For the Sake of Breathing

Chapter Fifteen

My eyes slowly, ever so slowly, peel open. 

        I am alive. 

        I sit up straight, and realize I am breathing. I do not hear the faint whirring of a Carbon Shifter. Is this the afterlife? If so, it feels exactly like my former life.

        Suddenly, I hear loud chirping sounds behind me. I whip around, and freeze.

        Oh. 

        My.

        God. 

        I scramble woozily to my feet, and realize I no longer feel dehydrated. Is it the air? 

        I stumble towards all the glorious shades of green, and the chirping animals fly across the trees. It occurs to me: These must be birds. 

        How did I get here? I certainly didn't make it all the way here myself, unless I crawled here without knowing.  

        I am suddenly flooded with a wave of accomplishment and joy. I realize that my eyes are blurring. Am I... I'm crying.  Which means I somehow received water. I limp to the trees, and use one to steady myself. I press my ear to one, and listen to all life inside. I breathe in fresh air, and my brain happily intakes all of the oxygen. I made it to the Great Haven. I kept my promise to Ten. 

        I walk among all of the the trees, bushes, plants, and wet earth. The clean air whistles down my throat, and there's a certain warmth to the air that I recognize as humidity. Small odd-looking creatures with several pairs of legs scramble around in the ground beneath me. They are insects, I realize.

        I stretch out my arms, and take it all in. The Great Haven is real. I'm alive. I made it. My head is spinning that I don't even notice the man emerging from behind some of the trees at first. 

        I blink. I recognize this guy. He has brown hair, brown eyes, broad shoulders, and tan skin. "Aven? What--What're you doing here?"

        "I'm not Aven," he replies immediately.

        I arch an eyebrow at him. "Are you sure? Because you look exactly the same the last time I saw you."

        "Aven's my little brother. I was pretending to be him the first time we met," he explains. 

        "Oh." I move past him. Suddenly, I hear it: Like someone is pouring juice from a bottle, only it's a million bottles being poured all at once. 

        Before I start running for it, the man grabs my arm. "My name is Ivan."

        "That's nice," I struggle to wrench myself free of his grip. I peer up at him with an irritated glare. "What do you want?" I demand sharply, narrowing my eyes at him. "I still remember you were an arrogant jerk to me when we met," I remind him.

        He flashes me his signature creepy smile. "I know."

        I pause. "How did you know my name?"

        He laughs. "And thus, the veil is removed."

        "What?"

        "Aven's been with you fairly recently." Ivan inhales slightly. "He gave you water."

        "O-okay...?" I turn away from him, yank my arm away, and move in the direction of the sound. Excitement bubbles up inside of me. 

        I pause, noticing that Ivan is following me. "Why are you following me?" I query, frowning at him.