Peace. Calm. Tranquility. Finally, at last.
All I could see was white, the amount of sleep I got was breathtaking and I felt overwhelmingly comfortable. Just laying in this bed, the soft duvet on top of my body, wrapped around me, keeping me warm. The temperature was right, the smell of the deep forest, exotic and natural, keeping my senses alive. Even though it was December and the temperature made my nose freeze when I go outside, I loved it. This is probably one of my favourite month out of all twelve. I'm well unaware of the time here, but I can tell if it's December. The cold chilly air, the small flakes of snow, falling smoothly onto the soft patch of snow below. I love it.
"Baby," A deep, husky voice whispers.
My eyes slowly flutter open as I notice Harry's figure hovering above me, his arms on both sides of the width of my body.
"Hm?" I mutter, sleepiness still consuming every bit of me. I just want to lay here forever and keep this peace going. His cologne filled my sense of smell - the strong hint of fragrance demanded my hands to stroke his arms, just to feel him.
"Happy birthday," He says, and with that, I slowly move my body up, looking at the calendar placed up on the wall, opposite of the bed.
It reads "December 13th".
Harry starts planting kisses all over my face and sweetness floods my mind. I've never been this happy for a while.
"I love you," He smiles and my heart does backflips in my chest, pounding so hard that it might just jump out of it.
"I love you too."
"Ready for the test?" He asks, hands still on my waist, my hands in his hair, lacing my fingers into them.
"It makes me nervous," I respond honestly and with that, Harry's expression drops instantly, "But I'm ready to do it," I giggle, placing my hand gently on his cheeks, feeling his soft warm skin.
"I'm gonna shower," I stand up, pushing him lightly and getting off of bed.
"You want me to accompany you?" He smirks and I shake my head laughing, my eyes squinting and my hands moving up to my face.
"You wish, Harry."
"One day," He cheekily says.
"Wish upon a shooting star for that, Prince Charming," I tease.
"Since when was I 'Prince Charming'?"
"Since when did you want to join me for a shower?" I laugh at his remarks, closing the bathroom door as his laugh echoes back through it.
After getting out of the shower and drying my hair, I quickly slide on the final testing outfit Harry lays on the bed for me.
It consists of a jet black leathery sleeveless shirt, the material wasn't comfortable, but it was bearable. I could run perfectly in it and it's suitable for big movements. The leather was rough and felt like dried up skin, but thankfully the internal side of it was cotton. The outfit comes with a thigh high boot, which is labelled as a protection boot, it's waterproof and could resist fire for a certain amount of time.
The gloves I had on goes up to the middle of my fingers, they protect my knuckles and the hard material of it can resist strong impacts.
"You look badass," His fingers trace my jawline, stopping at my chin, slightly pressuring my face up to face his.
"I take that as a compliment."
"It was a compliment," He nods, dipping his head to kiss my lips, me responding instinctively. Even though our kisses were short sometimes, I still cherished every one. They made me feel whole, warm and I felt okay. I felt alright and carefree. My heart pounded faster and the adrenaline rushes through my body without a single notice. All I felt were his lips and the need to reach back for it and press my lips against his over and over until I've had enough of his soft pair of lips.
Although the kiss was great and made me feel worthy of everything on the world, I found that I was somehow attracted to something else. Something that, I believe, was truly more beautiful and wonderful than kissing and making out.
It's the little moments you have, or what they call a transition period. Where you stop kissing and just look at each other, in awe, wondering how all this started and how much you care for that person. Your eyes meet and you can feel his soul looking right through yours and you feel like theres no one else you want to be with in the world right now other than them. They're an exception for everything and your personal one and only that you want to protect and keep for your whole life. They're yours and you feel like you want to protect and look out for whats yours, in that moment, thats how it feels like. Those magical thoughts and the abundance of care you have for a person all poured out on that one second moment you have right before you crash your lips against each other again.
Honestly, if I could bottle up this moment and live in it for my lifetime - I'd do it.
"Good luck on the test, darling," He says to me, his large hands cup both of my cheeks.
I nod in response as I give him one last kiss before heading to the final testing.
The final testing arena looked formal and simple. Nothing was set up and everything was just a room. A vast room that can echo your voice if you shout loudly.
