You flash like a setting sun,
You come around, I come undone,
Can't find the sound under my tongue,
When I look at you..
I lose my voice when I look at you,
Can't make a noise though I'm trying to,
Tell you all the right words,
Waiting on the right words..
- The Maine
***
Liam's POV
I wake up lying flat on my back.
The sun shines directly overhead, making it difficult to see anything but bright, white light. As my eyes adjust, all I can see is tall grass, the only sound a gentle breeze blowing through it.
I turn my head from side to side, looking around and trying to remember where I am. All those flashes, all the lives I just lived, they run through my mind on an endless loop like scenes from a movie, except everything about them is so much more vivid.
I can still smell it, feel it, taste it.
It clouds my senses, and I have trouble remembering what's real.
I try to sit up, but a sickening ache in my stomach stops me. It feels like the wind's been knocked out of me.
Hesitantly, I lift my shirt. There's a nasty red splotch on the skin there, and I just know it's from when those goons punched me in the stomach.
Bastards.
I breathe through the pain and wait on it to subside.
From my position on my back, I can see Adira out of the corner of my eye, lying opposite to me.
"Ira," I call out. I can see her shoes, her legs. If I really strain, I can just barely see her arm, but her face is hidden from me.
"Ira," I say again, and again, I'm met with silence.
"Adira!" I shout, but still, there's no response.
Panic seizes me as I realize that she isn't moving.
No.
Fear clouds my senses, and I'm not sure if it's some remaining emotion from the dreams, a sense of guilt from the fact that this was my idea, my own selfish desire not to be alone in this, or something else entirely.
All I know is that I've never been more afraid to lose someone in my life.
Through gritted teeth, I force myself to sit up.
Once I do, the world around me seems to come back into focus, and I see that the grass immediately around us is flattened, bowed outward in a circle. Like whatever we did created enough of a shock wave that it pushed out like a ripple effect.
The pain in my stomach starts to subside and is replaced with a warm sensation. I lift my shirt again to see that the red marks on my abdomen have started to fade. In a few moments, it's like they were never there at all, like they were never real to begin with - like I imagined them.
Great, like I needed anymore evidence that I'm going crazy.
With the pain gone, I take the opportunity to make my way towards her, first slowly, then all at once as I'm finally able to get to my feet.
"Ira, wake up," I say, kneeling down by her head. The first thing I do is check her wrist for the break I witnessed in the dream. At first, it's red and swollen, and then, just like my stomach, I can feel a warmth under my hand, and I know it's starting to heal. Without thinking, I take my hand and brush the hair back from her forehead.
JE LEEST
Help Me Close My Eyes
Fantasy"Have you ever felt yourself slowly becoming attached to something that wasn't real? An idea, or a place, or maybe even the fictional character in that book you just read or that show you just watched. Perhaps even a person in your dreams? It happen...
