Nadia opened her eyes to a bright light. She groaned, curling her fingers slowly. She heard voices that sounded so distant.
Oh my! She's awake
Nadia?
Nadia, can you hear me?
Her eyes closed and she fell into darkness.
Nadia's eyes fluttered open to behold a white ceiling. She blinked slowly, trying to connect with her consciousness. She looked to her side and saw a drip there. She looked down at her wrist and saw an IV inserted in it.
“What?” She croaked in confusion. She took in her environment. This wasn't her dorm room. “Where am I?”
This felt awfully like deja vu.
That's when everything came rushing back and she sat up in alarm. She regretted her actions when the world tilted and her head started pounding. She groaned, holding her head and then waiting until it subsided and the world stopped spinning.
She yanked out the IV and stood up. She took a step and her legs gave way. The door opened to reveal Faryal on the other side.
“Nadia!” she rushed to her in alarm and helped her back to the bed, before going back to close the door.
She went back to the bed, sat down beside Nadia, and placed her palm on her back, “Are you alright?”
When she noticed the blood oozing out of Nadia's wrist, she went to take a towel out of the wardrobe and pressed it to the wound until the bleeding stopped.
Nadia hugged her tightly. “You're alright,” she breathed.
Faryal returned her hug and they stayed that way for some time.
Nadia pulled away first, “We have to get out of here, we have to find the others and leave now,” she said in a rush.
“Nadia breathes,” Faryal urged, placing her hands on her shoulders. “We are at AR's base, they rescued those of us who were able to get away from the Resistance and got stranded in the forest. They found you bloody and close to death. It was a miracle you survived that fall. They brought you here and nurse you back to health.”
Nadia took a moment to process what she said. “So they are not the bad guys?”
“No, they are not. They are an organization created to take down The Resistance.”
“Oh. Well...well how long have I been unconscious?”
“Three months.”
“Three months?” Nadia echoed in disbelief. That's s long time lost and wasted, she thought. “Shat about Joanne and Mia and Makena-”
Faryal's intake of a shaky breath made her pause. “Did anything happen to them?” Nadia's eyes were wide with panic. “Say something,” she pressed when Faryal kept silent.
Faryal looked away for a minute and when she met Nadia's eyes, hers were shining with tears. “Mia and Freya's didn't make it.”
Nadia lay on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying, her head pounding and her mind clouded with dangerous thoughts of what could be happening right now when she heard a work knock on the door.
She wiped her tears away and went to open the door. A petite fair-skinned woman stood on the other side dressed in a blue long-sleeve chiffon maxi dress.
The woman smiled warmly. “Hello, Nadia.”
Nadia eyed her warily. “Who are you?”
“I'm Jia. The leader of this organization. May I come in?”
YOU ARE READING
ForestLands Institution
FantasySeventeen-year-old Alexandra Crawford's life takes a whole new turn when she's thrown out of her aunt's house one night. Powers are revealed and she's taken to an institution that houses supernatural creatures which were believed to be myths. At lea...