Liam meets me there and gives me a welcoming smile, shaking my hands lightly.
"You ready?" He asks and I hesitantly and slightly gesticulate a small nod.
"You will be put into this room, I'll be controlling it from up there," He points to the room visible on the upper floor.
"I'll just set up a bunch of tests that incorporates all of your lessons so we know that you're equipped with the right set of knowledge and know the right way to use them. Everything's just an illusion, so don't worry, if you think it's too much, we'll stop it, but we'll determine if you're alright to go on using this heartbeat monitor," He grabs an equipment and sticks in into my chest. The monitor sends beeping sounds instantly around the room, my heartbeat echoing around every inch of it.
"You ready?" He asks, but he didn't wait for an answer. He just left. Right there - on the spot like he expects me to be ready. My hand shakes and the beeps getting faster, the spaces in between them getting smaller by the second.
"Calm down, your gonna do fine."
Suddenly, the lights dim and for a split second, I couldn't see anything. Not even my own hands. Just a glimpse of black. It's felt like my eyes were closed but I knew I had them open.
In an instant, the lights turn on, but I don't see the same room - I see a cave and I hear the sounds of water flowing in it. A sound of a waterfall with a rough flow. The smell of exotic plants and the fresh green grass. The temperature altered too, it became hot and moist and water trickled from the ceiling.
Where am I?
"She's there!" A voice of a man shouts and my eyes flicker to their direction.
Combat. This is the final testing for combat.
Before I was able to blink my eye, the mans body ran up to me - my mind didn't have time to comprehend what he looked like, but my arms instinctively moved to his neck.
Another man dashed towards me and my right knee quickly swats his right torso.
Every movement that I performed, every inch of muscle that moved lead to the memory of combat training with Harry. I still felt his lips on my neck, my shoulders and the trigger points that he taught me about. I felt every inch of it.
I shake my head of the thoughts and kept attacking, but group of men disappeared. Instead, an exit to get out of the cave shines and I quickly run out of it.
As soon as my eyes processed the sight. I saw a waterfall, several feet under was a river and it was breathtaking. The smell of water filled my senses and I inhaled and exhaled as much as I can to take in the moment. I grasped the little water bottle in my fanny pack and drank as much as I could.
But that didn't last long when arrows shot at me, but fortunately missed.
Aiming. This is the final testing for aiming.
I flickered my eyes around to look for something I can shoot with and obvious enough, I found a bow and arrow, resting at the edge of the cliff.
I reach for it carefully and stuck the arrow on to the sides of the bow, I pulled it backwards and aimed to the right of opponent. I let go of my grasp, making sure to dodge the coming arrows while doing that, soon enough the shots being shot at me stopped and the realisation of hitting a target makes me squeal. I actually killed someone. I shot someone, somewhere in their body with a sharp object.
It's an illusion, Taylor, keep going. My conscious tells me and I roughly brush the thought off before continuing for the next section of my training.
A scream. I heard a loud, ear piercing scream of a young girl. My head erratically turned to this girl, her stomach shed blood and the crimson liquid substance seeped out of her cloth, pouring out within the minute and a boy sits next to the girl, shouting and asking me for help.
"Please help, I don't want her to go. You gotta help us," He cries and I step towards them, my eyes wide open.
My body moves to the pair, and I look at the girl closely. She had long eyelashes and her brunette hair which flowed on the ground was soaked in blood, some of it dried out on her hair, leaving patches of dried dots of blood on strands of her hair.
The boy had stunning blue eyes, a ripped shirt and blonde hair.
His eyes itself pleaded for help and I felt like I could see through his heart. It mixed with concern and anxiety, it's like his heart is a secret place, hidden far away with high walls and the only thing in it was her.
I knelt down and checked her wound, it looked like a deep cut. I quickly ripped pieces from her shirt to dab the piece of cloth on her wound to stop the bleeding.
The boy weeped and cried and that didn't make me work faster. It pressurized me and felt like if I didn't do things fast, she'd die and he too, would not be able to live.
"Can I borrow strands from the ripped pieces of your shirt?" I ask nicely, in the most soothing voice I can do to calm him down.
