Misled

Chapter Four

Red. Everything seemed to be tainted by red. By blood. The mirror, table, my bed. I immediately wanted to close my eyes after witnessing the ominous color but something caught my eye. Hair. On my hands. I looked at them and what I saw made me cold. The lifeless gaze of the woman on high heels in the tunnel struck me. I was holding her head. Its eyes were fixed on mine, its mouth agape.

Panic jolted. I tried to throw the horrible thing away but it wouldn't budge. It was like it was glued to my hands.

I felt worse when the tongue moved. I screamed and thrashed the head on the table but it was all in vain. I jumped off the bed and hit it against the walls and the door while I wail and scream some more but it was still stuck.

"Don't cry. You're meant to be with us. Don't worry. Time will come," it said with its twitching lips and wagging tongue.

I shot up.

I was panting when I gained consciousness of what really happened. It was a nightmare.

Counting from one to twenty, I closed my eyes and calmed myself. When I opened them, the clear picture of the room materialized. The walls were made of steel but surprisingly, it was warm. There were no windows. Just a heavy set door. There was neither a doorknob nor a handle.

The panic I whisked off a while ago returned. I tried to remember what happened before I passed out but everything was blank. I looked around to see what I could use to get out of here but the bareness of the room had this eerie quality that drifted around me.

Was I caught by the heralds? If that was the case, I had to think fast.

I spotted a bedside table with a bowl, fork and spoon on it. Not really helpful.

I could feel my heart pounding wildly with fear but if I succumb to it, it might not pound anymore.

All of a sudden, something clicked outside. Someone was probably opening it from the outside. I grabbed anything that might be helpful to defend myself but disappointment washed over me when I saw it was a fork. Pathetic.

I glued myself to the wall and waited for my captor to appear behind the door. I raised my arms over my head to strike him. When the door slowly opened, I plunged the fork on the man's eye when he let out a bloodcurdling scream. I stopped mid-strike. It was a good thing I stopped because I recognized him!

"Oh my god! That's a fork!" he cried.

"Elysian guy! What are you doing here?!"

He continued to stare at the tips of the fork. "That's a freaking fork just above my eye!"

I threw the fork away from him to let him keep himself together. He instantaneously clutched his chest as if he was preventing himself from having a heart attack.

"What the hell's wrong with you?!" he shouted.

I cringed but I pretended to be annoyed. "I was just being careful. I thought I was in the mercy of the heralds. Bet you'll do the same if you're in my shoes."

He inhaled-exhaled slowly and when he caught his breath, he started chastising me. I was too tired and hungry to argue so I let him go on. When he stopped and glared at me, I glared back.

"Are you done?" I said annoyingly.

Elysian guy glowered and folded his arms. I sighed. I know he was just worried...and scared so I cut him some slack.

"Thanks. For what you did." I looked away.

At the corner of my eye, I saw his eyes soften. That was the moment I saw the cast on his arm.