DarkWing (Final Editing in Progress)

Chapter 7 - Rebirth

I saw nothing but darkness. I looked in every direction. Nothing. I had the strangest feeling that I had to get out of there. I turned around and saw the world burning. Within seconds it was just a few feet away from me. I couldn't help but run. I heard them roar behind me as they engulfed everything it passed. "It would be smart for you to come back." I ran, blind through the darkness, but it wasn't enough. The flames whipped against my back, treating me like a horse that had nothing left to give.  I ran as hard as I could, but the floor gave out beneath me. I felt myself falling, hopeless and scared. The flames followed me into the darkness, coming ever closer. There was nothing I could do, and I found a strange peace in that. I was ready to let it happen, I was ready to let go. The flames overcame me. I was reborn.

I woke up. I felt a cold, moist towel pressed against my face. It covered my eyes and forehead. I heard a fire, crackling nearby, close enough that I felt the heat against my arm. I was lying down on what felt like the softest bed in the world, but it felt... spiny. A slight cool breeze rolling across my chest. I wasn't wearing a shirt. I made a motion to move the towel away when I heard a voice, a woman's voice, sweet but stern.

"You shouldn't take that off," she said. I froze. Where was I, who was she, who... Who was I?

"Wh-" I cleared my throat. "Who... Who are you..."

"I'm the one that saved you." I moved my hand closer to the towel. "Hey. What did I just say?" She was speaking strongly, but playfully. It was comforting, she seemed friendly. I laid my arm down next to me.

"Why... Why can't I take this rag away?"

"I don't think..." She paused. "I don't..." She sighed, and decided to just say it. "I don't think you'll like what you see, or rather, I don't think you're prepared."

My heart started to race. "What... What do you mean?"

"You went to Corrector Corps, didn't you?" She asked me this, but I could already tell she knew the answer.

"Yes... About a mo-"

"About a month ago. I thought so," she said.

I began to get nervous. "Why do you know that?"

"Because-" Then she was interrupted. A new voice came from near the fire.

"Because that's the way it works." This voice was a man's, deep, heavy, but at the same time, wise and almost comforting.

I swallowed hard. I was nervous. I was scared. "That's how..." I paused. I wasn't sure if I really wanted to know the answer, but I already had an idea. Deep down, I already knew. "That's how what works...?"

The man responded. "The evolution." They went silent. I could hear grasshoppers in the distance. It had to still be night. I didn't know what to say, I didn't know what to ask. The man broke the silence. "You don't remember much, do you." Again, a question they already knew the answer to.

"I don't even know my own name anymore..."

"I'm sorry. I know how it feels. But trust me, it's for the better."

"How. How could this possibly be for the better. How could me forgetting almost my entire life be for the better."

"Because it's not your life anymore."

"Drake." said the woman abruptly.

"What, Jinx. It's true. We have to tell him what's going on. He can either learn from us, or he can learn for himself when he takes off that blindfold."

"Drake!" yelled Jinx. My eyes widened under the towel. I quickly grabbed it with my right hand and tried to pull it off, but before I could, I felt another person's hand grab mine, stopping me from moving it. Their hand was warm and soft.