Pilot

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. Within the warm glare of that melting fire, bodies gathered around, desperate to clutch its warmth. As the flame danced amusing staring eyes, the silence of the room grew heavier and heavier. Here lay countless eyes that had seen countless wonders, each and every person had been entranced in some grand adventure unique and diverse in infinite mystery. These were Vangel warriors who had pledged their sword and soul to the immortal Venus. Under her eternal banner, they had found themselves in the midst of fantastic epics, great tales that they would now tell within the warmth of the cabin. Everything spoken was truth, so the question was now asked................. What happened?

I

What happened you ask, well, it all started with a light. The bright sky was flooded with the colour of the ocean, and upon its depthless seas, thunder rocked as Vangel Valkyries rode above the clouds. The winged shield maidens galloped within the cutting edge of aerial technology. 5th generation fighters soaring across azure, the K-82 Striker to be exact.

‘’You are in control of one of the fastest and most effective fighter jets in the world, treat it like so.’’ Screeched the radio, Lieutenant. Dominique ‘’Domi’’ Cruz’s voice feeling the cockpit.

A reply screeched back, the sky rumbling as a striker zoomed right past Domi’s jet, the pilot reining hard as she desperately maintained stability.

‘’The hell was that! Didn’t you just hear what I said!’’

‘’Oh I did Lieutenant and I’ll tell you, she really is the fastest bird in the world!’’

‘’This isn’t a joke Tori’’

‘’You mean Sentinel, that’s a good callsign right, I was going to go with Maverick but then I was like that’s too ob– .’’

‘’I’m serious Tori!’’

‘’Okay, okay, sorry, I’m just trying to see how far I can push her.’’

‘’I need you focused, always. I know you feel like you’ve got a lot to prove, but that doesn’t mean putting yourself in danger.’’

‘’Isn’t that like part of the job though, being a combat pilot and all.’’

‘’Jesus Christ!’’

‘’Alright sorry!................ apologies Lieutenant!’’

As the voice screeched through Domi’s radio, it tickled with a childlike jolliness. It was so different from the solemnity and regret that had once plagued It, she had been trying to run away from her past, but Domi didn’t know why, and it particularly hurt because this was her sister. She was supposed to protect her, but over the years, she no longer knew who she even was. So to hear her voice gleam once again, that was worth all the cocky naivete in the world. It warmed her heart and brought a smile to her face, but she couldn’t show it, ofcourse.

‘’Listen here Maverick, its not enough to get into the danger zone, you also need to know how to get out of it, and that only happens if you’re focused and smart. Cockiness gets you killed and none of us want that now, do we?’’

‘’Yes mom’’

‘’Exactly. I don’t want to lose you Tori, I can’t even bear the thought of it.’’

‘’Don’t worry about me lieutenant, they don’t call me die-hard for nothing.’’

‘’When have they ever called you die-hard, whose they even.’’

‘’Seriously though, like you said, I’ve got a lot to prove. I need to be the best, that’s the only way the other gals can respect me, right now they fucking hate me!’’

‘’I wouldn’t call it hate. To them, Top Gun’s the only reason you’re here, they don’t believe you earned it like they did, joining this group’s no easy task you know. The Birds of Prey, we’re the Navy SEALs of the air and you just joined us on your first day! This is your first time flying an 82, you see the picture I’m painting here.’’

‘’Well I didn’t ask for it, it wasn’t my call.’’

‘’I Know, I’m the one who recommended you and I stand by my decision. You’re the strongest person I know Tori, you can get through this.’’

‘’I do wish you’d warned me though.’’

‘’Nothing can prepare you for the Vangels, nothing.’’

Both jets then tore through the clear skies, whooshing right past each other in inverted sprint, their eyes locking in smug smiles before the radio was screeching in triumphant whoos.

‘’See that, you’re a natural!’’

‘’And the build’s not too different from my 35, what did you guys do, steal American secrets?’’

‘’I’m afraid that’s classified, Sentinel.’’

‘’Yeah, I figured.’’

‘’Besides, in our hands you actually get to use these bad boys instead of just exercising them.’’

‘’What’s that supposed to mean.’’

