Souls Through Time (EzioxOC/DesmondxOC)

Chapter 10 - Claire

September 20th 2012, 7:00 am

When Claire's eyes fluttered open, the world felt harsh and distorted, every sensation too sharp, too real. She could still feel the weight, the violence, the unbearable helplessness that had held her captive in the memory. Her pulse hammered in her ears, her skin prickling with a nausea that churned from deep within. The images, the sensations, they clung to her, suffocating, refusing to release her from their grasp.

A wave of nausea surged through her, violent and uncontainable. She stumbled away from the Animus, barely making it to the nearest corner before her body convulsed, expelling the bile that had risen from her stomach. She doubled over, her forehead pressed against the cold wall, her shoulders heaving as she emptied herself, as though purging would somehow erase the memory imprinted in her mind.

Her hands pressed against the wall, fingers splayed, trying to ground herself as her vision blurred. The room spun, the world feeling distant, disconnected, as if she were still trapped in that dark memory, unable to escape. She wanted to claw at her own skin, to tear away the feeling that clung to her, that stained her in a way she couldn't bear.

"Claire—Claire!" Rebecca's voice cut through the haze, gentle yet filled with an urgency that broke through the fog of Amelia's memory. Claire felt a warm, steady hand on her back, grounding her as she knelt there, curled up in the corner. She heard Rebecca's breathing, slow and measured, like a lifeline pulling her back to the present.

Rebecca knelt beside her, one arm draped protectively around Claire's shoulders. She didn't try to pry Claire's hands away from where they gripped the wall, didn't try to force words into the silence. She just stayed there, her presence solid and unshakeable, an anchor in the storm. Claire could feel the horror radiating from her, a mirror of her own, yet softened by the empathy that only someone like Rebecca could offer.

Claire's breaths came in shallow gasps, her vision blurred as she tried to ground herself, the world tilting in and out of focus. She clutched onto Rebecca's arm, her fingers digging into the fabric of her sleeve as she fought to stabilize, to pull herself out of the drowning pull of memory.

"I...I saw..." she choked, her voice barely a whisper, each word scraping against the rawness in her throat. She didn't know how to articulate the violation she'd felt, how it had stripped her bare, leaving her exposed and haunted by a pain that wasn't hers yet felt entirely her own.

Rebecca's arm tightened around her, and she murmured, "I know. I saw it, too." Her voice was thick, barely controlled, the horror she felt restrained for Claire's sake. "It was...God, Claire, I can't even imagine."

A sob rose unbidden in Claire's throat, a jagged sound that she swallowed back, her entire body trembling as she tried to hold herself together. But the more she tried, the more her resolve fractured, each breath shuddering with the effort to keep from completely unraveling.

"It wasn't me," she whispered, as if saying it aloud might make it feel true. "It was Amelia...but I felt everything." Her voice broke, the weight of the memory pressing down on her. "It felt like I was trapped...like I couldn't get out." She looked up at Rebecca, her eyes raw, pleading, as if searching for some way to understand, to process what had been forced upon her.

Rebecca's eyes shimmered with unshed tears, and she placed a gentle hand on Claire's cheek, her touch soft, comforting. "You're here now," she said, her voice steady, a calm in the chaos. "You're with me. You're safe."

The words were like a balm, soothing the frayed edges of Claire's mind, anchoring her to the present. She closed her eyes, focusing on Rebecca's hand against her cheek, the warmth of her touch, the steady cadence of her breathing.