Presence

One

What do you do when your life flashes before your eyes? When all the blood drains from your face leaving you cold and pale, when your body goes limp from lack of blood? You just lay there and wonder if you're were good enough, if your family will miss you, and if your friends will go on without you like you were never there.

As I lay in the cold snow it turns red around me. My time to die has come and I was left alone middle of the woods. My friends and I had taken a camping trip in the mountains and the weather turned bad. It was a freak snow storm in April. We were attacked by creatures of the night, none of us had seen it coming. They were all dead, Max, Angela, Brad and Sphinx. I was soon to follow them I could feel death settling in my bones. My breathing was ragged and short, the creatures collapsed my right lung and left my body covered in bruises and cuts. Red eyes circled me but howling in the night scared them off. Wolves scared them off, they could easily take down a pack of wolves but they fled. Leaving me here to die a slow painful death while the rest of my friends were already gone. 

More howls erupted in the cold cold night. The sounds of pounding paws and twigs breaking got closer and closer along with the howls. My eyes darted around the woods and landed on a set of bright glowing golden eyes. The eyes came closer and closer and panic set in. They must have smelled all the blood and came for an easy meal. My eyes closed and I let the cold finally take over.

~~

Sweat covered me and the sheets of my bed clung to my body. My lungs worked overtime to keep up with the adrenaline pumping through my veins. My heart felt like it was going to give out, and if not my stomach was going to. I leaned over the side of my bed and vomited. The pain meds and anti anxiety meds the hospital prescribed me to deal with trauma of the accident caused nightmares and vommiting. Theres other side affect but these are the two worst. Every night I wake up with the sweats hardly able to breathe because of the nightmares.

My vague memories of the attack played through my head every day. The sounds of my friends screams, their bones breaking and the burning feeling of almost dying haunted me when the lights went out. Don't think its only at night though, its just the worst.. I'm alone most of the time, I live with my sister and she is usually gone at work or with some random guy. She basically just pays the bills to let me live here.

Although she has been home lately to take care of me after the incident. My injuries were nothing minor. My neck was ripped open and my leg was held on by threads, my right shoulder dislocated and my left wrist was broken. Bruises and cuts lined my body from head to toe and my eye was swollen shut.

"Jane are you okay!?" My sister Hannah ran into my room switching on the light in a panic. "I heard screams." She paused when she saw me crippled over the side of my bed throwing up. After her moment of shock she ran to my side to pull my long brown hair back away from my mouth. She rubbed my back soothingly until I sat back up and wiped my mouth.

"You hear screams every night." I pointed out the obvious fact and she just frowned and walked into my bathroom. She came back out with cleaning supplies. "You know you don't have to do that. I can get it." I moved to get out of my bed but Hannah stopped me.

"Jane you know you can't be up moving around. Your leg isn't healed and if you mess it up you could possibly not walk. Do you really want to push it?" I sighed and flopped back down on the bed but wincing as my shoulder hit the bed. "See. Not a good idea to get up was it." She fluffed the pillows behind me and kissed my head. "Goodnight." She turned around leaving my room and flicking the light switch off. 

The darkness surrounded me once more sending me into panic mode. I closed my eyes to try and rid the feeling. But the paranoia was too strong and the nightmares came to me while I was awake. Glowing green eyes backed me into a shell of blankets praying they would go away. Snarls and jaws snapping rang in my ears but I couldn't move to cover them. My hyperventilation closed up my lungs and I lacked air. Eventually I passed out from the fear.

~~~

"How'd you sleep?" My sister brought me my breakfast and grabbed me my tv remote. I rolled my eyes at her question and clicked on the tv. "Your next appointment you should tell them what the meds are doing and maybe they can fix it." I rolled my eyes again. 

"My next appointment isn't for three weeks." She sighed and began rummaging through my clothes. She pulled out clean clothes bringing them into the bathroom. 

"Its time for a shower. Lets go." She came back out and demanded me to get up. She slid her hands behind my back and lifted up as I swung my legs over the edge of the bed. She wrapped one arm around my waste and lifted up so I only had to put pressure on my good leg. 

After she helped me get undressed and in the shower chair the warm water covered  washing away the little bits of blood still coming from my stitches. The trash bag we used to cover my cast collected water in a little pocket. Washing and rinsing my hair I grabbed my sponge to wash my body and around the stitches. 

"Okay I'm done!" I yelled out the shower curtain and Hannah came in with my bathrobe. She helped me onto the side of the bathtub so she can put new bandages on my leg and take the trash bag off my wrist. Its pretty pathetic the kind of care I need after the stupid incident. Why couldn't I have just died with them. Silent tears rolled down my cheeks as I keep my feelings inside about the incident. 

"I have to work today so I'd like you to get some homework done. You are still graduating in two months." She taped down the gauge over my stitches on my leg and then helped me put on my clothes. 

After she got me back in bed I picked at the breakfast she had brought me. She grabbed my homework and anything else I'd need while she was gone. "I'm only going to be gone a couple hours so you should be all set. Ill be home before lunch." She kissed my forehead and left. At least it was daytime and I had the tv to distract my mind from the haunting feeling.