The Bearer of Bad News

Thatch was grateful for the blood, which covered most of his blush. "Ssomethingk popped," he reiterated. "Duddo whad."

Aislin frowned. "Hmmm...Mother would know what to do about this." she nodded. "I don't want to accidentally hurt you or something...tell you what, let's just...find Door."

"I'll go," Thatch said, standing. "You sday here id case she cubbs back, ogay?"

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The river looked to be a tiny dark snake, miles below her as she leaned out over the gorge. So very, very far below. She pushed a dusty red rock over the edge with her foot and watched as it tumbled into the abyss, never to be seen again. That could be her, she thought subconsciously; she could be falling, falling, falling through the air until she, too, would cease to exist. Would that be better than living? Just one step over the edge, that was all it would take. One step out, and a few seconds of weightlessness…


{{This part's been on me flash drive for about three weeks... I can't tell you the title. Well, I can, but you'd freak. Meh, you're prolly freaking already.}}

Aislin nodded, frowning. "Alright...hurry. I just now...got a bad feeling."

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[[NO, DOOR!]]

Thatch nodded. "Okay," he said, and made his exit.


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She sighed, turning away from the precipice to cross the bridge. Was that what she wanted? To end her life just because Alex had turned away from her? No, she told herself. She couldn’t do that to the others, to Thatch and Tremor, and her friends. They still loved her, even if Alex… didn’t. But she wished that he would’ve explained himself. Not knowing why he’d done what he had worsened the matter. Why wouldn’t he tell her? Was he afraid that she wouldn’t believe him, or be too faint of heart to hear the truth? Didn’t he know her well enough to know she could handle it, if he didn’t… love her?

{{Okay. The title ish 'No Parachute'. Take it as you will.}}

Alex shuffled around his house and slipped in through the back door. His parents couldn't see him like this. He had to clean up, put on a smiling face, even if it was a fake one.

He hated himself. He hated himself so much it hurt. This was his fault. He couldn't tell her how he felt. He'd tried to tell her that he loved her...just that last time...but the way she had looked at him. It broke his heart.

"In order to save her...I have to let her go..." he said quietly to himself. Then he blinked back tears. It's not fair.

Life's not fair.

Thatch jogged through the Field, asking anyone he came across if he had seen his sister. But... Nothing!


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Scalding tears forced their way to her eyes as she made her way across the ravine. She just couldn’t accept what she knew must be true, that he no longer had feelings for her. In a way, she figured she deserved this, for this must have been how he felt during the episode with Piedro… It was humane of Alex to let her down gently, but it would’ve been easier on her had he simply ended it quickly. But oh, how he had her fooled! She shook her head and laughed sadly as her feet touched the red soil on the bridge’s far side. She had poured her heart out to that young man, caught by his charms and sweet words and what she thought at the time was love, but he took it all and—and just…

Alex sighed and shuffled into the washroom. He glanced at the mirror, but shook his head, unable to look even himself in the eyes.

Why is life like this?! Why does this have to happen? he thought angrily, I finally find someone who cares about me for me and who I adore and then--

Alex drew in a shuddering breath. Shutting and locking the door, he sat down on the floor and cried.

{{Ehh! I dun want you to cryyyyyy!}}



Crying her anguish to the sky, she pivoted on her heel and took a run for the cliff, launching herself into space, eyes clenched shut. There, she thought as the wind whipped the tears away from her blue eyes. It would be done with soon enough, and she wouldn’t have to worry about any of this anymore... but, wait! Who was that voice? I’m sorry, she thought as the dark water of the river below her loomed closer. I’m so sorry, Thatch…



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She was going for a walk, she’d said. A walk around the Field. But he couldn’t find her anywhere, and no one he talked to had seen her, either. Thatch was panicking. Door had never before been one to overreact, but then she’d never before been told that the one she loved was getting married to someone else. The Field was huge; she could be anywhere! But he knew her better than she thought he did. She would always go and sit by the falls when she was feeling down; he’d found her there countless times throughout the past couple years. If she was anywhere, she’d be there.

