Atlantian

Becoming Atlantian [21]

Chapter

Aubrey thought that dying once, no twice, was bad enough. But the third time was definitely not as painful. For a moment, the young Atlantian was left confused as she peeled open her eyes to see only darkness. Momentarily her heart thudded to a stop in her chest and the woman tentatively stretched her hand out into the blackness to meet nothing but stale air.

“Is this the afterlife?” She whispered only to find the words echoed back to her in a tinny mockery of her own voice.

But they she realised that she could feel; feel the heat of the room clamouring against her skin as well as the hard stone floor pressing unrepentantly into her back. She realised she could smell; smell the rank odour of stale sweat and the lingering scent that hangs within the air after a candle has been extinguished. And finally, she realised that she could hear; hear her breathing and nothing else but the silence beyond - if silence had a sound that was.

No, not dead she thought as she rolled onto her side and pushed herself up into the seating position. It was truly disorientation to not see anything but impenetrable blackness on all sides. She couldn’t even see her hand in front of her face even though she could feel the air moving as she waved it around.

“At least I’m not being burnt on a pyre this time.” Aubrey remarked dryly, before snorting at herself. “No, I’ve just traded up for entombment instead of being a burning effigy. “

The red head sat there talking to the darkened room for many minutes. It was more of a pity party for one but with no one else around to hear her she allowed the torrent to pour from her lips until the emotion was too much. Her hands rubbed at her eyes as they begun to sting with tears of frustration.

Disgusted with herself, she shook her head hard enough to make her disorientated before pushing herself to her feet. Her entire body swayed at the abrupt change in position but soon Aubrey stilled. Her breathing was coming out in pants that got harsher as each second passed. She was angry at everything. She was angry with the Atlantians for not simply letting her die and go on to the peace that had been promised to her in the afterlife – that it seemed would forever barred from her. She was angry at herself for being so useless and weak, unable to be the Atlantian that Tiberius expected her to be. But most importantly, she felt unadulterated rage for the woman who had succeeded in ending her life twice.

“She has to pay,” the victim in her cried out, yearning to taste what she felt was over to her, revenge.

Reaching out into the darkness, the woman blindly tiptoed her way across the musty space, using her anger to help her push on despite the lurching feeling that she got each time she stepped forwards through the abyss.

After what seemed a lifetime, Aubrey’s fingers met the flimsy barrier that kept her within the room. Taking back a step, she drew in a deep breath before raising her leg and using all of her strength to force the door from its hinges. The structure clattered to the floor with a loud bang which sent tremors through her body. Clouds of dust were kicked up into the air and were drawn down into the young Atlantian’s lungs as she drew in purposeful breaths of air causing her to splutter and choke.

Pushing onwards, she stumbled over the door. Her shoes slapped against the stone floors as the red head spent the twenty minutes fumbling along the passage way at a brisk pace. Her heart was racing and she felt a sense of urgency. She told herself it was probably because of the dark that was pressing in on her from every angle but deep down within her heart, she knew – she felt – that something was very wrong.

Aubrey was brought to a halt as she reached the end of the tunnel by walking head first into the wall. Grunting as she stumbled back a step, her hands patted at the wall desperately.