Page 14 of The Stars

Her vision blurred as everything began to spin, the world around her becoming a kaleidoscope of lights and shadows. Her body felt weightless, as though it was unraveling, disintegrating. Her heart raced, panic setting in with a ferocity she had never experienced before.

Why? Why was this happening?

Her thoughts clashed together, wild and frantic. Is this what happened to Dante? she wondered, the thought slicing through the chaos. Is this what he felt?

Then, as quickly as it had begun, it all stopped. The spinning, the electricity, the sensation of being torn apart—it all vanished. The world fell silent.

Amy stood still, gasping for breath, her heart hammering in her chest. Slowly, cautiously, she opened her eyes. The darkness around her was thick and unnerving, an oppressive void that swallowed everything. She was in the same spot in the Anderson field above the silo as before—or so it seemed—but now, she was alone.

The clouds had blocked out the stars and moonlight, causing her to second-guess everything.

Confusion twisted her stomach into knots. She turned in slow, bewildered circles, calling out desperately. “Joe? This isn’t funny,” she yelled, her voice trembling with a mix of fear and anger. “Come on, where are you?”

But there was no answer. No laughter, no teasing voices from her friends hiding in the grass. The silence pressed in on her, thick and eerie, settling over her like a suffocating blanket.

Realizing her friends weren’t there, Amy began walking back across the darkened field, the cold prickle of unease growing stronger with every step. The tall grass tugged at her legs, and she kept stumbling, her feet catching on unseen roots and rocks. The clouds blocked what little moonlight there was, barely illuminating her path.

“How did I ever think this was fun?” she muttered bitterly to herself, remembering the reckless nights she’d spent sneaking out here with friends in high school. Back then, the silo had been a playground for their drunken antics, a place to get high and let go. Now, it felt like a graveyard.

Her frustration morphed into outright anger. What kind of sick joke was this? How had they done it? She couldn’t wrap her head around what had happened, the bizarre sensation of being torn apart, the disappearance of everyone she knew. Not to mention the dragon, the dog, and the flying.

As she approached the place where Michael and Xtina’s house should have been, her steps faltered. She stopped dead in her tracks.

Where the massive house once stood, there was... nothing. No house, no lights, no familiar structure. Just an empty, gaping hole where the home had once been.

Amy blinked, her legs suddenly weak beneath her. Her knees buckled, and she slid to the ground, staring in disbelief. “No... no, this can’t be right,” she whispered, her voice cracking. Panic surged up, hot and fast, clawing at her chest. “Joe! Anyone!” she screamed, her voice breaking into huge, heaving sobs.

The night remained silent.

Her breath came in short gasps as she looked around, trying to make sense of it. The air was warmer, unnervingly so. It had been a cool, crisp night—she remembered the breeze biting at her skin—but now it felt... wrong. Warm. Hot, even.

Then an odd light shone down on her.

Was that the sun coming up already?

She glanced towards the horizon, expecting to see the early rays of dawn creeping in, but something was off. The warmth, the stillness in the air, the unsettling quiet. It all felt... unnatural. Like the world itself was holding its breath.

Amy stumbled to her feet, her legs shaky as she continued forward, leaving the empty void where the house had once stood. She moved towards the tree line, the woods that had always been a comforting, familiar presence. But as she stepped into the clearing, something stopped her cold.

There, in the night sky, hung the moon. Or what was left of it. Large, shattered pieces of the celestial body floated in the sky, fractured and broken like a ruined puzzle, suspended in a vast and empty void of space thousands of miles above the earth.

Amy stared, wide-eyed, her heart pounding in her ears. The shattered moon cast an eerie glow over the landscape, a haunting reminder that wherever she was, it wasn’t the place she’d known. This wasn’t her world.

She wasn’t where she belonged.

Her throat tightened as a single thought cut through the haze of her shock. What the hell had happened?

It took her a few minutes to decide what to do. With her heart pounding in her chest, she stumbled down the road leading to Hidden Creek. The town, once filled with the hum of life, was eerily silent. Her legs ached from the long walk, but she pushed forward, the unsettling quiet around her pushing her faster. She didn’t know what had happened, but something was deeply wrong. The image of the shattered moon hung in her mind like a nightmare she couldn’t shake. Even when the clouds covered the destruction again, she could still see it in her mind.

The town came into view, but it too was far from the place she remembered. The usually bustling streets were empty, and buildings stood dark and abandoned or destroyed. Every single window was broken, the sidewalks cracked, cars overturned or burned beyond recognition. A thick layer of dust covered everything.

As she neared what used to be the town center, she saw movement—a shadow darting behind a building. Her breath caught. She paused, unsure if it was friend or foe.

“Amy!” a hushed voice called from the other side. She whipped her head around and spotted Jess peeking out from behind a rusty pickup truck parked near the old diner.

“Jess!” Amy ran towards her, relief flooding her chest. As she neared, she saw more familiar faces hiding in the shadows—Jacob, Michael, Xtina, and a few others from the town. They all looked older, and worn, like they had been through hell.

Before she could ask a single question, Jess grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the truck.