\[Elise’s POV\]
I’m in darkness. It is a suffocating darkness—a painful darkness that consumes me and surrounds me. It’s like being trapped in thorny vines that rip at my body again and again, slowly shredding my skin while it heals over and over.
There is a voice in this darkness, my only companion as I move about trying to find something or someone who can help relieve me from this pain and free me from the darkness that has become my entire world.
The voice is deep, one that belongs to a man, and when it speaks, everything in me screams to go along with it, but I don’t. I’m not sure why, but I know that I can’t go to that person because if I do then everything will be over. I don’t know why I feel this way, but I do, so instead of obeying it, I continue to move.
How long have I been traveling? How many days? How many nights? I don’t know because they all blur together. I only stop long enough to eat and sleep, then I’m up and moving once more toward... I don’t know what. I only know that I will understand what it is that I’m searching for once I find it, but the voice that is constantly beckoning me sweetly clearly doesn’t want that to happen.
Return to me.
Come to my side.
You belong to me.
His words are always with me, repeating themselves in my mind again and again, trying to seduce me with their siren call, and a few times already I’ve found myself turning around to listen to them, but before I can reach them, I snap out of it and continue on my journey.
I’m certain that I’ve traveled many miles and covered a lot of ground, and at times I’m not certain I will find what it is I need, but then I feel something warm and comforting. I’m certain that warmth and comfort are what I want, and because it always draws ever closer, I continue moving until finally I see it—a beautiful light that shines even brighter than the sun and it is in this instant that I know what I must do.
Letting out a howl, I rush toward it, but feel myself stopped by what almost feels like an invisible wall. It infuriates me and riles me up as it tries to stop me from getting to the thing I’ve searched so hard for, but I won’t let it win. I can’t let it win; otherwise, I will forever be tortured.
Release me! I hiss inwardly, fighting as I keep my gaze fixed on the light ahead. It’s mine! It belongs to me! I want it!
I continue to fight against the barrier, and when it finally disappears, I’m moving, my steps growing faster, my urgency growing so much that it drives me mad, and when I finally reach what it is that I’m after, I bite into it and let the warm, sweet liquid inside of it drip into my mouth.
Groaning in pleasure, I close my eyes, letting the relief that I feel wash over me until I begin to drift off to sleep.
For the first time since being thrown into the agonizing darkness, I don’t dream. I’m free from the phantoms and pain that haunt me while I try to regain my energy, and I’m certain this is a sign that the life I was living is finally over and I can finally relax.
At least, that is how I feel until my eyes open and I find many people standing over me with mixed emotions on their faces. There is one man in particular who stares at me as if he can’t quite believe I’m there, and for some reason the way his gaze tenderly takes me in makes my stomach churn and my heart flutter.
“Aunt Elise.” A beautiful young woman with dark hair and blue eyes whispers, drawing my gaze to her, and when our eyes lock, I feel that familiar warmth that drew me to her.
“Who are you?” I whisper, taking in her face that seems both familiar and foreign. “Where is this?”
As I speak, I look around, taking in the area and people around me.
“Why am I here?”
Immediately, panic begins to flow through me, spurring me into motion as I sit up and attempt to escape, only to be stopped by the man who was watching me with those odd emotions.
Gasping, I immediately go on guard, fear beginning to race through me as the man tries to hold me still and calm me at the same time.
“It’s okay,” he whispers, his voice gentle. “Everything is okay.”
Was it though? How could things be okay when I didn’t know where I was, who I was, or where I came from? Everything was confusing, and I couldn’t quite calm all the emotions that were rushing through me.
“Let go.” I hiss, trying to break free. “Let me go!”
“Aunt Elise,” my light whispers, drawing my gaze to her. “It’s going to be okay.”
I don’t know why, but I can’t help but believe the words that are coming out of her mouth. Was it because she was my savior, or was there some other connection between us?
“We aren’t going to hurt you.” She continues. “Everyone here is your friend, not your enemy.”
Not my enemy... As much as I wanted to believe that I just couldn’t stop the fear I was feeling, but if my relaxing would get me some answers and hopefully lead me to freedom, my only choice was to go along with things for the time being.
“Okay,” I whisper, feeling the man’s hold on me beginning to relax. “I’ll calm down, so could you...”
I don’t finish my words as I give his arms a pointed look, and when he releases, I begin to relax a bit.
“Sorry,” he mutters, the tip of his ears turning a bright pink. “I shouldn’t have.”
Nodding, I slowly look around, taking everyone in, and once I’ve managed to calm enough, I turn my gaze to my light once more.
“Okay,” I say slowly. “Can you tell me what exactly is going on here?”
“I can,” she responds with a smile. “But before that, can you tell me what you remember?”
What I remembered?
Frowning, I try to think about the time before the darkness, but all I’m met with is more darkness.
“Nothing,” I mutter. “I don’t remember anything."
As the words leave my lips a horrifying grinning face appears causing my heart to race a chill to rush down my spine and before I can stop it I'm spiraling into a time where that face haunts me.