Choices for a Fated Destiny

Chapter 6

~◇~ "Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality. Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming... "
-- Edgar Allan Poe ~◇~

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One of the giant guardians looks up at Khaoor and smiles, asking softly, "May I, my lord?"

"Yes," Khaoor says, "show her, open her eyes, and then it's time to reveal the oracle's messages and visions to both of them."

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Carolaine Collins

It's deathly quiet in the pitch blackness surrounding me. I have no idea where I am and that all-consuming panic is threatening to take over again.

I can't see a thing, and the only sound is my heart beating loudly in my ears. I feel awful, as if I'm being pressed down from all sides by a ginormous thick and heavy blanket of darkness. My chest feels heavy. I feel constricted, and I'm now battling to breathe, no matter how hard I try! It feels as if this darkness wants to squeeze all the oxygen out of me.

Oh, no... I-I'm suffocating!

I need to breathe! But I am! So why does it feel like no oxygen is entering my lungs?!

This isn't a nice dream at all. It's an awful nightmare, one that feels way too real for my liking!

This must be what it feels like to be buried alive, knowing you're going to die inside a sealed coffin.

Now, why am I thinking about death?

Could this... Is this... Oh shit... Is this for real? Could this be how I d-

A-am I going to die now? While sleeping?! I don't want to die! Especially not while I'm isolated in this black void of... of nothingness!

I want to shout for help. Simply scream until someone, anyone hears me. But I can't. It's as if a clamp has been tightened around my throat. I feel my lips moving, but no sound's coming out.

Like a blind person, I stretch my arms out, frantically slapping into the black nothingness, hoping to touch something, and yet fearing what I might find and what that will mean.

I'm stumbling around like an idiot, searching for something I'm not even sure I want to find, desperately looking for a way out of here.

Suddenly, I picture myself swatting at nothing in the dark, like a crazy person, causing hysterical laughter to bubble up inside me. Yet even that's contained in my head. No sound's escaping this clamp on my throat.

Despite my desperation and fear, my frantic search reveals nothing. All I touch is air. There's absolutely nothing around me.

I know I'm walking. At least I think I'm walking since I don't feel anything underneath my feet either! I try stamping my feet, but once again, there's just nothing. It's as if I'm suspended in the air.

I've lost all sense of direction. I have no idea if I'm standing up or lying down or simply floating around. In full panic mode, I swing my arms and legs wildly, trying to find some sense of balance.