The rest of the car ride was silent. Rafa just stared out his window, drawing lines between the stars making his own constellations.

  The car came to a slow stop as they pulled up to an airfield beside a large cargo plane waiting with its hatch open. “Good news! We’re here!” The official who was driving said.

  Rafa was quick to get out of the car when he saw Gab standing next to the plane smoking a cigarette. “Gab!” He called out with joy. To Rafa the draft didn’t matter anymore, his heart was skipping with excitement as he approached his favorite person.

  But when Gab realized who was calling out to her the cigarette dropped from her mouth. The cigarette danced across the ground sending embers of a dying flame to be freely taken by the wind. The sight of Gab about to cry caused Rafa’s quick pace to die down until it became a slow walk. He was only ten feet from the person he would do anything to be with and yet he dreaded the moment because he knew something was wrong.

  “Gab! I’m glad you’re… still here.” Rafa said before stopping altogether as Gab broke out in tears and ran inside the plane.

  “You made her cry.” Michael’s voice was a cruel sting that Rafa couldn’t ignore.

  “What did I do?” Rafa said as a forced smile rolled across his face.

  The actor stared at the planes open hatch like a stage that suddenly felt too big for his smile.

  “Ji…” The word slipped halfway through Rafa’s lips before he caught it. He had no idea what he was about to say nor why he was speaking, it was like he was having a conversation that wasn’t there. Rafa shook his head putting the blame on stress.

  ”Alright, everyone’s here. Everyone aboard!” A man yelled. He began to point to the open hatch and waving his other hand in circles. Everyone dragged their feet slowly as they boarded the plane.

  The cargo plane had multiple big boxes strapped to the middle of the floor and lining each side of the plane were rows of seats. Rafa saw Gab sitting on the left side so he quickly ran to her having both angels slowly in tow.

  Within seconds of the doors closing, before anyone had a chance to sit down the plane began to slowly crawl across the runway.

  The man who ordered everyone into the plane was a short man who wore military clothes and had his head completely shaven. The only sign that he could grow hair was his thin brown mustache. “Alright! Now that we are finally moving let me introduce myself! I am Frederick Hugo, you can refer to me as Mr. Hugo. I will be the commanding officer of this drafted squadron and I will be leading us through the red zone to the best of my ability.” Mr. Hugo said, standing with his back just inches from the hatch that just shut. He gave a salute but when he saw no one paying any attention to him he murmured under his breath and took a seat next to the hatch.

  Rafa took his seat next to Gab and the angels sat on his other side. Rafa’s chest fluttered as he thought of a dozen ways to take this pain from Gab. A few jokes, a song, maybe a dance or a bow.

  But Gab slowly shifted her body until Rafa was just out of her line of sight. So Rafa stayed there, by her side, holding his smile perfectly still. Waiting for the moment that Gab may turn around and ask.

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  Everyone was quiet as they either stared at the floor in front of them or sat sideways to stare out the window behind the seats. “Attention.” The overhead speaker sounded off mostly full of static. It grabbed everyone’s attention purely out of shock.

  “We would like to thank our brave hero’s for their sacrifice and will like to extend our gratitude with some beverages…” The overhead speaker continued to talk but as everyone realized it wasn’t anything important they began to retreat back into their minds.

  “Rafa…” Gab said finally breaking the silence between the two. This is exactly what Rafa wanted, just words to be shared between the two. He quickly realized the words were being forced out. He froze. He had never seen someone hurt just from talking with him.

  “You realize what this is right? The draft?” Gab said pointing all around the plane before her arms quickly retreated back to a crossed position over her chest.

  As Rafa began to slowly nod his head Gab took several silent breaths to keep the tears buried. “No you don’t. We’re going to die out there Rafa…” Gab said finally letting several silent tears skate across her cheeks until they fell, staining her jacket with a permanent sadness.

  Rafa didn’t hesitate, his lips moved before he could think. “I promise I won’t let you…” Rafa caught himself mid sentence. He realized that what he was promising was impossible. Thousands have been sent into the red zone and not a single one had survived for longer than a day. So now he just stared at the floor as tears filled his eyes.

  Rafa’s mind drifted back to when he was only 12. This pain dragged this memory that had been buried for years. He had just made it big, landing his first starring role and his parents couldn’t have been prouder. But Rafa couldn’t take the spot light back then, it caused him so much anxiety and made him feel so exposed.

  There was on particular day where Rafa couldn’t get the courage to even step on set. So that was when Rafa’s dad took him for a walk. The two of them walked past all the dressing rooms, the prop rooms and eventually they walked out the front gates of the studio.

  Rafa’s dad sat Rafa on a big rock and just smiled at him. “You feeling any better son?” His calm, collected voice chilled the ridged edges Rafa was trying to hide.

  Rafa wanted to say no but his dad already knew the answer. “You know I get really scared too right?” He said as he took a seat next to Rafa. The two of them watched as countless people walked by, none of them paying any attention to them.

  “Fear is only natural son. When I’m cooking meals there’s always a chance I could miss something and then sometimes people will get mad and I would be put into the spot light to face the consequences. But if you just face that fear or face those harsh faces with a smile it gets easier.” His dad patted him on the knee a few times before giving Rafa the biggest smile he had ever seen.

  “Smiles are like a virus, they will spread and up lift anyone no mater what!” His dad said proudly. Seeing how the smile quickly spread to his face Rafa knew instantly his dad was telling the truth.

  Then suddenly his dads eyes narrowed. He turned to the side and his mouth swung open. Rafa didn’t remember this happening before. He remembered him and his dad getting up after this conversation and Rafa conquering the stage but now there was only silence.

  Rafa tried his hardest to get out of his own memories but they were slowly dragging him deeper. The sky began to grow dark and the ground became a dark hue of red. The air was thick with the pressure of a thousand knifes all pointed at Rafa’s throat.

  “Ji…” The word slipped from his dad’s mouth without him even moving his lips.

  “Dad?!” Rafa screamed as he grabbed onto his dad. As soon as his hand made contact his dad turned completely into red spores that were taken away by the wind.

  “Jinar?” The words fell from Rafa’s mouth next. He quickly covered his mouth and that’s when he saw them. It was just out of the corner of his eye but for a second he saw a small body retreat out of sight. His eyes darted towards the body and that where he saw a little girl standing just inches from his face.

  The girl’s face was obscured by a red cloud of red spores that wouldn’t fade but even so Rafa could’ve sworn he had seen this girl recently. “Who…” Rafa began screaming but the air was taken from his lungs and his mouth slammed shut on it’s own.

  “Your name fell from the lips of a dead god. Why?” The girl said, her voice was like a scream disguised as whispers. She raised her hand and placed it over Rafa’s chest, her touch burned a hole through Rafa’s shirt. She continued pressing her hand forward against his skin, his skin began bubbling and his ribs began to crack sending vibrations through his entire body.

  “What makes you so important?” She whispered as Rafa’s skin gave way under her hand. The sound of his flesh ripping like a broken drum was a sound he would never forget.

  She now had a solid grasp over his heart and that’s when sirens began to wail. Rafa realized he was back on the plane next to Gab.

  The sirens Rafa heard before continued to blare. “That means we are about to land! Strap in!” Mr. Hugo yelled.

  Rafa couldn’t recall what had just happened, just the sound of his flesh ripping echoed endlessly throughout his mind.

  A touch to Rafa’s hand sent him into a panic until he looked down and realized it was Gab placing her hand over his while still looking the other way. That was also when Rafa realized his smile wasn’t there.