II - A Décima Vela | II - The Tenth Candle

A GIFT FROM THE PAST

LANDON POV

As someone who has died more than once, I think I have the property to define pain levels. I've had my neck broken; I've already been stabbed; my heart has already been ripped out and, last time, my body was incinerated. But what I felt before everything went dark was by far the worst way to die. At least I thought I was dying again, as nothing good could come of that horrible feeling of being sucked and crushed at the same time. It was like I was being pulled through a black hole, like my body was being compressed, atom by atom, to fit into a small box. I remember being very scared. In an instant I was watching Hope leave; live happy moments with Julio; get sad when you get home and then just dark, a reverse gravity and pain. I remember the last thing I saw, or thought I saw, was her face as she ran, trying to catch up.

When I woke up, lying on a dirt floor in what felt like a cave, I was still confused. As a ghost, I never slept. When I wasn't with Hope, well, I can't explain it, it was like I didn't exist. Feeling the contact with the ground after not feeling anything for about seven months was weird to say the least. There were some candles lighting the place and I got up. It took me a while to regain my balance and remember how to stand up. I didn't see exits, just walls, little light and me there. I even thought I was in my personal hell, alone in a closed and dark place. I wondered if the fact that Hope had moved on with her life and Julio would have doomed me to an eternity of loneliness. If my peace was her, and now I had lost her, it was the only thing that crossed my mind. I could hear some sounds, nothing too sharp or loud, but there were sounds. I decided to call someone, maybe I wasn't the only one there.

LA: - Hello?! – I said taking a few steps in my prehistoric bubble. – Is anyone there?

No answer. I didn't know how long it had been since I thought I was dying after death until I woke up in that hole, but I noticed I was feeling thirsty and a little hungry. It was official, I was frighteningly confused. The time I spent in peace made me really want to be alive, although I accepted the fact that I died, but I think it took a lot of effort not to let my subconscious delude me with the possibility of having returned to the world of the living. That was impossible! If even Hope dared to try, how could someone less powerful than she achieve this feat? Who besides her would have that interest? No, I couldn't get carried away by my wish to be with her again, by my wish to have another chance to live.

I felt for the nearest rough wall, to make sure I could actually touch things, and studied the place some more. There were nine candles there, someone had left them burning, even though one of them was out. There wasn't a breeze, so what would have put it out? I noticed that they formed the circle within which I woke up. This had to be magic, I lived long enough with Hope at Salvatore School to know how to recognize signs that they had done witchcraft somewhere.

LA: - Okay, I don't know what this place is or who brought me here, but there must have been some mistake! – I said aloud, waiting for the author of all that to respond.

Nothing. I was starting to get upset. If I was right, which I sometimes did, I was back to life. Some powerful spell tore me out of my peace and put me back on the same astral plane as her. My goodness, She! If I was really alive, if this was really happening, I could see her again! A huge joy started to take over me just thinking about meeting her one more time, dispelling my fear of being totally screwed. I walked a little further around the place with firm steps, just to make sure I didn't cross the floor, but there was no way out. There was nothing but old walls and darkness away from the candles. As I said, my sense of time was zero. My irrational fear of closed spaces began to surface again, with less despair and more anguish. If I was really alive, it would be even more torture not to be able to get out of here and have the chance to see Hope at least one more time before dying again, but this time from starvation.