The Wings Of A Caged Bird | First Draft

chapter 17 : be careful what you wish for

I wake up feeling like my body is on fire.

I open my eyes to meet gazes with rays of dazzling sunlight pouring in through the window beside me. Immediately shutting my eyes closed, I roll to my side, back facing the window. Goodness, it's so hot. I feel all wet and sticky. My shirt must be soaked with sweat by now. I bring my hand to my chest to feel the shirt, only to find out I'm not wearing one.

I slowly open my eyes again and look down. A blanket is covering my lower half, underneath which I am obviously fully naked. My heart begins to pace faster. What the hell happened? Why am I naked?

I sit up and look around frantically. I discover myself in a small bedroom, the mahogany brown walls of which seems to be made entirely of wood. The contents in the room apart from the bed don't amount to much; only a bedside table, a full-length mirror with some long black marks on it, a wooden wardrobe, and a shelf on the wall housing some dishevelled books. And a door, the color of it a tad bit darker shade of brown, as if to distinguish it from the rest of the room. And then there is the window, the strong heated sunlight entering through it burning my body and bathing me in sweat. I move closer to it, and find a forest stretching outside for as far as my eyes allow to see.

Heart hammering against my chest, I again close my eyes, drawing my eyebrows together in a desperate attempt to clear up my foggy mind and rewind back in time. What happened? Why am I here? Where are my clothes? What have I done? How did I—

It all comes back to me in a flash. The cliff. July's face growing closer and closer to mine. Me pushing him away and spewing a bunch of cruel words. The ineffable hurt in his eyes. Me falling backwards. July's mortified face and shrill scream. The weightlessness. The impact of water as hard as concrete against my back. Limbs paralyzing as I sunk in deeper and deeper into the pond. Running out of breath.

Dawn.

Scattered thoughts.

And then, nothing else.

Surprised, I touch myself all over. My face, my ears, my neck, my chest, my arms. It's all fine. I place my palm against my chest, and feel the pulsing of my heart, a bit fast due to my shock. Then I place it on my stomach, and feel it rise up and down.

I'm breathing.

I'm alive.

What the hell? I'm actually alive.

I feel my jaw dropping as I stare down at my palms. I'm alive? But how? I'm pretty sure I drifted off completely back there. I'm pretty sure I ran out of breath. I was completely ready for it to end. How in the world did I make it out alive?

As soon as the shock washes away, a sense of relief pools all over me.

Holy shit, thank God I'm alive.

If I died back there, Dawn's wish wouldn't be fulfilled. Which would mean July failed the mission, and he would, in the literal sense, go to hell. After going through so much, he doesn't deserve it. How could I even give up so fast? I should've tried more, for him at least. But then again, as far as I remember, my body felt completely numb and quite heavy as well. Either way, the fact that I'm alive is enough. If I'm alive, I can fix this. I have to fix this.

But then I come back to my senses. I'm in a stranger's house, a completely foreign place. Worst of all, I'm fully naked. My hands move to my temples. How did I end up here? Someone saved me? Who else, but July? But he said he can't touch me underwater. Did he save me some other way? After all, there was no one else around. It was definitely July. But . . .

I look around again.

But where is he?

A wave of sudden fear crashes over me, weakening my limbs to the point I can't sit straight anymore. I suddenly realize how terribly thirsty I am. My throat feels like dry, rottening wood, and every breath I take makes it worse and worse. Water. I need water. It takes me all my energy to merely turn my head to the side to look at the vicinity table, but the only thing I find there is a lamp, and a bunch of medicines. Water. God, I need some water.