OF THE NIGHT ∘ Seth Gecko

26 | Consequences

Author's note: ...hi. I didn't plan to take such a long break, but the past year has been a difficult one, mainly because I lost my grandma who I was very close with in January, after her situation was getting worse for a while. After that I honestly just felt insecure about my writing, and I kept putting off the working of this story. 

I feel guilty that I've been so bad with updates, but it's also my last semester in college, so I really hope I'll have more time soon. But anyway, I don't plan to abandon this story, so have no doubt that even if it's been a while (unless I state otherwise) I'm still working on it.

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CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

CONSEQUENCES 

Sunlight. It's the only thing I can think about for several minutes; this warm, morning light. Everything feels strange. Nothing hurts but my body feels as if it's barely there. I can't move any part of it, only my eyes keep closing and opening. There's a big surface under me, but everything feels distorted, and I prefer to surrender to the darkness than face the wrongness of my situation.

My eyes open again sometime later. Seconds, or maybe even minutes pass by as I try to find something to hold on to, something to pull me out of this state of complete haziness. I see something ahead of me, yet it's as if someone has wiped my brain, and I can't register a single thing. The light is still the same so it can't be too long since I woke up last time.

I realize that I can feel myself breathing and I try to focus on the air coming in and out of my nose. The colors keep moving in front of me and at some point, I can even hear something, voices I think, but my general state stays the same. Not even thoughts come into my mind, it's like I'm a shell of myself. The feeling of breathing should help me get back to my senses, but it's not enough.

I'm on the floor, the realization dawns on me at some point and it echoes in my head until it sinks in. My thoughts aren't coherent enough for me to remember what happened, but now there's a strong feeling of displacement that sets all over my body. Then, in waves almost, the feeling returns to my limbs. Very quickly I start to miss my previous state, because the more I become aware of myself, the more I feel discomfort. My cheek is pressed against the floor, my legs folded, and my arms are the worst part because, for some reason, I can't move them away from being crossed at the wrists behind my back.

Then, I become aware of the voices again. I can't tell what they're saying even though I can hear them well, unable to make the sounds into words with meaning. Suddenly, two dark shadows come into view. I feel a tad more coherent, but I still can't move any part of my body. Or at least until I somehow find myself sitting and looking straight at two people. Dani and José.

Their words seem to be flying around me at the speed of light while I'm stuck still. I can't grasp what they're saying yet and I watch them talking above me. Having them there is like someone handing me a thread that I try to pull at, and questions start popping into my head about why they're here, why I'm here. I didn't think I would see them again, that's what I remember for sure, so how did they find me?

I can see my capturers looking at me and it brings back some of the memories from when they found me. Who knows what they did that made it so easy to take me... Sitting now on the dirty floor, my senses come back to me bit by bit, and I realize that my arms are still stuck in an awkward position behind me, probably thanks to one of the magic users.

When I recognize the words 'Seth' and 'money' coming out of Dani's mouth, dread washes over me. My heart sinks at the thought of Seth and it makes everything much worse. He disappeared into the night and for a moment, I wonder if they have him, too. I take a look around, and while it's hard for me to focus, I'm sure there is no one held in this room but me.