hearts at war , bound by fate.

WATERS OF IMMORTALITY

In school we are taught History as a subject or we have History as a faculty, some go on and become Historians , Researchers of note , they discover hidden stones , bones and things we never thought existed .

Never in my wildest dreams have I ever thought i would ever see a world unknown to some , I could have sworn i was hallucinating until every single sense in me started responding to everything around me . The smell of freshly cut bermudagrass , it's richness under my feet , the softness of the air as it blew on my face and with its tip touching my ears and it's lightness and softness surpasses that of a feather and Egyptian cotton , I could hear the sound of the river as it flows and hit its bank , my eyes had never beheld a sky so clear and so blue . My whole being was in a state of serene.

Droplets of water fell on my face and I jumped and stood up on my feet , for a moment i felt my body jumping from my bed or maybe it was just in my head , I rubbed my eyes to remove sleep's blur and that's when I saw a figure walking away, like a bolt of lightning i ran after it without thinking twice , I could hear the figure's voice calling out to me , I ran until i reached the river and lo and behold a familiar face met mine ,

" Elaina ! " I exclaimed .

" Besty " she responded .

I wanted to cry , I wanted to leap for joy , I wanted to hug her but consciously I still knew my bestfriend died , so who was this , who was this sitting in front me . Elaina , Ela Bathory , my forever i used to call her ; was born Elaina Penelope Flanory . The ever so bubbly , get in the room and steal all the attention , Mathematics genius girl . From grade school until varsity we were like bees in the same pod . I was always her escape from life at home and she was mine , bruises on her arms , a blue eye covered with make up today , a busted lip tomorrow and she'd say " oh that , dont worry my babe i tripped and fell you know how we girls are , we cant handle our liqour " id look at her brush her cheek and smile , she knew i knew Mr Flanory was the course , he was like poisoned meat to a stray dog in his own family. Mrs Flanory never let the cracks show in her family , she wore her shawls on her shoulders , brushed her hair and put on a baret and went to church every Sunday like her house was not on fire , until one day we woke up and she had packed her bags , took her offspring and left .

Elaina was her mother's pride and joy . Her hope for a beautiful life . She spoke so highly of her , even when her Casket dropped she said " Here lies my golden child " . Broken is an understatement to what Mrs Flanory is , she became a skeleton in two days , watching her trying to put together a funeral was painful but we put our person to rest and braved the days that followed hoping we will all adapt to our new normal. We had a plan Ela and i , we had planned our lives to the T. We were to go to Sorbonne, get our degrees , ship off to a different country , get married and have two kids each ,buy houses next to each other and grow old , now im left to do it all alone .

" Ela why are you here ? , where are we ? , what happened ?"

I have a lot I want to ask her , like how on earth am I here talking to her , is she a shadow , a ghost maybe or my mind playing tricks on me . I wanted to touch her but I could not bring myself to lift my hands to , I had walked into the river to go sit on the big rock she was sitting on with our feet in the water . Crystal clear blue and warm was the water , I could see my reflection in it as if I were looking in a mirror but I couldn't see her reflection. She looked so beautiful, Her eyes glistening like the stars at night covering the summers sky , Her hair rested on her shoulders white like snow , her skin , soft like she just bathed in milk .

" Nora we don't have much time , i know you have questions but you are not supposed to be here yet , it is not yet time ."

" Not yet time for what Ela ? "

" Not yet time for you to be here , in this realm , I need you to go back , I need you to wake up , we have much to do you and I "

As she spoke I felt like my body was splitting in to two like I was being pulled into some kind of a hole .

" I need you to be strong for me Nora , be a fighter , you are yet to discover a lot and I'm going to be there to guide you . You are to meet the reason why I'm here in this place right now. Be smart, be sharp , be vigilant, always have a teachable spirit, unlearn everything you thought you knew ."

I could hear her but she looked like she was suddenly fading .

" Nora ! Look after yourself, look after my mom , tell her to stop blaming herself , she could not have done anything to stop anything. I saw what i saw Nora and they saw me , I don't know who they are but we will find them , you and I. Go now , wake up Nora , fight the darkness . Now ! Wake up !" She pushed me .

I felt myself fall , falling into a deep dark empty void , almost a pit like space and a voice begging for me to forgive , to come back and that is when it dawned on me that I was hit by a car and that i might just be .... no , no , no , no I need to wake up , I cannot be dead no , my mom , Chance , Emilian, No !! I began to panic , my eyes searching for any light , any light at all so I will not follow it , I tried to scream but my voice wasn't as loud as I wanted it to be , then in that darkness I willed myself into light and suddenly a bright light engulfed me and after what feels like a decade of sleep i opened my eyes , they were so painful , so heavy i could feel my brain frozen and heavy , i tasted metal in my tongue , I felt cold needles in my head . I blinked twice and saw a line of an IV drip coming down to my arm , it hurt so much I wanted it out of me , I could feel my body suddenly becoming warm , slowly until the warmth reached the tip of my toes . I tried and tried a couple of times to open my eyes until i gave up and just let them be closed .

Twice today have I have this touch that keeps shocking me out of sleep , a touch that feels oh so familiar , like I'm supposed to wake up and talk to whoever this is touching me , I keep feeling this person's presence but they never say anything . Oh Chrissy , Chriselda Duval ! My mom , I call her Chrissy everytime I'm looking for her trouble, she hates being called Chrissy , says it makes her feel small like some kind of a puppy I trust her to always say such things . I heard her a couple of times praying and asking God to bring me back , I never knew mom knew how to pray. Motion , suddenly my bed moves and it causes motion sickness , I feel my body fighting to eject its contents. Noise , piercing noise in my ears of footsteps running and then arguing , people arguing , it sounds like Chance and mom , I drift off to sleep again .