Awoken

Everly:CH7: Round Two Part 2

"Bastian told me what happened, follow me," she walks past the desk and down the hallway, entering room seven again. Considering what happened yesterday the last time I was here; I can't help but hesitate as I reach the small step ladder. I don't want to see Karma again.

"Is everything okay Evelyn?"

A bathroom break will give me more time. No, I don't want to drag it out, but I can't help myself.

"You don't have any questions to ask me?"

"No. I rely on what the brain tells me, not what a person interprets. Yesterday I couldn't connect properly, between the fluctuating magic and your fractured thoughts, it was like trying to navigate blind in the ocean during a heavy storm. Hopefully today the waters are calm."

It will be fine. I'm sure Karma's busy elsewhere, hopefully. Maybe today will be the day I don't see her. Yeah, I bet she is busy brainstorming other ways to torment me.

Swallowing my fear, I get comfortable on the bed. Like last time the night sky appears before Dr. Sahari places her fingers against my temples, and my eyelids become too heavy to keep open. Praying to the celestials' I beg for peacefulness, for sleep to take me away, however long it takes Dr. Sahari to finally figure out my problem.

All my hope is lost however when I find myself confined to the small space, thick threes surrounding me. I still don't know where the dim light is coming from, the tall trees, and their thick branches are covering the sky and blocking out the moon. "Fuck!"

Oh gods, the rotting smell assaults my nostrils, so pungent I dash to the edge of the very small clearing making it just in time before the bile rises and burns the back of my throat, coating the grass. I'm sure the trees don't appreciate it, but there was too much to swallow.

I know what the source of the stench is. Buzzing flies are feasting on little girl's decomposing body, maggots wriggling in the holes. How could Karma let this happen?! I have to fix this. Rushing to my feet I try to break off a piece of hard bark from a tree trunk, but it refuses to budge, and every tree is the same. Moving onto thin branches yields the same results as if each one is actually made of stone, and painted to be deceiving.

But I have to burn her body. The monsters will eat her if I don't. What do I do? Think gods damn it!

"There's nothing you can do Eve," her voice is taunting me. I spin on my heels and see her, the woman with my face. The dry blood looking like paint against her naked body.

"Fix this!" I demand.

Burying the little girl will only delay the inevitable, but maybe that's all I need, some time to figure this shit out. Dropping to my knees I immediately begin digging into the ground, but underneath the surface layer, the dirt is rock hard. Not again.

"I know you're doing this, stop IT," I growl. Everyone deserves a funeral rite, to avoid being consumed by Zankou and its minions. It's said that not even the Divine realm can save you. Even if you've ascended, your soul is torn from the glorious realm.

I won't let that happen.

"What about father? Do you wish he had been consumed by the darkness? That his burial rite had been denied? For all you know he's already reborn and living his next life. He probably didn't even go to purgatory."

She knows the answer to that question. Karma smiles before she continues, "Speaking of dear dead daddy, how did you enjoy his visit this morning? I get hot and flustered just thinking about it."

"You're disgusting."

Karma chuckles, "Since you got to play, it's only fair that I do too." Snapping her fingers, a wicked smirk surfaces on her face as my piece of shit father appears by her side wearing only his underwear. More bile rises burning the back of my throat but this time I manage to swallow it.