A Way Back To You

31| Emerge

Definition: To recover from or survive a difficult situation. 

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Trigger warning: This book deals with mentions and implications of abuse, mainly physical but potentially sexual. While the latter is never descript, reader discretion is still advised.

Note: This chapter deals with a scene of violence, including implied torture. Please read with caution. 

 3 weeks ago. Third person. Day 2.

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"Love you, baby girl." 

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

Eyelids fluttered open, a world bathed in bleached hues coming into focus. Her thoughts were a haze of conflicted emotion and her body ached. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been in so much pain. 

Across the room, he cradled his face in his hands, shoulders heaving with silent sobs. Beside him, tears rolled down the little girl's face. The young woman's heart ached. Why couldn't she reach out to them? The room was visible to her eyes, yes, but from a distance, like she wasn't really there. As she recognised this, her perspective adjusted, and she realised that she was merely observing the room. 

She scanned the room again, her heart racing with confusion. It was as if she was there, and yet, as though she wasn't and might never be again. 

Desperation clawed at her mind. She wanted to reach out to them. She wanted to remember how she got here, and what was happening. 

"Darling?"

A voice, soft and unwavering, cut through the haze. As she turned back, the feeling of lightness returned. Her body did not move, but her mind did; and only increasing her confusion further. The voice was soft and steady. Warm, filled with love. She softened at the sound of it, even subconsciously, as she turned to meet the gaze of the woman who spoke them.

"Who are you?" She asked, but deep down she knew; had seen the pictures, knew the stories, remembered the news article with the picture of this woman, who seemed.....so very fine. So healthy. Was she hallucinating?

"Am I dead?" She blurted, horrified. Anger shaped her tone, but the woman appeared unphased. "Where am I? Who are you? What's going on?"

"It's me, darling. It's Mom," the older woman replied, her eyes filled with affection. 

"Mom?" The word felt foreign on her tongue, a word from a life that seemed both distant and yet eerily familiar.

"Yes, my love," her mother affirmed, her voice having a calming effect on the anxiety she was feeling. 

"W-where are we?" she asked, her confusion a tangible thing, a mist that clouded her thoughts.

"Oh, darling," her mother sighed, the sound a melody of sorrow and understanding. "This place is... beyond words. You're here, but you're not meant to be. I wish you could stay, but it's not your time. Do you understand?"

The young woman's brow furrowed. She felt so calm here; so relaxed. So at peace. Memories overwhelmed her, a reminder of the life she had left behind. "Mom, it's so warm here," she murmured. "It's so peaceful." 

Her mother's expression darkened with concern. The young woman wondered why. "It's your choice, my dear. I just.....Follow me, little one."

She trailed behind, hesitant yet curious. They moved through fields where the air shimmered with the echoes of lives once lived. Past others, young and old, likewise talking with loved ones. She observed her mother as they passed through field after field, though the man and the little girl remained, always a heartbeat away, their presence constant in her peripheral vision.