‘’You’ll see soon enough, being a Vangel is no easy task, we’ve got no flag backing us up so legally, everything we do is, well......’’

‘’Well, we do have Qleopatra covering our asses, see I did my homework.’’

‘’Yea well I wouldn’t rely on the United Queendom too much, they will deny, deny, deny whenever fingers start pointing.’’

‘’Don’t remind me, if I don’t think it, it won’t happen.’’

‘’We’ve got only ourselves to rely on, this is why I need you to be careful, everyone’s our enemy, everyone!’’

‘’Everything too, what the hell is that?’’

Tori’s prompt send Domi’s eyes bouncing left right and everywhere in between, desperate to spot this...... thing.

‘’What is it?’’

‘’I don’t know, its.......’’

‘’What?’’

Domi looked straight ahead, nothing but the blue sky and white clouds staring back, she couldn’t see it, she didn’t even know what it was.

‘’Okay, lets fall back into Formation, side by side.’’

‘’Roger.’’

As ordered, the two birds glided in unison, cutting through the sky with peering eyes, then suddenly...

‘’Do you see it?’’

‘’Oh shit, what is that?’’

It was very hard to describe, Domi didn’t even really know what she was looking at, whatever it was though, she’d never encountered anything like it before.

‘’It looks like a, like a...’’

‘’Like a sun, right, its so bright.’’

And white and full of light. The light was suddenly everywhere, overflowing as it flooded the sky. No longer did Zeus’s domain ring blue, it was smeared in a sudden white that encompassed everything, it was –

‘’Blinding, Jesus, I can’t see shit.’’

‘’What do we do Lieutenant.’’

Domi blinked hard, their speeding birds accelerating the light’s blight.

‘’Lieutenant!’’

She made her call.

‘’Cease and retreat, we head back to HQ and report!’’

‘’Roger that.’’

Domi didn’t spare another second speeding her jet away from the light, traces of blue glinting ahead as flames thrusted from her engines behind. Familiarity was almost within reach until –

‘’Sentinel what the hell are you doing!’’

- ‘’SENTINEL!’’

The radio ran silent then just like the light, the silence begun to flood everywhere. Though Domi picked it, all that was on her mind was Tori, her head shifting as she searched for her on her wings, nothing.

‘’Sentinel what’s your status, where are you?’’

- ‘’SENTINEL REPORT!’’

Nothing.

‘’Fuck!’’

Domi then turned her striker around, the frustration oozing in the aggression of her spin, the silence deafening as she sped into the light.

The great white ahead squinted her eyes as she flew deeper, her pupil bounced up and down and everywhere in between, desperate to spot Tori’s jet, but the light, it was too bright –

‘’I can’t see shit; Tori talk to me!’’

Phwwwwwww! thrusted the engines, the jet shacking and rattling as the velocities accelerated at unprecedented speeds, calling this the danger zone would be an understatement, wherever Domi was, no rules applied, that’s your physics and etceteras.

Crrrrrrrrrrrr, creaked the radio, Domi’s sweaty face turning, desperate for hope to prevail.

‘’Crrrrrr – Domi – Crrrrrrr – Do you read – Crrrrrr – Report – Crrrrrr – ‘’

‘’Tori! Where are you! You need to retreat!’’

‘’Crrrrrr – Yes – Crrrrrrr – Retreat – I repeat retre – Crrrrrrrr – Fall Back!’’

‘’Yes? Fall back!’’

Agreed Domi, confused. Tori was ordering her to turn back, but Domi had come here for her, where was she, had she already fallen back, was she behind her? indecision, confusion and fearful revolution dethroned all sense in Domi’s thinking, her jet sped on and with each stride, she lost more and more control.

‘’What’s your status Tori, have you retreated, where are you!’’

‘’Crrrrr – I’m coming Domi! – CrrrrrrrrRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.’’

‘’NO! Don’t come for me, I repeat, retreat!’’

The radio shut off completely, the silence so great that Domi couldn’t even hear herself, and it wasn’t just her voice, it was her very own thoughts. Her vision decayed into a blinding white light that followed her even when she shut them, the light was now within her.

