Chapter 3

I plunged into the memory like flopping into the deep end of a the ocean, an invisible hand dragged me down deeper and deeper until I was settled, at first everything was blurry and too bright, I had to center myself  before I could open my eyes again.

It was bright, I sat on a gravel ground, stones drilling into the skin of my buttocks the pain bordering on discomfort, my knees were drawn into my body, making my already small body smaller.

Or wait this wasn’t my body was it, no this was a memory.

“Alex” a voice said, I raised my head to look at the owner of the voice, it was a girl not older than 12, Liora, a voice whispered in my head in relief.

“What are you doing here?”

Hiding the voice whispered but the mouth did not move.

The girl sighed, “You can’t hide forever you know” she answered as if she could read minds, as if she always knew what I always left unsaid, the warmth in my chest grew.

“Come on let’s go and play I’ll make sure no one picks on you again ok?”

I shook my head No don’t want to

The sharp feeling of fear coursed through my veins, making my heart jump and my throat tighten.

Liora stared me down head tilted in confusion

“Did the Director punish you again?”

I shrank even more than I possibly could.

Liora sighe and sat down next to me throwing her hands over my shoulder.

I shuffled in discomfort before settling down leaning on her as well, she was warm, like the sun on a cold afternoon, being with her filled me with peace, that vacant hole that was constanly there filled by her warmth, her stories and her smile.

She wasn’t like anyone in the orphanage, not even Joshua who I had befriended recently.

She felt like family, like the big sister I was never able to get but found in her.

“do you want to hear a story?” came her peppy voice,

Yes I nodded

She beamed moving around to stretch her legs and settled his head on her lap.

From where his head rested he could look up to her as she settled her hands on his brown locks running her hand through his scalp.

He finally felt at peace, this peace was temporary, it could be blown away by the slightest breeze like a dandelion, but it was the brightest moments of  my life, I could feel the stress and worries of the day washing away with every stroke of her fingers.

“ok let me see which story do you want to hear? The one about the amusement park or a new one?”

I nodded Amusement park

She nodded again as if telepathically getting the answer and started on about the story of the amusement park she went to when her parents were alive, when that was done she told me stories of her other adventures of the outside world that had never failed to elicit awe in my tiny brain.

Some of them were exaggerated, I had seen what an actual statue looks like and the biggest one was not anywhere around here, but I chose to believe in all her stories.

She told me her dreams, of his she wanted to be a writer, and I nodded in all seriousness that she will be the best writer there was .

It was a nice feeling, to be treated as a human being, no one else treated him as one, only her, his only family

I just stayed there listening, her gentle caress lulling me to sleep.

I will protect you

Was his last thought before he closed his eyes.

I closed mine as well soaking in the warm feelings of the memory.

CRASH

I was thrown out of the memory, a disorienting feeling, the world around me darkened it felt like I was dragged on a ground of spikes, my body was on fire, I felt it through his body, I was not sure what was up or down, I blinked forcefully to centre myself and remove the blur in front of my eyes.

That’s when I realized that this wasn’t blur, it was tears, tears of an 8 years old child in terrible pain, the hollowness in his chest had widened, what filled it was the ever choking feeling of pain.

When the tears passed and my eyes finally focused, the air in my lungs were taken from me like a punch to my gut, I stood over Liora, she was bruised, she was bloody, and her favourite off-white sundress was stained, with blood.

I pool of blood formed under her and only grew larger.

A whimper escaped my throat , “No” the voice was small, hadn't even started cracking from puberty, and it was unused,

I took a step towards the body falling to my feet before the open red eyes of my only family, my sister.

My eyes stung again tears threatening to fall.

Words I had said before taunting me, stabbing me like a knife.

I promise to protect you

I promised to protect you

I promise to protect you

I promised to protect you

I promise to protect you

I promised to protect you

I promise to protect you

I promised to protect you

I failed?

A sudden realization that I had never failed in anything I have been made to do settled on me like a heavy and wet.

