The Sanctum of Hunters (Done)

Chapter One

My skin was on fire. I felt so hot. I tried to push the covers off of me, but I was too weak. Moving required effort and I didn't have the strength to do it.

This is bad, Charles said in my head. Very, very bad.

I didn't bother giving him a response. I was in too much pain to think of any coherent words.

Everything felt messed up inside of me. I couldn't breathe and my ears weren't picking up anything except my own heartbeat, which was going a million miles an hour.

I was too hot, too hot. This blanket had to come off. But I couldn't move it. No matter how much I struggled, I couldn't push it far enough off of me.

Then I felt a hand on my forehead and I tried to swat it away, but I couldn't do that either.

"You must be hot," a voice said. "Here, let me take this off of you." The blanket was pulled off of my body. Almost immediately I was cold and wanted it back.

"Fevers are tricky, I know." A lighter blanket replaced the heavier one and I was somewhat satisfied.

"You hungry?" I managed a weak nod. "Wait a moment. I'll be back." After a minute, a spoon was pressed against my lips. I opened my mouth and the warm, savoury liquid the spoon held was poured into it. It had some chewy meat chunks in there, too.

"Hey, drink slow. You don't want to choke." I held back because I knew if I ate the soup too fast, I wouldn't be full. I still wasn't but the only thing I got after that was some water and some medicine (it tasted like grapes). Then I went back to sleep.

It was a fitful rest, mainly because of the Nightmare. I reimagined the horrible sound of the bullet crashing through the windshield and hitting Ronni's stomach. Then the car hit something big and hard and started flipping over. There was the smell of gas. Gas and a car engine didn't mix—I remembered Ronni saying that. I tried to get her out, tried to pull her with me. I called her name but she would just look at me and I couldn't see the expression on her face clearly.

She would touch my face and say, 'You gotta go, Bones. You gotta go.'

'Please! Please don't leave me!' That's what I'd say, but she'd always go and then I'd have to leave. I'd have to run before I went, too.

I hated that nightmare. I hated it so much.

"Shh, Shh. Don't cry. I'm here." This wasn't part of the nightmare, though. This voice...this voice was different. And the hand that was touching my face wasn't small and smooth like Ronni's. It was larger and had a rough feel to it, like calluses. A thumb brushed against my cheek and then another hand brushed the hair off my forehead.

My shoulder was squeezed and then again: "Don't cry. I'm here with you."

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I felt better than I had in a while. I finally had strength again and I didn't feel lightheaded anymore.

Let's go explore, Reese, Charles said to me.

I felt an urge to, but there was one issue I was concerned with."But there's the woman..."

She's a friend. She nursed you back to health.

"I don't even remember her name, Charles."

I do. Mi-Kyung. She's the bartender we met about a week or so ago. Let's go and find her.

I pushed the covers off of me and swung my legs out of the bed. Reaching out with my right foot, I gingerly let my big toe touch the floor. The floor was carpet and it felt really soft, like frieze carpet. Being legally blind, I could only see white light (colours couldn't be seen unless they were really close up, and even then they were still blurry) so I could vaguely see objects, though it was a struggle.