II

The darkness set in, it was subtle and slow, barely noticeable, you could look at it, watch it, but never really see it, until you finally saw it. A single blink is all it took, your memory jarring, a second ago it was much lighter, a second later, and it was all you saw. The darkness of a street, quiet and isolated, decrepit of life. Like you were the last person left on earth, the silence deafening, the heart aching, where was she, where was Tori.

Another blink and there she was, it had been so long, she was barely anything when she last saw her, yet she remembered everything, particularly, the light, the light in her eyes, the light in her heart. Back then, there was never any silence, there was always someone, and she was never alone. yet even then, the darkness dawned, it whispered its ascent, prophecies rumbling in the dead of night, a girl waking up in the middle of the night, panting heavily, face sweating, body shivering.

‘’What is it, what happened, are you okay?’’ she’d ask, the face of death painted on her face.

She would then hug her, hold her, tightly.

‘’It’s okay now, it’s okay now.’’ She’d whisper.

It would then be okay, the warmth of her embrace, sifting past the flesh, burning in her heartstrings, mother and child, light and darkness, the darkness lost, or rather, it retreated.

Yet the war wasn’t over, and every day was battle, again and again, the flash, the bulging eyes, the sudden wake, the heavy panting, the crying, the tears, then the embrace.

‘’I understand, nightmares are......well, their nightmares’’ she’d say, a nervous laugh lapsing.

But then she’d turn to her, and look at her, deeply.

‘’No matter how scary they are, they are just that, nightmares. No matter how real they look or feel, they aren’t, they never will be.’’

It was a temporary bliss, a fleeting comfort, a souring truth.

Then the nightmare became real, as she saw her once again, this time, there was no light. There was only darkness, a cold, indifferent stare shot to heaven. That’s where she was now, where she would always be, away from her, from them.

She was alone again, and the darkness spread from her eyes into her soul, engrossing her, consuming her, but then another embrace. This time, she was now the mother, and she needed to spread the light, she needed to gift her a temporary bliss, a fleeting comfort, a souring truth. The lie would arise, but not today, not now.

Domi hugged her little sister, tightly.

They were alone now, but they were alone together, no matter how dark it got, the light would shine, from within them.

III

Almost as suddenly, light flashed black and when Domi opened her eyes, she was a long way from the sky. A fallen angel, dangling above the ground, her vision woozy and her body succumbing to a sudden intense pain that rang everywhere. A few blinks helped clear the nausea, if only barely, a hazy picture blaring in sight. With another blink, her heart spiked pace as her bulged eyes made sense of her situation. She hung suspended in the air, upheld by her parachute, the earth quite a height away. She controlled her breathing, the Vangel training kicking in as she reined herself like a machine, she needed a clear mind right now.

Where the fuck am I, she thought, her head tilting about, intel gathering. She was hanging by a tree amidst a sea of trees, but this wasn’t a jungle, more like a very dense forest. The trees stood black and tall, shaded by the dark night sky, the light far from sight. Its vestiges were felt in the white moon and its loyal stars. Domi didn’t even know how she got here, she had no recollection of ejecting, all she remembered was that damn light and .............. Tori.

Right as the thought set, worry struck then panic as her chute ripped, Domi tumbling to the ground as she battered onto the earth. The crash tremored her already wounded body, a sudden cry springing as black birds took off at the crown of the trees, soaring into the night sky. Groans and curses hummed about, Domi crawling to the trunk of a tree, resting her back against it. She then licked her wounds, the wild creaking in her ears as distant branches cracked, with hidden eyes staring back at her, hungry.

‘’Where the fuck am I?.’’ she muttered, looking around as she tried to get her bearings. She was deep in the woods, wounded and seemingly alone. As a Vangel, she had only herself to rely on, but frankly, she wasn’t her main concern.

Tori’s last words looped in her mind, had Domi doomed her own sister? She was trying to save her, just like she’d always done, but now here she was, where was Tori. Distant howls snapped her out of it, her heart peaking pace, a desperate stand rupturing fourth as she pulled herself onto her feet. She needed to find refuge, anything, a momentary peace, a temporary bliss, a fleeting comfort, a searing lie.

