Pray For Me ⇝ Black Panther

[7] Pray For Secrets

"Tell me who's gon' save me from myself, when this life is all I know?"

► Aadya

The excitement was evident in my eyes as I gaped at the fresh set of school supplies now laid out on the wooden table. I wanted to tear everything from their casings and put them to use, without even been given a task. I anticipated going to school for a while and now, it was less than a day away. I watched from a different set of eyes as five-year-old me began rummaging through the materials.

"Aadya," a hoarse voice called nearby.

I halted my movements and tore my eyes away from the supplies to find the source of the voice. My eyes found my father's as he took strides to where I'd been standing. A serious expression was etched on his face with his eyebrows raised as he peered down at me. He squatted down to my level and caressed my cheek gently. His face softened. His lips spread to a small smile but faltered not too long after.

"I want you to promise me something," he told me, speaking softly.

I nodded my head. "Anything for you, baba."

He removed his hand from my cheek and placed it at his side. My cheek immediately grew cold from the absence of his warm touch. "Promise that you'll keep your gifts hidden."

My eyes fluttered open. I began to blink rapidly with my eyes needing to adjust to the lighting of the room I was in. With my eyes squinted and vision a blur, I moved into a sitting position and rubbed my eyes tiredly. I gradually opened them to stare head at what I thought to be a simple tile pattern along a wall. To my surprise, it came to life and each tile turned over resulting in whatever information was displayed to disappear. I blinked absentmindedly and with the inability to form coherent thoughts about what I'd just observed. I opted to glance around the room and took notice of the area I was in being squared off by two tiled walls with a few feet of space in between each wall. Wherever I was, it looked to be a part of a bigger room.

I shut my eyes closed and sighed before running my hand gently across my face. My hand provided a gentle warmth to the cool skin. I removed my hand to peer down at myself and took notice of the clothing I was in. My eyebrows furrowed in wonder and confusion with my mind now running a mile a minute as I tried to recall the events that took place prior to my awakening here. Wherever here was.

I threw my legs over the edge of the bed I laid on. My socked feet touched the cold tiled floor and at the same time, memories flashed in my mind. I quickly placed my hands to my side where I remembered a bullet penetrated and lifted the shirt to find, at no surprise at all, that I was healed with no wounds to show for my injury.

I lowered my shirt and sighed to try to calm my anxious thoughts. The possibility had to be considered. I was unsure of what I would do in the event that strangers were made aware of what I could do. The restoration process would have taken place with the removal of the bullet. Something like that would cause red flags with an onset of questions to follow.

I quieted my thoughts. It would do me no good to panic now. I maneuvered through the walls to peer at the lab-like room. The walls were a dark color with the flooring to match aside from the lit white lines in between tiles. Ahead was a counter lined with stools and beyond that, there looked to be a glass encasement housing objects within them.

I continued to step forward to view the objects resting against the white, marble surface. I lifted my hand to take a closer look at the unknown devices to quench my curiosity about their functionality. I stopped midway at the sound of tools clamping together and turned on my heels to find a figure sitting by a counter towards the other end of the room with her back to me. I suspected she was unaware of my awakening. Her braided hair cascaded down towards the middle of her back. She wore a sleeveless, deep red shirt.