Worlds of Waves and Shadows

Ten

The sound of blood pumping through her arteries thrummed in her ears, a grounding rhythm. It cleared the chaos clouding her mind.

She felt herself falling through the void. It should have been a heart-stopping realisation, but oddly enough, all she felt was anticipation, tingling through her body. A strange kind of comfort that she couldn't quite place.

Kaenisa should have been clueless, afraid even. And yet, somehow, deep within, she knew exactly where she was.

Home.

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Kaenisa rubbed her eyes once more, vision clearing up completely, leaving no room for her to be mistaken. She was indeed sitting on her bed in her room. In her house.

With absolutely no recollection of how she had wound up here. Because the last thing she remembered was being surrounded by blinding white as far as eyes could see.

And then, she had woken up to an alarmingly familiar ceiling fan, on a queen-sized bed.

'Her bed.' Kaenisa had gathered, not much later. But once the realisation had set in, she had shot up straight, examining every inch of the room.

Everything in it, from the plush, long couch in the centre, and the gigantic HoloScreen mounted atop the wall in front of it, to the currently open, glass partition that shielded her bed from the sitting area confirmed that she was indeed, in her room.

But how? How was this even possible? Was everything she had just been through, a dream?

Yes. That had to be it. It had all been an eerie nightmare. Nothing more.

She should have felt happy or...or relieved, right? So then why did she find something along the lines of disappointment beginning to weigh down on her?

Kaenisa shook her head, pushing herself off the bed as she strode towards her bathroom. But just as she grabbed the handle, a slight tremor ran up through her hand. But before she could react, it subsided, disappearing as if it had never even happened.

'Strange.' She thought, furrowing her brows, before shrugging it off.

Twisting the handle, she pushed it open to reveal a spacious, marble-floored bathroom. It was the most vital thing in the room. The only place where she let her guard down completely.

Most days, she would just...lay her head against the rim of her bathtub and stare off into space.

But what made it a true paradise, was the music system installed in there. It was her true salvation.

The music kept her company. It made her happier on a good day and consoled her when she couldn't hold back the tears.

Sometimes, even getting dressed seemed too hard and on other days, she'd hum her favourite tune while skipping to her walk-in closet.

Still holding the handle, a bittersweet smile playing at her lips, Kaenisa sighed. She couldn't deny the pleasure of returning home.

Then, it hit. Again. Only this time, it wasn't so inconspicuous.

What had begun as a slight vibration had now morphed into uncontrolled tremors that shook through the ground.

Kaenisa instinctively bent her knees, grip tightening onto the handle, other arm flying out to steady herself as debris began to rain down little by little. But it was useless, because the very next moment, the door swung shut, sending her tumbling to the polished teak floor.