Journey

Chapter Forty-One~ Lost Souls

I looked around in the dim room. It was always like this. There was no sun here. Just blood red skies and moans of agony that emitted from the souls that rotted in the skies. I turned to a blue dress on the edge of the bed. I heard the shower running across the hall.Figuring Haley was using all of the hot water before I could clean up, I sighed and shook my head. She was something else.

I slipped off my clothes from yesterday and pulled the dress up. The moans grew louder behind me. I turned to the window to see a cloud forming in the sky. The faces of the lost souls poked through, and fingers pointed towards me, but there was something wrong with it.

It was opening. It looked almost like a portal. Figures shot out from it. They fell to the ground like stones. They were too far away to distinguish.

I looked back up to the cloud from the figures. It had not yet closed like it had when Damion and I came here, and did not look like it would anytime soon. The lost souls noticed the opening had not yet closed and took the opportunity. I stood at the window and watched as they spilled from the tear in the cloud

They came right for me. The screams grew louder as they got closer, they soon became unbearable. I slammed the window shut and prevented them from breaking into my room. It worked for a few seconds. The souls ripped at the window. Then they stopped.

Slowly they melted from the walls and their agonized screams invaded my head. I thought of them stopping, but only a few did. I still wasn't strong enough. I clamped my hands over my ears. They grew louder and louder. The screams turned into words and phrases. They begged for forgiveness and mercy. I drowned the screams out with my own.

Someone burst into my room. Strong arms wrap around my body protectively. His voice was a whisper mixed in with the cries of agony, "Don't listen to them. Annabelle. Don't listen to them, they want this to happen. They think you can save them, but you can't."

The souls reacted to Damions voice. They fell back and screamed louder in fear. Damion pried my hands away from my ears. The tortured souls saw the opportunity and yelled for me to save them. "I can't!" I screamed back to them, "I don't know how!"

Next Haley's voice came through, "Annie, don't let them get to you. Block them out."

Damion took my face in his hands. He made me look at him, but I did not see Damion. A half rotten soul held my face between his hands. His skin peeled slowly from his skull and fell to the floor. Only one eye remained in its socket. I screamed and clawed at him. Flesh came away under my fingernails. The rotting flesh fell from his face and chest where I scraped my nails across it. I looked down as they hit the floor and blood spattered across my dress. His mouth remained open in a silent scream. I lashed out with my feet, "Get away from me!"

"Annie! Look at me." I stopped struggling at the name. For a second the rotting soul turned to Reth, then it turned to Damion. I locked eyes with him and pleaded. Pure sadness filled his eyes for a quick moment, but turned to anger, "Leave this castle or forever be stuck as a soul, never to be saved or turn to dust for all eternity." He swung his arm in a wide circle. The souls scattered quickly. They took cover behind their arms and screamed in protest. "Leave!" The souls retreated to the walls and melted back through to the other side. The screams faded away back into the cloud which they had come from. Finally it closed. Hopefully for good.

Damion held my hands in his to protect me, or to protect himself from me, I did not know. His clothes were torn where I clawed at him. I looked at my hands, my dress, and the floor around me. No trace of what just happened remained. No blood or bits of flesh anywhere. I couldn't stop the shaking that came next. Pain flashed across Damions features as he watched the tears roll down my cheeks. He said nothing as he watched them fall soundlessly. He let me sob on the floor. He sighed and pulled me to my feet. I did not struggle as he did so.

He sat me on the bed and walked into the hallway. Haley went to my side and put a warm hand on my back. Her healthing powers soaked into me, but I was not hurt physically, so it didn't do much good.

Damion returned not much later with my maid servant Mary. Mary's eyes widen as she took in my state. Damion left without a word and Mary stared after him with accusation. "It was not him."

She turned to me questioningly. I shook my head and her words died on her lips. After a few moments of silence she asked, "Would you like me to draw up a bath for you?"

"That would be great."