Immortal Dreams (Revised)

5: The Blood Veil

SEQUENCE 25

(Alicia)

"Alicia...?" I hear calling out to me from the void. The voice was soft and gentle, but it barraged my ears like a full assault from a raiding army. The lack of senses as I feel through the void, suddenly having them all return to me was staggering. The rush of the breath in my lungs and blood in my veins shook my entire body awake, and I came to the realization that I was falling through the air, though there seemed to be no ground to fall towards. "Alicia, do you know who you are?"

"No." I called out. "I don't know anything... everything is... nothing. There's nothing of me. No memory."

"I will show you who you are."

Before long, I found myself on a floor within the void. In front of me suddenly rose a wall of red. It moved, unnaturally undulating like a viscous liquid as it rose thousands of feet into the air, far beyond what I could see. I took a few steps closer to investigate, and quickly realized it was a wall of blood. It rose out of the ground like a fountain, but the flow was so smooth it almost seemed like it was encased in glass. I stuck my hand out, expecting to disrupt the flow, but my hand entered the wall of blood without so much as a single drop being displaced.

I quickly pulled my arm back, seeing it dyed red all the way up to my elbow. I rubbed at it to try and get the blood off, but it had seeped into my skin and wouldn't come off. I felt it burn its way into my body, covering me until my entire arm was blood red, and my skin burned so hot that it was almost melting off. I screamed out as loudly as I could before the wall of blood opened before me. It pulled apart like a curtain, just wide enough for me to walk through. The pain suddenly stopped, and just beyond it I could see a plane of ash that stretched for endless miles. The wails of lost souls echoed back at me, and a rush of wind that smelt of sulfur and rotting flesh. It was the most terrifying thing I had ever seen. The ash waved back at me, beckoning me to step through the veil of blood and venture into the ashlands. I took a single step forward, almost being unable to control my body, before I caught the eye of a creature within the ash. Its hand rose up and pulled itself from the ground, staring me deep into the eyes with its own deep crimson. Its face contoured back into a snarl of razor sharp teeth and ears that shot back from the sides of its head, shaded by the jagged horns atop its head. The snout that covered the majority of its face huffed at me before releasing a powerful screech that rang me to my core. My body froze, and I watched helplessly in horror as the creature began bounding towards me.

I began to scream before the wall of blood came crashing down in front of me, covering me in the wake of its splash. Covered in red, my body began to burn. The agony returned. I fell to my knees and clutched my stomach. Tears rolled down my face as I cried out again. I had to be dreaming, this had to be some sort of dream. Alcina had fallen into the void, I desperately focused on trying to wake up. I rolled onto my back, trying with every fiber of my being to wake up, to return to my waking life. I didn't care if I felt empty, I didn't care if I couldn't connect with my family, or that I couldn't remember who I was, I just wanted this pain to end.

The feeling of the void encroached on me, and I suddenly went from feeling like I was on fire to feeling like I was encased in ice. Everything suddenly became freezing cold, and I bundled up and shivered as the thought of the ashlands returned to me. The creature's long stringy limbs with its claws sprinting towards me. A flash of images invaded my mind, the demon stabbing me through the chest and drinking the blood that poured out. My chest burned with a freezing ache. I crawled away from the wall of blood, groaning with every push and pull before every ounce of willpower was sapped from my body. I gave out one last sigh as the pain rose up to my throat, finally coming out of my mouth.

"Marshall!" I called out, gasping for every breath I could muster. Saying his name seemed to give air back, so I shouted it again. "Marshall!" I screamed, over and over, the pain eventually releasing its choking grip on me. As the pain subsided, I managed to return to my feet, still trying desperately to catch my breath. Why had that guy's name come to mind? Why was it soothing of all things?