You woke, unfamiliarity etched deep into your bones. Your heart battered against your chest as your eyes adjusted to orange haze around you. You tried to sit up, ultimately failing. You were fatigued; your muscles terrifyingly weak and resistant to such a simple direction. Sit up. That's all you needed to do. And that's all you couldn't do.
Essentially, all you could do was think. By god, you did think. Your mind was a battlefield... bad thoughts fighting against good thoughts, both being overseen by the equally dramatic and paranoid ones. It was a place no one would like to go. And lucky for you... you had no choice.
After a few seconds of settling the hundreds of realisations and propositions swirling around in your mind, you made a second attempt to get up off the ground. The more you thought about what was underneath you, the more you got worried. It was warm, but didn't really feel of anything. It was as if it wasn't even there.
The second time, you tried as hard as you could to move. Your body lurched forward like a stingy car, leaving you eventually hunched over and strained. With every ounce of energy you could muster, you supported yourself and lifted your head.
"Woah." Your voice was croaky and rough, barely above a whisper. You needed to drink something... your throat commanded it. But that need was pushed so far out of your mind when you saw the world around you. It was a normal suburban neighbourhood- besides the fact that the whole thing had an orange haze over it. It made everything look as if it was I low power mode.
As you tried to will yourself to stand, you saw a shadow flash past you. "He-Hello?" You croaked, "anyone there?" Your voice became louder at the end, cracking at the sudden volume you increased it to. Silence filled the neighbourhood for a few seconds longer. Just as you went to forget about it and try to hydrate yourself, someone emerged from between two houses.
"Oh my god," they said, "are you real?"
Your head snapped up to the voice, seeing the man who was standing a few meters away. "Oh my god you're real, thank god." He continued, walking towards you. You watched as he took easy and effortless strides towards you, making you wonder about how and why you were so tired and fatigued.
"Where are we?" You asked softly, looking up at him. He hesitated for a short moment, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand. He let out a soft hiss.
"The soul world." He said sadly.
"The sou– what?"
"I'll explain later. Let's get you up off the ground. I have absolutely no idea why you are there."
The man helped you onto your feet, allowing you to lean most of your body weight onto him when he realised your state. He took you into one of the houses he was standing between, getting you a cup of water. In that moment, it felt like the most fabulous thing in your life. It was heaven.
"Who are you?" You asked eventually.
He stuck out a hand for you to shake, "Peter Quill. You?"
"Y/N L/N."
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WRITTEN BY ELLE