Caelie
“It’s strictly forbidden to go near the sea.”
- Rules of Survival, Rocco Government
203 A.F. (After the Fall)
“Caelie...” she heard. Again. The girl had been hearing that voice for days now. Calling her. It sounded like someone she knew, which was unlikely since she didn’t really know many people.
The girl looked at the sky. The Sun was almost fading, and even now she still admired him. He was her idol, her protector. She believed he was kind and loving. Bad moon, she used to say when she was a child. How could she leave him?
When her mother was alive, she used to tell her child all kinds of stories. However, Caelie had always fancied the tales about the Sun and the Moon. The legends, the romance, the adventures. She believed half of those stories had been invented by her mom, and maybe the other half came from true legends. She loved them anyway. “The sun was always very kind. Poor lad. If he leaves the sky and comes to Earth to look for the Moon, we’ll be lost. He knows that, but he won’t let us die. That’s why he stands there alone, just waiting for the return of his lover...” the woman used to say.
He was still in the sky and beamed a little light, though it was weak and it had no heat. The Sun was dying. In the first years, it was beautiful to look at, it was just like an eclipse. The sun was dark with a line of light around it. Now it was just sad to see it fading, and its light disappearing with it.
During the day, on the few hours they were still gifted with sunlight, many minstrels gathered in the city square. Some of them sung stories about the Sun, waiting in vain for its revival. Others shouted that the end was close, the world was going to collapse. Caelie believed that the world was already broken and they were living in hell. It was not possible that there was a worse place than that, and maybe she would never be able to leave.
She hugged her body at the terrifying thought. The cold that night seemed more threatening than in any other if that’s possible. Maybe it was because she was alone.
Even though the days were received with gratitude, the nights came like cold storms. The Eternal Winter was close, it was what the old people said. Actually, it was what everybody said, and all of them felt it. The reports of people waking up dead were just increasing every day. The lack of food and blankets were leaving people desperate, and a lot of them would do anything for a piece of fabric.
Despite wearing a heavy coat, which was really troublesome to get, the wind came through the sleeves and into her neck. She trembled and tightened the embrace.
Caelie cursed herself. Why was she alone in the streets at that time of the night? She was breaking at least ten rules on that account, for starters the curfew. Well, it was not like she was afraid of being caught or to go to the prison. The city was deserted. Not even the guards wandered around at night. Just the Krieger, the protectors, and those ones looked after everybody, and not reprimand them.
There were just a few spots on the streets illuminated by some magic lampposts. Caelie took a deep breath. It was suffocating to be out there like that, even if it was a vast open space. The houses in Wynarski were spaced and the streets very large. There was an invisible pressure pushing her.
She hugged her body tighter. “I’m not supposed to be here,” She thought. But it was too late now. She could only walk forward, even if she didn’t know exactly where to go. Well, she could go back, but what was the point if she didn’t figure out who the voice was calling her name every freaking night?
“Caelie...” there it was again. The girl turned around, but the voice seemed to come from nowhere. Not in that realm. It was inside her mind. She felt a shiver down her spine. She had been hearing that voice for days, and still felt terrified. She would always wake up all sweaty to that dream, but only now she dared to leave the orphanage and look for it. It was calling her. Or maybe she was going insane. It was not like she could tell that to anyone. They would think she was going mad or that she was possessed. Caelie still wondered if what was happening to her was one of those options. In either one, she would be as good as dead.
She followed the voice. Or the way she thought the sound was coming from, it would be easier if it didn’t come from inside her mind.
Any creature could attack her now. Nobody left home at night, under no circumstances, because of that, the danger of the things that lived in Vämir, things she didn’t really know how to describe. Caelie had never met a single one of these monsters, nor she intended to. And the curfew was vital because it kept the citizens alive, it was not just some rule to get everyone obeying. Everybody knew the dangers... She knew the risks, and yet, there she was. “I must be stupid or something.” And it was probably time to go back already.
She looked back. She was definitely going to die if she stayed there. The voice grew closer. “Shoot...!” She couldn’t go back now, not when it was so close.
The girl raised her head and stared at the sky again. It was pitch black. Some people believed stars were just tales the old folk told to scare the children. Caelie was one of those people. However, she did dream about stars often. They would talk to her about their lost friend. As if the stars from the legends could speak, just stayed shining in the sky. “I’m really crazy,” she said to herself.
