Chapter 8: Story Unfolding
I awoke some time later, feeling alive and fresh; the pending death gone forever, I found that the water-source was full of fish, and although I had never much cared for the taste of seafood, I had to eat. And rather having died than tasted sushi, I was able to build a fire outside by using a small piece of glass, the rays of the sun, and a small pile of withered leaves. Though lacking spices, the fish cooked up quite tasty.
The berries which grew upon the bushes inside the cave were dark purple-- and unlike those of D'Nalge were sweet and wonderful. After having my fill of berries and fish, I'd settle down each night and sleep a pleasant sleep, without nightmares, although some of my waking hours were full of agonizing thoughts involving my survivor's guilt.
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Staring out at the desert in front of me, I felt a great emptiness welling up inside of me. Days had passed, and nothing. There had been no visitors, no dreams, and nothing but my loneliness, anger, and resentment to keep me company.
I longed for things to change…
Turning my back on the jade-green moon, and its sisters, I sauntered back into the cave, and lay down beside the stream, or whatever it was. The gentle trickling of water was gentle-- comforting, even. I smiled to myself, and fell asleep.
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She enters the cave as if she owns the place; without warning or explanation. Instantly, I feel my lips contort into a smile, as she does so as well... after all, it has been quite a while since I last saw her; she even smells just like how I remembered. My smile, however, falters, when I realize that she does not appear to be very pleased with me. My stomach knots up.
"Just accept the truth," she whispers; her timid voice showing her true anger.
"I cannot," I whisper, my fear now growing, "Too many have d--"
"It does not matter how many have been slain," she says, her voice becoming louder with each syllable, "Many more are sure to perish if you do not soon realize that you have a huge part to play in all of this."
"But I am barely an adult," I continue to insist, as her gray eyes focus even more intently upon me, "It's only just ended. How can it all be starting again?"
"The prophecy..." she whispers, "The prophecy..."
And then, the woman vanishes, and my sleep once again becomes empty; without troublesome dreams.
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I woke the following morning to find that the cave smelled differently than it had the previous day. A certain something lingered about the place; I could not place the strange fragrance, but I realized that I had had a midnight visitor-- but such a thing was impossible, wasn't it? Anyone surely could have woken me up-- but nonetheless, it smelled of peppermints, expensive perfume, and a hint of mothballs. I breathed it in deeply, and suddenly recognized the odd fragrance, but it couldn't be… could it?
How could my fairy godmother have possibly visited me here?
It was just so strange. How could it be true? None of my other dreams or nightmares had ever been fully true; back in D'Nalge, my stepmother had sent them to me constantly, all the while trying to frighten me-- and more so, the desperate attempt to lure me into the dark woods.
I fell to my knees in front of the small stream of running water, and cupped my hands into it; brought some into my mouth; the cool liquid instantly soothed my cracked throat.
But the smell of my dear dead friend remained in the cave, causing me to wonder if there was the possibility that others would visit me here in my misery-- maybe, maybe not. It all depended on whether or not Elaine's visit had been dream or reality.
I paused in bringing the cleansing water to my face. There was something strange about the water as well-- it didn't taste right anymore; no longer did it taste cool and crisp… it now tasted rather biter and stale, as if it had somehow been tampered with. I felt the sickening flavor of vomit in the back of my throat, inching closer, and with nary a thought, immediately ran out into the desert to be sick.
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I had never been-- and would never be so fucking sick. I had read about such bad cases of food poisoning that the victim would become almost delirious with sickness-- however, I had never believed that something like that could happen to anyone, let alone me.
I was hot too-- burning hot; my forehead felt as if someone was slamming a mallet against it, and I was perspiring like mad. I fell onto my back-- I had thought that I had known pain, but nothing could be worse than this; perishing from starvation and dehydration in the desert would have been a better fate than the one before me. I had believed that I was safe from danger once I'd entered the cave, and it struck me as funny how danger could lurk around every corner; how was I to know what sort of filth and bacteria were awaiting me once I'd tasted the water?
I had never known such pain. My stomach was constantly churning up more and more vomit, and it seemed as if it would never stop. My fever worsened with each passing hour, and I began to endure hallucinations in which faraway figures echoed my name. How could all of this madness have evolved from tainted water…? It was simply mind-boggling to me.
Sleep was a faraway impossibility; the one time I had managed to sleep, I awoke covered in my own vomit-- not a pleasant experience.
It had been about a day and a half since I had had anything to eat or drink, so I was crazy with both thirst and hunger, but I could not drink from the stream again; even if my life depended on it. I simply could not risk becoming any sicker than I already was, after all.
More vomit was coming up again. My throat was burning from the acidity; I did not want to venture going out into the desert again, so without thinking, I swallowed hard, and felt the sickening gunk return to my stomach; I breathed in a deep sigh of relief. I had to be getting a bit better now; I had finally been able to keep it down.
I pressed my hand against the freezing cold surface of the cave wall, and felt my fever instantly begin to lessen. I really was beginning to feel better; I grinned, feebly. Maybe when the next day dawned, I would be able to stomach something to eat; and better yet, after, maybe I could leave the cave for good. As it was a running stream, and I had not seen the other end at the entrance to the cave, it had to lead somewhere. I smiled at the very thought, and was able to sit up again.
I stared long and hard at the gray stone that made up the wall; there was something there. Etched into the ancient stone were strange carvings-- carvings that depicted an era long passed; an ancient civilization. I wondered why I hadn't noticed them before. I pulled my face away to get a better look, That's strange, I thought to myself, as I looked deeply into the carvings… I looked towards the top of the picture, and found words-- a single statement, and although I could no find what it meant, as it was written in some foreign language, as I focused more intently upon it, the words seemed to make more sense, and I found that they read: THE ONE THAT FELL.
The one that fell, I repeated in the back of my mind, Why does it sound so very familiar...?
"The story will teach you," a voice whispered from far above me; I stood up, determined to find who the disembodied voice was-- I could not place the voice. I screamed in annoyance.
"Who's there?" I called out, frightened.
"In time, all will reveal itself," the voice whispered, and suddenly the cave was filled with many panicked screams-- my screams; something was happening-- I was somehow fading away, and then I was suddenly on my way to another world...