Whispering Voices

004 • The Breath of Death

The world around her was pitch black. It was difficult to breath, she inhaled thick smoke. It burned her throat, scorched her nostrils. 

She leaned over, sweating. Her stomach cramped, pushing up bile. She retched. A thick sludge came out of her mouth. No, it crawled out of her mouth. She touched her lips. Hundreds of insects crawled on her fingers.

She screamed, although her shriek only sounded in her head. She dropped on her knees and fell on something soft. A disgusting stink reached her nose. Suddenly all shadows left, revealing a mass grave. She laid amidst rotting corpses. In shock she came upright. Two empty eyes stared upward, they were part of the body she had fallen upon. A whimper left her quivering lips. Where was she? What had happened? 

A gruff cry. A crow skimmed over her and landed atop the body of a young girl. Her dead body moved slightly when the bird tore off a piece of her cheek. 

Aella's whole body was shaking. Sobbing she rubbed her upper arms. Her fingers slipped over her skin. When she looked at them, she realized they were covered in blood. 

Horrified, she stepped back. With a watery sound, something fell on the ground. 

Guts. Her guts. 

There was a large, bloody hole in her belly. 

She fell on her knees, her fingers glided over her stomach, trying to push back her organs.

A bright light blinded her. A voice whispered sentences full of hissing sounds, which she couldn't understand. 

Then her sight returned. 

She was in a hospital. Her mother stood beside her. She cracked her eyes and someone yelled.

"Doctor! Doctor! She's awake!"

Running footsteps, three doctors entered her room. Behind them, in the doorway, stood Hayes. 

She frowned. What is he doing here? What am I doing here?

"What happened?" she asked, dully. 

Her mother laid a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. "You were struck by lightning. You have been in a coma for a few hours."

She stared at her mother in disbelief. "W-what?" She couldn't remember anything about it. She had... been eating with Hayes and he had convinced her to take a walk. She looked at the doorway again, where he was still standing. It looked like he was struck by lightning. He showed her a smile, but his eyes made clear he didn't know whether he should stay or go.

Aella closed her eyes. She thought about the dream. This one had been much worse than the others. She touched her stomach, there was no bandage. It had felt so real...

She looked at her mother. "Am I... Am I wounded?"

A doctor answered: "We have discovered no injuries. Are you in pain?"

Aella shook her head. 

After half an hour the dregs of her nightmare had slipped out of her head. She felt fine. She had no pain, her memories had all returned. The doctor saw no reason to keep her in bed and described her condition as stellar. 

"Are you coming to my house?" her mother asked after she had put on her jacket. 

Aella shook her head. "No, I'm okay. Thank you for coming."

She didn't know if she was really grateful. The relationship with her mother had always been difficult. It had been one of the reasons she had moved to the city. She wanted to stand on her own two feet as soon as possible. 

"I think Hayes wouldn't mind taking me home."

The man looked up when he heard his name. "Of course not."

She noticed he tried to pretend to be nonchalant, but his eyes revealed that he was glad that she didn't ignore him. She wondered what he was thinking. She bet his memories of the lightning strike were far more vivid than her own. 

"My car is still at the restaurant." 

Unwillingly she looked at her mother. Now she had to ask her a favor anyhow. "Could you give us a ride?"

"Of course, my dear, of course."