The staircase that led to nowhere...or did it?

Chapter 7:

Curiosity killed the cat.

But satisfaction brought it back.

Lila strained to open her eyes but faded back to a dull dreamless sleep. 

Once again she tried to open her eyes but her vision was hazy and bright light momentarily blinded her. She groaned and stretched her arms then the pain kicked in and her body ached all over. She fought to keep conscious but tiredness seeped into her bones and she succumbed to the alternative world of distorted reality, where the mind rules and your imagination wonders.

The man in the dark cloak whose face one could not see stood in front of her. "What do you want child?" he whispered with danger lurking in every syllable he spoke. His whisper echoed in every corner of Lila's mind. She suddenly felt very confined. Confined in her own mind. 

"I d-don't want anything. I never meant to come there, I just found my way there by accident while I was lost in thought." 

"Do you think of me as a fool, child?"he spit out. Darkness spread through Lila's mind, slowly covering every inch and controlling her every thought and feeling. She whimpered with fear as the darkness searched her soul. "I sense your fear you know, I feed from it." 

He cackled a maniac laugh then abruptly stopped "No it cannot be!" He quickly retreated and the darkness stopped spreading. "She was not lying, her mind had unconsciously taken her to the land of inbetween!" he thought but in Lila's mind she was able to hear his thoughts just as he could hear hers, magic always had balance. He stumbled back in fear but tried to reassure himself "She has the light, but while it is not explored she does not have the power." 

"Explored what? What is the light? Where have you taken me?" She demanded for answers, as her confidence bloomed and grew ever more as she saw the darkness creeping away. She reached for her light and let it grow, warmth spreading through her mind and diminishing the freezing darkness. "No, NO, get away from me. I will not allow you to go back, I will keep you here, you know too much," he shouted as the last of the darkness fled from her mind.

 She shot up with a gasp, beads of cold sweat clinging to her forehead. She looked around to see nurses rushing around her, one soothed her with calm words of reassurance and pushed her slowly back onto her hospital bed and another check the many machines and tubes attached to her. Lila felt utterly drained but managed to croak out a whisper asking where she was. A nurse asked her if she was alright enough to see a policeman and all would be sorted. 

The blue curtains were pushed back and a policeman entered and sat on a chair next to her bed. "Hello, don't worry you are not in any sort of trouble, we just wish to help you. Can you please tell us your name, age and address, if you can remember, we wish to contact your relatives." 

Lila cleared her throats and quietly spoke"I'm Lila Calaway, I'm seventeen and I live in Celenor, area 8, Ontali crescent, at number 44."

He frowned "Lila if we want this work out, we have to tell the truth. You were sighted falling from a great height, was this a suicide attempt?"

Lila shouted "NO, no of course not officer where am I? Is this Frenowa? Am I no longer in Celenor? I came across a dark wizard, I need to report it, the last sighting of the dark wizard was thirty years ago, Celenor and Grandowlin are in terrible danger." 

The officer face grew grave and he got up and quietly asked a nurse if she was under the influence of drugs. Lila heard and laughed "Is this a joke, do you not believe me. Where am I, is this on the outskirts of Heratoft. Are you not aware of magic here?"

"Refer her to the other hospital tomorrow. I will hand her name to authorities and hopefully we can find her relatives." The police officer left the room and the atmosphere became gloomy a nurse came to her side "I'm afraid you will be taken to a different hospital tomorrow where they can help you remember, okay?."

Lila laughed in disbelief "You think I am mad, crazy?" She strained to get up but pain spread like wildfire throughout her body and she screamed. She muttered a healing spell but it did not work, she panicked. "What was going on, why wasn't  my magic working?" she thought. The nurse grabbed a syringe and a needle and held her down. The last thing she saw was the nurse's apologetic face.

Once again she was in her mind, she drifted into a dream. Her city was deep, deep underwater and she was stuck to her spot, in the middle of her street. Everyone was in boats up ahead, fleeing for safety. She struggled to get out but she couldn't. She screamed for help but she was just wasting precious oxygen. She would drown, and no one could help her.

Her eyes flew open and she looked around, the hospital room was dark and the air still, the digital clock next to her read 3:04. 

She had no choice, she had to leave.