Through the Dark (Sequel to Taking Chances)

Chapter Twenty-One: "Restricted"

Brielle
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Frozen birds above the trees, tweeting to the sky, to others in communication, but they weren't moving at all. Nothing was. The leaves were still, the sky was a bright white, the grass entirely frozen like the birds. I heard the sounds, listened to the world continue with life, yet I saw nothing move with those noises.

"Hello?" I called to the stillness. "Hey! What's going on?"

It echoed into space, like there was a gigantic vault I'd been shoved into. I felt almost claustrophobic, yet there was plenty of space to roam. Maybe the stillness didn't bother me as much as not knowing where I was.

Nothing made sense.

I'd been in here since the crash. I heard everything people were saying, only I couldn't wake up or move or speak. I could just listen.

Claire cried for hours. I didn't understand how one girl could cry so much and still have the energy to keep going. But it was Claire, who surprised me more than life itself; I made an exception.

And then there was Harry, all crumbled and tired and concerned. He did nothing but sit in silence, breathing heavily. I wondered what he was thinking, or if he was even awake half the time.

And Niall... I hadn't heard him, but I'd heard enough from others in the hospital that he was in a hospital bed, too. He must've been in rough shape, because from what I knew I'd been like this for almost two weeks now and not once has he been to see me. I missed his voice...

It didn't matter. Nothing mattered, it seemed. They were all suffering, all because I couldn't pull my head out of my ass and wake up. It would've been nice to see the sun by now, simply for the reason that this weird prison place had no sun - just a white sky that I could've used as a poor excuse for the day.

Everything was the same each time I came back to the place - nothing moved, everything was still, but I could hear the movement like I was staring straight at it.

Two weeks... I'd been out two weeks. And I couldn't get anything to move?

I felt restricted from the outside world. Like God had looked down on me and said, "You don't need to see people for awhile. Lay down and don't wake up until I say so."

Well damn, man. Wake me up already!

But I was getting angry with myself. What had happened that I wasn't waking up? What happened that I couldn't speak to people? Or respond? Claire kept mentioning the possibility that I was in a coma, but I refuse to believe that's how this ends.

Damn it, I've survived the death of Mom and Dad, of the baby, of my supportive family. I've survived Judie and her abuse, the torture of knowing Liam was out there. I've survived the nineteenth, the day Niall was shot and I was supposed to die, again. I'd survived all this, so there was no way in Hell that I was going to go down from a car accident.

I wouldn't allow it.

I was going to fight, whether or not someone didn't like it.

I was interrupted in my thoughts by footsteps. It was distinct, the pattern of left, right, left, right, left, right. And then it was clear there was another set of footsteps. I frowned, my eyebrows pulled together in confusion as I glanced around. For the most part, I saw nothing but more stillness, although it was then that I saw-

Oh my God.

I felt my heart lurch up my throat, making me ridiculously speechless. I felt tears prick my eyes, and then my knees went weak.

"Mom? Dad?"

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What? What kind of crazy is Brielle stuck in? Whaaaaat?

So Brielle will be going through tiny snip-it's of these. They'll serve their purpose, trust me.

Did you like it? Think it was weird?

Yeah... anyways... yeah.