Into The Unown

The Result of the Ordeal

For the first time since forever, Serena didn't wake up screaming.

When she opened her eyes, everything was black. It took her a while to realise that it wasn't because of her faulty vision, but the interior.

The black room was a void of light from every nook and cranny and yet it was richly innervated. A towering, iron chandelier hung from the high ceiling, its twisted arms held bulbs in the shape of candles that flickered as the chandelier danced to the sound of wind. The breeze felt heavy, as if it was burdened with secrets as dark as the room itself.

"You're awake,"

Serena saw Aria, sitting near the foot of her bed. "Are you in any pain?"

Pain? What was that like?

She shook her head, "I feel completely fine." Serena tried to sit up despite Aria's protests and surprisingly, she was able to do that, "Did the bullet just graze me?"

"No, it ruptured your spleen. You were hospitalised for four days."

"But I feel completely fine," She insisted, waving her hands around, "See?"

Aria sighed, still not convinced, "Good, that means I can do that."

Before she could ask what, Aria swung at her, burying a tight slap across her face. "You feel that you fucking moron?"

Serena didn't, but she still agreed, fearing a second slap from her.

"What were you thinking asking Alice to kill you?!" She grabbed a hold of her collar and shook her vigorously, "That girl is scarred for life now!"

"Truth be told she was scarred for life when you didn't put the child locks on your TV," she said, trying to act funny, "isn't that funny?"

Aria was about to do her good once again, but was only stopped by her own self consciousness.

"What is wrong with you Serena?" She asked, her face as red as a volcano, "What if she had pulled the trigger? You'd be dead."

Serena looked down, her fingers clutched the end of her blanket. "I don't want to go back to that place again."

"I understand that, but—"

"No, you don't understand!" Serena cried.

The gravity of the situation hit her a lot later than it should have. By the time it happened, her vision had already started to get blurry and her breaths a lot faster.

"I'm sorry I screamed at you," she said, "I don't know what—"

"Being alive is a gift," Aria took Serena's hand in hers, "You're right I don't know what happened, but what I do know is that you survived. And that is a miracle, trust me, I know that. Delia is shifting me and the kids to a safe house. The kids are already there I just stayed back in case you woke up. I have to leave, but... promise me you will live, Serena."

Serena nodded, disregarding what Aria just told her. The pink paired squeeze her hand with ferocity and placed a kiss on her forehead. "Don't die," she whispered, giving her friend a tight hug.

"Tell Alice that I am—"

"She knows." Aria smiled.

That was the last time Serena saw her friend. Smiling down at her telling her that whatever she had done, she did so in the heat of a moment and urged her to make wiser choices.

That was a wise choice, Serena though, if any of them knew what I went through, they would agree.

When Aria left, despite her numerous protests that she felt fine, Serena obliged the doctors instructions and stayed in bed. She was unable to sleep, occasionally twisted and turned, there was something about this place that seemed to interfere with her thought process, something she couldn't quite pinpoint.