Chapter 2-(pt 2)

After putting on a movie, Jasmine fixed Anna a bowl of stew and laid on the carpet, staring up at the ceiling troubled. She didn't really have an appetite after getting a whiff that something was wrong.

Dizziness danced at her temples while all the possible what-ifs swirled around in her head. Did someone get hurt? Is Shanelle going to have to go away? Why wasn't Ms. Teresa home? Why was Jasmine's mom involved? Is her family going away? Does that mean they'll have to change schools? Will they be on the run? The police could be involved! Was that why all the sirens were outside earlier? What was going on?! A wild fantasy mounted at an alarming rate, and Jasmine quickly shut it down.

"Shhh... Everything is good Jasmine. Breathe..." She said aloud, closing her eyes.

Anna glanced back at her sister, frowning. "You weird, " she mumbled faintly, half distracted by the film.

Paying her no heed, Jasmine thought of someone she surprisingly hadn't thought about since coming home. She thought about Michael. A sweet sound to the frantic orchestra playing inside of her, the blaring sounds easing.

Closing her eyes, there he was, standing before her. She imagined him just like he'd been the last time she saw him. His curly black hair hung wild but charming, a few strays curling at his brow. When he smiled, two dimples showed, his set of perfect teeth crimson white.

Jasmine longed for Michael to reach out to her, hold her hand, and tell her he was madly in love with her. She was sure they'd be married in the future; it was destiny.

"Jasmine.." he'd say. "We've known each other for years now, and I can't keep quiet anymore..."

She could feel her heart racing even as he "spoke".

"What... What's this about Michael?" She'd ask, pretending to be clueless.

Cupping her face, he pulled her in. "Jasmine..." He breathed. "I love you... When I first met you, I knew we'd be together. It was so hard sometimes for me to keep quiet about how I felt, it ate me up inside!" He paused for a moment, allowing his words to sink in. She could have fainted.

"Listen... I can't live without you Jas..." He leaned in, grazing her cheek with a gentle thumb. Lips parting, he took her mouth as his own. Although she didn't know what a real kiss felt like, the one in her head seemed quite pleasant.

Not wanting to show the intensity of how she felt despite the war of emotions raging inside of her, Jasmine hid her face with a dramatic hand.

"Oh Michael... You're lying! You'll break my heart if I hear another word-"

Taken back, Michael grasped her hands and forced her to look at him, speaking with such bold passion.

"Day after day I think about you, wondering what it'd be like for you to want me as much as I do you... I love you," he said firmly. "I love you! Do you feel the same way? Tell me you love me... I'll die without you. Tell me!" Michael pleaded with tearful eyes, holding onto her like she was his lifeline.

"I... I..." Jasmine stammered, heart beating wildly for the moment she'd been waiting for for years. "I do love you Mike. More than anything else in the world."

---

Eyes widening in disbelief, he embraced her and kissed her again. Twirling her around, they laughed with joy. Jasmine's heart swelled as he began to declare all of the promises she knew he'd keep; the plans he had for them to share for the rest of their lives.

"I'll never hurt you Jasmine. I'll always be here. Always!" He shook her shoulders lightly with genuine conviction, his voice echoing down what seemed to be a long hallway. The echo softened, and sounded all around, his voice disappearing and sounding distant.

Turning around, she saw that she was indeed in a long hallway. When she swung back around, Michael was gone. The air was prickly and cold. Shivering, Jasmine walked with unction, not knowing where she was. Fear suddenly gripped her. Where was she? What was this place? Wasn't she just at home with Anna? Why couldn't she open her eyes?

The walls around her were sharkskin gray with large paintings hanging on them, all different shapes and sizes. Though her feet became lead, she pressed forward unintentionally, having no control of her own movement. Approaching a gold frame on her left, she stopped in front of it, shocked to see that the images displayed were alive and moving. The painting was real!

The scene showed large groups of people in what looked like a condensed downtown area surrounded by new and old city buildings. The people were marching in waves, aggression and violence displayed on livid faces, many cursing and yelling. Some threw bricks, stones, glass, and whatever else they could find, tearing down some of those buildings. They lit flames, brought household bombs, and yielded home-crafted weapons.

