Freefall | Eren x OC *CURRENTLY BEING RE-EDITED*

Chapter 19: Two Lost Souls

I'm alright with a slow burn
Takin' my time, let the world turn
I'm gonna do it my way, it'll be alright
If we burn it down and it takes all night
It's a slow burn

- 'Slow Burn' by Kacey Musgraves

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In her dream, she sees smoke and steam clouds cross the clear blue sky above her, shrouding the world in death. She can feel the ground tremble under her feet, can feel smoke crawl down her throat, burning it as it slowly strangles the oxygen from her breath. She can hear booms that seem to draw closer and closer with every heartbeat in her chest. She can't make out where she is; her vision's grown hazy. She can make out the shapes of looming mountains; mountains in the near distance that seem to shake and groan from some inexplicable weight stepping onto them. She can hear screams; screams coming from other people around her, panicked and desperate. But she shuts her eyes, tries to shut everything out. She focuses her senses; she can't listen to the groans of the mountains or the screams of nearby people running around her. A sound seems to arise above all the rest, a soft sound unlike anything else she's hearing. It's a gurgle, a coo, a sweet soft sound that caresses her ear.

She opens her eyes once more to the sound; it's so near and clear and yet she cannot make out the source of it. It's louder now, drowning out the calamity as her eyes focus on roses; roses before her as if she's standing in a garden completely devoted to them. She stands there in a daze, divorced from the destruction outside her white picket fence that seems to scream terror from every angle. She just stands inside her garden, staring at her red roses as they glisten with fresh beads of water and sunlight, undetered by the destruction at their doorstep. The booms may be growing louder, the mountains may be groaning and collapsing under the stress of weight as the sky grows smokier and heavier. But for her, all she can focus on are the roses blowing gently before her and the comforting sound of sweet coos and gurgles in her ear.

Rose opens her eyes to find herself staring up at her ceiling, her heart beating erratically. She blinks as she tries to make out specifics of her dream but as she does, a splitting head pain tears through her as it always does after these dreams. It presses down as if someone's swung a hammer right into her, forcing her head to cave in.

"Not again..." she winces and cries out in pain as she sits up, holding her head as if to stop it from viscerally splitting in two. She holds her head in her hands, wishing she could remember the dream clearly, before letting out a cough at the sudden singeing burning sensation in her throat. She quickly sputters and coughs hoarsely, struggling to unwrap her limps from her sheets as she rolls out of bed to rush to her bathroom. She bursts in and desperately grabs a glass to fill to the brim with cold water; her throat searing hot and her head pounding like a war drum. She shoots the water back before bursting into more hoarse coughs, her eyes watering, tears pouring down her face, her whole body wracked in pain and panic. Thinking quickly, she slides her bathroom mirror open to reveal her medicine cabinet, grabbing a bottle of Advil, stuffing two in her mouth and guzzling her water as quick as she can.

Her throat keeps burning; it feels like it's being doused and lit from within. Rose grabs her bottle of pepto, taking as much as she can, practically chugging it. She pants and croaks, coughing as she tries to catch her breath. She sits on the toilet, trying to catch her breath and gather herself as she prays for the headaches to cease and for her throat pain to simmer.

After several minutes, her throat feels slightly better, and the pain and pressure has subsided in her head enough for her to slowly walk back to her room. She coughs dryly as she sits on the edge of her bed and reaches for her phone, her fingers shaking as she types out the number for her work's human resources department.