Finding Me (Todoroki x Reader)

Chapter 30

Emptiness.

Numbness.

Darkness...

I felt nothing as I floated in a completely empty, numbing sea of darkness. I felt as if I was drowning, but there was nothing to claw at - nothing to get rid of. It was just me, and my mind.

I wanted to move, but my limbs didn't respond. Disconnected - that's how it felt. It felt like my mind was separate to my body, as if I wasn't truly there. If it weren't so terrifying - lying motionless in a drowning sea of my own imagination - I would've been content with just floating around.

But the suffocating air was still there, slowly pulling me deeper and deeper into the darkness that surrounded me. I had to get of there; I had to find a way out.

'Move,' I told myself, straining every fibre in my body to obey my command. 'Goddamnit, move! '

Suddenly, where I once felt emptiness - cold and hollow - a spark ignited. I couldn't feel its warmth to begin with, but the little flicker of light - of hope - told me to kindle it; to keep it as close as possible, and watch it grow.

'Help me...' I subconsciously reached out to the little light, weaving my fingers through its dancing flames. 'Help me find a way out.'

As if it heard my plea, it started to grow, and the heat intensified. I did not draw my hand back, though; instead, I stepped into the white fire, basking in all its warmth and light and power.

The feeling was so welcoming - so right - that I didn't question the flames engulfing me. My body felt reinvigorated, as if my lungs were breathing fresh air, and my eyes were seeing for the first time.

I felt invincible.

However, my skin suddenly felt hot, and it stung in some places. I also felt overwhelmingly hot sweat trickling down my body in rivers. My lungs screamed for cooler air, and my blood burned as it flowed out of my nose.

'What's going on? '

"Ouch!" I hissed, clutching the burn mark on my shoulder, horrified at how it had already blistered. Another flame caressed my leg, eliciting another painful cry and some tears.

The light - the flame that I felt so complete within - was hurting me, burning me as I stood helpless within it's grasp.

"Help me!" I called, now begging for something, anything, to get me out of there. "Help me find a way out!"

But the light burned brighter, extinguishing the darkness, but my body began to burn away with it. The power I once felt was now replaced with an even emptier basin within my body. No matter how much darkness the light consumed, it never seemed to be enough; it never seemed to be satisfied, and so it continued to burn.

Bigger and brighter it grew, consuming more and more darkness, but my small, frail body was left behind, being consumed along with it.

"Help me!"

~~~

"Help me!"

I bolted upright, my breath coming out in ragged attempts to calm my erratic heart. I felt sweat beaded upon my forehead, and I felt extremely flustered beneath the blankets I laid under.

'Wait... blankets? '

"Oh, dearie. You're awake!"

My wide, E/C eyes snapped towards the voice, and came upon a small, elderly looking lady. Confusion clouded my mind as I took her in.