Here's chapter 3... so i decided halfway through to change my character's backstory so if you find things confusing let me know so i can fix it!
Laughter filled the room. A fire burned to Riese's far right; she was sitting on a couch surrounded by family. Across from Riese were her mom and dad; to their right was an uncle. Sitting next to Riese was a nephew, grandmother, brother, and sister-in-law. A baby cried and Riese looked down to see her niece in her brother's arms.
Everyone was laughing, and when the noise died down the uncle stood up and proposed a toast. Everyone raised their glasses and smiled listening to the words, but Riese couldn't hear them, in fact all the noise in the room disappeared. She smiled and went along with it but suddenly she had the urge to shout at them to run. As the uncle finished his speech, smoke filled the room.
Suddenly the sound was back, a scream pierced the air. Riese move towards it but the darkness was there. Riese was outside with her nephew, she turned to go back in the house. As the door opened it revealed her uncle. Fog covered her eyes for a second, and when it had cleared all that was left was her nephew's body in a pool of blood.
Riese was running again. A wolf was with her this time, protecting her from the pursuing shadow. Racing into the forest Riese was met by the blackness. It grabbed her and held her close. Riese struggled trying to go back save her family, her nephew. The darkness didn't care and carried Riese away from her past in a wave of blackness. Riese soon tired of struggling and gave in to the darkness.
Tap. Tap! TAP!
Riese groggily sat up and looked around for the source of the tapping. The room was gradually lightening as once again visions of dream played in Riese's head. There was more this time; a laughing family, a fall from a window, a bloody body, a laughing man, a shadow that was a man, a best friend helping her, a mad dash through the woods, and a sense of failure.
Shaking her head, Riese lifted up the covers and swung her legs onto the floor. Learning from the first two times, she slowly put her weight on her legs, unknowingly using a technique she had learned as a child. Once Riese was standing she walked over to the window and looked out at the wakening world.
A sense of Déjàvu washed over Riese as she watched the busy villagers. A flock of birds flew in the light blue sky. A single bird broke away and flew to Riese's window. Riese unlatched the window and pushed it open. The bird examined the young lady and then started to chirp nonstop. A sense of familiarity washed over Riese and she knelt down getting closer to stranger bird that was now dancing up and down and gesturing with its wings.
"Do I know you?" asked Riese.
The bird's eyes widened, and it started to pace and chirped even more fiercely than before. Riese watched in fascination and wondered what kind of bird was this?
A sudden thought popped into Riese's head. She calmed her thoughts and stilled her breathing; concentrating hard Riese listened to the bird's chirps. The voice from last night echoed behind the chirps, but Riese could only make out some of the words.
"Left… weeks… can't… remember… great! …shadow …coming …time …mad …go …understand …" said the bird.
"Not all the way. Just bits and fragments every once in a while… but wait… I can still sort of understand you! … How do I know you?"
"Are you talking to a … bird?" Will wondered aloud.
Riese whipped her head around not realizing that Will had come in. The bird on the windowsill chirped, pecked Riese hard on the hand, and then took flight.
"Ouch!" Riese cried, and watched as the bird flew off.
"Sorry didn't mean to make him peck you." Will said as he walked over. "Did it break the skin?"
"No I'm okay… and of course I wasn't talking to a bird… well at lest not having a conversation with it." Riese lied though she didn't know why. "I was just trying to make sense of my dreams."
"Ah… that makes sense… I guess." Will replied warily. "So do you remember anything?" Will walked back to the doorway and brought something in.
"Yes, fragments that don't make any sense." Riese sighed and watched the bird fly around in the sky. The small bird flew in loops, but on the second loop it wasn't a bird but a dragon. Riese blinked and the dragon was gone replaced once again by the bird. Riese rubbed her eyes and stood up, turning towards the door. A look of bewilderment crossed her face as she stared at what Will had brought in.
"It's a wheel chair." Will said meaning the strange wooden chair with wheels for legs and a pillow for a seat. "I figured since you can't walk for long periods that we would use this to take you around 'til you recover… but you'll have to walk down the stairs.