Caelie muttered something unintelligible. She bumped on the sidewalk and almost fell down. The space between the lamposts was ample, and she stayed several minutes in the most complete darkness before reaching the next one. The girl stared at the floating ball in the post. Magic was scarce.
“I should be thanking for the light in these streets,” she thought to herself. But no, she was putting herself in danger by walking out alone.
Caelie stared at the floor, she didn’t want to stumble on anything else. She raised her eyes again. There was a strange glow in front of her. The girl frowned. She was still very far from the next lampost for the street to be shining like that. But the only thing she could see was the light sphere floating in front of her.
Her heart stopped. She was colder than before. It could be a monster, an illusion, magic, possession, hallucinations. Her death time had finally come. But she would not embrace it lightly, she still had so much to live. Caelie had done almost to nothing in her whole life. Not that there was much to do in that place, right?
But it wasn’t evil. The glowing sphere fluttered in the air in front of Caelie. She went back a step. Her heart beating as fast as a pirate’s drum, she could swear it would jump right off her throat as soon as she opened her mouth. The girl tipped her head, but her eyes were still locked on the thing. She could try to run back to the orphanage. No. It was too late now. The thing trembled by her sight. It was slowly transforming into something else.
Caelie covered her mouth with her hands. She couldn’t scream, but there was... A woman in front of her. She still glowed as intensely as the sphere she was before she transformed, but it was a lady now. The woman had long blonde hair, her skin was pale like the light the orb beamed.
It did look like a spirit, even though Caelie had never seen any. But she heard stories. They had their own light, and it could be dark or bright, depending on the ghost’s soul. She didn’t know if it was true or not, everyone knew spirits were one of the creatures they should avoid at all costs. They could eat your soul or something like that. Not at all what Caelie was concerned with at that moment. She didn’t want to have her soul eaten, obviously, but she worried for the woman.
Caelie opened her mouth, but the words didn’t come out. Her jaw dropped. The woman smiled at her. Did they know each other already and Caelie didn’t know about it? No, it wasn’t possible. Well, it could also be a monster in disguise just waiting for the right moment to attack. But none of them dared to move. Caelie trusted the woman...
“W-what are you doing alone out here?” She asked. The question could be thrown right back at her, since she was, too, alone before the encounter with the spirit. But it was not a pressing matter at the moment. And well, it was not like a spirit needed an excuse wonder in the streets. Caelie had an urge to get closer, but her limbs didn’t really respond to her orders.
The woman didn’t answer. Caelie gulped and forced her body to move. She raised her arms and almost heard a low creak as if she was frozen until then. The girl took a step forward. And then another. The face of the ghost got clearer from up close. The woman was young and beautiful, but her eyes were somehow old, and there were tears in them, despite the lady’s smile.
“Why are you crying?” Caelie asked. “Are you okay? Can I help you...?“, insisted Caelie, though she didn’t know exactly what she could do for a spirit. As long as the woman didn’t want her body, her soul or anything like that, she would be happy to help.
She walked even more towards the other, almost without realizing it. They were so close they could touch each other. Caelie wondered if she reached her arm to the woman it would cross her body.
The lady moved her arm. Caelie’s heart skipped a beat. She could still run away, she could make it back home if she ran fast enough and didn’t look back. However, she didn’t move.
The spirit raised her hand and touched the orphan’s face. It didn’t cross her body. The woman’s eyes were so sad. Caelie froze in her place.
A strange glow came out the hand of the woman. It made its way to her fingertips and then into Caelie’s head. For a second, she could only see blank. But it didn’t scare her. And Caelie was one frightened girl, sometimes she feared her own shadow. She believed her fear would keep her alive. Her curiosity would probably kill her, though.
The white light then vanished. The girl blinked a few times, staring at the street. Caelie was alone again. She held her breath. The spirit was gone, and she was in the dark.
Her entire body was shaking, her breath was uneven. She turned around and started walking back to the orphanage. Her steps didn’t produce any noise, nor her breath, even though she was panting like a tired animal. There was nothing, just a void of sound. And sadness. She was painfully sad. Caelie had lost something very important, and she had to find it again. She cried and smiled at the same time.
She should be dead. But she was alive. She was more alive than ever. Something woke up inside of her, something clicked. Caelie could hear more, see more. Her mind had blown up, and now she could see beyond.
“I’m going crazy,” she smiled sadly. She shouldn’t have left her room. She should’ve ignored the voice and remained sleeping, maybe this way the girl wouldn’t know that emptiness in her chest.
