Howl - STing
When Jim and Serafine finish their ritual, the world around them falls away. Future becomes present, and they can see the girl - Leah - standing atop a tall building. The wind whips through her hair and clothes. It is night. She is crying.
And then she jumps.
The building is many stories tall - constructed from glass and steel and concrete. She will die when she hits the ground.
But she doesn't hit the ground. Another shape comes hurtling after her, a figure cloaked in shadow - dark and indistinct. Jim and Sera will not be able to get a clear picture, and the only reason they know it's human is because it catches Leah in its arms. And then their fall slows, as though they'd become light as a feather. Drifting down on the breeze until they land safely in the parking lot below.
It is a hospital. Jim and Sera can make out the sign now: Aurora Presbyterian. And a handful of people are standing nearby, staring at Leah and her anonymous rescuer in silent shock. But then their eyes go blank and unfocused, and a moment later when they spring back to like, it's as though they'd forgotten what they'd just witnessed. Everyone returns to whatever it was they'd been doing moments earlier, as though nothing at all had occurred.
This vision fades, and a new one takes its place. Farther ahead. Leah is standing in what looks like a hotel room with three people. One of them is cloaked, as before. Shadowed and unclear. Another is a man in his mid-twenties, small but well-built, with a strong jaw, brown hair and wide, wild blue eyes. The third is older - late 40's and tall, with mousy hair and bright, intelligent eyes. Serafine will know him as the man from her dream. He is knelt before Leah on the floor, his posture non-threatening. When he smiles, his face transforms with charismatic charm.
"You don't have to be afraid," he says. "I can teach you to control it. I can help you make the dreams go away."
The vision ends abruptly. There is blackness, and then a sudden rush of indistinguishable shapes and colors. Time bounces back and forth, whirling through possibilities with no sense of clarity. Then they are back again on the roof of that hospital, and there is the girl. And this time they see themselves (Jim, Serafine and Pan) moving toward her across the windy rooftop. Someone calls out to her - a gentle, calming voice. (We are here.) Leah turns to face them.
And then, there is the man. The one with the charming smile. And he looks at her and says, "If you go with them, they will kill you. Maybe that's what you want, but not like this. Not the way they'll do it."
"Go away!" Leah screams. "All of you!"
The vision fades. A flash of something chaotic and violent - a fight between the three of them and the unknown mages. Someone's blood splatters across the roof.
Another flash. Leah jumps, and this time no one is there to save her.
And another. Pan drops to the ground as his arm shrivels and decays before their eyes.
Another. They stand and watch as Leah leaves with the man with the charming smile.
Another. Serafine drives away alone with Leah in the truck.
The future, as usual, is uncertain.
And then the vision ends, and the present is now, in the truck, pressed against each other as Pan drives toward their destination - the hospital.
When Jim and Serafine finish their ritual, the world around them falls away. Future becomes present, and they can see the girl - Leah - standing atop a tall building. The wind whips through her hair and clothes. It is night. She is crying.
And then she jumps.
The building is many stories tall - constructed from glass and steel and concrete. She will die when she hits the ground.
But she doesn't hit the ground. Another shape comes hurtling after her, a figure cloaked in shadow - dark and indistinct. Jim and Sera will not be able to get a clear picture, and the only reason they know it's human is because it catches Leah in its arms. And then their fall slows, as though they'd become light as a feather. Drifting down on the breeze until they land safely in the parking lot below.
It is a hospital. Jim and Sera can make out the sign now: Aurora Presbyterian. And a handful of people are standing nearby, staring at Leah and her anonymous rescuer in silent shock. But then their eyes go blank and unfocused, and a moment later when they spring back to like, it's as though they'd forgotten what they'd just witnessed. Everyone returns to whatever it was they'd been doing moments earlier, as though nothing at all had occurred.
This vision fades, and a new one takes its place. Farther ahead. Leah is standing in what looks like a hotel room with three people. One of them is cloaked, as before. Shadowed and unclear. Another is a man in his mid-twenties, small but well-built, with a strong jaw, brown hair and wide, wild blue eyes. The third is older - late 40's and tall, with mousy hair and bright, intelligent eyes. Serafine will know him as the man from her dream. He is knelt before Leah on the floor, his posture non-threatening. When he smiles, his face transforms with charismatic charm.
"You don't have to be afraid," he says. "I can teach you to control it. I can help you make the dreams go away."
The vision ends abruptly. There is blackness, and then a sudden rush of indistinguishable shapes and colors. Time bounces back and forth, whirling through possibilities with no sense of clarity. Then they are back again on the roof of that hospital, and there is the girl. And this time they see themselves (Jim, Serafine and Pan) moving toward her across the windy rooftop. Someone calls out to her - a gentle, calming voice. (We are here.) Leah turns to face them.
And then, there is the man. The one with the charming smile. And he looks at her and says, "If you go with them, they will kill you. Maybe that's what you want, but not like this. Not the way they'll do it."
"Go away!" Leah screams. "All of you!"
The vision fades. A flash of something chaotic and violent - a fight between the three of them and the unknown mages. Someone's blood splatters across the roof.
Another flash. Leah jumps, and this time no one is there to save her.
And another. Pan drops to the ground as his arm shrivels and decays before their eyes.
Another. They stand and watch as Leah leaves with the man with the charming smile.
Another. Serafine drives away alone with Leah in the truck.
The future, as usual, is uncertain.
And then the vision ends, and the present is now, in the truck, pressed against each other as Pan drives toward their destination - the hospital.
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