章 23: Even the darkest night will end
She stared at the bright light that was on the ceiling. She didn't try to close her eyes to evade the blinding light.
Her eyes were void of anything and everything. No emotion could be seen in those light brown eyes.
Was she really emotionless? It was useless even if she wanted to cry. No point in that.
She felt a prick on her shoulder, but she still didn't give any reaction to that.
She just let them do what they wanted to do. She was already used to all of it.
How many times had she been subjected to this?
Too many to count and remembered.
This white wall was like a second home to her, not that she really had a home somewhere else to begin with. This was what her childhood looked like, confined within these four walls.
She had this thought in her mind, that, when all of this was over, she would enjoyed the outside world.
Watching the sun rise, and the sun set each day.
She would love the sunrise, and she would love the sunsets and everything in between.
*****
She looked at the red colour liquid on her hand. She searched for something that she could use to wipe the blood off her hand, but failed. Her face was soaked in sweat and dirty with mud and dirt. She looked at the lifeless body that was in front of her, a lone tear fell from her eyes, and she quickly wiped it away to blend it with the dirt and sweat that was on her face. 'No, don't cry.' She has to be emotionless. Emotion was a weakness.
She stood up, and walked away slowly from that place while looking down, covering her face with her messy hair and holding on to her choking sobbing, not daring to make any sound escape from her mouth.
'I'm sorry.'
That was the only thing that she could say, albeit silently.
She quickened her step to hide herself among the trees and away from prying eyes.
No one could tell what's lurking in the shadows. There was danger everywhere, and she needed to put her guard up all the time for not to be one of the fallen.
She walked and walked deeper and deeper into the thick jungle. Every so often, she would stop when she heard the sound of movement. She would hold on tightly to the Rambo knife that was strapped to her side. Not long after she walked, she found a shallow river. She soaked her hands in the water and washed away the crimson blood. Then, she washed her face clean and cupped some water with her hand, and brought it to her mouth to drink. She took this chance to fill in her water canister, that was already empty for a few days now.
Soon, the sky will turn dark, and compared with the time when the sky was bright, she was more alert in the darkness of the night. Her senses heightened, and she walked more stealthily, and she began to prepare for her hunt.
The dark night was more dangerous than the day. Wasn't that the time where predators hunt?
She was telling herself it was better for her to hunt than to be hunted. Did she want to be a predator and hunt? No. But did she have a choice? No.
Her body was tired, she has been in this place for days, maybe weeks, she had lost count of the number. She wanted this end quickly, but who was she to decide?
*Crack
*Crack
She heard the sound of branches breaking, and she stopped her movement and held her breath.
Slowly she looked up at the direction of where the sound was coming from, she saw a deer was grazing the wild plants on the jungle floor, looking blissful without awareness of its surroundings.
'That will let me survive for a few days.'
She wasn't fond of eating meat since that time. But she didn't have a choice and needed to survive. She kept her eyes closely on the oblivious creature.
But before she could make her move, her eyes caught on something else. Her gaze shifted towards the bushes at the right side of the deer. She saw two yellow eyes brightened in the darkness, observing the clueless deer.
While the predator was eyeing the deer, she was holding her breath and observing the predator's every movement.
When the right time came, the wolf struck the deer. She watched carefully how the deer was running for survival, and how the wolf chased the deer, not giving it a chance for survival.
She watched the encounter like some interesting television show, without taking her eyes off from the scene. But she didn't watch it for long, for as far as she knew, wolves don't hunt alone, they hunt in packs, and true to that fact, soon another wolf comes and joins the hunt.
'Forget being a predator. I'm not a predator. I better get away from here and worry about my own survival.'
At first, she moved slowly, away from the scene with the help of the lack of moonlight in that area, hoping that the wolves wouldn't notice her presence there. But luck wasn't with her that day, even though she had moved silently, the wolf was a born predator, they could sense her presence and hear her as their hearing was more sensitive. She heard the growling of the wolves and, without wasting her time, sensing that her life was in danger, she ran away as fast as she could from there and towards the rough mountainous path.
Thankfully, her luck wasn't as negative as she thought. She managed to keep running at her full speed and had put a long distance between her and the wolves. With her nimble body, she managed to maneuver her ways on that trail and climb up the mountain away from the apex predator that was chasing after her.
She just kept climbing and climbing until a beautiful view was presented in front of her. Since she had arrived on a higher ground, the view in front of her was even more magnificent. It was the time of the day where night changed into day.
She watched the dark sky slowly change to a brighter colour; the sun rose to welcome a new day.
'The darkness that follows a sunset is never so dark that it can change the inevitability of a sunrise -Craig D.Lounsbrough.'
She always had a thing for sunsets and sunrises. The transition from bright to darkness and from darkness to bright was fascinating for her. The colours of the sky during that time were like beautiful painted pictures worthy of being appreciated.
She always wondered if her darkest days would be over, and she would see brighter days in her own future. At this moment, the dream was looking impossible, but she wouldn't give up on achieving those brighter days.
She had escaped the four walls that were used to make her feel trapped, but now, even though she was outside those walls, she was still feeling suffocated with her situation. The only thing that could ease her suffocation was looking at the sky, the sun, the moon, and the stars.
Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise.
クリエイターの想い 
AleeqaC
AleeqaC A peek from Phoenix childhood and teenage years. Hope this chapter explain a little about Phoenix’s past, her dislike of being treated in the hospital and her adaptation to the wilderness.
Thank you for reading, and please leave a comment and a review. That will brightened this author day.
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