Phantom Pain (trilogy)

Gavyn

Chapter 2: Gavyn

The first thing I noticed was the rain pounding against the window.

The second thing was that I could move. At first I was unsure of where I was, or what was going on. Panic began to take hold, and I jumped quickly to my feet. Then it began to come back. I was in a room full of swords, and I somehow knew the door was a bookshelf. I was alone in the room, but I remembered Gavyn. And there was a woman named Lila with a golden cross around her neck.

I relaxed a little. The autopsy stitches were itching terribly. The case with the jewel handled knives was right in front of me. I opened the glass lid, slightly worried that an alarm might go off. None did. Producing one of the thin blades I began to trace the Y that had once been sliced into my chest. It felt a lot better once the thread was out of my skin. Stretching, I noted that although there was a dull ache in my back, they had not yet opened. The excruciating, unbearable pain was not yet upon me. I looked around wearily for odd shadows, but only saw the ones that were created when lighting flashed in the sky outside. There was also no creeping feeling of dread.

Finally finding a moment of peace, after what felt like all of creation, I reached curiously for the scars on my back. My fingers brushed one of them, and it sent a jolt of pain rippling out through my body. What was I thinking? Did I want the burning to come back? Because if there was one thing I'd learned, it was once the wounds reopened, I was going to die. There was only a certain amount of pain a body could handle.

I felt the weight of the knife in my hand. I liked it for some reason. I liked this room in general. Gavyn and Lila had talked about a woman named Madam Moore. They were hers, and I had to admit I approved. As I paced, looking at the blades, I became uncomfortably aware of the dried blood on my back. At least the people who put me in the coffins always had the decency to wash it off. After I'd washed up I was going to have to figure out a way to get out of here. The door probably opened, but I felt like it would be more convenient if they just came to get me. But why would they? I was just a corpse. Feeling bad about it, I removed one of the curtains from the window.

Gavyn seemed nice. He should come check on me. He had found me the first time. I knew he was in the castle. If I focused really hard I could also feel Lila. Maybe the dread had always come from the fact that I was alone. It felt good to know there were humans near by. They kept the shadows away much better than any literal light source, though that wasn't all it was. There was something about this castle, and the chapel behind it. Around the priest, or the men in the autopsy room, the dread had always been present, in the corners of the room. Here, it swirled around in the dense clouds, not a speck of it making it through the old, stone walls.

When I stood on my bench, I could open the small window. There was an overhang, but the wind was so severe drops reached me all the same. I held the cloth outside until it was significantly wet. Then I sat down and began to try and removed the layers of crusted blood. It almost looked black until it met the water, then it began to dissolve and turn red again.

I was only about half way done when the bookshelf slid open.

Gavyn dropped the candle he'd been holding. Thankfully, it did not catch fire on the floor.

“Holy shit.” He stumbled back, his hand supporting him on the edge of a case.