Chapter 2: Nature's Wind
"What do you mean he's crying?" He walks into the room. "Oh, Lady! There's blood coming out of his eyes!" Surprised he is at the sight.
"What should we do? I was calling you, but you never got here!" she yells with nervousness. The dark-bronze skinned woman sits besides the bed.
"I was talking to one of the guys-- Manes was supposed to be handling this, but he's here crying out blood!"
"Yeah, well, do something!" she yells harder.
"Where's Callas?"
"I don't know, wasn't she with the group?"
"I don't know, she never says anything. If she is, then I hope she helps that person I was talking to."
"Whom were you talking to?" she asks in haste.
"I don't know, the new guy. What's his name?" He tries hard to remember.
"Oh, him. I forgot, but I know he's very focused and stealthy."
"Then let's hope he escapes before they grow suspicious of him. The stone broke, I couldn't reach him anymore," he sighs and then, "look-- he stopped crying! And-- what? Why doesn't he have a shirt?"
"He's sweating like hell, that's why!"
"But you'll kill him! It's so cold down here!" he continues yelling. "Cover him!" He gets a chair immediately and sits besides the bed. He examines his eyes. The woman fetches a thick coat and covers Manes who is still unconscious.
"Manes, can you hear me?" she asks the unconscious man. "Should I slap him?" She turns and whispers to the other man.
"No!" he yells in whisper. They stare at him for a moment. It seems sound and movement left existence. Surprisingly, Mane's skin, which often appears to be pale or slightly blushed, begins to tone. "Is he recovering?" They stare at him still. Manes opens his eyes. The man and the woman stand up in terror. They gasp and stand besides each other-- almost embracing. Manes begins to yell insanely in some sort of language. The man and the woman widen their eyes. He stops. Reprise of silence. Manes falls back unconscious once more. The man and the woman stand still with their widened eyes, looking at Manes who completely lost paleness. He opens his gray eyes once more and rises with a confused expression in his face.
"… What are you… doing in my place?" He asks half awake and later gaining full consciousness. He widens his eyes and puts his hand in his mouth. He stands immediately and runs to the bathroom. Sounds of hard coughing emanate. The man and the woman, still standing with widened eyes, realized they've been embraced with each other. They abandon shock and detach with slight shame from the realization.
--.--.--.--
"Avon? You cannot fall into this state in this sacred place. Not like this. You'll be marked as a heretic!" exclaims the prioress, trying to wake Avon up somehow. Tears of blood descend from the closed eyes of Avon. The prioress gasps in terror, concealing her mouth tightly with her two hands. The bleeding stops soon after. "This must be the cause of foul actions. With this, I forgive you." She kneels to Avon and raises her hand to slap her face. She is stopped immediately and then comes a complete pause of movement. Avon's hand remains holding the prioress's process of forgiveness tightly—her eyes closed still. The prioress widens her eyes just as Avon seems to awake. The prioress jumps aside, more terrified than ever.
"Nemul xallaf! NEMUL XALLAF!" Avon screams and rises with intense anger. She stops and drops to the floor once again. Her body shakes violently. The fine trench coat runs through the floor's dust and her straight hair sweeps the floor with eyes shut and mouth open begging for air. She then awakens making an intense gasp, feeding her body with air. "What has…" she continues panting, "has… happened?" Avon begins to cry. Faint footsteps are heard in the distance.
"Please! Be silent," whispers the prioress with a worried expression. She embraces with Avon who still weeps. "Now, now. Do you want them to see you? Like this? I am protecting you from their sight. They watch all about. They hear everything. Do you want to be seen and heard like this?" The prioress rests Avon's head in her chest. "They'll know, Avon. And they will show no mercy. Not in this time. Please!" She removes the stains from Avon's face and neck and stretches her skin gently to avoid her having a suspicious complexion.
"Who?" Avon questions, relieving from pain and confusion. She sighs taking that last breath to fulfill her air level.
"Not to worry. That's why I am here. You have been forgiven. I believe you are being awaited outside. Come, your task here has finished." She pads Avon's facial skin gently to give it color, adjusts her hair, and removes the dust off from the trench coat. They walk back to the crimson doors with the torch at hand. "Wait here," she whispers. Avon nods as the prioress extinguishes the torch in a nearby deep bowl of water. She opens the door slowly, peeking through the open space. No one appears to be on sight. "Proceed quickly." They exit the chamber and walk a small distance further in the hall. "My feet stop here, Avon. You have been forgiven, and your life goes refreshed. You can always count on me, for I love you deeply," the prioress says-- her serious face expression has not changed a bit. She grabs Avon's hands tightly and bows.
