Goddess Reborn

Beep. Beep. Beep. The sound feels both familiar yet foreign to my ears. Trying to place what it could be has me confused on where I actually am. The last thing I remember is leaving my boyfriends house and heading out to a party, my best friends birthday. I try to open my eyes and nothing happens, I want to panic and scream; but instead all I can do is listen to the beeping. Beep. Mr. Giles, she has stabilized again, we are watching her closely as the next 24 hours are critical. Is there any other family we can call for her, she has a long road ahead of her, if she wakes up at all. 'Who was that? Mr. Giles? Did she mean Marcus?' The questions flood my brain as I am still unable to move or let him know that I am here, I'm awake, but I am scared. I want him to hold me and keep me safe, but he doesn't. Beep. Thank you nurse, please let me have some time with my love. No, there is no one else, I have been her only family for many years now. What is he saying? I have a grandmother, an aunt, he has met them both and knows how to reach them. Why does he sound so cold and so distant when speaking about me? The fear inside me is making me feel like I must be shaking, but I can tell nothing is happening on the outside. I hear the footsteps leaving the room, it must be the nurse giving us time alone. I am suddenly very aware of his eyes on me, burning into my soul, even without being able to open my eyes the silence fills me with fear and dread. As his footsteps near I feel his hand on my arm, first soft then gripping hard, so hard. It is starting to hurt but I am unable to pull away, he just keeps squeezing. In my head I am screaming, crying, pleading and begging for relief, but none comes until an audible c***k is heard. He has managed to break my arm, and at that moment I realize there is pain everywhere in my body, it is numbed but it is there. You b***h. How do you keep surviving? First you survive a head on collision with a tree, then you survive me trying to help you along. Now you have left me no choice, it will cost that pretty little nurse her job, but that doesn't matter. Just die already. Hey baby, yeah she is still alive, I don't know how, but I'm ending it now. I will see you soon. He is killing me? He has already tried twice and now a third time? I am going to murder him if I get out of here. Who is he calling baby? He always said he hated pet names, that they were childish. Suddenly I feel a pain in my heart. This is new, it feels like the life is being ripped out of me and I have no control. The beeping machine is now going crazy beside me and there is screaming and bodies filling my space. As I slip into darkness I no longer hear the beeping, just silence, and darkness. drip drip What now? It sounds like a leaky faucet, but into something larger than a sink. As I slowly become aware of my surroundings I am instantly struck by how shockingly cold I am. This is not like the cold I felt when I did my first polar swim, or waking up in fall camping; this cold reaches into the depths of my being and has taken over everything that I am. It is so debilitating that for a few moments I am so focused on it instead of understanding where I am. As I become more alert I want to find the source of the cold, first by stretching out my fingers that both ache and resist my movement at the same time. Everything in my being feels like I am fighting against my nature to move in the moment. My eyes will not open yet, that takes too much work, so my fingers will need to do. As they stretch and contract I feel the cold of the bed under me. Bed is the wrong word, it is metal, more like a table. I try and search my mind for where I could be that would have me lying on a cold metal table when I hear a door open and footsteps. Since I do not know where I am, or why I am here, I err on the side of caution and remain still to avoid attention. I may be lying still but I can still continue to work on where I am, a room, cold, and I am lying on a table. In that moment I become aware that the cold metal is in contact with all of my skin on my backside, meaning I am naked. It dawns on me that I am in a morgue, which floods me with thoughts and fears. I have no idea how I ended up here or what could have happened to me to even have me here by mistake. I want to scream out or panic, but then I remember the foot steps and I listen to the muffled voices. "Do you even know who we are looking for?" The first voice asks. His voice is deep and booming, from the tone alone you can hear the authority in how he speaks. As I hear the sound of a sheet being moved he huffed. "We cannot be here long, and I do not want to be caught looking at naked old dudes." "Is the issue their gender or that they are naked?" His companion chimes in. From the melodic tone to his voice I can tell he is smiling. "Or perhaps the issue is their age, are you an ageist?" This man is clearly more light hearted than his partner, allowing himself some fun while he is on this journey. As they move through the icy room I start to hear a rhythmic tapping of a pencil or something like it on the metal tables; clearly someone is having more fun making noise than looking for whatever they came for. The tapping abruptly stops and I can only imagine the looks that are being exchanged before the light hearted musician speaks again. "I don't know who we are