Cursed Hearts

CHAPTER THREE: THE ECHOES WITHIN

Emilia woke up to the sound of a beeping machines, sterile walls and a faint scent of antiseptic. Maria's face was the first thing she saw, her eyes wide and wet.

“Oh my God, you're awake”. She said. Emilia blinked, her throat dry and her head was hurting.

“What happened?”.

“We found you unconscious in the woods. You were scratched up. We brought you in”. Maria grabbed her hands tightly. “You've been out for a three days now”.

“How do you feel??. Feeling pain anywhere??”. John asked.

“No. Just a headache”. Emilia winced as she tried to sit up. Her right arm throbbed with pain. “The wolf…” She clears her throat. “I saw… it attacked me”.

John and Maria exchanged uneasy looks.

“There are no wolf in Evermore Forest”. John said.

“Well there is now. I'm not crazy, I know what I saw”. Emilia said in defense. A nurse stepped in to check on her.

“You need to leave. She needs rest.” Maria squeezed her hand again. “We'll be back.” John kissed her goodbye. The room fell silent again. Moments later, the door creaked open,a man stepped inside. Tall, dressed in dark clothes and eyes like mercury. He wasn't a hospital staff. He stood at the foot of her bed, hands in his coat pockets.

“Who are you?”. She asked.

“You're stronger than I thought”. He said tilting his head.

“What are you talking about?”

“You shouldn't be awake yet.” He took a slow step closer, gaze locked on hers. She opened her mouth to shout but nothing came out. Her voice stuck in her throat.

“You're special Emilia and you would be used for special things”. He smiled faintly.

Her heart thundered. “Used?”. She asked confused. He just gave her a mischievous smile.

“Rest Emilia, you'll need all the strength you can get “. The lights above flickered and just before everything faded to black again, she heard his final whisper: “You've been claimed.”

Emilia laid there confused. Nothing was making sense to her. The words of the strange man echoed in her head.

“What did he meant by she's been claimed? What is she going to be used for? Who was he?. She sighed. Once again she's left with unanswered questions. Nothing been making sense these past few days.

Emilia found herself in the middle of the trees. The forest was covered with fog. She kept wondering how she got there. She looked around and found John and Maria.

“Guys. What's happening?”. She asked. They didn't respond.

“It's freezing here. Can we go back?”. She said rubbing her shoulders. They just walked off, without saying a word to her.

“Wait for me”. She said. They stopped when they got to the cliff. Emilia looks down. “This isn't the cabin”. She frowned. “We took the wrong path”. They still didn't say a word. Just stared blankly. Their eyes distant as if hypnotized.

“What are you guys looking at?”. She followed their gaze and found the strange man standing across the other end of the cliff with an evil grin on his face.

“That's the man that…” Emilia didn't finish when she two hands on her shoulders. The pushed her off the cliff. She closed her eyes to her death.

“Emilia? Emilia?”. She heard her name. Opening her eyes to find John looming over with a worried expression. Maria held a basket of food.

“You okay?” John asked.

“Yeah. Just a bad dream”. She sigh.

“I brought you some food, fruits and snacks too”. Maria said as she offloaded the basket.

“Great, I'm starving”. Emilia said in relief. Maria handed her a plate of food.

“Oooo, looks delicious”. John said. “Can I have some??”.

“Nope. This is patient only.”. Maria said.

“Pretty please”. John said trying to mimic the puppy dog eyes. Emilia laughed at his attempt.

“Fine”. Maria rolled her eyes. She took another plate and served John some of the food. John took the plate from her. Shoving a big portion of food into his mouth.

“Hot, hot, hot, hot”. He said with his mouth open in attempt to cool it. Emilia and Maria laughed.

They ate together and Maria could stop chattering about work and the new research they were going on. Emilia wished she could go with them but she was stuck here for a few more weeks. Maria and John kept her company till the evening. The nurse came to check on her for the night.

“Thank you so much for the food Maria. I don't know what I'll do without you”. Emilia said.

“Awwn. Anything for you girl”. Maria said hugging her goodbye.

“I'll see you tomorrow”. John said giving her a kiss on the head. Maria felt a little a sting it her chest but she shook it off with a smile. She waved Emilia bye before leaving the ward room.

John took the basket of dirty dishes from her. “Come on, I'll drop you off”. He said as they walked down the hallway.

“Oh you don't need to. I'd take a taxi “. Maria said.

“It's late already. I can't let you go home all by yourself with all this”. John insisted. Maria felt happy hearing this. For the first in forever. He did care about her. She smiled to herself.

Outside parked a black SUV with tinted glass. John reached into his pockets for his keys and opened the door, he dumped the basket at the backseat. Maria sat at the passenger seat, her smile still visible and her heart racing. What was going to happen? Why did he insisted on dropping her off? Was he finally falling in love with her?. Would he kiss her? And then end up making out at her place? Her thoughts kept getting wild and didn't hear John.

“Are you ok?” John's voice snapped her back to reality.

“Yes”. She nodded feeling a bit embarrassed. Did he hear her thoughts?.

“I was asking where you lived”. John said.

“33 Lawson Ave”. She responded.

“Ok”. Johnsias igniting the car. He didn't know where she lived. Maria felt disappointed. Maybe he was just being nice, nothing attached.

“You can't use that to judge”. She said trying to convince herself.

The ride was quiet. John didn't bring up any conversations and didn't show any interest when she did. Instead he turned on the radio. Maria began to doubt her fantasies but didn't want to conclude yet. They got to 33 Lawson street in no time.

“Ok, we're here”. He said as he parked the car and helped her get the basket from the backseat. He handed it over to her and walked back to his car.

“See you tomorrow”. He said and drove off leaving her standing on the porch.

“Not even a hug or a kiss”. Maria groaned as she walked to the door feeling heart broken. None of her fantasies came through. She dropped the basket and headed straight to her room to cry.