Daughter of the Sky, Son of the Earth

Chapter Seven

Earth

I woke up with a throbbing headache that made me wince as soon as I opened my eyes. The bright light streaming through the window felt like a blazing pain in my eyes and I had to take deep breaths and turn away to make the pain bearable. 

Once I had calmed down, I got to my feet and reached for my sunglasses before placing them on my eyes and closing the curtains by the window. My roommate was sitting at his desk, copying homework, when all the lights in the room dimmed. 

"Hey!" He said in protest as he turned to me with an annoyed look on his face. 

Ignoring him, I shrugged and headed to my closet. 

My roommate, Jason, murmured something under his breath and I felt something inside of me snap. Normally, I was a very quiet and reserved person who liked to be patient with everyone, even if they were acting too childish. But at this very moment, for some unknown reason, I couldn't do it.

"What is your problem?" I snapped quickly. 

Jason looked stunned by my remark but quickly got to his feet. He wasn't the kind of guy who was known for being comprehensive. He wasn't a bully, but he wasn't an angel either. He had an attitude, but we had always preferred to avoid each other to avoid any confrontations. 

"You are my problem. It's Friday morning, 8 am to be exact. You're normally gone by this hour. But now, you're here and you're wearing sunglasses in a dark room. Now, I don't care if you have something in your system, I don't want to know. But don't bring me down with you. Get dressed, we have class in a couple of minutes," he said tightly as his knuckles tightened into fists.

I was almost as surprised to hear him lecturing me as much as I was surprised, I had stood up to him. Something I never did.

I opened my mouth to respond but Jason had already turned away and as he headed for the desk. He took his books and shoved them in his backpack before walking out, slamming the door behind him. 

Taking a deep breath, my heart returned to its normal pace and I was able to think more clearly now. 

I took a deep breath and got dressed while the headache in my head only increased.

...

I had missed breakfast and now I was sitting anxiously in a quiet classroom in the front while my leg shook with so much force it seemed to resonate throughout the room. 

"Mr. Stone, is there anything wrong?" The teacher asked, eyeing me closely. 

I nodded my head but felt a small bead of sweat begin to fall from my forehead. 

"Are you sure? You don't look so well," the teacher continued slowly without taking her eyes off me. 

I nodded my head, but I could tell she didn't believe me. Getting up from her chair, she walked towards me. "Mason, I don't know what's wrong, but I need you to go to the infirmary," she whispered in a low voice.

I shook my head and looked up at the grown woman. "No, I'm fine. Really. I can stay," I said but my words sounded weak. 

"I wasn't asking, Mason. It's an order," she said, more sternly now. 

Hesitating, I tried to recover my strength before pulling myself to my feet. The other students around me watched me as I struggled to make my way towards the door. There was a heavy lingering silence that accompanied me all the way out until my steps echoed in the empty hallway after me. 

The infirmary was empty, and the doctor wasn't even here. I winced as a sharp pain hit me on my side and I stumbled to my knees. I couldn't move as another wave of pain crashed through me and I gritted my teeth to keep from crying out. 

What was happening?

Abruptly, my body began to convulse, and I tried to get to my feet to get to the bathroom, but I was feeling too weak to even call for help. A wave of nausea knocked me and the next thing I knew, I was throwing up on the white floor as my body trembled in pain.

I heard a gasp behind me, but it sounded so far away. 

my ears were ringing, and my eyes could only see gleams of light without actually seeing anything. I felt a pair of firm hands on my back and a shiver coursed through me. Her hands felt warm against my cold skin.

I heard the woman ask me something, but I couldn't find my voice to say anything. 

Soon, the woman helped me to my feet with the help of another person with her. 

The two of them set me on a bed gently and the doctor began examining me for any evident signs of injury. Emotionally, I was too tired to ask what was going on or to answer the questions she asked. My tongue felt as numb as the rest of my body.

In the distance, I could swear I felt the ground shake underneath my feet as a loud roaring sound echoed from the underground, but I must have been too delirious to know for sure. 

In a matter of seconds, I too had lost consciousness as the darkness overtook me.

...

The rhythmic beeping sound reached my ears before anything else, followed by the smell of disinfectant and clean sheets. I winced as I tried to move, and my sore body cried out in protest. My mind was racing but my body still felt clumsy and asleep under me. 

Gritting my teeth, I waited for something to happen, but it didn’t, and I was growing impatient. Mustering all the strength I could, I opened my eyes and studied the room I was in. 

Slowly, all the memories came rushing back as I recalled throwing up on the floor before the doctor arrived and examined me. But that had been in the morning. Now, as I looked out the window, I could see nothing but darkness. The only light in the room was the nightlamp that was on the nightstand. Other than that, everything was quiet and dark.