looking for, never do, but they should be awake by now so that will be a big help." He finishes, moving a table out of his way. In that moment it strikes me that they are looking for me, I am awake. I try and shrink back but remember there is no where for me to go on this metal slab I am perched on. Suddenly, the wheel shifts slightly on the table I am on, making a creek that I know both men have heard as they move closer to me. Now I have mere seconds to decide what I will do to defend myself from these two men barreling down on me while I am lying here naked, still unable to open my eyes. Before I can come up with any real plan I feel the sheet being lifted from my face, thankfully folded over at my shoulders. Now the light floods through my eyelids in a dizzying array of colors; even this new sensation has me wincing internally. "Here, this is the one." The lighthearted man says, tucking a strained of hair away from my face. "Look at her, she is beautiful." He continues to his partner. I want to cover myself, hide from their gaze but I still cannot control my body. Despite my inability to move or shrink away from their gaze I can feel myself blushing from head to toe. The warmth that started in my belly feels like it is reaching out to these two mysterious voices to beg for more attention. "Do not get attached little brother, you know we are just here to retrieve and restore, we have our task." The authoritative voice sounds out as he approaches. Despite the quiet I can feel their eyes on me. His words made it seem like I am nothing more than a piece of dry cleaning to pick up to him, but then the most gentle touch of his fingers to my hand came under the sheet. I wanted to gasp at the contact, which he ended just as abruptly as it began. "Yes, this is who we are looking for. Make us an exit, I will bring her with us." He finishes, picking me up but being careful to keep the sheet between him and I. I hear the sounds of wind around me, like we are being pulled toward something. As I am carried toward the sound the deep voice of the one in charge is suddenly close to my ear, his lips almost brushing the skin. "Sleep well angel, soon you will have a whole new world to discover." With that I feel us being pulled into the whirling wind sounds, and my sleep returns despite my best efforts. I try to fight the urge to go back into my slumber, but it is like my body has been exhausted just from being moved by these men. In this sleep I have nightmares or memories of what had come before now, how I had ended up naked, alone and afraid on that table. The memory of driving away from a house and down a dark and winding road, it feels familiar to me, but still so distant. Suddenly, I am out of control, unable to stop and unable to steer. As I feel the fear creeping into my soul I am unable to stop what is happening, I yearn to be held somewhere safe, in someone's arms, instead I am met with the crash of my vehicle and the darkness surrounds me. When I awake next I am greeted by the sounds of birds and the scent of fresh rain on grass. The place I am resting now us such an opposite to the metal table that it is almost too soft. I feel my self begin to stretch out like a cat awaking from an afternoon nap, stretching and contorting to allow my muscles some new movement. It feels like I haven't moved like this in longer than I can remember, which is when I realize I am unsure of where or when I am. Finally, I feel the urge to open my eyes and I am thankful to find the room is dark enough not to hurt my eyes. I see a window open and hear the sound of rain outside, which is what has given me my beautiful greeting. The sound of muffled voices catches my ear from somewhere in the near distance, calling me out to them with my pure wonder of where I am. Movement seems foreign to me, but I urge myself to move. It does not hurt to move, but my muscles feel tight and it is taking more effort to move than I have ever experienced before. If you ever slept with weighted blanket, it feels like trying to move with one of those over your shoulders. As I sit up I find some clothes sitting beside the bed on a chair, which is a comfort since I seem to still be naked. I quickly pull on the hoodie and sweats, not the most glamourous look, but it will do for the moment. I honestly do not know if I could have handled anything more, and the clothes feel soft against my skin. Finally I stand and start to move towards the voices I can hear, it is definitely the two from before, but I cannot yet make out what they are saying. Slowly I move toward them taking in my surroundings, the walls are a deep grey, with photos of people I do not entirely recognize. "Ah, child, finally you are awake. Welcome home." An elderly woman coo's to me, causing the two men in front of her to turn. I am first struck by the beauty of the three of them, they embody every Hollywood idea of what a God would look like, but seem so inviting. "Come and sit Isla, we have much to discuss." She says, inviting me in. I feel pulled to her, and come without hesitation. I sit tenderly between the two men, who still seem to be as distracted by me as I am with them. They seem so familiar and yet foreign all at once. "It's so nice to see you three back together, 500 years was too long, now let's get to work." She states to us. I whip my head around to look at her, 500 years?