ATLANTION - LAYLA BOOK1

Part 2 Layla

It was early in the morning when a gust of air entered her room and slipped under her nightgown. The hospital garment had a twisted sense of humor, bunching around her waist and leaving her bottom cold and bare. Layla decided she needed to find some pajama pants and rolled over to face the window.

The horizon was alight with purple and crimson, a fiery tango of fire mixing with the bleak cerulean. Layla tried to pull the covers over her shoulders, but an unfamiliar weight was making it difficult. A fuzzy creature, smelling of fog and forest, was snuggled up at the edge of her bed. Layla jumped up as if a meteor had landed there, her feet tickled by the damp fur. 

Layla giggled, her gaze fixed on the large orange tomcat that had made its way onto her blankets. She had seen cats all over the institution, but none of them were quite like this one. 

This beast was massive, at least three times larger than any other feline she had encountered. Its coat was a brilliant shade of orange, as if it were on fire, and its emerald eyes were so large and bright that Layla felt as though she could see her own reflection in them. Its gaze met hers and they studied each other for a moment. The cat looked annoyed, as if to say, "Why are you up so early? Are you mad?"

She watched as the uninvited guest slowly stretched out its limbs and flexed its paws, its claws extending and retracting as it yawned lazily. The sound echoed through the room, making Layla smile at the sight of the tomcat's fluffy face contorting with pleasure. Her palms ached, and she longed to ruffle its fur, but she didn't dare, for fear of scaring it away.

As if sensing her admiration, the tomcat raised its head, fixing her with its gaze once again. It then proceeded to scratch itself under the chin, its paw making a soft rasping sound against its fur. Layla couldn't help but be charmed by the sight of the feline grooming itself so contentedly.

Without warning, the tomcat dismissed her and settled back down onto her blankets. Its massive body seemed to fill up the entire bed, and yet Layla couldn't help but feel grateful for its company. She watched as it curled up into a ball, its tail wrapped around its body like a protective shield.

Layla decided that the tomcat could be a fine companion in this grey, drab hospital. Its presence felt magical. She closed her eyes, feeling the warmth of the sun filtering through the window and the softness of her blankets enveloping her. In this moment, she felt as though nothing else in the world mattered, as long as she had the companionship of this magnificent creature.

A strange bundle of paper lay on the windowsill, its origins a mystery. 'Probably Ursula left them for me,' thought Layla and smiled. The floor under her feet was cold, but the chill that ran over the bare skin of her arms had nothing to do with the morning breeze that made the white curtain dance. 

The paper was different from the white crisp pages she had been gifted by the nurse. This mysterious bundle of pages was yellowed and dirty, covered in fantastic pencil and watercolor sketches. The artist  used magnificent black, golden, and coral shades, each picture telling its own unique story.

A delicate girl with blue hair flew through a fiery ocean of poppies, her light robe flapping in the wind as it smashed the bloody blooms against her body, breaking them into a tornado of crimson petals. Each drawing depicted the same girl, splashing in a lake, dozing in a flower field, and admiring the sunset on a swing in a hospital backyard.

Layla couldn't help but bite her lower lip as she realized the eerie truth - someone had been following her, watching her every move. Who could it be? A humble admirer or a dangerous criminal? The artist was certainly talented, but the thought of a stranger stalking her was unsettling.