The Cravers

3. Missing Puzzles

A dark smoke hissed around me.

Where was I?

Glancing around, I studied the surrounding. It was a big arena or a stadium  something out of Rome.Colosseum? No, bigger than that. The tall architecture seemed to loom over me. And there was no one, only a gusty wind. Yet you could sense a presence. A dark one.

The ground begin crack like ice. Everything was dry with drought.  Nothing was burning and yet everything seemed to be falling in ashes. I was cold...and alone.

Right on cue, the ground beneath me started to growl and shake. The arena crumbled to the ground, creating a great storm of dust.  

 When I looked up, the skies swirled like a tornado - a peek of a sun in the vortex. The lightning struck and I whimpered.

 A wolf's cry sounded from the distant...The sound reached to my bones. 

I started running.

 What was going on? Why was I panicking?

I ran till my legs started burning, till my muscles ached. I ran till my vision blurred. My breathing was heavy and I looked around nervously for what was to come. No one was here, I was alone. Alone.

We are close to redemption, love. So close to redemption...

 I gazed around frantically, unable to keep the gasp.  I was sweating, worried. Why was that voice so familiar? Why did it plunge a knife in my gut?

So close to redemption...

The voice echoed softly again, but the words were a cut, a slash. I could not breathe. I knelt down, covered my ears. I was desperately trying to silence the voice, but it started growing louder, stronger, soon it infiltrated through my guards and I began shrieking.

So close...

The floor beneath me turned translucent like glass, I saw my reflection staring back at me- my eyes trying to scream but could not.

Redemption...love.

The glass shook and cracked. I did not dare move, I froze. It's a dream... A dream... I will wake up...just a dream...

The glass shattered and I choked down a sob. I thought I would fall... fall with the shards of glass.But I did not, instead, the black smoke wrapped around me - caressingly. It suffocated me, drowning my life source away, one smoke at a time. Slowly, my focus wavered, and I gave in. What was the point in trying? I let the darkness capture...capture my heart and my soul...I surrendered.

===

Then, I gasped, finding myself shaking from head to toe.

I rolled out of my bed - teeth chattering.  I layered few cozy sweaters... one, two, three...four. I probably looked like a bear but I couldn't care any less, I felt like I was left in the North Pole. I buried myself again to my bed to distract the rising voices. Calm, Di. Just a nightmare. Its okay, it wasn't bad, relax.

 It didn't help. His velvety voice was anything but easy to forget. 

No sleep tonight. Redemption love, so close to redemption. 

What did that mean?

The dreams, more like the nightmares, had stopped a long time ago. But once in a while, they came back, showing remnants of my past lives. I got snippets of them, fragments, but they occurred only when I felt in danger, lonely. They were more like trauma. Particularly this one however, was not a memory from the past. And that was scary.  This was a message. Or a warning.

The tree shadows reflecting in my room gave me the creeps. They were swaying side to side, as if the branches were reaching out to me. I turned my back around to the wall.

His voice was what distracted me. It was velvety, alluring. It was commanding, you had to hear it, such a lovely voice, you wanted to do anything it said...but I knew it was a death sentence. For who, I didn't know, but I got a gist that it was for me.

Who was he?

My blood ran cold. I knew him, of course, a man like him couldn't be forgotten. But how could he enter my dreams?  I felt nausea settle.

No one knew what really happened to me. Only me. I was my only witness of the horrid events that took place. And that voice, he was the one who did this to me...changed my blood, my mind, my essence. I couldn't bring myself to say his name. It brought too many memories back. Sad memories.

And because of him, I had this hole in my memory. He tampered with my memory, erasing valuable details and leaving me no clue on what actually happened. I knew to an extent of the events that took place but the reasons why was still a mystery. The Coven explained to me that, after my breakage from my prison, the effects of the post-trauma had kicked in, therefore, I didn't remember everything that happened. My memory loss was a cause of shock. Right.

But that was their explanation.

My stomach growled. My hands didn't stop shaking nor the shivering of my body. What if he was here to get me?

Then suddenly, with a jolt, I threw the covers off of me and ran straight to the bathroom. I knocked one of the flower vases down the table. I turned on the lights right before I started puking in the bathroom. Chunks of chicken and fries flew out of me.

Ew.

I think I threw up my lunch.

I waited few minutes to make sure I was okay. Exposed. Something was out there to get me, I knew it. It was a declaration of a threat, a warning. I sobbed harder while clenching my jaw close from the cold. 

With a force, I made myself get some sleep. Finally, after constant turning and tossing, my eyes started to shut. The trees blurred and the darkness sank in.
At peace, I started to sleep.

Until, I went to the bathroom to lurch out my dinner.

june 7 2015