Hell Blessed

Chapter 9

    I saw Val, I saw the tears streaming down her face, I saw how hard she tried. It still hadn't been enough. My vision started to darken and Val's voice faded to a whisper.

"Please don't die," Val pleaded.

The last thing I said to her was "You tried Val. You did the best you could." Then, everything went black.

I was falling. Tumbling through a vortex of visions, memories. I saw my mother, the day she died. I was swept into the memory. I saw myself walking into her room and over to her bed. She had been diagnosed with cancer only weeks ago and already she was on the brink of death.

"Hi Mom," I said softly, placing my hand on her forehead. "I'm here."

"Oh, hi Cassandrea," she said to me.

"How do you feel?"

"Honestly, awful,"

"I'm sorry, do you need anything?"

"No, I'm fine, but thank you sweetie."

"Hey mom, I know this is a weird request but, could you maybe read me 'The Hobbit'?" When I was little, she used to read it to me each night.

"Of course," she said.

I had sat there for about half an hour, listening to her read. Suddenly, she started coughing and her pulse quickened. I had called in the nurses and they took her vitals. After a minute she stopped coughing and seemed to be fine until she collapsed back onto her bed. Her heartbeat started slowing down.

"Can't you do anything!?!" I had screamed at the nurses but they just shook their heads. I put my hands over my mother's and looked her in the eyes.

"Please mom, please hold on, just one more day."

"Sweetie, I have no reason to stay. I've done all I wanted to."

"I'll be your reason why. Just hold on. I'll find a way to help you."

"Go live your life. Have fun! I'm only holding you back."

"Please mom, you can't leave. I need you."

"That's just the point. You don't need me anymore. You have to let me go."

"Never."

"I love you, Cassandrea."

"I love you too mom, and nothing will ever change that."

The beeping on the monitor flatlined. I saw the nurses rushing around the two of us, them trying to get to my mother and me refusing to move.

I was pulled back out of the memory and I was falling again. I was scared. Scared of landing. Then, I heard my mom's voice.

"You have the power to stop this. To save yourself. You know how to do it. Just channel your emotions."

Hearing her voice hit me like a hammer and I knew she was right. I felt the power rushing through me. A burst of light exploded around me and I halted mid-air. Two giant black-feathered wings now extended behind me. I hurtled through the vortex, up, and up, and up, until I burst out of the void. I woke up in our motel room.