Aetherworld

The Prisoner and the Ghost - Chapter 3

I woke up with a start, vaguely wondering if the sniffing I'd heard was real or from my dream. My entire body was stiff, and I felt more exhausted than I had last night. The incessant throb from my palms kept me from falling asleep again so, accepting my fate I pushed myself off the dirty floor. It took me a moment to remember there was no light for my eyes to adjust too. On my hands and knees, I felt around for the lamp knocking it over in the process. One click told me it had died sometime during the night; I must've fallen asleep with it on.

Groggily I began cranking it ignoring the growing pains in my hands. It was coming time to re-bandage them. My head rested back against the wall while I thought. I focused on visualizing my surroundings again, it came quicker than before and a pale blue outline formed to the room. James was sound asleep facing the wall, the pack was near his head, and I was sprawled out against wall opposite to the exit. One of the rocks from the rock wall I had built had toppled off sometime in the night and it looked like the whole thing had shifted. I wondered why my imagination visualized that, instead of how I'd seen it last night. Perhaps my intuition was better down here? Or, more likely when I turned on the light the wall would look normal and I was just seeing my subconscious fear; evidence that something had tried to break in.

I shook my head and focused on my hands again. Another form of witchcraft I used to practice was moving energy around my body. Gathering it up in my hands and then rushing it back to my legs or my back where I imagined I'd sprouted wings. The last bit was a bit silly, and I certainly had friends who thought the whole thing was dumb, but either way it didn't stop me from practicing. I felt my energy move and the spells I cast did work. Just not like the classic way magic was depicted in movies; that idea of magic didn't exist. I gathered energy in my hands, and in my mind's eye they began to glow. The lamp, still being cranked between them, began to glow too as I passed the energy between my hands.

"You wouldn't happen to have any way of knowing the time down here?" I yelped when James started speaking. "Did I startle you?" He sounded amused.

I had to take a deep breath before answering, "I thought you were still asleep. And uhh, no, without cell towers my phone won't know how much times passed when I turn it on."

He was quiet for a moment before joking, "I'll just pretend I know what you mean." Causing me to smile.

"How's your leg today?" Sympathy coloured my voice and I could tell it irked him by his tone.

"Don't worry about me. You wouldn't be able to spare another of those... pain killers was it? It's been just bearable since I've woken." His chipper mood struck me as forced and I realized he was probably trying to appear strong for my benefit.

"Yeah, gimme a sec." I thumbed the lamp to life and set it with what little charge it had aside. I procured four pills from the pouch and told him, "Don't take these all at once. Should last you the day." He gulped one before I'd finished talking. Grabbing the lamp I started turning it again while explaining, "I'm going to leave the lamp with you today, it only lasts four hours which incidentally is how long the pain killers work so when it dies take another pill and crank this for half an hour to charge it. This button," I pointed at it, "Turns it on or off. Despite my best efforts you can see the light from outside so if you hear anything shut it off."

James shifted, turning to look at me with weary eyes. He had a masterful poker face, so it was hard to read what he was thinking. "No. You need that lamp; you'll die without it."

"Nah, I've got a flashlight. besides the lights too dangerous to tote around so I've been walking blind most of the time anyways." I thought for a moment before continuing, "Also, I'd rather not come back to someone who's gone mad sitting in the dark. I've heard what cabin fever does to people and I'd rather not have to worry about you trying to kill me in my sleep because the voices told you to do it."