Dark Aeons

by Z. M. Wilmot

  Singing in the Rain

  Sophie Lanson looked up into the sky, sheltered from the downpour by the overhang at the entrance to Bartlett Hall. The rain had been acting oddly all day, and it seemed to Sophie that it was going out of its way to irk her. Every time that a class ended and she had to walk between the scattered buildings on campus the rain seemed to pick up, and then when she was safely inside it ebbed again, its dull roar becoming a light scuttling on the roof.

  Now that her final class of the day was over, the rain had picked up tremendously, and she was almost afraid to step outside and walk through it. Students and professors hurried by on what had once been paved pathways, but had turned into rushing rivers. She didn't see a dry pant leg anywhere, and those people who had managed to keep the upper parts of their bodies dry were doing so with the greatest of difficulty as the rain whipped by in all directions.

  Sophie sighed. Her dormitory was on the complete opposite side of campus, easily a fifteen minute walk. She tapped her umbrella impatiently against the cement beneath her feet, thinking about what to do. Two men walked by her, holding hands and whispering conspiratorially, and plunged into the rain, cuddling together beneath a single large umbrella. She smiled for a moment at the sight, and then felt a pang of pity for them as the wind reversed the umbrella and dumped a large load of water on the pair.

  Right. Not going out in that quite yet.

  Sophie turned around and walked back inside the building, watching the two men out of the corner of her eye. They were laughing, having abandoned the umbrella, and were carrying on their merry way like nothing was wrong. For the briefest of moments, Sophie felt terribly alone. She shook off the feeling and sat down at a table in the building's lobby, staring morosely out the window.

  As had been happening all day, the rain stopped shortly after her retreat indoors. Sophie sighed again and got to her feet, then walked to the door and stepped outside. The moment she did so, the rain picked up again slightly, but then subsided once more, until it was little more than a drizzle. Sophie smiled, opened up her umbrella, and started the long trek back to her room, hoping to get home before the next deluge began.

  She was halfway to her destination when the rain came down again in earnest, the light drizzle against her umbrella becoming a roaring tide of water descending from the heavens. Sophie swore violently as her sneaker splashed into a deep puddle, soaking her up to her knee. Why can't it ever start raining when I'm getting dressed for the day? It was perfectly sunny this morning! Damn New England.

  Sophie stomped forward through the rain, angling her umbrella forward to deflect most of it before it could hit her. What a rotten ending to a rotten day. Two failed quizzes and a nearly-failed paper was almost too much for Sophie to bear. She cringed at the thought of telling her parents. Maybe they won't notice if I don't call them this week...

  It took ages for the walk signal at the busy street that cut across campus to light up and allow Sophie to cross. She sighed; her dormitory still seemed so far away. She trudged across the street and took a left along the cement sidewalk. There was almost no one else outside, unsurprisingly. I should have skipped today.

  A soft warbling noise reached Sophie's ears. She rolled her eyes; if she could hear the music playing through someone's headphones over the pouring rain, then the music was turned up way too loud. From what she could tell, they weren't listening to anything worthwhile, either. It sounded a lot like opera. Sophie had no patience for opera that day. She turned around to tell whoever was walking behind her to shut off their music player, but there was no one there. Confused, she looked around her, but saw nothing save the buildings to her right and the road to her left. There weren't even any cars out. Today was definitely a skip class and sit in bed with a mug of hot cocoa day.

  Sophie squinted at the buildings next to her and listened to them carefully, trying to determine if the sound was coming from them. Perhaps someone has their computer's speakers turned up way too loudly. As she listened more carefully, she found that she could actually hear less and less of the sound, until it was gone altogether.

  She shook her head. I need to get more sleep. I'm hearing things again. She started walking again, and was soon forced to hold her umbrella almost perpendicular to the ground in order to keep out the rain. What is up with this wind?

  As soon as Sophie had managed to position her umbrella to block out most of the rain, the wind suddenly stopped and the rain fell from directly overhead. She paused for a moment as she was soaked to the bone and looked blinkingly up at the sky. "Really? Really?" She whipped her umbrella back up over her head and kept walking.

  "Of course. It had to happen, didn't it?" The rain was now pelting her from behind, almost horizontally, the wind having once more picked up. She winced as it bit at her back. It was raining harder than she had ever seen. It almost felt like hail. It's probably not safe to be out here.

  Miserable, freezing, and soaking wet, Sophie finally reached the final street she needed to cross to get to her dormitory. "You. Have. Got. To. Be. Kidding." There was no longer any street in front of her. The entire road was covered in rapidly running water, overflowing over the curb and onto the sidewalk. Sophie stood for several moments, just staring out at the river before her. We call this a flash flood, her meteorology professor said in her mind. "Fucking hell," Sophie said in response.

  Sophie looked down the road to see if the part of the road on higher ground, on top of the hill, was perhaps dryer, but found that she could not see anything further than twenty feet away, as a thick fog had set in. She turned all around, and found that her world was now entirely defined by fog and mist. "That doesn't make sense," Sophie said, puzzled. Fog and mist and rain? All at once?

  It was then that Sophie realized that the fog was getting closer, pressing in on her from all sides. No. I'm imagining things. She peeked out from under her umbrella, looking up, and saw that the fog was above her, too. What on earth?

  Her heart beginning to race, Sophie began to walk quickly forward, heading towards where she knew the sidewalk went uphill. To her relief, the fog did not seem to approach any closer as she walked, though she was still unable to see any of the buildings or landmarks surrounding her.

