Into Darkness

s i x

s i x

EMBERS FLOAT AROUND me like fireflies. My vision twists in and out of focus, vertigo swimming across the scene in blurry waves, my ears ringing in the aftermath of the explosion. All I can see is the bright fire engulfing everything in its hungry path, it's smoke devouring my world. Black and red surround me. The pain hits me last.

Agony rips up my body and I gasp. All my muscles clench and it escalates. My body curls in on itself. I can no longer breathe. My hands shake as I reach instinctively towards the source of my pain. There's a huge splinter of wood protruding from my abdomen, the skin around it burnt and bubbling. At the sight of it, it's like fire races up my body. I feel a scream building up in me but all that comes out is a wheeze, my voice drowning in the pain.

Out of the smoke and embers, I see several shadows starting to run towards me. I can't even think. I don't even move, my body just shaking. I dimly feel hands reach under my arms, dragging me backwards. My abdomen explodes in pain and I cry out. I just want this torture to stop.

I feel myself being picked up, several pairs of hands trying to restrain me. Pain consumes me and as I stare at the hazy sky, the black smoke clouds my vision, stealing away the fire that is racing across my body and replacing it with numbness instead. I feel my vitality slipping from me and the fight draining from my limbs. I distantly hear voices calling my name as my body is lain on a hard wooden floor.

I feel the surface beneath me moving just as Carter's face swims into my field of view. His hand laces through mine but I hardly feel it.

"Hold on, Thea."

The black smoke starts to overtake my vision and even as I hear shouts of concern, I let the darkness consume me.

THE FIRST THING I feel is cool metal against my left wrist. I tug at it, feeling the restraint on my movement, and my free right hand rushes at it only to feel the icy shackles with dread. I immediately feel alert by the sensation, my heart starting to race at the realization that I've been captured once again. The thought knocks the wind out of me and after a long moment and several deep breaths, I open my eyes to see what new prison I am in.

A bright light immediately stabs its ugly yellow light into my retinas. I squeeze my eyes back shut, my right hand able to rescue my sensitive eyes from the beam. I groan as the movement jostles my side and a dull wave of pain washes over me again, less like fire and more of a glacier, slower but just as powerful.

"Thea!" A relieved voice cuts through the light and pain, and I'm able to squint my eyes open to see a figure rush towards me. Even with my dulled senses, no doubt to some sort of pain medication, I quickly recognize that voice.

Carter's relieved features swim into my field of view, his eyebrows furrowed in concern but his eyes bright. A smile doesn't quite reach his lips as he reaches me.

I take his hands, words still escaping me as I try to take in the world around me and adjust to the pain inching its way through my limbs. I can't see much beyond the lantern hanging above us for a long moment and the bandages that curl their way around my side and Carter's arm but when I do it's surprisingly cozy despite our current situation.

We're in what appears to be someone's bedroom, the single bed I lay in pushed against the furthest corner from the dark wooden door. There's a rich red rug covering the dark wood floor, and bookshelves lining the walls. Dim moonlight tries to push its way through the curtains that contain it from a window beside the bed, a light outline of the window frame cast onto the rug from its shine. A single chair is across the window, right beside the bed and is knocked over, likely where Carter was sitting before he came to my side.