Aza forced herself to calm down, even just slightly. She shifted to sit with her legs crossed and tugged at her hair nervously. "When they come, they take over. So I'll-" Here she snapped her fingers. "I'll go somewhere else. To a different place."
"Why… why do they want you there? Because I need you right here, Aza. Can you try to stay here?" Raeden did his best to stay calm. It sure as hell wasn't working.
"No, no. I tried to stay once." She shook her head vigorously, which made her hair fan out slightly. She hissed in frustration and ran a hand through her hair. "They chase me. Through the forest." Aza made a rolling motion with her hands. "Like this. Over and over. Never stops."
"Hey. Look at me. LOOK AT ME, AZA. I will be right here. If they chase you, I'll run after somehow. I'm here for you." He was bewildered: praying that everything would be fine.
"Never stops," she repeated softly, looking into Raeden's eyes.
"It will stop. Nothing's gonna harm you. Not while I'm around." Raeden quoted Sweeney Todd. It seemed like an appropriate response. He looked deep into Aza's eyes. "I can see a galaxy back there. You have all this room, escape to there. You can leave these voices. They seem real, but they aren't. I promise."
She laughed ruefully, then said in a singsong voice, "That's exactly what a doppelganger would say."
"I don't know who or what a doppelganger is, but I'm just a kid. You'll be alright here, Aza. Nobody ever comes in." Raeden tried to soothe the girl.
Aza blinked.
When she opened her eyes, she stood in a forest. She spun around, bewildered. A person, just a normal person, took out a knife and mocked, "That's exactly what a doppelganger would say!" Aza scooted back, terrified. The girl looked exactly like her. Exactly. She knew in the other world she was passed out, Raeden probably by her side, freaking out. She knew she wasn't really going to die, but in this world…this world was different. The other girl moved closer. "That's exactly what a doppelganger would say," she mimicked again and threw the knife. It lodged in Aza's stomach and she collapsed, knowing that here she had twenty minutes as her stomach acids slowly permeated the rest of her body and she dissolved.
"Aza? Aza??" The girl had passed out in front of him. "AZA PLEASE WAKE UP! YOU'RE OKAY! Please, dear God, let her be okay…" he started crying. "What did I do wrong?"
She shivered in the real world. In her mind, frost crept up her arms and legs, turning her skin blue. Her entire body froze over, slowing the dying process. Why is death so cold? she wondered.
She was shivering. Raeden yanked off his hoodie and draped it over the girl, praying it'd do something; anything. He pleaded with God. "Please let her be alright."
A sharp stabbing pain shot through her body, and she screamed, frozen in time.
She sat up abruptly, still screaming shrilly. Her breath came in jagged gasps>
"AZA! Oh my god are you okay?" Raeden didn't know what to say. "Breathe. You're okay. Shh."
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just cold." She wiggled her fingers, still feeling the remnants of frostbite.
"You've got my jacket. Do you need the fire blanket? I might have another hoodie…" Raeden tried to think about how he could help the poor girl.
"I'm fine," Aza repeated. "I'm fine." It almost sounded like she was trying to convince herself. "How long?"
"Maybe five minutes? You had me worried, Aza." Raeden was at a loss for words completely. He tried to think of something to warm her up. "I'm glad you're okay." is what he finally settled on.
"I'm okay," she said. She winced, a migraine coming on. She didn't want to seem needy, so she pulled herself up into a crouch, rocking on the balls of her feet. "I'll be right back."
"Wait where are you going?" Raeden asked quickly. "Are you going back to wherever the hell you just were?"
"No. No, dear God, no. I'm going to go get water," she said, putting her hand's in front of herself. She stood up and wobbled slightly. She yelped a little, hoping she didn't fall over. Her head spun and her eyes unfocused.
"Nononono, you sit down. I'll get you water. I've got a bottle of water in my bag. Let me get it." He clambered over to his backpack and grabbed it. "Here you go." He handed it to the girl.
Aza reluctantly sat back down and took the water. "Why do you care so much?" Aza said before realizing Raeden had asked her the same question.
He realized that he asked Aza that earlier. "Because," he whispered. "I'm absolutely fascinated by you, Azalane Firewind."
"What's so special about me?" Aza said, unscrewing the cap of the waterbottle. "I'm a depressed teenage girl with a shaky grip on reality who lives-" Aza stopped. "I'm not fascinating at all."
"You have galaxies in your mind. You're stunningly beautiful. You're just crazy enough to balance my overly logical mind. You're perfect, Aza. The end." Raeden fought the urge to kiss the stunning beauty in front of him.
"The end." Aza took a contemplating sip of the water. She looked him dead in the eye and said, "It's never the end. Ever. Never ever never. Never."
Raeden thought for a second. "Do you know how improbable the universe is? Think about it. Some space dust was in the right place at the right time. If there was even a tiny molecule out of place, the universe wouldn't exist."
"Never the end," Aza repeated, grinning.
"There is no end to existence. But the moment is over. You're fine now. Right?"