Interstellar Ross

Chapter 2 Reality

Kur (Hell) 3 BC

For what felt like seconds I found that instead of waking up on the floor surrounded by strangers I was lying on a bed of lush grass below a violet sky. I lied still for a moment, listening to the buzzing of insects and smelling strange, sweet earthy scents while I watched the fluffy cotton clouds move above.

'Now this, this I can see being Hell.' I propped myself up on my elbows, scoping my idyllic surroundings.

I suddenly knew how Dorothy felt, for the place that I had found myself in was most certainly not Kansas. Great violet tinted mountains pierced the clouds, densely blanketed in twisted trees with mulberry coloured leaves and divided by streams of sparkling water the colour of lapis lazuli.

I figured there was no way such a place could exist in what I considered reality and yet I knew it all felt far too real to be a dream or hallucination. It was something else entirely.

I picked up the sound of someone humming a lulling tune amidst the noise of running water and rustling of the blades of grass that surrounded me.

I found my feet, wearing exactly the same clothes I had when I was last awake, a dagger still protruding abruptly from my chest. I wrapped my fingers firmly around the hilt, inhaling sharply before sliding the blade out of my chest. I released a disbelieving breath as I felt no pain or discomfort at all.

I was about to ditch the dagger but thought against it, I had no idea what kind of evils hid themselves behind natural tranquillity and I wasn't going to allow myself to be killed a second time-if that was even possible.

Curiosity had me following the humming down the hill I had risen on, making my way to a river with dagger in hand. The sparkling shallow depths beheld rainbow scaled fish, streamlined serpents and translucent jellyfish. It was an odd combination and combined with such bright colours made for quite a disorientating sight.

I suddenly realised the humming had ceased and I followed the direction of the river to where it opened up to a circular pool filtered by a shimmering waterfall. But it wasn't the natural splendour that captured my interest; it was the woman bathing in it.

I crept closer, hiding from tree to tree, swatting butterflies that fluttered too close as I did so. I didn't trust the seemingly harmless creatures, as I had been fooled by pretty creatures before and their bright colours were only skin deep.

I stopped creeping mere metres away from the woman, peering around the edge of the gnarled bark of a tree.

The woman started to hum a little again, smoothing back her inky hair that disappeared beneath the water's surface.

There was something that looked odd about the woman as she started to wade out of the water, her damp hair sticking to the groove of her back and curves of her hips. As the woman rung out her ankle length hair an equally long indigo dyed dress materialised over her skin.

I didn't bother hiding back behind the tree trunk as the woman turned her head to look directly at me with my own eyes. The woman wore my face, my everything and yet she still appeared decidedly different. We had the same brown irises that were so dark they were practically black, the same cute little nose and heart shaped face that had virtually everybody believing we were so much younger than our true age. We had the same full, kissable lips and the same petite frame that in our entirety made for a beautifully deceiving image. Beautiful in the way a storm was beautiful, safe to be admired from a distance, fatal to be admired from up close.

My other self smiled, her gaze unfocused.

I realised she wasn't looking at me, but through me, as a man sauntered from behind me. The man stalked straight through my incorporeal form, dressed in equally expensive looking attire.