Brightest {A RotG Fanfic}

Chapter 21 - Reminisce

Chapter 21

REMINISCE 

________________________________________ 

    Nothing can ever compare to the fear she felt when the clouds covered her up and took her away. The tendrils reminded her so much of her other nightmares; they made her feel helpless and unable to defend herself. 

    She tried kicking, she tried punching, but her efforts were for naught once she realized there was no possible way to weaken the tendrils' grip. 

    The sub-zero temperature of the wind hit her face full blast. 

    Jack's magic was disappearing fast, and Clara couldn't hold it for longer... She started hyperventilating. She might've just stepped into a different dimension when the tendrils dropped her in the snow in the outskirts of a small neighbourhood back in Burgess. 

    The gash on Clara's neck had caked with some of her dried blood and it itched. The metallic smell plus the biting cold sent a wave of nausea to Clara. 

    Don't puke, don't puke, don't puke... Wait a minute. In a moment to forget her phobia, Clara thought that her eyes were never that blurry. 

    She knew that she had better eyesight than Karee, who wore glasses, but Clara's surroundings were all hazy. She rubbed her eyes more than once, and the place was still blurry. When she stopped rubbing her eyes, she found out why. 

    The smoke tornadoes were clear to her eyes, but this neighbourhood wasn't. She dropped her hands to her sides, and that was the moment when she saw it.  

    Her father's dark red car. 

    In the midst of the twisters, she ran for it. She knew she forgot to wear her boots, but her parents come first. Forget the blizzard, her mom and dad were right in front of her. 

    This was a memory, the memory. Her mind tried to forget this night, but it was permanently seared into her memories, no matter how successful she was at not thinking about it. 

    "Mom! Dad!" she called. The hotness of her breath came out in a spiral of vapour from her mouth. Her body shook violently from the cold, but that didn't stop her from rushing on. 

    When she reached her parents, the tornadoes vanished but the blizzard winds were still there. Clara ignored that and walked towards her father, who was nearest. 

    The headlights were on and the car's windows were foggy, shielding Clara from seeing her younger self. She knew this was only a recollection of her past, and she didn't really time travel, but she had to do something. 

    "D-dad?" she called and didn't expect him to answer. 

    He didn't. 

    Her voice started to crack when she called her mother this time, and the lady with the blue scarf didn't turn her neck an inch. Clara began to cry. 

    "Mom, Dad, p-please... Answer m-me!" She closed the distance, reaching for her parents... And her hands went through them. 

    She shouted. She waved her hands in front of their faces. She called their full names. Nothing made them turn their attention towards her. 

    She dropped her efforts, sobbing madly. As she cried, she looked over her parents' shoulders and saw her younger self. 

    Younger Clara. Older Clara. Both crying, both trying. But Mom and Dad couldn't be saved. It all came back to her in one big wave.