"Thank you. Whatever happened, I will carry on." Avon makes a slight smile. There is a moment of silence after her words.
"The sun has risen, and your face seems rather unusual," she says after a moment and then opens the double doors to the library, letting in plenty of light to the hall. "Please do wear eye covering to make yourself comfortable. I hope you to be safe on your way back. And do not forget, Avon, to pray to Them one hundred times, for They shall speak to Her and enhance your forgiveness, and for you have a mere voice to Her." She enters the library. "Away," she requests and closes the doors.
Avon
descends to the first level and walks towards the exit. The sound of
the echo of her footsteps stops, as she looks for her sunglasses in
her small handbag. She senses someone nearby and uppers her view to
the distance of the temple. A figure shrouded by darkness walks in a
perfectly straight path-- it seems to be a nun floating rather than
walking. The person dissolves in the distant darkness. Avon locates
the eyewear.
She opens the massive door and is overwhelmed by the
rays of sunlight. The door closes by itself behind her. She dons the
sunglasses and walks towards the black vehicle. Bernard is seen
sitting on top of the vehicle and spots Avon walking towards him. He
stands on the ground immediately.
"I'm finally back. Sorry for keeping you waiting." She arrives.
"Not a problem." He smiles and opens the door for her. "How was your visit, miss?"
"Ugh, it's going to take forever to get home," she comments, not responding to Bernard.
They head off back to the path they came from. It takes approximately two hours and a half to reach the city's outskirts and some time longer to reach Hazel Scholar where Avon currently studies. Half an hour passes as Bernard reaches Death's Path, a road that awfully lacks infrastructure and possesses the finest of narrowness. Though dangerous, accidents and deaths are ironically rare perhaps due to the extreme low level of traffic. The sun is begins to be seized by dark clouds, and it begins to rain.
"Ah, stupid rain. Not to worry, miss, I'll drive slowly and cautiously. We're almost there," assures Bernard.
"Yeah,"
mutters Avon without much attention to his words; rather, Avon is not
paying attention. She views the foggy forest below the hills. She
then looks at the mirror reflecting Bernard, a young fellow perhaps a
year or two older than her with dark hair, tanned-white skin, and a
complexion that doesn't seem to know anger. The indifference of
Avon towards Bernard is more than obvious. She wonders how he ended
up being her chauffer. "What was that?"
An indistinct sound of
perhaps gravel is heard in the upper distance of the mountainous
area.
"I don't know. Should I stop and check?" He slows down and begins to get nervous.
"No, keep going. I doubt it's anything." But she is curious. "I'm just going to take a peek." She opens the window to her right and slightly peeks her view up. Her reflexes return her face and eyes back to the automobile immediately. A small amount of debris begins to fall upon the vehicle. Dust and earth begin to cover the driver's window. "Slow down a bit, Bernard!" It is not sooner that the earth begins to tremble.
"It's alright, Avon. Ah-- Miss Vidiris. I got it under control," he assures nervously. An immense boulder crashes just behind the moving car.
"Bernard! Do something!" she screams. More heavy debris falls from the jagged hills. The ground shakes more and the wind roars furiously. Bernard loses control of the car.
"It's alright, it will stop!" he screams as he sees a shadow growing in size in a very nearby distance. Bernard and Avon scream in terror as he steps on the brakes and slides the car to the side. The boulder hits an inch in front of them, putting the car in complete stop. Not a trace of relief to be felt yet, for the ground is shaking more than ever. Half of the road collapses below to the eternal fog leading to the forest, taking the black vehicle along with it. They remain screaming in terror as they fall. The car stops vertically in the jags of the hill.
"We can make it, Avon!" he pants heavily as he manages to open his door.
"What are you doing?" she screams, running out of breath.
"I'm getting us out of here!" He climbs out of the car and into the loose edges of the remaining hill. "Climb just a bit up, and I'll pull you out!" The wind makes another roar.
"I can't!" She climbs the seat above her as the car slides down further vertically. Avon's heart beats in rapidness. The car slides down further.
"Come on, Avon!" Bernard climbs down further to get reach out for her. She can no longer handle it. Fear has defeated her. Avon faints and drops back to the end of the vehicle. The car falls completely and dissolves into the fog. "Avon!"
...