Refuge revealed in the depths of oblivion, the wounded Valkyrie staggering across these strange woods, alone and scared, each step a triumph. The humming of a distant river flowed into her ear, it was constant, embedded within the identity of these unknown lands. She couldn’t escape it and each rustle and gush jerked at her, un-easing her. This was an invisible flood that submerged her within its eternal waters, the only way out was in, so she swam deeper, her refuge revealing itself.

It brought that souring truth, a transient tranquility found in the flowing waters, they flooded her mind, silencing her worries, her pain. Each step came easier and easier, her journey deepening, time slipping as the night got darker and darker. The darkness was subtle and slow, yet each blink revealed its encroaching hold, above in the sky, Domi’s eyes saw the moon vanish, overthrown by black space, distant stars twinkling back, fewer and fewer with each step.

It was as if the whole galaxy was dozing off, succumbing to the siren of that sweet sleep, the undiscovered country etching closer with each step. A familiar silence now hummed alongside the water; everything else falling mute. The distant howls, the cracking branches, and creaking crickets. The fluttering birds that flew camouflaged by the night, they all.... disappeared. All that was left was the river’s rhyme and the sky’s stare, a single entity wandering across the fields of oblivion, another familiar feeling setting in, the last person on earth.

When it dawned on her, the fleeting peace vanished as panic gripped her, a shaky pant breathing out as Domi ceased her step, she looked around her, the black staring back, it was so dark. The darkness wasn’t in the eyes alone, it was everywhere, she couldn’t see nor hear anything other than those dark waters. Her eyes blinked again and again, desperate to set in and be able to see something, anything, but nothing. She screamed, but nothing, she couldn’t hear her own screams!

‘’.......................................................................................................................................’’

Her body shook, her heart beating, yet she couldn’t hear any of it. Blind and deaf, she leaned on what seemed like a tree, the water’s flow gushing on. Yet even the tree didn’t feel like a tree, had her sense of touch failed too, the tree felt.........fleshy.

This thought flung her away as she almost fell in retreat, barely holding herself together, then, a glint, a spark, a flame. It was all that she could see, the only real thing within this void of black, her only refuge. Toward it she walked, bumping into bark and……… flesh? Branches and dried leaves crackling at her boot, the sound silenced by the constant waters. The fire grew brighter and brighter, its burn trickling through the loud silence, her eyes dilating lost in its glare. It was hypnotic and serene, unnaturally alluring, supernatural.

Upon a pedestal burnt the flame and as Domi reached it with stolen sight, she followed its sways and turns, a dancing flame, a smile slipping in the darkness, that of a child drenched in wonder and awe. She followed its wave, the world brightening up as the black earth lightened with the root of a tree, of trees. A circle of trees with Domi and her dancing flame in the middle. She followed the barks, tears slipping from her eyes as relief washed over her, she could hear the fire’s burn burning brighter and louder than that river, she could see the fire’s burn lighting up her small pocket of refuge, guarded by the ring of trees.

Tall trees that.......that........’’Oh my God........’’ she whispered, suddenly hearing her own voice, yet that wasn’t even rendered, the only image in her mind being the tall trees.

Tall trees whose bark held up feet, standing over each other, nailed in place, dry blood streaming across the toes. On from feet to legs, then to a pierced torso, black blood streaming from a spear’s cut to the gut. Above rested hands that shot up, nailed in eternal grasp. Between them shined a face whose eyes stared directly at you, red tears streaming, smiling.

The sight entranced Domi in shock, a paralysis of fear, her eyes bounced, and the crucified smiles surrounded her, a scream then screeched as Domi’s whole world exploded.

She ran and ran, faster and faster, the scream following her, louder and louder, greater than her very own cries. It called her name, shrieking desperately while Domi shrunk into a little girl screaming her heart out, yet the further from the fire, the deafer she became, she couldn’t even hear herself anymore, nothing but the gushing waters and that scream, it echoed on and on and on and –

WOOOOOOSSSHHHHH!

IV

The scream snapped her awake, calling her name. as the darkness set within her eye, she looked into her eyes and the tears swelled, this must’ve been how she felt when she saw her. as she cried on, a great conviction fell over, she couldn’t let her cry like that, calling her name in sullen whispers. She brought her into her embrace, hugging her, tightly.