He rips the strands from edges of the ripped parts and gave it to me in an instant.
"Now I just need to clean this," I whisper to myself. I looked around for things I can use. Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
I grabbed my water bottle and hurriedly poured it on the wound. The clearness of the water, blending with the redness of the blood.
That'll have to do for now.
I look through my fanny pack for a needle or something small and sharp, I remember preparing a needle, but my panic emphasized its absence.
As I laced my fingers through the variety of things in my fanny pack, my fingers come across a sharp thin object.
And soon enough, it wasn't a needle, but it looked very similar that I didn't mind it and thought it would be better than wasting time on finding one equipment.
It was a pencil lead. The ones you put in a mechanical pencil, yes it's fragile - yes, one wrong move can be the worst mistake I've made, but I knew she was going to die if I didn't do it and stop more blood from pouring out of her body.
I tied the string of the boy's shirt to the lead and traced it over her skin. Anxiety and fear rushes over me, but the desperation of wanting to save that girl boosted my confidence.
I poked the lead into her skin, hard enough for it to go through and sewed as fast as I can. Strand by strand, closing up the wound.
Little whimpers crawl out of her mouth, but no movement was made, as her body was too weak to move an inch.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," I said as I dug the lead into her skin for another sew.
After having the skin together, I let out a sigh and poured water out of my bottle to wash my hands. The blood that was stuck to my hand slowly faded out and repelled along with the water.
Every amount of concern subsided away from me and it was the best feeling. I felt like I was in the clouds. I felt like I succeeded something great. And I felt like I did something good and useful for once.
If only moments like these happened more often.
I close my eyes as I listen to the sound of the waterfall, flowing down to the river ever so smoothly and just sighed at how peaceful this is and wishing it could last forever. But I knew I was missing something and that was Harry.
If wishes came true, I'd wish every night, at 11:11 or upon a shooting star to be with him in this moment. It's magical and wondrous and everything I'd want to spend with Harry.
If he was here, I imagine us laying on this cliff, looking up and seeing the clear and contrasted white clouds, shining amongst the blueness of the sky. The sun shone bright, but not enough to make it unbearably hot, just about enough - warm and chilly.
The waterfall was the best part. The smell of the water smelt like the smell of the rain once it poured down from the sky on a rainy September, dried out on the fresh pavement.
I'd kiss him again and again, and he'd kiss me back. We'd stare at each other and laugh at awkward moments. And then we'd kiss, again. Tell each other weird stories about each other and-
My thoughts were interrupted by a loud 'thud'. And all of a sudden, the floor vanished and I felt myself falling into a pit of nothing. Just dark. The girl disappeared, so did the waterfall and the exotic colors of green and blue faded away in an instant.
I screamed as loud as I can, but I felt like no one heard me. No one paid attention and I was alone.
It was pitched black and I screamed until my lungs felt tingly and I couldn't bare it.
Hands wrapped around the small of my back, but I didn't care, I pushed them out and did whatever I wanted and can to feel safe.
"Baby," His voice calls out and my screams turn into to inaudible cries. Where it wasn't a loud obnoxious cry, but it was scrambled pieces of whimpers, where my heart ached and I couldn't breathe because the tears from my eyes commanded its deficiency.
My head turns to look at what the darkness turned out to be. But it appears I was back in the same room I was before. No waterfall. No cave. No girl. No boy. Just me, Harry and Liam who slowly walked out to leave us alone.
I bury my head into his chest and fell onto the floor.
"It was horrible, I fell into this dark loop and I couldn't see anything-"
"I know, darling, calm down for me?" His voice soothes my ears and my eyes dry out from the tears that somehow and somewhat stopped bleeding tears.
"I did horrible."
"No, you didn't," He smiles slightly and kisses my forehead, his hands on my waist, caressing it and making my heart decrease its fast pace, "You did great," He whispers in my ear and excitement rolls in me, but I didn't do anything. I didn't have the strength and it wasn't because I felt physically tired - I was emotionally bruised and it scarred me.
"You passed, baby," He speaks, "And I'm so proud."
"Hey," His fingers move to my chin, lifting it up for my eyes to meet his, "It makes me feel better to know that you're mine - and I'm so god damn lucky to have you."