Fallen Identity

I'd see my forest off and on again. Every so often, I'd even see Emery standing off in the distance, waiting for me to fix his home. My home. My forest, Emfria. I traveled all the way into Germany and ran through the empty streets of Berlin and Frankfurt. I came across my forest again as I made my way to Warsaw, known for being the worst concentration of them all during the Holocaust.

I crawled under the barbed wire fence that surrounded what remained of the concentration camp. I felt the dust in the air pick up and whip across my face, making me jerk back and close my eyes.

When I opened my eyes, something changed. I was still in the same place but not the same.. time. Instead of Jews being tortured and cremated alive, there were creatures. And instead of Nazis, there were demons. The creatures looked to me with pleading eyes. They weren't demons, they were just different. As far as I could tell, none of the demons could see me.

I snuck behind a couple of the demons talking about their orders.

"Lordus Dimoni has told us to destroy everything neutral," one said with a voice that seemed to echo. The demon was short and thin, with black skin and blazing, green eyes and yellow teeth.

"I understand. He wants a black and white world. Anything that could be a traitor has to go," the other demon replied with hissed S's.

Something coughed from behind me. I whirled around to face a small girl who had little butterfly wings attached to her. She had white blonde hair and crystal sky eyes.

"Please," was all she could say to me before dropping to the floor, coughing her small lungs out. Rushing over to her, I tried soothing her.

"You can see me?" I asked her, when she sat up.

"You are just like us. Could go either way," she replied, with a voice that seemed too old for such a little girl.

"Do you know what year it is?" I asked, avoiding her last statement. I'm not planning on going to the evil side.

"There is no time here. Some of us have been here for years. They are crazy in the mind. Lashing out at us even though were on the same side," she told me. Clutching my shirt, she starts to cry. "I just want out."

"I'll get you out," I said, sounding unsure but with more confidence I said, "I'll get everybody out."

I picked up the little girl so that she was standing on her own two feet. The little girl tried moving her wings but I saw that they were clipped back.

"Come on, I'll show you a way out," I whispered, grabbing her hand and leading her over to where I entered through the fence. I told her to crawl under but when she tried, there was some force stopping her from passing through.

"It's as much as I expected," a familiar voice from behind me said. I whirled around to see Emery.

"Emery. What's happening here?" I asked him.

"This is all in the past. You are only an observer of what has happened. You can't save anyone because they are already dead," Emery explained.

"But.. she can see me," I said, pointing to the butterfly-winged girl.

"She's another part of you. The part that's dead," Emery said, looking away from me at the little girl.

"Don't be ridiculous, she looks nothing like me," I exclaimed.

"Oh but doesn't she? Blonde hair just like your mother's, eyes just like the sky. The wings are a reflection of your eye colors," Emery stated, looking smug at my reaction.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean, that on the outside, you see beautiful wings, yes? Their clipped back from letting you see the inside, but I'm pretty sure they aren't beautiful, a little frightening I might imagine."

Looking back down at the little girl, I was reminded of a familiar girl from before when I walked past the crossroads.

When I looked back up, everyone was gone and the concentration camp was back to it's desecrating state. Emery was still here though, staring at me as if he longed to say something.

I gave him a puzzled expression, hoping he'd say what was on his mind. He only shook his head and said, "You should go back to who your heart belongs to. We'll meet again, in your memories."

He then drifted off into the shadows, leaving me with more questions then answers.

I looked up and was back at the hotel room, waiting to run away. Again.

Zach strolls into the room and says, "Ready?"

It's as if I wasn't lost in my thoughts for all those days. I nodded my head and answered, "Let's go."