Blood and Water | Neteyam

The Eyes of Death ∼ 41

Tcelia had never felt as peaceful as she did, which unsettled her quite a bit. Her eyes were heavy, her entire body felt as if she had been swaddled by the warmth of a flickering fire and tugged into the embrace of a loved one. She tried to hate it, she really did. But as soon as the feeling of being unsettled had crossed her mind, it slipped away again, replaced with a tranquil calmness. Even though Tcelia tried to grasp at the uneasy feeling, it was too fleeting, too slippery, like holding water in your hand.

Through her closed eyes, the light from the sun radiated in beautiful orange colors, gently kissing her skin, and caressing her cheek. She found herself unable to move. Or rather, she probably could have moved if she tried to, but she was overcome with a need to stay, to soak up the warmth and comfort for as long as possible. Here, nothing hurt, there was no pain or worry. She could barely remember what had happened before this. The memories seemed to seep away, fading into the background as if they were nothing but bad dreams and that she had finally woken up where she truly belonged.

She knew that she needed to get up, to open her eyes and look around. But maybe she could just lie here for five more minutes? A buzzing in her head that she hadn't noticed before became slightly louder, and it took Tcelia a few seconds before she registered the feeling that came with it. It felt like a reminder. A warning. Because feeling this at peace could only mean one thing. And that was something Tcelia wasn't ready to accept.

With an extreme amount of willpower, she forced her eyes open slowly. Blinking into existence, a small patch of blue sky peeking through the towering canopy of leaves appeared before her blurry vision. The leaves formed a natural canopy, filtering the sunlight and casting a dappled pattern of light and shadow on the forest floor, illuminating her face in a soft light.

Where before she had felt as if she could have been floating in midair, unable to feel anything steady beneath her, she suddenly felt the texture of the forest floor under her - the softness of fallen leaves, slightly damp, smooth grass. The smells of the forest filled her - the sweet scent of wildflowers, the damp earthiness of the soil, and the faint aroma of the trees and their leaves.

It was home.

Something was definitely very wrong.

Sitting up ever so slowly, she inhaled deeply, the fresh air expanding her chest and clearing her passive-enveloped mind. She could hear the sound of running water as a nearby stream flowed through the forest, and as her vision cleared, she realized she had been there before. She knew this place well.

Using her hand to steady herself, she got to her feet on unsure legs, feeling the earth beneath her feet and the cool breeze brushing against her skin. She half expected her legs to give out from under her as she took a trying step forwards but nothing seemed wrong. She didn't even really know why she expected them to give out, why she automatically assumed that there should be something wrong. Her brows furrowed as she racked her brain for what had happened before waking up here – before this strange land of contentment, that seemed so close to home yet so off at the same time.

Her mind flashed with a faint image of red liquid coating her palms, and her gaze shot down to her hands, only to see that they had returned to their normal light blue color. Touching her chest hesitantly, she could feel her heart beating steadily beneath her hand in a calming and strong rhythm.

Snatching her hand away from her chest with a gasp for air, pictures of memories bubbled to the surface of her mind: Being tied to a pipe, biting down on her lip to stop herself from emitting a yelp of pain as she crawled upside down, running through a dark hallway as it flooded with water, a sense of immense relief as yellow fish glittered in the darkness, reuniting with her friends, a mind fracturing pain as she had stepped forwards, and then finally, heart-shatteringly worried eyes looking down at her as she faded into darkness.