章節 5: The Price (Part 1)
"Drink," a disembodied voice demands floating in my black dream.
"You want to be saved? Drink." The words echoing and repeating in an empty void, though hardly understood in my mind. Warmth slides through my insides in my bizarre state. It was blacker than pitch but the warmth enveloped me, like I was no longer human. I had become a lively liquid, spreading through every crevice, rolling aimlessly only to be guided by the obstructions in my path. Splitting apart taking twists and turns, the fluid never ceasing to flow and I am this fluid.
I drift along to the sound of a light drumming. The word 'Drink' repeats like a light wind in a cave.
My eyes flutter open weakly. I'm welcomed by deep blues before extreme discomfort violates my senses and I immediately black out.
Once more, I was like a body of water running indiscriminately. A faint beating continues, faltering fast, the pace becoming more languid with each passing second. I spreading in all directions, I had no control of where I went, I just continue trickling through darkness.
My heavy eyelids make an effort to force open with labored success and I could no longer feel the ground. I see the twisted branches of trees reaching for the stars above, a view I would only get if I were laying on my back, but I was floating smoothly through the air as if levitating. Was I being carried to Heaven, maybe Hell? Was there even a Heaven or Hell?
The scene is hardly a snippet, the sky fades from view as I'm taken back into my strange dream-like state. Again, liquid energy snaking through an abyss. My gelatinous tendrils extending until I feel myself take form in a familiar shape.
I disperse inside every one of my limp fingers all the way down to my toes, filling up the space in my skull where my brain should be. I am a great, foreign energy swimming though my lifeless body.
The quiet pulse has slowed so much that ten seconds go by before I hear the next thud. I cling to the passing rhythm, waiting in anticipation for the next note to hit. I sense my body strain to strengthen the dying tempo. The last beat ripples into emptiness as everything goes grimly silent and still.
*****
I take a huge gasp of air, flinging myself forward into a sitting position. It feels as though I abruptly woke from a vivid nightmare, the kind you get when deathly feverish. Calming myself, I let a deep, steady exhale escape my lungs.
'Wait a second, that breath didn't hurt. I broke some ribs, right?' My hand went to the right side of my rib cage pressing lightly. Hold on, it's coming back to me now. I remember my face, my hand, my ribs and especially my neck were all wounded quite severely! My hands dart around like I'm dancing to the Macarena, checking all the areas I could have sworn were either broken or bloodied.
In fact, it was so bad that I should be dead right now. 'How the hell *am* I alive?' I grimace while clutching my throat, remembering the unpleasant experience of choking on my own blood.
"So, you not only healed quickly, you actually managed to survive."
I spin around to face the direction of a silvery voice. Startled, eyes bugging out of my head, mouth gaping open. I lay eyes on a woman sitting in a chair. Based on her voice I would guess she was barely in her 20's, her tone being quite youthful but her articulation seems too mature for a teen.
She was fixed on mending a detailed old-timey dress. Her long raven black hair masks her face as she looks down continuing to sew by hand.
I'm too stunned to say anything, I just continue to peer at the woman focused in her needle work. I can't help but be drawn to the dress she's patching, noticing how dynamic the colors are, colors I never knew existed beautifully coordinated in the intricate clothing. I could almost feel the fibers of the vintage gown, the lace and fine fabrics, as I'm absorbed it's majesty.
She looks up from her work, her strikingly blue irises pierce mine. I stare, hooked into those unearthly eyes. The outer rim is dark like the ocean turning to sapphire gems with a thin ice blue ring around her pupil. My gaze wanders over her flawless face, she looks like she was molded by an expert sculptor. Skin smooth and fair, the contrast of her dark hair making it look porcelain. Her soft, rosy lips curl upwards as she lets a small, pleasant giggle escape.
"Sorry," I apologize, lowering my head in embarrassment for gawking so openly. I close my eyes and shake off the spell she put me under, remembering my initial alarm. Where am I, who is this woman and most concerning, what the hell happened?
"There's no need to apologize. It's quite a sensation having all your perceptions amplified tenfold. An extraordinary experience, wouldn't you agree?" the mystery woman remarks plainly, her eyes light with emphasis at the word 'amplified'.
I look at her cautiously. What a weird thing to say, though she isn't exactly wrong. It wasn't just her brilliant dress she mended or her captivating features that stood out. The room, it should have been ordinary, dingy and dim seeing how none of the lights were on but it was rather rich with alien hues and textures.
I was under such a strange influence I could even smell things that shouldn't have smells; the old wood from the room, the dew that clung to the glass on the outside pane, the aged, warm fabrics of the vintage gown. Even the young woman had a fragrance that could only be described as sweet like cherry blossoms but cool and striking like mint.
And the sounds, it made this inanimate room seem alive, almost speaking with groans and creaks. I could hear beyond the walls, wind blowing across grass, small animals and insects crawling across the wilderness floor. There was no way I was in my right mind.
"Did you... drug me?" I ask stupidly, not able to think of a single drug that could possibly make me feel this way.
Maybe some kind of acid trip? Though, I'm too aware to be hallucinating, hyper aware actually! In fact, my thoughts have never run clearer and my body felt undeniably stronger. Just like she said, everything was amplified tenfold, probably even more than that.
