Haven Online: Brewing Chaos

Prologue

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

The sterile hospital room hummed with the steady beeping of machines, their rhythmic tones echoing off the walls. In the center of the room there was a dark-haired man lying motionless, his skin drained of color and almost blending in with the white sheets beneath him.

Tubes and wires extended from his body, linking them to monitors and IV drips, which kept him alive. Without these devices, discerning whether he even breathed would be impossible.

A thick layer of bandages concealed a sizable wound on his chest, though hints of red peeked through, evidence of a recent injury now under control. One couldn't help but wonder about the events leading to his current fragile state, what kind of pain or trauma he had endured.

A brown-haired woman tightened her grip on the metal bar of the hospital bed, her face etched in worry as she stared down at the sleeping man. "Do you think Fenix will be okay?" she asked in a soft bell-like voice.

Her blonde counterpart shifted in her chair, hiding her annoyance. "Of course he will," she replied. "He's overcome everything else, hasn't he?"

Nodding and finally showing a small smile, the brown-haired woman tried to convince herself that her friend would pull through. But her worried eyes gave away her true feelings.

"Why don't you go get something to eat? You've been here all day," the blonde woman suggested.

"What if he wakes up?" the brown-haired woman hesitated, not wanting to leave his side.

Placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder, the blonde woman said, "I promise to call you as soon as he opens his eyes. You won't do him any good if you end up fainting from exhaustion. So go and take care of yourself."

Torn between staying and leaving, the brown-haired woman finally relented and left the room.

As soon as she was gone, the blonde woman let out a sigh of relief. "Finally, some peace and quiet. That bitch was getting on my nerves." She muttered under her breath before settling back into her chair.

~

Fenix's body felt heavy, and his mind struggled to break through the fog that enveloped him. He could vaguely hear voices around him, but they seemed distant and distorted. They soon faded away altogether.

Struggling against the haze, he attempted to focus on the persistent beeping sound that echoed in his ears. As he became more alert, the noise intensified, pulling him out of whatever sleep or pain-induced stupor he had been in.

Feeling disoriented and bewildered, Fenix cautiously opened his eyes, only to quickly shut them again as a blinding white light assaulted his senses. Wincing in pain, he tightly squeezed his eyes shut as a dull ache throbbed in his head.

"What...what happened? Where am I?"

With his eyes still closed, Fenix tried to piece together where he was, but his mind drew a blank. A complete and utter blank.

He couldn't shake off the dense fog that clouded his thoughts no matter how hard he tried. It felt like a barrier blocking him from accessing recent memories, and every time he attempted to push through it, the mist seemed to grow thicker. Almost as if it was warning him not to look, that he wouldn't like what he saw.

But Fenix had always been driven by curiosity. He needed to know. He had to see. So he tried to push past the fog with all his might.

However before he could, his concentration was shattered by a familiar giggle. Startled, he opened his eyes to see who had caused the sound.