Haunted

Fourteen

Darkness is terrifying when you think it will never end. Maybe I'd feel better about it if I knew why I'm here. But I don't. I can't remember anything.

Except fear.

That much I can recall.

I wait here in the darkness, hoping that something will happen.

Time passes. I'm not sure how much.

I just wait.

At one point, I think I hear a voice.

Bria.

Why do I recognize that name?

Bria, it repeats.

The voice sounds so broken.

I want to comfort it, but all I see is darkness.

Bria.

There it is again.

The more it speaks, the more I become aware that I've heard this voice before.

But then it fades into silence, and I'm left alone in the dark.

Just me and the absence of light.

I roam, searching for something. Anything. But everything is black.

Endless, endless black.

Bria.

I startle when the voice returns, but I chase after it.

To my relief, a tiny light appears within the darkness. It floats there, looking harmless and intimidating all at once.

I run to it, and as I do, the world steadily returns.

Muffled sounds come first.

"When do you think she'll wake up?" I hear a girl ask.

Why does she sound familiar? Then it hits me.

The voice.

It was her.

"When she is ready," is a boy's reply. He sounds familiar too.

But why are they familiar?

I notice sensations next.

A soft fabric is draped across my body, up to my chest. Something cold is poking into the inner elbow of my right arm. My other arm aches and feels stiff, almost like there's something wrapped around it.

Someone jostles whatever I'm lying on.

"Careful," the girl scolds.

"I was trying to avoid the IV," the boy explains.

Awareness fights to return now that sounds and sensations have arrived.

Where am I?

This doesn't feel right. Nothing feels right.

What is going on?

I try to think back on what happened. On who I am.

At first, I'm left with nothing.

But then, all at once, my memories decide to return.

Sam.

Myka.

Caleb.

They all rush through my head at the speed of light, and my eyes open wide as I sit up with a gasp.

Everything is so bright.

I hear a surprised inhale and see Caleb as he jolts backwards on my right, while Myka reaches over from my left and lays a comforting hand on my thigh.