She could see owners weeping in front of those buildings, holding on to the banners of businesses they'd spent their whole lives pouring into. For some reason, Jasmine had an understanding of which people were a part of which group, though she didn't know how.

Jasmine gasped in horror as she witnessed that march of people trample through the owners who refused to leave their storefronts. She could even feel the ground rumble beneath her own feet as they pressed on yelled in frightening unity. It seemed as if they were moved by a contagious, invisible, and malignant force. They held signs and banners that said things like "All people", "One love", and "For the people". How could these signs be the cause of such chaos?

Trembling, Jasmine hurriedly moved on to get out of the hallway. Suddenly, a frame on the right caught her eye. There was a head of a goat facing a camera. She was looking at what seemed to be footage. The eyes of the goat opened, and to her shock, they were the eyes of a man. The mouth of the goat opened, and the voice of a man began to scream. It raised the hairs on the back of Jasmine's neck. Backing up from the camera, his entire body was in view. He had the body of a man, but feet like the hoves on a goat. The room he was in looked like a prison cell.

"Help me!" He screamed in terror. He cried out over and over again. A door opened in his cell and several people came in, clothed in white hazmat suits, holding long rods in their hands pointed towards him.

Something deep within Jasmine's belly cringed and she could no longer watch what was about to happen. Tearing her eyes away from the scene, she hurried her pace to get to the door that lay only a few yards away. Suddenly, her feet were forced to a stop, and her body made to face another picture frame. She tried to shut her eyes, but couldn't. Fear and anxiety rolled around inside of her as she saw what looked like a map of the U.S..

"Another church was set on fire this afternoon in Montgomery Alabama..."

"A mother and daughter were killed in an accident that many claim have been planned..."

"Hundreds of parents have stopped trusting their children in the hands of our educational system, and classrooms remain empty..."

---

"Thousands of Christians have gone, hidden from the public eye, in fear of confrontation with radical liberals..."

Voices came up from all over the U. S.. News stations hummed, some reporters frantic, others stern, but all in alarm.

Then, something started to happen. As Jasmine observed the different states, the soil started to open up in Washington, Arizona, Kentucky, Mississippi, and California. Soon after, large dark creatures emerged, black, oily, and oozing what looked like tar all over the state they were in. Some had fangs both in and outside of their mouths, others missing a mouth altogether. One was winged with no fur, and had claws that extended longer than it's actual arms.

Yet, it was the beast in California that caught Jasmine's attention. It was skinny, much smaller than the others, but had a mouth that expanded larger than it's body every time it spoke. It talked loudly, cursing and declaring things. Jasmine wanted to shut both her eyes and ears.

"MOTHERS CAN MARRY DAUGHTERS. FATHERS CAN MARRY SONS. MEN CAN MARRY MEN. WOMEN CAN MARRY WOMEN. CHILD CAN MARRY ADULT. MAN CAN MARRY BEAST. WHAT FEELS GOOD IS THE LAW, AND THE LAW IS WITHOUT RESTRAINT. "

It's voice was so loud, it tore at the states around it, and the heat from it's words began to dry the ground.

Jasmine started to cry. Where was she? Why did she see these horrible things? Was she dreaming?

The creatures damaged the states, and she saw they enjoyed doing so. Was what she was seeing real?

Out of nowhere, a loud sound pierced the chaos. It was a terrible sound, whirring like strong wind and rushing water. The map of the U.S. zoomed out so that Jasmine could see the entire earth.

The sound got louder and louder, until suddenly, a flood of water, wind and fire came pouring down across the globe. Every beast that had sprouted up was immediately consumed by the fire. The water then rushed over the land, cleaning it of the black tar. Jasmine then realized it had polluted not just America, but every nation.

The wind blared a tune as the water receded, louder and louder, until a shining man appeared. He stepped onto the earth, height far above the layers of the atmosphere, and he held up to his mouth an instrument. The blowing from the instrument was what was causing the wind to roar as it did.

Feeling her feet loosen, Jasmine took the opportunity and ran, escaping through the door.