The warm tears stained her tears, her warmth searing past the flesh straight into her troubled heart, calming her, this made her feel so happy, she’d brought her a temporary bliss, a fleeting comfort, a souring truth. As the sweetness engrossed her, she sunk her into her bosom, whispering.

‘’I understand, nightmares are, well, mom always said they’re just that, nightmares.’’

She then brought her to her eye, looking at her warm and deeply.

‘’No matter how scary they are, no matter how real they look, they feel, they aren’t real, they never will – ‘’

She froze, the lie searing.

This was what she had told her, promised her, and yet, it was a lie.

The nightmare became real, she was gone, just like in the dream, and now she had the same dream, where she was gone...............................

‘’Domi..................’’

She looked at her, the worry in both their eyes, she then hugged her again.

‘’It’s okay, it’ll be okay.’’

But it wasn’t okay, it would never be okay. Again, and again the dream reached, the scream screeched, and a hug in the dark.

When would it end? that would only happen in the end.

‘’No!’’ she said.

‘’Nothing is going to happen to me, I’ll always be here, do you hear me.’’

She nodded her head.

‘’Always, I’ll never leave you, never!’’

They would never be alone, they would always have each other, no matter how dark it got, the light would shine, from within them.

Oh so she hoped...........

V

Domi’s eyes bulged open, the silence and blindness now overthrown by breathlessness. She couldn’t breathe, she was drowning, falling deeper and deeper into a watery abyss. Within the river’s bowls, the gushing hum ceased, an ambient silence buzzing as that scream shrieked on above, calling her name. survivals flight gripped Domi, her arms swaying and legs kicking, ascending higher towards heaven, a black brightness shining above.

As she fought against the current, her body heaved, her breath reeving in, life being clutched upon frantically. With sore arms, she trudged hard, digging herself out of the river, crawling onto its banks, spitting, and coughing out blood, metal in her mouth. Where did it come from, she wondered, her breath wheezing sorrily. The river ran black, darkened by this...darkness. Above, the stars had fallen out of sight, nothing but black reigning on.

The shriek then echoed once again, but this time, Domi listened to it, she let the cry satiate her ear, untouched by fear nor horror, the truth finally clicking into place.

‘’Tori.................’’ she said, only being heard within her mind.

She was cautious with her hope, very much certain that nothing was as it seemed within this hell. The scream then grew clearer and clearer, begging for help, for someone, anyone. Domi wanted to believe it, she wanted to taste the sweetness of this lie, yet its truth soured in the face of all this darkness. Wherever she was, it was over. She was in too deep, maybe she was already dead, this being nothing more than the beginning of her purgatory.

Domi didn’t know anything, and with whatever this was, this place, this voice, oblivion was the only certainty. Yet Tori cried on, desperate for comfort, a string tugging as Domi found herself in the past, clutching her little sister tightly.

‘’Its going to be okay.’’ She’d say, ‘’Ill never leave you...............................never!’’

Then

‘’HELP ME!’’ Cried Tori, Domi torn.

What kind of sick game was this, what was this even!

In the end, it was all over, there was nothing she could do, there was nowhere she could go and above all, she couldn’t let her sister go, she couldn’t abandon her. Tori was probably dead, but so was she.

Domi then staggered to her feet, the river’s gush piercing her ear, the scream becoming her new refuge, she stared into the darkness that lay ahead, it was so dark, blindingly dark. Like a black sun, a bright shinning blackness that squinted her eyes. Within it screamed the voice, louder and louder. The trees were lit by this darkness in some inexplicable way, Domi just couldn’t understand it. They weren’t even trees, really, just more horrors for her eye. A tree whose branches where severed arms and limbs, whose leaves where hands and fingers, whose fruit was –

Domi puked, stumbling to her knees, desperate to hold herself back together, she then looked up at the fruit, fruit of decapitated heads, smiling with red tears streaming down their eyes, eyes that stared directly at her. this was her refuge, her salvation, for within that valley and shadow of death lay her sister, afraid and alone, desperate for her.

Tori’s last words then uttered in Domi’s mind, she stood on her feet, the bright darkness ahead.

‘’I’m coming Tori.’’

The darkness was now, within her.

END