First Chapters

Satin's Rose

Satin's rude Awakening

Pain. I woke up from it. A sharp stabbing pushed from inside my chest and my eyes flew open. Still unaware of where it came from, I inhaled involuntarily only for the pain to pierce again. Clutching my chest, I curled in my bed. The air was cold, sweat formed on me as I held my breath. I couldn’t hold it forever. Slowly, I tried another breath and stopped immediately as I felt the dagger’s tip. Exhale, very slowly. Breathing in at a snail’s pace, I had gotten an estimate on where the pain would start. Short and quick, it seemed to work, I sat up and immediately felt lightheaded. Holding my breath again I counted. One. Two. Three. Slower than I thought I could possibly manage, I inhaled, inflating my chest only to find that the pain was completely gone. Sighing, I moved to stand.

Suddenly my throat seized up. Stumbling out of bed, I panicked. I wanted to scream, to cry out that something was wrong. A wad of pins and needles made their way up to the back of my mouth. I grabbed to the nightstand for balance, throwing down papers and pens in the process. Tears were in my eyes as the pain seemed to stay stop moving, it was as if I had swallowed a red-hot ball and sandpaper at the same time. A press was building up that exploded. “Ack!” I coughed, a cloud of green and purple dust flew out of my mouth. It floated like snow, sparkling as it caught the sun, and disappearing before touching floor. It was over.

WHAT WAS THAT?

I sat motionless for a few minutes. Waiting for if the horrid sensation would return. I had been feeling unwell for a while now, but I would have never expected it to culminate in this. Was it something I had eaten? Any spare change I found or was given went straight to a jar for paints and brushes, so the only food I had put in my mouth was fathers cooking and there was nothing wrong with it or else mother would be sick too. Something in the room? Inspecting my bed, there wasn’t anything unusual about it other than it had become quite a mess from the struggle. Looking around, everything seemed to be in order, even the most mundane cobwebs on the ceiling being in their proper place. Something that came in? The only window wouldn’t even open if forced what with its rusted hinges and the door was still closed.

An eerie silence filled the room as the creeping feeling of something unknown stalked right out of my view. My body tensed trying to figure put what the world wanted. Suddenly father called. I jumped to the floor with my back to the bed crouching and shaking.

“Satin! Breakfast’s ready!”