The Beginning of the End

Chapter ten, Engulfed in darkness

Out of nowhere I trip on a large tree root as something hits the back of my head, it hurts as I fall to the forest floor, my world turning black.

•••

I gain consciousness at the sound of soft singing. My heart races. I try to open my eyes, but my eyelids feel heavy, so I just lay there listening to the voice. Am I dead?

"Fly, fly, fly along home
Where you shall never feel alone
Where the poppies roam, where your debt is gone
Oh, oh fly along home."

No, I'm not dead. Haylee is singing. I can recognize her voice. What she's singing sounds familiar to me. It takes me back to when Haylee and I were children. She used to sing the old folk ballad when we would walk to school together. She always would say that her grandfather taught it to her when she was little. Supposedly it had been passed down to every generation of the Darrow family. Now, Haylee was the only Darrow left to sing the beautiful tune.

"Cry, cry, cry all your tears
When sunrise comes, gone are all of your fears
For in mornin's ray, gone is death's display
Oh, oh fly along home."

The melody soothes me, bringing back fond memories. The song rises in a crescendo.

"Sing, sing, sing your song
Forget how you were ever forlorn
For your time has come, so don't be glum
Oh, oh fly along home."

She sings the last verse as the tune reaches the peak of the crescendo. I focus on the lyrics. To the average listener the words might not mean much, but for me, that's not the case. I know the dark meaning behind these lyrics.

"Close, close, close your eyes
Never trust their scornful lies
Lay down your dread, like you never have bled
Oh, oh fly along home."

She finished in a diminuendo, her words slowly becoming softer and softer.

"Oh, oh fly along home
Oh, oh fly along home."

As I manage to squint my eyes open, all I can see are the large trees towering above me. The sky is a dark blue, telling me that it was only sunset moments ago. I guess I'm laying on the forest floor. I can hear flowing water nearby, I hadn't heard that before.

As a soft breeze sets in, I get goosebumps, chills spiking throughout my whole body. I peer down at myself. I'm shirtless, my bare chest and abs exposed. The wound on my shoulder has new bandaging. I can see some of the black poison spreading underneath the bandage, into my veins. I don't think it looked like that before.

My head is throbbing with an awful headache. I can practically feel my pulse in my temples. The wound on my shoulder is a bit sore, though I believe my head is worse.

Just as I am about to sit up, I hear Haylee's voice nearby, "Finally! Bloody heck, I thought you'd never wake."

It is a bit ironic to me, how she could instantly go from singing a beautiful folk ballad to chewing me out.

I glance over at Haylee, she is hanging my soaking wet T-shirt on a low tree limb, setting it out to dry. Not too far off behind her is a creek, where I guess she had washed my shirt.

"I fed you while you were out," she states, walking over to me.

"What happened?" I ask.

Then I remember. Lena. Where is she? Had Haylee found her?

"You took off running like the psychopath you are. I think some of that poison was starting to get to your head. I caught up with you and knocked you out. I figured it would be for the better, though your head might be a little sore," Haylee says.