Sep
Christina Weir tore down the darkened corridors of Midtown Elementary, accidentally slamming into a wall of lockers briefly as she turned a corner. The clanging of the metal doors did little to cover the snarls and growls that followed close behind her. Her eyes darted around the greyed walls as she moved, desperately searching for a spot to hide from the beast that followed her. The school was empty now; with the cries and shouts of her peers gone, leaving nothing but an eerie sense of despair. The colourful posters lining the walls did nothing to stop the overall impression of drabness, with the lifeless banners depicting the school's mascot and emblem looking as useless as school often made her feel.
This wasn’t a comforting place for Christina, even before the additional fear she now had for her life.
Daring a glance backwards, her eyes widened once more at the sight of the creature’s shadow imprinted against the far wall behind her, moving ever closer. Her breathing increased rapidly as she fumbled at the door of a nearby classroom. Regardless of how much she pushed, the door remained locked. She scrambled to repeat this process at every door she came across, with each door bringing the 4th Grader closer to losing what little hope she still had.
Tears streamed down her face. She had to act fast. The creatures were getting closer.
Her eyes snapped to the sign stuck onto the next door, with her letting out a groan when she realised who it belonged to. Normally she’d detest entering Mr Derrickson’s science lab; the man terrified her. But now she was facing something even more terrifying. She burst towards it, the door handle turning with ease in her hand. Relief flooded over her, only to be washed away in a second as she caught sight of a shadowy presence in the corner of her eye.
Christina had barely enough time to slam the door shut before the shadows began to pound against it, attempting to knock the wood from its hinges. She wailed loudly as she held her body against the door with all the strength she could muster. The growling behind the door grew more ferocious. The door shook violently, pushing Christina down onto the floor amongst the room’s desks. And with its sole protector gone, it swung open.
The beast burst into the room, a shadowy mess of black smoke and fur. Resembling that of a large dog, the horned creature roared into the night, flashing rows of ashened teeth. Christina could do nothing but cry now. She wanted her mum. She wanted her dad.
The creature snarled and readied itself to pounce.
Her mind flashed to images of Wonder Woman and the costume doll of hers that she kept next to her bed. She wanted a hero.
As the demonic beast leapt into the air, a wave of bright blue fire flashed through the room. The flaming blade sliced through the animal, the shadowy mist that made up its body dispersing into the air of the classroom. The growl vanished, replaced by a calming silence.
Christina stared in awe at the woman that had appeared above her. The spiked armour that covered her arms and legs reflected a cold hue of blue from the sword that she held confidently at her side. She was almost menacing, with the facial expression under her head of blonde hair being that of pure anger and annoyance. The woman moved her head around the room, watching the remains of the creature disappear into nothingness, before turning her attention on the girl on the classroom floor. Moving down onto one knee, she moved towards Christina, her face completely changing into one of warmness as a reassuring smile began to spread across her face.
“Hello vhere.” Christina clung to every word as she spoke, taking her all in.
“Who… who are you?” the girl asked, her mouth agape.
“My name vis Magik. You must be Christina. Such a pretty name for a pretty girl.” The woman extended her arm down towards her. “Vant to get out of vere?”
Christina found herself calming down slightly as Magik spoke, a toothy smile escaping her lips. Taking her hand, the two rose to their feet. Yet before they could make a move, the ground began to shake around them, with the desks and shelves around the room vibrating wildly. Magik steadied herself with her spare arm, before turning to Christina who was now panicking once again.
“What’s… what’s happening?” She cried looking around in desperation. “This isn’t my school. It can’t be. Where are we?”
Magik leaned down once more and put a hand on her shoulder reassuringly.
“I promise you. Vit’ll all be alvight.” Giving Christina’s shoulder one last squeeze, she moved back up, before bringing her sword above her head.
Swinging dramatically, the swordswoman cut into the air. Another fury of flames seemed to flare from it as if by magic, it began to tear through the classroom as if actually carving a hole into the air around them. The duo watched as the spot where the sword stuck seemed to fizzle, with the room beginning to dissolve in a very similar manner to the creature from before. The furniture went first, fading away quickly, before the walls began to fall, shifting into mist.
The empty nothingness that revealed itself to them from outside the disappearing walls was the last thing that Christina had expected to see. Whiteness seemed to stretch in every direction around her as far as the eye could see as if she were gazing at an empty canvas. However, as she soon saw, the canvas wasn’t quite as empty as she had originally thought.
Black shadows rocketed around them. They mirrored that of the beast that had been chasing her for as long as she could remember, with the spectral animals snarling wildly as they propelled themselves through the air. Evident from the explosions of colour and darkness that fireworked around them, it was clear to see that the creatures were engaged in some kind of horrific battle, which painted the world around them. Christina clung to Magik’s hand as tightly as she could as the two found themselves floating carelessly in the nothingness, her tear-stained face taking it all in.
Motioning her sword around them, Magik finally began to explain.
“Vhis is all in your head, Christina.” She explained, looking down at the girl. “And you’re just having a nightmare.”
