Chapter 6: The World’s End
Chapter 6
The World’s End
Phantasia regained her focus. The heavy music was now just a muffled rumble beyond cold grey walls, and the pain in her chest was beginning to ease. Dim lights swung from a stale draft, which blew scraps of paper across the dusty concrete. She was near a junction, each corridor identical to its siblings but for scrawled graffiti, and even that repeated itself.
“What the fook happened to you?”
Phantasia’s concentrated on the blurry figure beside her. Pale skin and blonde-haired, with tattered jeans and a myriad of bangles jingling as she waved her bony hand in front of her eyes. Lyra was frowning, her eyes scrunched up in concentration as she studied Phantasia’s features.
“One minute you’re being all unsociable, the next thing you’re stumbling round like some crack-head,” she said, “You’re not on any of that crap, are you?”
“I-I don’t know what happened, it was just the feeling. That place,” Phantasia steadied herself against the wall and breathed in heavily, “There’s something wrong with this place,”
Darkness. That was it. The negativity had overwhelmed her senses. The mana around this area of land was weak, so a place filled with forlorn teenagers drowning their sorrows in a cocktail of drugs was going to be like a heavy weight pressing down on the leylines. She was lucky to still be conscious!
Lyra hummed her disbelief and took a step back, crossing her arms in the process. Her cynical stare made Phantasia feel guilty for concealing her thoughts, but there was no way thee human girl would understand what was really going on, was there? She had to lie. If only Lyra could understand…
Joel and Kaori came running around the corner. Doyle’s long strides followed, and Byron brought up the rear, more interested in smoking than the current situation. Phantasia found herself smothered by Kaori, and strong warmth washed over her, purging the lingering darkness.
“My god, what happened? Did someone spike your drink?”
Doyle raised a glass he was carrying, “She’s not had anything. I’d only just brought her one,”
“It’s just the atmosphere,” said Phantasia, breathing heavily, “I don’t feel comfortable around here. All the people and everything…”
“Sounds like the time we brought Dante out,” said Joel, “Dude couldn’t stand the place. Must’ve been claustrophobia or something,”
“Nah, he’s just a schizo,” said Byron before inhaling more smoke, “Hope we haven’t got another one of those on our hands,”
Phantasia looked to Kaori for an explanation as to why her taciturn classmate was being brought into the conversation with such spite all of a sudden.
“Don’t worry, just some bad blood,” she said, her hands still on Phantasia’s shoulders. She gave Byron a glare from beneath her dyed fringe, “Best not to get involved in it,”
Phantasia forced a smile. “People have a thing about not getting on with each other, don’t they?”
“Boys,” Kaori laughed, “You know what they’re like!”
