Bonds of Beast

The island part 2 Trauma

Innana's days fell into a quiet rhythm, her existence dictated by the natural world around her. Yet beneath the surface of that calm, she was waging a battle against the shadows of her past. Her fear of the ocean, once paralyzing, still clawed at her every time she heard the distant crash of waves or caught a glimpse of the water's edge through the dense jungle foliage. The memories that haunted her weren't just flashes of a shipwreck and a shark—they were fragments of something deeper, something she couldn't fully grasp.

Still, Ayesha's steady guidance became a lifeline. The jungle had once been terrifying in its unfamiliarity, but now, Innana saw it as a living, breathing entity—complex, dangerous, but also full of wisdom. Ayesha had taught her how to listen to the rhythm of the land, how to hear the whispers in the trees and see the subtle shifts in the undergrowth that revealed life hidden in plain sight. The jungle itself was slowly becoming her sanctuary, even as her mind remained clouded with fear.

But it was the ocean that remained her greatest challenge.

One morning, Innana found herself standing on a cliff overlooking the vast expanse of water. The sun reflected off the waves like shards of glass, the horizon stretching endlessly in front of her. A surge of panic welled up inside her, her breath catching in her throat as the memories threatened to overwhelm her once again. The cold, biting waters. The predator circling beneath the surface. The taste of salt and blood in her mouth.

For so long, the ocean had been an enemy, a force that had nearly taken her life. But now, standing here, she felt something stir within her—a resolve. She couldn't live the rest of her life in fear of something that had already tried to destroy her once. She had survived the worst it could throw at her, and though she hadn't fully processed how or why, she had a deep-seated need to reclaim that part of herself.

She closed her eyes, listening to the crash of the waves below. The fear was still there, gnawing at her, but so was something else. A whisper, faint but growing stronger—a memory, or maybe just a sensation from her past life, that told her she had faced worse and emerged on the other side. It wasn't just about survival anymore. It was about reclaiming the parts of herself that had been lost.

Her nightmares persisted, but now they came with more clarity. Slowly, her mind began to piece together fragments of her past—conversations, faces, fleeting images of a life in the city. A name slipped through the haze: Sarah. Innana didn't know who she was—family? A friend? A lover?—but she knew the name held significance. The memories were fleeting, frustratingly incomplete, but they were there. She clung to them like a lifeline, hoping they would offer answers in time.

As the days passed, her resolve grew. She began to confront the ocean in small ways—first by walking along the shore, her feet sinking into the wet sand, her heart racing with each step. She would stop just at the edge of the water, watching the waves roll in and out, fighting the urge to turn and run. Ayesha never followed her, but Innana could feel her presence nearby, always watching from a distance, giving her the space to face her fears in her own time.

But it wasn't just Ayesha's presence that Innana felt. There was something else. Something—or someone—watching her. It started with small things. A rustling in the trees when there was no wind. The feeling of eyes on her back as she moved through the jungle, the hairs on her neck standing on end when she was alone. At first, she dismissed it as paranoia, a lingering effect of her trauma. But soon, it became harder to ignore.

One night, as she sat by the fire, the sensation became too strong to brush aside. She could feel it—someone, somewhere, watching her from the shadows just beyond the flickering light of the flames. Her eyes scanned the darkness, heart pounding, but she saw nothing. Ayesha, sitting across from her, noticed her tension.