Fanning the Flames of Rebellion [A Lunar Chronicles Fanfic]

Chapter 47

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Cinder was exhausted. A voice in her head told her to stop walking, stop stop stop. But she kept going. Going, going, going. Her legs ached, at any moment, she knew, her knees would buckle. Another rough cough erupted from her throat, causing Cinder to stumble, and fall to the ground.

She cursed, wiping her arm and hands in her shirt, which was already covered with blood. Spots appeared in Cinder's vision, her head was spinning. She felt a sudden urge to laugh. Or sob. Or scream.

She was losing her mind.

Cinder planted her hands on the ground, attempting to steady herself as she stood up. As soon as she straightened, though, she fell back. Cinder felt a sharp pain in her spine. A pain she recognized from back with Dr. Erland. A fire burned up her back, melting her skin, causing her vertebrae to crumble. It was excruciating.

"Breathe," Cinder wheezed, gritting her teeth, "breathe, breathe, breathe." Her words became more urgent. She needed to hang on, just for a while longer. But the fire still burning down her spine told her otherwise.

"Breathe," she cried out, "please, breathe!"

Her heart was racing, her chest rising and falling at the speed of light. This is it, she thought, this is how it ends.

Cinder needed to calm down. Alerts flashed across her vision, blinding her. She quickly dismissed the warnings.

But it was getting darker.

A n d d a r k e r.

A n d d a r k e r.

D A R K N E S S.

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Voices. Muffled conversations. People lifting her limp body from the ground. Blurred vision.

Cinder heard a woman's soothing voice next to her. "Don't... honey... it'll... okay."

A man's voice spoke softly above Cinder. "Come... Helena... here... her... down... conscious."

She was moving, being carried somewhere. She was set down. The woman's face appeared. Helena? She had on a surgical mask. Her hair cascaded down her shoulder in dark spirals. "Stay... me..."

And everything went black.

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A warm, gentle hand caressed Cinder's arm. "Hey, honey, are you awake now?" A voice like silk asked.

Cinder somehow managed a small nod. Where was she?

"Oh, honey. You're safe. You're doing great. You'll be fine." She said, noticing her uneasiness. "Do you want to sit up?" The woman didn't wait for Cinder to respond before adjusting the pillows on her bed and helping her up.

"How do you feel?"

Cinder took a deep, shaky breath. "I-I'm fine. Where am I? What time is it?"

The woman let out a warm laugh. "I'm sorry, this is my home." she lowered her voice to a whisper, "Well not my home, me and my husband's home. I prefer to call it my own, though. I do all the work around here, seems fair that's it's considered mine.But don't tell him that." she winked.

Cinder laughed, though it sounded funny and painful. "I won't." she replied.

"It's around 05:00 now. Do you remember anything before this?"

Cinder tried to recall what happened before she woke up, but it seemed distant. Like a thousand year gap. "I don't remember anything, actually."

"Well, Ms. Lihn--"

"You know my name?"

"I'm no fool. Anyone would recognize you."

All Cinder could say was, "Oh."

"Anyway, you're very lucky, Ms. Lihn. My husband went out to retrieve the food rations and there you were, laying unconscious just outside the forest walls."

"When we took you in, you were in pretty bad shape."

"Why did you?" Cinder asked.

"Well, Ms. Lihn, it seems that someone we miss very much is in your company." She replied, gingerly brushing stray hairs from Cinder's face.

"What?"

"My son, Ze've. He's with you, is he not?"

All of a sudden, her brain forgets to tell her lungs to breathe. Forgets to tell her eyes to blink, to tell her heart to beat.

This woman. Soft, and warm, and caring, and kind-hearted, is Wolf's mother?

"He-he is." Cinder swallows. "I left them, though."

"Oh. You didn't want the others to know, you wanted to protect them." Cinder nodded. "Very, very brave, and a little stupid, but very brave."

"I'm Helena Kesley," she said, "I work in the labs, at the palace. Alongside my husband, Lucas Kesley. We want to help you."

A long pause.

"We've managed to develop an antidote to the mutated plague, without anyone's knowledge."

Another long pause. Cinder couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"We want to give it to you." Helena smiled, the most genuine smile Cinder had seen in a very long time.