Deaf Ears

Chapter One

"He just appeared in the middle of the field, I tried to ask what he was doing or where he came from. Hell, I even tried asking if he had anything to do with that big ass clap of thunder that we heard about the time I saw him." Cercil waved his hand towards the field in question, raising his eyebrows. Claire sighed, "Cercil the profanity is uncalled for, especially in front of an elder." Cercil furrowed his brow as he rubbed the new beard growth on his chin.

"You ain't no damn elder, and I'll be damned if I have to answer any more of your stupid questions that I, obviously, don't have an answer for." Cercil stormed off just in time to bump into the high elder, Jericho.

"Hello Cercil. I'm surprised you don't have enough respect for me to acknowledge my presence." Claire cleared her throat and offered a low bow as Jericho removed his hood, exposing his long silver hair. Despite his age, Jericho looked as if he was only about twenty years old. Jericho moved his hand, gesturing towards Cercil as he gave a low bow, "Cercil, you need to watch your tongue, Claire is my heir. She is my daughter after all." Cercil swallowed hard. "Yes, your grace."

Claire cleared her throat once again, "Father, why are you here?" Jericho smirked, it's obvious why I'm here, now where is this newcomer, I must speak with him. I have many questions." Cercil straightened and made a gesture, as if to point below them. "I put him in the holding cell for now, we don't know where he came from, but it seems that whatever happened has made quite the impact on him. He's deaf. When I found him, he was bleeding from both ears and pretty disoriented." Jericho waved as if to dismiss what Cercil said.

I'm not here to listen to your story, Cercil. I am here to speak with him. I need to know how he got here, more importantly why he is here." "Yes, father. I will take you to him right away." Claire made a motion for her father to take the lead.

Once they arrived at the cell, it was obvious whatever had happened, this stranger was confused. Jericho entered the cell alone and crouched next to the man who lay on the floor holding his head. There was still a good amount of blood on his face from where his ears had bled.

"Can you hear me?" the man stared at Jericho but offered no reply. Jericho waved as if he hadn't even spoke to the man. The man slowly waved back and made eye contact with him. The fear that filled his eyes lead Jericho to believe that the only way they were going to communicate with him was going to be telepathy.

Jericho took a deep breath before making a mind link with the stranger. How did you get here? The man seemed surprised that he heard a voice. He looked around in utter confusion. He knew he couldnt hear, so why was he hearing a voice. My name is Jericho, Im an elder. When you arrived, there was a loud clap of thunder, do you remember what happened before you arrived? The man looked down before meeting the elders eyes again, as if to think about how to respond. How are you inside my head, whats going on? Where am I? The man was obviously somewhat dazed. Answer my questions, and I will tell you everything you need to know.

The man put his hands to his ears, feeling the dried blood that had left a crusty residue that trailed from his ears down to his neck. He smelled of mildew and old wood. I-There was this old house, it was falling apart. I woke up there. Im not sure how I got there, but when I went to get away from it, my head started hurting and then there was this sound. It was so loud, I just remember covering my ears and closing my eyes, trying to make it stop. When I tried to leave the house, I couldnt see or move. Next thing I know Im in a field and I cant hear anything. Am I dead?

Jericho took another deep breath before standing. Youre not dead, just deaf. Jericho left the man, shaking his head slowly. I couldnt get much, but what he told me is very intriguing. Get him to the hospice center, he needs to be seen. The poor man is covered in blood from his ears and scalp.

Claire nodded and did as her father instructed. She had her own questions, but she knew not to ask, as it would only scare her. She didnt understand what was going on, but she had to find out.

Cercil slammed the door to his room. He was so tired of that girl Claire thinking she runs things, shes not even an elder yet, so why should he have to answer to her. And why the hell did this stranger show up, humans werent supposed to know this place existed, let alone be able to find it.

He threw himself on the bed and covered his face, grunting at the idea of what could be going on. He knew he banished that bitch of an ex-wife, and he knew there was no way in hell this could be the kid she was pregnant with. When an Apothocate was banished it meant that they went straight to the mortal realm, and Apothocate could only live for an abrupt amount of time, as Earthly air was so unclean from pollution that it killed them to breathe it. Let alone live long enough to give birth.

He sighed as he stared at the blank white ceiling, what did this mean for him, was shit about to hit the fan.

He sat up and rubbed his eyes, stretch, and stood up. He needed a beer.

Claire sighed as she took in the sight of the blood that was drying at the sides of his head, it had also run down his neck. She felt bad for him, what happened had left him deaf, and now hes a human stuck in Alacia. Alacia was no place for a human, and unless the human got out in time, their body began to begin to fail, starting with their lungs. It would start like their lungs had set on fire, and breathing was awful, the pain, she had heard, was so bad that when a human coughed, it caused a heart attack, if they were lucky. If not, the next thing would be their skin. It would break out in horrible sores that spread and ran deep; arterial bleeding would happen slowly but surely. A slow and painful death, humans and apothocates were not meant to mingle, let alone exist in each others worlds.

She slowly crouched down, offering the stranger her hand. He hesitated at first but decided that it was best he do whatever these people say, especially if he wanted to go home. She quietly led him through the winding and dark hallways, up the stairs, and through more dark hallways of what could only be described as an old castle. He couldnt help but think of Dracula. After all, from what hes experienced, vampires wouldnt be all that hard to believe. In fact, vampires might be better, they cant get in your head.

Claire stopped in front of a large doorway to what looked like a football field sized room. A small figured dark-haired woman approached Claire, bowing low. Is this the one? she questioned in a small voice as she took his hand.

There was a solitary opened window, the sunlight barely a sliver that peaked through. This was the first window he had seen in the entirety of this enormous building, if you could call it that. All the stranger could think about was the book he was made to read in high school. Bram Stokers Dracula. Back then he had hated the book, but now he wished he had it, just so he could compare the book to what he was seeing. Or maybe this was all a dream. God he hoped so, but the pain that wracked his body proved otherwise.

The small woman lead him to a chair and made him sit in it, as soon as his body made contact with the chair she was all over him. Examining every crevice, peeking at everything, as if she had never seen a human before. She moved in front of the sliver of sunlight for a brief moment, and he could have sworn her skin looked grey, as if she had been dead for a long time.

He didn't know what to make of these grey-skinned people, or why he felt so bad. His lungs burned and ached as if he had been huffing fire fumes, his eyes so dry it felt like sandpaper when he blinked, and his skin had thousand of pins and needles. Each wave of pain was a new form of demented torture, which was not being enjoyed by anyone, nor did anything come of it. 

As she finished her examination, she sat down in a small metal chair next to him, pulling a pen from her breast pocket. "Here, I'm going to ask you some questions, if you can, I need you to write your answer." She slid him a pad of paper, which he took cautiously, as every movement felt like he was going to burst into flames. 

"The first question, do you remember your name?"