounded the eyes. She looked into his eyes and felt coldness and fear. And suddenly, the man disappeared. She could never forget what she saw that day.
After the day, Mary went to some parties and tried to make herself busy, but every night the scene replayed in her dreams.
A few days passed. It was the day to welcome the new people. Mary dressed her up with a new cape given by Frank. Frank showed her around as usual, and he even encouraged her to give a new boy a gift. Mary didn’t know what gift is appropriate, so she gave the most important and valuable thing that she can prepare, a light. The boy absorbed the light and it became a star on his cape. Mary was so happy that she could not stop smiling at the new boy that day. But something happened. The krills attacked there. No one knew why. After several days’ searching, the chief finally said it was the boy. The boy was disguised by a black spirit. Everyone was so shocked, and Mary blamed herself and thought she could never believe others anymore.
Those days were gloomy. No one laughed, played around, or played the music. Mary refused to do anything, too. Frank was so worried about her, so once again, he took her to the edge. In the beginning, Mary refused because of the boy and the man she saw there, but seeing Frank’s worry spreading in his bright eyes, she couldn’t refuse anymore.
They flew there and Mary wanted to know if her efforts would work, so she squashed down and pointed the plant with her second finger. A sparkle of light appeared gradually, and it flowed into the plant. The plant started to grow. The leaves were stretching out and it seemed the bud was growing... Suddenly, a flow of light shot into the sky, the sky was more and more clear. The blue sky came back. The bud continued to grow and finally bloom.
Mary was so excited that she couldn’t wait to show Frank the flower. But when she searched for him, she saw him smiling with comfort and pride. At that moment, she understood. Frank brought her back because she could bring back the beautiful sky. Mary couldn’t help but give Frank a big hug.
The days after the sky became clear, the children and the older teens enjoyed the good weather and the beauty of nature. Frank even built some rooms for everyone to change their clothes.
Mary was very happy because everyone welcomed her wherever she went. She was like a goddess. She brought back Sun and the water. No one would think that something terrible was going to occur.
Frank and Mary went to the edge more often. It was like their secret spot. They never brought anyone there or even thought about that. They would take a walk there or eat there. It was a little paradise to them.
However, the smoke appeared again. The black man with two crooked horns appeared like smoke. Mary was too shocked to move. Frank looked at her curiously in the first place, but after he saw the man. He realized. That man chose to be a krill.
Frank held Mary’s hand and tried to bring her back, but she shook her head. She would burst into tears any minute. She was scared and terrified, but she was curious about the man as well. She wanted to know more about him. Who is he? Why does he choose to be a krill?
As soon as the man appeared, Frank heard something far from their home. He couldn’t wait anymore. He grabbed Mary’s hand and flew toward home. Something strange happened.
The sky was still clear and blue. The breeze still blew. What was it? Everyone was missing.
Then, Frank heard something chukkle nukkle. Someone or something tapped. Frank walked closer to the little rooms. There was one empty room. He told her to stay inside and wait for him. Mary was scared, but she didn’t want to leave him alone outside. However, Frank insisted. Mary finally gave in when she saw the persistence in Frank’s eyes. She shivered inside, but she was too curious so she tried to glimpse outside. However, every time she was stopped by a weird chukkle-nukkle sound.
Boom! Something looked inside the room. Mary looked up with fear. That was a pair of huge eyes. The eyes were white and full of sorrow.
Mary was petrified so she couldn’t make any sounds although she had screamed in her mind. She covered her mouth with her hands, and tears were in her eyes without falling. She wouldn’t imagine what happened outside. The eyes looked at her for a while and disappeared suddenly.
After several minutes, Mary finally gathered herself up and bore to open the door. She opened the door cautiously. Making sure there was no one, she walked out and looked around.
The grass was missing. Only did the barren ground leave. The sky was still blue. And there was smoke rising from a bonfire. But there was NO Frank.
Where was HIM? The fear captured Mary. She couldn’t help but cry. Frank was who makes her strong and a bit brave. She couldn’t bear anything bad happening to him. She flew to the edge, but it was in vain. She couldn’t find him anywhere. It was like Frank had never existed.
Since Mary started to have memories, she had been timid. Only with Frank, she could try to be brave to talk or play with others. But no matter how much fun she had with other friends, she loved to be with Frank more.
After Frank was missing, she didn’t know what to do in the beginning. She always had the thought in her mind which is to find Frank, but she doubted herself if she could make it. She sat on the ground, walked around, or lay on the ground. None of these could let her make the decision.
Thinking how much Frank did for her, Mary finally stopped hesitating. She wanted to pay back Frank’s care and kindness. She stood up and tried to pull herself together. Now, it was time to rescue Frank.
Mary walked into the endless cave on the edge. For many days, she couldn’t bear to have the thought of walking in, but now, she needed to do this alone.
The thunder was roaring and the lightning was striking. All of these made Mary terrified, but the voice inside her head kept encouraging her to move one more step.
“One more step, and you’ll be much closer to Frank. Hang in there.”
Something was approaching. Mary hid behind a tremendous rock. That was a krill. She peeked carefully so that the krill wouldn’t find her.
After the krill left, Mary continued her journey. The rocks kept rolling down and the fragments of the rock were raining down. Mary must be extremely careful so that she wouldn’t lose any precious lights.
Finally, with a weird krill’s guard, Mary arrived at the gate towards where Frank was. She knew something was following her all the time, so she turned around and bowed. She wanted to say thank you directly, but there were no clues if the weird krill was there. She opened the gate and the path spread in front of her was not smooth at all. It was full of huge rocks and little sharp fragments of stones. She managed to pass it carefully.
The thunder was roaring again, but this time, there wasn’t any lightning. Instead, the larva was pouring down as if there was a raining larva. Mary hid behind a huge rock again. Wait, what was that?
A little boy was there in the larva rain. Mary stared at him. Why was he there? He would die there. Mary couldn’t help but run to him. Relieved but shocked was Mary. The boy was a statue. Mary’s cape was shining. She prayed for him and gave him a light. And then, she looked around. There were plenty of statues. She struggled with each of them and tried to give each one a light. On her way to every statue, she kept hit by the larva rain and little stones. However, she finally reached the gate at the end of the path at last.
She would die here. Mary knew that, but she had to come and try. With last hope, she kneeled down and prayed. “Please, let me see Frank again.”
Something happened. The gate opened and an eye-blinding light leaked out. Mary walked into the gate as if the light summoned her.
There were so many miraculous creatures, the mantas, lightseekers, and pure white birds. Here must be paradise. She was so relieved that she fell asleep.
“Wake up… Wake up…” Someone was talking to her.
Mary tried her best to open her eyes. That was Frank. She ran towards him and gave him a big hug.
“Where have you been? I’ve been so worried.” Mary cried and said.
“Sorry…” Frank apologized and held her hand.
They were reborn and went home together, but there was something they needed to figure out in the future.
What is the something?! Part two when?? O.O!