Not once. Not in anything I had been trained, shaped, and forced to do. Every mission, every task, success was the only option. Failure wasn’t allowed.

But the first promise I made, whispered between a warm day between me and the air, not even heard by the person the promise was made for…and I failed, and there she was. Broken. Bleeding.

Gone.

The world around me vibrated, but when I looked around everything was still, nothing was knocked over, only me.

It felt like something was trying to make its way out, like I was about to tear at the seams and burst out with something red and hot, maybe I was finally breaking, something whispered.

A heavy hand landed on my shoulder with a sharp tap, “Be still”

The voice was smooth, commanding, and cold enough to freeze the air.

The vibrations stopped immediately. My body obeyed even while my mind spiraled. My breath slowed. The pain stayed sharp and hollow but the shaking ceased.

Director, the voices whispered agitated

My back was pointed towards him my head down, never leaving the angry accusing eyes of Liora “Clean up this mess and return to you room “

That was the last thing I heard before I was ejected again.

This floating feeling was not new to me, I drifted in the sea, I drifted in my memories, in the memories of others, and as I relived the memories of others.But this…this was different.

Reliving someone’s past was an out-of-body experience inside someone else's skin. Sometimes, I became tangled in the memory, my mind blending with theirs until I almost forgot myself. A distant part of me would whisper that I was only a visitor, that this wasn’t my pain, my suffering. But this time… it felt too real.

The warmth of Liora’s hands in my hair, the scrape of my knee, the feeling of fear, the pain of seeing her body.

It was a fusion. A full, unbearable fusion. I wasn’t just watching, I was living it, breathing it. Feeling it.

I tore myself away, gasping as if I had just surfaced from the depths of the ocean. My surroundings returned in a rush….the cave,the weight of my bride’s fevered body against my arms.

I swallowed, watching the rise and fall of his chest, too shallow, too forced. I reached out, fingertips brushing his cheek, only to jerk my hand back.

Burning. He was burning up.

Panic swelled in my chest. Fever. That wasn’t good. That was very, very not good.

I scrambled for the medicine I had gathered earlier. My hands trembled as I smashed the bark, breaking it down with more force than necessary.

 I mixed it with water and, as carefully as I could, pressed it against his lips, coaxing him to drink.

His throat moved. He swallowed. Relief loosened my chest, but only slightly.

i placed my forehead on his and just breathed him in, his temperature was still hot but his ragged breath had steadied.

“You better fish for me…” I muttered, my voice barely above a whisper. “I finally meet you face to face and you’ve almost died three times already.”

I moved to his side using my arms as a pillow listening to the rhythmic sound of his breath, when I was sure it had flattened completely I finally felt my nerves loosen.

I let out a shaky breath, exhaustion weighing me down.

Sigh

I closed my eyes, I need to sleep.Just for a little while.

The fever came as fast as it went, rising and falling like the tide, striking every few hours.

I had not left the cave for a week, I fed only on fish foolish enough to swim too close to the waterfall.

That was not enough, I realized that I was spoiled, I hadn't hunted in a while and I had a voracious appetite.

Would my bride hate me for being a glutton?

I barely slept. I barely moved from his side.

Its not like I  was going to get fed again the one courting me was fighting for his life.

At some point, I had moved him deeper into the cave, farther from the cold air. I had built a fire, something I usually found unnecessary because it dried my scales, but warmth was his anchor. It kept him here, and reduced the possibility of another fever.

I watched him every minute of every waking day, every twitch of his finger, every shiver, every hitch of his breath.

Sometimes his eyes would flutter, and my chest would beat quickly thinking he would wake up.

But it was met with silence.

I let out a huge sigh deciding to rest for the day.

I laid in my usual position facing him and using my arm as a makeshift pillow, I shuffled closer breathing in his magnificent scent, even now with all the sweat and grime, he scent was still the best thing I had ever smelt, the smell of wild and his unique scent.

 I closed my eyes, willing sleep to take me.

He would wake up. He had to.

And when he does I would make sure he never left my side again.