The Meanings of Lost

Chapter 18

Diana:

My eyes flutter open. First, I'm blinded by the bright lights shining down on my face. Instinctively I squint, waiting for my eyes to adjust from the darkness turned to light. The beeping noise from before drums on the background, surrounded by the humming of machines. False life, I think to myself, remembering the first time I'd met such a mechanism. Fase life.

My vision clears, bringing life to my surroundings. Besides the lights above me, there seems to be little light in the room. It's dark. the wall, the furniture are all colourless grays and blacks.

I try to sit up, but the struggle has me breathless. I raise my arm above my head. I'm not tied down. Why is this so hard? It is like someone has drained all the energy out of me, reducing me to nothing.  As I continue to move, I begin to struggle to keep my eyes open. The lights turn blurry before me as black spots start to dance around my vision.

No, I must stay awake! The darkness, those glowing eyes. The voices in my head. It all closes in, consuming me. I can't escape. I cannot run. I cannot fight it; I cannot do anything by lay here, letting it ravage my thoughts. Letting it cut me off from reality. From everywhere I want to be. From the people I so desperately want to see. 

I see the building in flames. It is taller, more infinite than before. "DIANA!" Ambrosine screams. She's standing at the top staring down at me, begging me to save her. I know she's crying. "Diana please." She sobs, sending a hot thin knife through my heart of stone and melting it away. I enter the building. I run, up one flight, then another. There are people here. 

"Save us Wonder Woman." They order. "Save us." They chant moving closer. "Save us." I would have, but Ambrosine screamed, and ear-piercing shriek that barely sounded human. So full of fear I vomit at the sound.

I turn away and run up the stairs. Two more flights. I should be at the top. Why am I not at the top? Hold on Ambrosine I'm coming. I'll keep you safe. I swear it. I keep on going up and up and up until I hit a wall.

A wall? I do not hit walls like this. I punch it but it refuses to even dent. I go down a few levels to get a running start. No Amazon shall be bested by the weak craftsmanship of mortal hands. I run. I hit the wall again, a sharp pain blazing up and down my arm. Have I broken it? The wall is still unharmed. Why won't it break?

I turn around, ready to attempt again when I see two girls staring at me. Their eyes are glowing and they stand hand in hand. 

Diana... Their voices ring in my eyes, bouncing around my brain like laughter. Diana. Diana.

"Diana!" Some speaks. Please, stranger, your voice, continue. It drives away the demons.  "Diana wake up please." My nightmares shake a crumble around me. The flaming school starts to collapse, the bricks and stones crumbling around me, threatening to bury me alive.

"You can do it, Diana. Come back to us." My cheerleader calls me forth. I will not die here today, a captive to my own imagination and fears. 

The noises stop. Everything disappears. I hear a piano in the background. Have I died?

"Diana, oh gods Diana are you alright?"

I open my eyes and scream. My hands fly up over my head, protecting my ears from the sound of my own agony. Get out of my head! I tell the girls, but they have already gone somewhere distant and can no longer hear me. 

I'm taken by a tremor. My tremor. My body trembles violently. I bring my arms back down to my sides, then wrap them around myself. Maybe if I squeeze hard enough the world will stop shaking. 

"Diana, please calm down. You're safe." I feel hands on me. Male hands. I try to brush them off but they're prepared and remain in place. I grab one and pull it down. The other one quickly follows, then the body of my assailant. He lands on the floor and groans, but I hear nothing crack. That should have broken some bones.