If You Feel Better

Chapter 32

The sinister laughter and anguished moans never once ceased since Bakura left. Aya trembled underneath the covers of the bed as she was forced to listen. She could feel them fly around her, their voices getting closer and then growing farther. She dared not look, though it was too dark to see them anyway. She knew that being under the sheet was useless. They were ghosts. What is a sheet going to do against them? But still, she hid herself as best as she could, finding little comfort in any option she had.

A particular spirit flew near her ear, let out a loud laugh just to torment her, and then slithered away. Aya tried to condense into herself more as a response, but she could not do so, being as small as she could already be.

As time went by excruciatingly slowly, she didn't grow any less frightened of the flying specters. Undead beings that wanted to murder her, but were respecting Bakura's word and not touching her. Finally, she realized that being a cowering, frightened ball was not helping her in any way. She needed to pull some semblance of herself together. Get yourself together, Aya! she reprimanded herself, envisioning her slapping herself out of it. Calm down. You've been through worse. This isn't getting you anywhere. Bakura is gone. The spirits haven't touched you. You have a unique opportunity here to get out! The thought of running through a field of ghosts was the most horrifying thing she could think of ever doing, but what if this opportunity never arose again?

She spent the next few minutes gathering the courage to do what she was about to do. She drowned out the laughter and the voices of the guarding spirits around her. She squeezed her eyes shut and took a big gulp. They're not going to touch you. They're not going to touch you, she repeated to herself, not knowing if what she was telling herself was even true. Staying in this room wasn't going to free her. She didn't know if the spirits really wouldn't harm her without Bakura's permission, but she had decided when she returned home that she would rather die than let him win.

She let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding and opened her eyes in determination. Go. She jumped up from underneath her sheets, throwing them off of her. Still completely blind in the darkness, she held out her hands in front of her, slowly making her way in the direction of the door, but still trying to do it quickly at the same time. She could feel the spirits pass through her outstretched hands, the sensation of a freezing cold breeze shooting through her fingers each time. She stopped breathing every time it happened, panicking intensely on the inside, but keeping herself calm and collected on the outside. The spirits became more active now that she was up and moving, swirling around her every limb and laughing and wailing louder.

She finally reached the far wall, slowly sliding her hands along the stone until she came to the corner of the room and then began feeling against the perpendicular wall. She finally found the door there, the texture of wood finally overtaking the previous rock. She flung the door open, revealing the near-equal darkness in the room outside, but it was enough contrast from the nothingness she had been in for her to see clearly.

She bolted for the stairs, eyes wide open, pretending that she couldn't see the menacing skeletons flying around her. The farther up the stairs she got, the brighter it became from the sun aboveground, and the clearer she could make out the skulls of the village victims. She could feel her strong façade start to break down, especially when they passed right in front of her face, but she kept going, not allowing herself to think about her fears.

By the time she made it to the top, tears of terror were streaming down her cheeks and she was beginning to audibly sob, but she had made it. She paused only for a moment to get her bearings and then made a break for the village's border. She found a main road and followed it until she recognized the area from when she and Bakura had first arrived. The ghosts began flying right at her face, mouths open in screaming, wailing positions. She weaved through them expertly, coming close to the entrance of the village. Just a little further, she thought, tears whipping from her face. She was horrified, but she could see the end of this nightmare right in front of her.

One ghost came barreling at her, this time not stopping or changing direction. It dove into her chest, stopping her completely in her tracks. Frozen ice shot through her entire body, a type of cold she had never known to exist. Her breath hitched, eyes widening in horror, and grasping uselessly at her sternum where the ghost entered. She could feel the spirit inside her, doing something truly awful. It felt as if it was ripping her very soul apart, snuffing out her life force at the source little by little.

It was bright and sunny, Aya standing directly in the unforgiving light with no shade. But she had never felt as cold as she had felt now. It felt like her blood was going to freeze inside of her veins any second, and the pain was intense, but so different from any physical pain she had ever felt on the outside. Suddenly, spirit after spirit followed after the first, plunging into her body and disappearing inside of her. A bright blue light emitted from her chest with each spirit as they entered her body, intensifying the cold twice over with each new one.

She tried to call out and scream each time, but she could make almost no noise. It was as if something was holding her tongue from talking, just small little whimpers escaping her open mouth. They all attacked her very essence; she could feel it. She fell to her knees, the onslaught continuing, spirits entering her body one after the other. She very quickly grew weaker and weaker with each one as they killed her from the inside. She finally fell back onto the dirt underneath her, too weak to keep standing.

She stared up at the clear, blue sky above her, unmoving. The spirits continued their attack, destroying her from the inside, but she was unable to stop it in any way. She was a statue, frozen solid in the blazing heat of Egypt. She could feel herself fading, knowing the end was near. The spirits continued entering her body, none leaving, doing indescribable damage to her core.

She only had enough time for a few thoughts, her vision growing darker by the second. Could she have prevented this? If she hadn't left the room, would they not have done this? Would they have done this to her no matter what? Would she see her mother on the other side? She didn't know the answer to any of these questions and there was no time to find out. But there was one thing she was sure of.

He was wrong, her last thought before her world went black.