The Fallen

Chapter Four

As we bandaged the boy up, the flashbacks came rolling in hard. Emotionally and physically I felt as if I was being beaten to death by memories of Eldamar. Memories of Drazos. Memories of a past I very much thought I had forgotten. His skin was torn apart revealing bits of fat, muscle, and… blood. I was covered in blood. How strange it was to see it flowing warm and red outside of the body. It’s been so long since I’ve thought about my mother. The constant scabbing, her weakened heart beating unnaturally through a slimy film that wasn’t dense enough to be considered skin. The rivers flowing through her like they had some place to be but running in circles the whole time. Down to the fingers back to the heart, down to the toes back to the heart, up to the brain back to the heart. Trapped. Not in this boy. The rivers escaped him today.

Maggie did the best she could to sanitize the bites with water and some alcohol but the blood still poured. An old sewing needle and some thick thread doused in alcohol made for some fine stitches where they would hold. Rolls and rolls of gauze replaced his arms, still blood stained them all. And when he started to gain consciousness again, we gave him a bit of the strongest whiskey and about six painkillers to keep him calm. We set him in a makeshift bed on the floor, composed of old towels, tarp, and a raggedy old blanket kept for Winnie in the winter. Laid up next to the coals for extra warmth we let him rest and set Winnie to chase after the sheep in the fields. The day proceeded, it was just as gloomy as it had been this morning. The rain had set in and all the animals were taken back to spend the time in their sheds. Winnie was left in his own shed behind the house whining the whole time. For fret of an intruder or because he never liked storms, didn’t matter, we couldn’t have him scruffing up this boy anymore than he had this morning. The day was so dark the rain looked almost black instead of the clear blue we were used to. What a strange, strange day it had become.

Since I had no use for myself on the farm I decided to go back to my own bed. The room was darker than when I had left it this morning so I took up a candle and began to write in my journal. I kept a journal to clear my head of intrusive thoughts. They slipped in throughout the day but without many distractions it was difficult to move past them. You can only talk about the same issues with someone so many times before it becomes redundant. I wished my brain worked in the same way but for whatever reason the memories never became old to me. The thoughts never subsided completely and here I was yet again reminded of a past I wished to forget. Reminded of a sister I could never see again for fear of her life being stolen just as swiftly as my mother’s had been. Kayla…

The dream had to mean something. It had to be more than just a dream because it seemed too vivid, too real. Almost like she was right here with me but that didn’t make any sense. I wondered if I went back to sleep would I be able to revisit her? Maybe I should try. Decidedly I changed back into some comfy sweats, I decided to retrieve Winnie for fear he might get sick in the rain and locked him up with me in my room. I laid out a blanket for him next to my bed, blew out the candle and let myself drift back into the blissful nothingness.

*********************************************************************************

“Hunter,” a whisper came reverberating inside my head. Slowly becoming more conscious of the presence I felt I tried to reach out but alas we were once again in pure darkness.

“Yes?” I questioned, waiting to see if this was once again another dream of my sister.

“Hunter, I need your help. I’ve been captured and I don’t know why or where I am,” she began to sniffle as if she was crying.

“How can I help if I don’t know where you are? Can you remember anything”

“They’re so awful. So ugly. Hunter, they look like mom did but… They aren’t dying. I don’t know what to do. I'm chained up and I need you. Have you heard from him yet?”

“Heard from who?” I asked.

“The boy. I sent him to find you. He knows how to get to me. Please if you find him you need to go with him,” she begged. “Before they kill me. I have to go before the guard comes back”. And with that she was gone. I was awake in my bed, staring directly into the golden eyes of a monster.