Veritas

Chapter 10

Aislinn's eyes snapped open, her pain from the real world having crept into her dreams to drag her back to consciousness. Her body and soul were both singing with torment enough to take her breath away. She blinked a few times, trying to focus on anything but the pain; so, she tried to figure out where she was.

Above her was a rocky ceiling, so she suspected she was in a cave or underground. Memories of being in the cell in her old pack flooded her, and she looked around for bars in a panic. Fortunately, she saw none; but, unfortunately, the sudden movement caused a new wave of pain to wash over her.

"I'd try not to move, if I were you" came a deep voice, sounding nearby.

The voice startled her even more than the memories had, and she jerked her head over to look at the source of it. Pain rippled from her shoulder, and she let out a cry.

"Told you not to move" the voice mumbled with a sigh, but the owner didn't move.

Aislinn didn't respond, and merely tried to focus on the figure she was now looking towards. She could see that there was a fire burning behind him, casting light in all directions. The owner of the voice was standing between her and the flames; and, due to this, most of his features were hidden by shadows. His own shadow lurked over her little corner of the cave, and she was surprised she'd missed it at first.

From what she could tell, the man was tall — easily 6', probably taller. She could see he was muscular, not quite as muscled as her father had been; but, he didn't seem far off.

Before she could note anything else about the stranger, he spoke again. "I appreciate you not...Uh, freaking out I guess. You're calmer than we thought you'd be" he admitted, and Aislinn could see as he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

When Aislinn still didn't respond, he clumsily carried on. "Oh, uh, I'm Ryan...What's your name?"

Aislinn was wary of answering the stranger, but decided her name was nothing of value to be protected. "Ais-Aislinn" she replied with a raspy and broken voice.

"Oh, you're probably thirsty!" Ryan said, leaving his post by the fire to rummage around. When he came back, he was holding something in his hand.

"I've got some water for you...But you'll need to sit up to drink it, I think. Can I help you? You're pretty hurt..." he said awkwardly, obviously not comfortable with talking to strangers himself.

Staring at the shadowy figure before her, Aislinn considered her options. She knew he was right, that she was definitely hurt. Just looking at him earlier had sent a symphony of pain through her body, so sitting up would likely be Hell. Additionally, she was extremely thirsty, so water at this moment sounded delightful. Her one hesitation was having this big, strange man touch her; why couldn't her mom help?

That's when all of her memories of the moments before she lost consciousness came flooding back. She let out a gasp mixed with a sob, then cried out "where's my mom?!"

The man's shoulders visibly slumped at the question, and he looked down at the cup in his hands. Even without seeing his reaction, Aislinn already knew the answer. It explained the pain in her soul, a pain that a physical wound shouldn't be able to cause.

Her mother was gone.

Just like her dad.

She was alone now...And it was all her fault.

At that last thought, she broke down. Sobs wracked her body, sending pain rippling through her; but, she didn't care. In her mind, she deserved the pain and more. If her mother hadn't needed to protect her, if she'd been stronger to help her mom, if she'd never told anyone about her nightmare in the first place, so many mistakes she'd made that had cost her so dearly. She just let the guilt spiral and consume her while she cried.