It took nearly an hour to reach the gorge, even at a fast pace. Thatch was close to exhaustion when he arrived, but was relieved to see his sister walking across the bridge, away from him. She was alright, then. That was good. “Door,” he called, moving towards her. “Are you—” He paused, aghast by what he saw next. His sister, Door, whom he’d never known to be suicidal, had spun around and was running full-tilt towards the cliff! “Oh, God… Door! No!!” He couldn’t stop her, he was too far away. All he could do was run to the edge and watch his beloved sister fall, fall, fall… “DOOR!” She grew smaller and smaller, until Thatch couldn’t even see her. But he saw the splash, and yell her name until his tortured screams echoed off the high red walls. “DOOR! NO, DOOR! PLEASE, NO!!”

[[Oh...dear...no...]]

From back at the house, Aislin stared out the window pensively. It doesn't feel right. she thought, It doesn't feel right at all.

Going against what Thatch had told her, she stood suddenly and threw open the door, following the same path he had taken.

The water was cold, so cold! And hitting it was like hitting solid rock, at least until she sank low enough for the current to sweep her downriver. She panicked, losing her desperate outlook as she struggled for air. She suddenly realized what she was doing, but it was far too late to turn back now; the rushing waters pulled her under and forced the air from her chest. She couldn’t draw breath, only water filled her lungs as she opened her mouth to scream. Oh my God, she thought. What am I doing? How can I be doing this? No!!

Never in his worst nightmares had he thought that she would do something like this… And the worst part was, he couldn’t stop her. He could only scream and pull at his hair, horrified and helpless. Had he been a few minutes earlier, perhaps he could’ve saved her, but he was too late, and now she was… gone… “DOOOOR!”

“…Thatch…”

Whipping around, he cried his relief to see her on the soaking red earth, safely away from the sheer drop. Tremendous amounts of water poured out of nowhere—seemingly from the air itself—onto Door; she was lying limp beneath the icy torrent.

“Door!” Thatch had never moved so fast in his life. In an instant he had pulled his sister out from beneath the water and was hugging her to his chest. “Door, oh my God… Door…”

[[Nothing to say, really...]]

Aislin's knot of worry was growing in size, She tromped through the tall grass of the Field, looking left and right for someone...anyone.

Thatch.

Door.

Anybody.

The remnant of the walk was silent. Neither spoke; each was thinking about what had nearly happened. Both were still equally shocked, and neither really knew what to make of it.

Then, "Aislin?"

Door jerked her head up in horror. Great. How was she going to explain!?

"Thatch?" Aislin said, running towards them. "Thatch! You found Door! I had the worst feeling and now you're safe and--"

She slowed to a walk, confusion on her face. "...and wet."

Thatch shook his head subtly, hinting to Aislin that it'd be better not to mention it at the moment. "We're okay," he said, squeezing Door's shoulders gently.

Door nodded.

Aislin took the hint, nodding smally.

"I'm umm...making lunch if you uh...want to...y'know."

"What do you think?" he asked Door. "Lunch sound okay?"

Door swaalowed, then nodded. "Yeah," she agreed. "Lunch sounds awesome, Aislin."

Aislin nodded. "I'll start on it when we get home."

She fell in beside Thatch, nudging him gently. "Have you seen Tremor or Ariel?" she whispered.

He shook his head. "No, why? Have they vanished, too? Great. My entire family has decided to leave on me." He frowned and glanced at Door. "Looks like I'll have to track them down, too."

Aislin fell silent. "...I should have paid better attention." she said, after a while. "I'm sorry."

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Ariel sighed. "Well, Trem. What say you? Any ideas yet?"

"It's nod your fault," Thatch said, throwing his other arm around her. "Trem has a tendency to vanish sometimes. It comes with him being so quied. Pretty creepy, actually."

Door blinked, hearing the slight 'accent' in Thatch's voice. "Why are you tal--" She glanced up and gaped. "What happened to your nose?"

Thatch just grinned.

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Tremor was silent for a moment, then launched into his speech. "We know something's not right. Door said that he wouldn't explain anything to her, so I think he's hiding something from her." He paused, thinking. "Actually, I know he's hiding something from her. So if we can pull something along the lines of a recon mission off... but that's impractical, really. We can't just go snooping around Alex's house..."

{{O.o Wow.}}

[[Fo' sho']]

Ariel nodded. "Well, that's not entirely true...there are ways. Legal ways. But...I'm not sure you would like them."

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Aislin bit her lip. "He um...got into an exchange with Alex..."

Door's gape increased. "He hit you? He hit... you?!?"

"Surprised me, too," Thatch muttered.

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Tremor frowned for a moment, thinking. "Yes... I suppose you're right... But what ways would you be suggesting?"