Fate In One's Eyes

Chapter One

Darkness. It, along with a familiar, tangy odor she couldn't place, greeted Shaianelle as she opened her eyes. It wasn't odd to be surrounded by darkness, but it was like she could feel it-like one would feel a blanket over their skin. Not to mention the dead heat that felt like a heavy weight on her chest at every attempt to breathe. Her head swam, making it hard to focus.

After stumbling multiple times, Shai's attempt to maintain an upright position succeeded. She steadied herself and took a cautious step forward, extending her hand. She recoiled as her hand met a surface. It felt like glass, rather than traditional drywall. Shai ran her hand along the curvature of the wall, anticipating an end to a seemingly infinite surface. She let her fingers drop from the wall before taking a few steps in the opposite direction.

Something grazed her face lightly as she walked, and Shai instinctively reached up to discover a low-hanging string. She pulled on it gently and winced at the sudden, blinding light that filled the room.

It took a while for her eyes to adjust, but once they did, Shai wished for the familiar darkness again. She was paralyzed, for the scene that surrounded her horrified her.

Not only was she trapped in what seemed like a glass cage small enough to trigger her claustrophobia, but just outside her glass tube were people, all strung up from the ceiling by nooses. Each corpse was beaten and battered, the skin riddled with stab wounds; eyes appeared to be ripped from their sockets and lay dead against their cheeks. Blood was dripping from their punctured, lifeless bodies.

Shai fell to her knees and her vision blurred. She then knew the tangy scent was that of blood.

The red liquid began to pour down on her from the ceiling, staining the glass, which received a response of panic. She was going to drown.

Shai thrashed in the thick liquid, trying to keep her head out of it. It was nearly impossible. The thick, sticky liquid slowed her movements, so no matter how much she kicked and thrashed, it proved to be useless. Soon she was dragged under. She gagged, spat, and forced herself not to allow her weak stomach to release its contents. She couldn't breath, and the more she tried to, the more blood she swallowed. Gradually, she faded, consumed by overwhelming darkness.

***

Darkness again. This time, however, it was comforting; lightweight. The darkness wouldn't be followed by gory images or the putrid smell of blood. Just the smell of cool air and the sound of a lark calling to everyone to inform them the sun was rising. With the calming atmosphere of day, the last wisps of her horrific dream burned to ash.

Shai wiped beads of cool sweat from her brow before tossing aside blankets and getting up from her bed. Next she made her way over the plush carpet to her dresser where she fumbled about for comfortable clothes to wear.

Shai busied herself with preparing herself for school until she heard a familiar old car pull into the drive. She quickly grabbed her black, felt blindfold, tied it around her eyes, and then grabbed her school items before rushing out the door and following the sound of the engine to the vehicle. She pulled open the passenger door to the car and got in, sinking into the soft seat and buckling herself in. A moment later she heard a familiar voice.

"Sleep well?" The voice was like winter, or how she'd imagine winter to speak if he were a human. Cool, collected, patient. That voice was just... Cold as snow, yet left an impression of warmth, as if you'd been sitting in front of a fireplace or drinking hot cocoa.

"Decent..." Shai said tentatively.

Luke had caught the doubt in her voice. "That doesn't sound like a confident answer. I won't press you if you'd rather I didn't, but if you'd like to talk about it..."