A silvery laugh dances the air. I'm left dumbfounded, I wasn't kidding around when I asked if I was drugged, but she seems to take it as a joke.
"No, I did not drug you," She states looking quite amused.
I squint with skepticism, "I don't know if I believe you."
She raises an eyebrow and smirks slightly, "I didn't drug you, but you're not the same person, understand."
I'm getting antsy from all of this cryptic speech, "Well, do you care to explain? Even tell me who you are and how I got here?" I pause to cautiously eye her up and down, "Some context would be nice."
Her slight smile fades being replaced with a prudent expression. She seems to search my soul, her entrancing eyes digging deep into mine then examining my figure.
"To put it simply, you died last night."
I'm speechless, tempted to give her a look like she is nuts but her demeanor was and is unmoved, confident in her statement. Again, I'm openly confounded but she continues to examine me in silence.
"I...um I... don't feel dead?" I challenge, not knowing exactly how to feel. But seriously, dead? Ok, and that makes this woman a ghost or an angel, right? Ridiculous, she was just creating more questions rather than answering any.
"Ok, so did I go to Heaven or is this supposed to be Hell?.... Limbo?" It probably came out pretty rude but she has to be messing with me and I've never been good at hiding my feelings.
"No, you're still here, with the living. You may have died but you are alive in a new sense," she tilts her head engrossed in my behavior, "You're in the same woods, just in my cabin. I carried you here. Do you have any memory of dying or anything at all?" she spoke delicately and her eyes bore into me expectantly.
I glance around the cabin in confusion and frustration, thinking about where to start with my myriad of questions, hoping to phrase them in a way that she'll give me sensible answers in return, "You still haven't told me your name."
"I am known by most as Juniper," she states with frankness, "And yourself?"
'What an unusual name' I thought, hesitant to give her my own, but end up doing so anyway, "I'm Ashlen."
Her eyes brighten, "It's a pleasure and you remember your *name*! Won't you humor me, what else do you recall?" she waits intently, curiosity brimming in her eyes through a composed face.
How much did I remember and should I share it with this Juniper? I was feeling somewhat wary, there is something very fearsome about this mysterious lady but I'm also strangely drawn to the idea of trusting her.
There was an unexplained bond I felt, as if she were a long lost relative who had watched out for me in the shadows growing up. A connection you would feel to a sister or a mother, it's all very puzzling.
A small frown tugs at the corners of Juniper's mouth. However, she seems more lost in thought than upset.
My gaze drops as I begin to recollect. From what I can tell looking back, there are no holes. What about the 'memory of dying' as the weird woman, Juniper, put it? As if you're supposed to remember actually dying, that's a question I never thought I'd be asked. There is nothing after you die... Well, I thought it was that way.
Squinting I try to think through the fog. I attempt to backtrack a little to Demon Derek and... and a reaper...
"A *reaper*?" I whisper out loud.
I look up to see Juniper's eyes glitter with untold secrets.
"So you *do* remember in quite detail. How interesting," she murmurs in wonderment.
'The Reaper, that was the most insane part of that eventful night. I'm still not completely sure if it was real, but the way Juniper reacted to me thinking out loud...' As I ponder my eyes catch a glimpse of a familiar dirty cloak hanging behind where Juniper sat. I shift my gaze back to her.
"Are you... Are you the Reaper?"
Juniper simpers staring into space as if reminiscing, "I suppose I have gained a reputation over the past few years."
I froze, feeling unsure once again. 'Is this petite, young woman really the same reaper that tore that man apart? And that whole event involving the reaper actually happened?'
I feel a cold chill rush down my spine. I could have never imagined that kind of brutality, it was downright savage.
I tense feeling adrenaline flood in, maybe this woman really is sick. I start to consider options for escape if the need to slip away arises.
I jump inwardly realizing Juniper is studying me. I try to relax but my poker face is terrible.
"Do I frighten you, Ashlen?" she asks coolly.
There was a pause as I think quickly on how to respond.
"I don't know," I answer fairly honest, pursing my lips in hopes I said the right thing.
"I have no intention of harming you. If I did, it would already be done."
"You said I died, what do you mean?" I try to redirect the subject back to my questions, feeling distracted as I did so. The cocaine-like state drawing me back into the smells and sounds that are all around me.
She lowers her head still looking at me, "Why don't you go find out? The sun has set, venture out into the night and it shall explain more than my words ever could."
'Riddle me this, riddle me that', I thought in annoyance. I turn to look out the large paned window beside me. It's dark and the sky continues darkening further, making me wonder how long I was unconscious, since I'm sure it was night when I was.... killed.
I fix my eyes back on her. She isn't paying attention to me anymore. I swear the gloominess about her is almost palpable as she stares out the same arched window.
Suddenly, I am taken by all the peculiar sensations. I start to feel the sounds and smells more intensely as if they were absolutely tangible.
I lift myself off the table eyeing Juniper as I do so. She's still quiet, looking thoughtfully out the large window.
I walk toward the door, my light steps make music in the wooden room and the door harmonizes as I open it.
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