Blind Faith (Book 1)

Chapter 3

Ash

Blink...

His entire body burned like fire and the smell of charred flesh filled his nostrils, causing his stomach to churn and bubble until it baked his throat and spilt out from his mouth. Choking in his vomit, Ash's mind splintered, the pain unbearable, he needed to move, anything to stop the agony and release the contents of his mouth. Paralyzed, his consciousness began to sink, and his life started to ebb away towards emptiness.

POP...like the bursting of a bubble, the silence transformed into a fierce attack on his senses, the world came alive with the sound of fire, loud crackling and spitting of flames, very close by – too close. His vision remained void of anything but white shapes and the flickering of dancing shadows. Ash trembled and closed his eyes, preferring not to see his impending doom.

Something gripped his arms, stirring him from his dark thoughts and forcing his eyes open.

"Shush, quiet, the pain will ease," whispered a soft musical voice, close to his ear. It was female and he thought he could feel her breath tickle his skin. Life returned to his fingers, his hands and slowly up his arms, like hundreds of tiny insect legs marching along his skin. The numbness faded, only to release the pain, tormenting his sanity, spreading like liquid acid in his veins. Even disorientated, Ash was sure he had been moved and rolled on his side.

"Here, let me help you!" The voice encouraged and suddenly his throat cleared, he greedily sucked oxygen into his lungs, only to cough and sputter, as he tasted bitter residue on his tongue - chard wood, plastic and dust, fuelling the inferno nearby.

Ash turned his head towards the voice and blinked, trying to clear his vision and see through the dark silhouette surrounded by white. He attempted to move his arms, his legs, to move anything, to stay alive. Nothing responded, remaining dead weights, though the burning crawling under his skin gave hope.

"Stay still. It will only hinder the healing," she said. Ash looked up and peered through the haze, he could just make out eyes, deep red glowing eyes, bloodstains in the dark mist of his vision.

Another wave of pain washed through his body, he whimpered and struggled with his unseen restraints fighting to see her face. Another wave of fire exploded and blistered his insides causing his body to convulse and contort at unbearable angles. Ash could not contain it any longer and opened his mouth to scream, but nothing came, but a shallow sigh.

"This was not the plan; you were not meant to be here. What have they done. The impatient, brainless...imbeciles!"

The voice teased his mind, tempting him, he felt a sudden weight on his chest and the intense pain suddenly ebbed and changed, fading as a cooling sensation smothered and washed away the raging fire crawling under his skin. He gasped as the cold reached his chest and smothered, overwhelming his heart, and extinguishing the inferno inside.

Ash could still hear and feel her breath against his ear. "I...I am so sorry, so sorry...you will be fine now, this is the best I can do. You will live, and that is what matters." Her words lingered in his mind. There was a soft drawing of air and a gentle click of a tongue before hot soft lips pressed against his, moist but dry and tasting of vanilla. He wished he could respond and cursed this paralysis. The kiss lasted seconds or hours, time seemed not to exist, but once the pressure lifted, he felt his mind follow, craving more, needing more. He moaned in despair; words still unable to form in his mouth.

The weight lifted off his chest. He could smell her perfume, its scent stirred memories of a distant past, of – sea and salt and intense heat.

He caught the echoes of sirens in the distance and stirred from his imaginings.

"Oh shit!...that was quick. But at least you are free...free for now...my love. Use it wisely...I have risked too much already!" Her voice trailed from him, he longed to see her face, to feel her lips again on his. The pain was gone but replaced with an agonizing longing.

"I will be watching...waiting...for you." Her last words were a whisper. Like a soft breeze on a summer's evening. Then there was nothing, but the screaming of the emergency service sirens. Somehow, in the very centre of his heart, Ash felt her go...

Blink...

Ash jolted upright, gasping and spluttering for air, hungrily devouring the oxygen pouring into his lungs. He blinked and just stared for a moment disoriented, his heart thundering in his chest, until he recognised his bedroom's pale walls, and rejoiced at the familiarity and the cool air entering his body. He quickly lifted his sweat-soaked shirt to inspect his chest and systemically checked the rest of him, searching for burns. There was nothing, not a mark. He sighed in relief and fell back into bed.

A dream...another one with those red bloody feline eyes and that...girl.