Discomfort crawled through me as I wondered what was going on. That had never happened to me. Even as a kid, I never got sick. Never. I couldn't recall a day I had felt so bad that I had to throw up or lay down to rest. 

The door leading into the infirmary opened and I watched as the doctor walked in, eyeing the clipboard on her hands. She hadn't noticed I had woken up until she reached me and inhaled sharply. 

"Mason, you're awake," the doctor said softly. I tried to nod my head, but the slightest movement sent a wave of pain throughout my body. 

"Okay, no movement. Can you talk?" she asked slowly.

"Yes," I managed to croak out. My voice sounded foreign to my ears. It sounded rough and dry, something I imagined sandpaper would sound like.

"Good. I just went over your laboratory tests and I talked to your roommate. He said you had been acting unusual in the morning and that you had been wearing sunglasses indoors. Is there something you'd like to tell me?" The woman asked slowly as she took a seat on the bed next to mine.

"If you're asking if I had been drinking or taking drugs then the answer is no. Which you already probably know since you're the one holding the test results," I said a bit harsher than I intended. 

The woman pursed her lips together and nodded as she debated on what to say or ask next. 

"I know. But truthfully, I don't know how to explain what happened today. All your test results came back looking much better than the healthiest patient I have ever analyzed. I don't know what to say. You shouldn't be ill. But tell me, how do you feel?" The doctor asked turning to face me. Her eyes watched me as if I were a very intriguing case. In which case, I might be to her. 

"I feel as if my body were made out of rocks. Stiff and heavy. Every little movement hurts and travels down my spine. My head is hurting intensely, and I can barely think," I murmured and the doctor's face paled.

She got to her feet and quickly walked over to the end of my bed. "But you can feel right?" I nodded my head, and she took her pen and ran it over the sole of my feet. Instantly, I yelped in surprise and pulled my foot back, causing extreme pain to fill me. My eyes watered and I clenched my jaw together to keep from snapping at the doctor. She was just doing her job.

"Interesting. It's not paralysis or else you wouldn't have been able to feel that, much less move," she said more to herself than to me. 

"I'm going to make a few calls and get in touch with a specialist I know, but we'll most likely have to take you to the hospital," the doctor said in a neutral voice and I stiffened. 

Since I was a person who had never gotten sick or badly injured, I never had the need to go to the hospital. And now, after the doctor mentioned it, I was surer than ever that I didn't want to go. I had heard enough stories about that place to frighten me.

The doctor disappeared into her office and I heard her call someone on her phone. It was just then when the pain subsided greatly, and I was able to move again. I was starting to feel much like my old self again. 

Without hesitation, I got to my feet and headed for the door when I heard the doctor gasp behind me. An incredulous look covered her face. "I'm feeling much better. There's no need to go to the hospital," I said nervously as I grabbed the door handle behind me and smiled at the shocked woman. "I'm sorry for the mess I made a couple of hours ago. I'll be sure to come and help you clean up some time," I said quickly before stepping out into the hallway and rushing back to my room.

Great. Now everyone is going to think I made the whole thing up. I murmured to myself while sighing.

Back in my room, Jason was snoring as he slept. He didn't even seem to notice me come in. Who could blame him? He was a heavy sleeper. 

Heading to the closet, I got a fresh set of clothes and walked towards the bathroom down the hall to shower. The bathroom was soothingly silent as I took the quickest shower of my life and then headed back to my room. 

I didn't like to be wandering the halls at night. I didn't like the night. Period. I would much rather prefer to be walking under the bright sunlight than to be a minute in pitch darkness. Some might think that was crazy but to me, it made sense. 

It was as if the darkness took my energy and the sun powered me up. A strange thought but it was what I believed, nonetheless. 

Back in my room, I got under the blankets and wrapped them tightly around me to shield myself from the cold night. The temperature was dropping more with each night and I had the feeling my birthday would be no different. It was a factor that made me question if I really wanted to leave the orphanage on my birthday. How would I manage alone in the cold?

Let the Mason of the future worry about that, right now, I should sleep.

It was funny that even though I had spent most of the day asleep, I still felt exhausted. 

Closing my eyes, I pictured myself in the small cabin by the field. My tree had grown so much since I had last seen it. And something in the wind called my name, making me turn around. Just then, I saw a girl walking in slow motion towards me. Her dark brown hair flew in the wind as the sun rays hit it, making it look lighter and shiny. 

Once she was only a couple of inches away from me, I saw her grey eyes staring into mine as a ring of fire surrounded the corneas of her eyes. Before I had a chance to realize what that vision meant, I was gone.