  The warbling sound again reached Sophie's ears, but this time she did not stop. I really need more sleep. Hearing opera singers, being scared of the rain; what's up with me? The singing did not dissipate with time as it had before, but instead seemed to grow louder and crescendo as Sophie trekked determinedly onward. She could distinctly make out a woman's soprano voice carrying over the mass of other voices below her, loudly warbling unintelligible words. A deep male baritone counterpart joined her shortly thereafter, and Sophie thought she could distantly hear the sounds of an orchestra, complete with a full percussion section.

  I don't even like opera. Why does sleep deprivation have to send me opera?

  As the sidewalk began to slope upward, the mood of the opera turned considerably more melancholic, and the tempo slowed. It also got louder, and the fog seemed to press in on Sophie more and more. The wind picked up, and she found it difficult to walk forward, as she was going uphill and against the wind. She could scarcely see anything anymore; only a few feet in any direction. The rain was coming down harder and harder, and her poor umbrella was quivering under the onslaught. The drumming of the rain upon Sophie's shelter got louder and louder as the rain intensified, and she soon heard the booming of tympani and the deep vibratos of a group of baritones in the sound. The streams of rain running along the sidewalk, feeding the river, sounded like a tinkling children's choir. The river gushing on the road beside her sounded like a chorus of tenors and altos, and the wind swelled like an off-key soloist over the din.

  The river that filled the road was spilling over onto the sidewalk more and more, and the water began lapping at her feet."Ow!" Sophie said, jumping, as a wave rushed over the curb and hit her soaked socks. "That hurt!" She wondered a moment later who she was talking to. That rea
lly hurt. It felt like my puppy was nipping me. Since when does water have fangs?

  A second wave of water spilled towards her, coming from the river, and she sidestepped away from it, letting it dissipate before it reached her. Accompanying the wave was a distinct crescendo in the operatic music filling Sophie's head. As the wave weakened and then vanished, so too did the music.

  The wind suddenly picked up, and a violent gust of wind ripped the umbrella from Sophie's grasp, sending it whirling out into the fog and the river atop the road. "Fuck!" she screamed. She considered for a moment going out to look for it, but decided that it was safer to just get back to her room. Today is, without a doubt, the worst day of my life.

  As she trudged onward up the hill, the rain pelted down at her and tore at what flesh was exposed to the elements. Sophie shivered and pulled her coat closer, but without her umbrella, she had nothing to protect her. Why does the rain sting? She found herself wincing at almost every raindrop that hit her; it felt as if they were trying to chew through her coat and skin. Get a hold of yourself. It's just rain.

  Singing rain.

  The opera's tone was now distinctly menacing. A low baritone permeated the air, with occasional soprano squeaks piercing through the rumbling veil. "Great. I have my own mental soundtrack now," Sophie muttered to herself. She was soaked completely through at that point, and considered just crossing the street anyway. I won't get any wetter. I just have to hope that no cars come by. She paused and turned towards the water, ready to just walk across the street, wishing that she could see past the enveloping fog, which even now was beginning to prickle her skin. What is up with this rain?

  As she lifted her foot and prepared to step down onto the flooded road, the water rose up before her very eyes, arcing over her foot and lunging towards her. Sophie leaned backwards and planted her foot firmly on the ground before backpedalling wildly. The risen water splashed down onto the soaked sidewalk and lapped at her feet, dragging them slowly towards the road, against her will. "What the hell?!"

  Sophie screamed, turned around and began to run, pushing her way through the fog. The rain came down harder, feeling like needles piercing her skin. She shouted and cursed as she ran from the flooded road, and in response to her rising voice, the opera all around her crescendoed, filling every part of her being with its deep, rich harmony. She could hear thousands upon thousands of voices singing in the rain, but their melodies fell upon deaf ears as Sophie raged against the fog, which clustered ever more thickly around her as she moved through it.

  Soon, the fog was completely solid, and Sophie could move no longer. "Fuck! What the fuck is happening?!" Sophie whirled around and tried to run up the hill again - or what she thought was the hill, at least - but found herself being pushed, instead - pushed by the fog. As it pushed her, a chorus of deep, booming voices vibratoed through her, beckoning her to follow them. The stream of water coursing over the sidewalk added its own tinkling soprano choir to the call, and Sophie found herself unable to resist. "Stop! Stop singing! Rain doesn't sing! Let me go!" No matter how hard she tried to move forward, she found she couldn't; the fog and the water beneath her feet was moving her ever closer to the water-filled road, the raindrops falling like daggers from the sky.

  Tears streamed down Sophie's face as her left foot ceased its contact with the ground, hovering above the river of water. The waves splashed hungrily beneath her foot, and a group of tenors joined the opera, calling for the feast. "No!" she cried. "No, no, no!" The tears fell off her face and added to the rainfall upon the ground. Her own voice began to sound among the choir, and she heard herself shouting and screaming melodically. "No, no, no, no, no noooooooo!"

  "Help me!" The fog pushed Sophie one last time, and she fell, shrieking, into the cold embrace of the river below. She screamed as her entire body was pulled under by the maelstrom and the fierce current, bubbles streaming from her mouth. She felt her soul dissolving, and the dark choir entered her through the breaches in her consciousness. Her screams grew louder and louder, higher and higher, until her body dissolved completely into the water from which it was made, and her dying voice joined the fell chorus that sang eternally in the rain.