Chapter 23. Write a Novel Challenge.

The delicacy of the cool, ethereal light was coming from within her. Within her soul. Time was a complete illusion of eternity as her beauty was timeless. She was as radiant as the Sun and as elegant as a rose. She held the stars and galaxies in her eyes that spoke of a thousand constellations. And oh, how her eyes glistened of rich pools of honey to match her long, wild, golden locks, of which she wore as her crown of legacy. Pride. She wore her scars as big, powerful wings. She held the strongest control over the skies, and she didn’t even know it. She was the girl made of stars. She was powerful.

She plunged into the starry night as her escape from reality. But this was her reality, right? Why can’t she just freeze this moment, and live in it forever? She belongs here, in the reign of the galaxy. Dreamily, she began dancing around the myriad of lucid snowflakes in complete tranquility; this was perfect, endlessly perfect.

In the middle of her mindless trance, she was startled to find that something was fluttering before her. She gazed at it, trying to make sense of the impalpable creature. Its flight was delicate, fragile…weak. Like a fairy, it cast a spell upon Neina with colours blending and swirling in a whirlwind of elation. A wave of sudden foreboding crossed over her as the realisation hits that the butterfly’s wing contained a crevice on its lower left wing, marking its death sentence. Yet it kept on fluttering…

The lustrous, soft glow that once enchanted the galaxy began withering away like time itself. The impenetrable, gloomy darkness cursed the ethereal warmth into nothing but dark matter. She was no longer the epitome of a warrior but merely a scared girl with broken wings. Like the young girl she once was, she closed her eyelids shut as the world around her began falling apart, all over again…

The cold stench of the spine-chilling, eerie room snapped her to the present moment. The cacophony of her laboured breaths echoed through the small room. Hot tears began to stream down her freckled face, as the frustrations of her tired mind pleaded for peace. Her eyes, so drained of sight that she couldn’t tell if the uncontrollable swaying was the room or just her deranged self. Lost in a whirlwind of forever darkness a countless number of times, she allowed herself to delve into it once more…

Her tired eyes looked up and tried to fathom her surroundings. She surveyed the hollow room to quickly realise a thousand eyes were glaring at her, tentatively. These eyes belonged to a body, no, a thousand bodies, wearing wine-stained blouses, pencil skirts…

Mirrors. She was in a room full of mirrors. Broken mirrors. She could see herself now for who she really was. Not a girl made of stars, not a ruler of skies, just a sad girl that dwells on her memories. And now, her eyes are open wide to the truth. This is who she is. Only… the smiles that they possessed were much brighter, their lips much fuller, their hair: long, straight, shiny…perfect. But those eyes; young, passionate, doe-eyed…

This isn’t me.

“No, Neina it is. I mean, I am you. I am what you’ll become,” spoke the menacing voice of Isla. Can she read my mind?

“You…” she started, her voice thick, “l’ll never become what you are, whatever you are. GET OUT OF MY HEAD!” says Neina, her voice echoing so loud that one of the mirrors split in half, multiplying.

This made Isla fume with rage. Fume with resentment.

“Listen here, Neina. I am always going to be here, whether you enjoy my presence or not. At whatever mirror or reflection you lay your eyes on, you’ll see me. It could be our body, no, no… it will be my body…’ she said, as her eyes gleamed of envy.

“No matter what you say or what you do, I’ll always be there…at the back of your mind, controlling you. Just like your mother you are, same desire for the perfect Image. The longing for milky-white skin and platinum blonde hair…remember, no one will want to hire a woman looking like that.  Well Neina, now you can have what finally completes you. ME!”

Suddenly, the floor began to shake. The thousands of mirrors began to shatter into tiny fragments of smithereens. All except one. Isla’s image began to quickly exit from the mirror she was confined to; she had a hungry, vicious look in her soul. She stepped onto the broken glass inhumanly, as there was not a trace of a single scratch to be seen on her pallor skin. She was no longer the gorgeous American dream she used to idolise, but now a cold, callous creature with devilish, snake eyes. She started staggering towards Neina.

“Your mother failed to fulfil the prophecy, and now you will fail as well!” She wheezed in a hoarse, croaky voice. Her presence was so awfully cold that the closer she was towards Neina, the more she felt her limbs go numb. She smelled of death itself. She limped towards Neina, only a few centimetres away…

“You are neither who I am, nor who I will become. You are the illusion I failed to recognise. You are the reason my family were never at peace. You are the demon that I felt the need to run away from. But it is you that represents the harsh reality of society. You’ve always made me feel that I was not good enough and not worthy of feeling beautiful. All this time, I felt the need to change my appearance to satisfy your needs. Well let me tell you what I think: you are nothing but an assassin of uniqueness and diversity. I don’t have to be white, blonde and slim to feel worthy because I am beautiful, I am exceptional, I am powerful. I am black. I am …. the girl made of stars.”

Clouds and darkness began to fill the room along with loud vibrations resulting in even more glass shattering causing a collection of wounds all over Neina. She was drenched in a pool of scarlet blood. Her body may be dead, but her mind was wild. She now understood the prophecy she must face. Challenge 3: recognise myself.

Isla placed her lanky, slender fingers around her victim’s neck. She began squeezing the living soul out of Neina, clogging her from all the breath she couldn’t have.

“I need you to die! I can’t live with you still here!” She squeezed on tighter to her neck without a single hesitation of letting go. She needed to have her dead, for she is going to fulfil the prophecy and end her soulless existence.

Neina’s small, feeble hands held on to the creature’s wrist at a failed attempt to ease her grip on her neck, but it was no use. She was seriously panicking now, swaying her arms and legs in a haphazard manner. Whatever she was going to do, letting Isla succeed was definitely not one of them. She must go on until the end…

Isla was smiling recklessly at her almost lifeless body. No. She wasn’t going to let her get away with murder all over again…

Something translucent and foggy caught her bulging eye. She placed a shaky hand from across her and felt her hands fold upon a cold, sharp glass segment. She lifted the icy segment, and then …

©SchoolsCompared.com and WhichSchoolAdvisor.com 2020. All rights reserved.

For further information on the Write a Novel Challenge by SchoolsCompared.com and WhichSchoolAdvisor.com, please click here. 

To read Chapter 1, click here.

To read Chapter 2, click here.

To read Chapter 3, click here.

To read Chapter 4, click here.

To read Chapter 5, click here.

To read Chapter 6, click here.

To read Chapter 7, click here.

To read Chapter 8, click here.

To read Chapter 9, click here.

To read Chapter 10, click here.

To read Chapter 11, click here.

To read Chapter 12, click here.

To read Chapter 13, click here.

To read Chapter 14, click here.

To read Chapter 15, Click here.

To read Chapter 16, click here.

To read Chapter 17, click here.

To read Chapter 18, click here.

To read Chapter 19, click here.

To read Chapter 20, click here.

To read Chapter 21, click here.

To read Chapter 22, click here.

For an independent review of Amity International School by WhichSchoolAdvisor, click here. 

For the official Amity International School Abu Dhabi web site, click here.

For further information on WhichSchoolAdvisor.com, click here.