Dark Reflections - A Shaman's Story

A figure in the dark

As Amelia made her way to the surgery room, her mind was racing with questions. The wounds on the man's chest were unlike anything she had ever seen before. The claw marks were deep enough to touch the bone, but the lack of blood and body fluids was perplexing. The incident report claimed that it was a bear attack, but Amelia couldn't wrap her head around it. There were no bears in the Netherlands except from the ones in the zoo, and the possibility of an animal inflicting that much damage with only one person witnessing it in a highway full of vehicles, seemed rather unlikely.

Doctor Jansen interrupted her thoughts, handing her a fresh pair of gloves and surgical forceps. Amelia put on her glasses and began to examine the wound closely. The man was stable for now, but they needed to act fast.

"Have you ever seen anything like this before?" Jansen asked, his face etched with concern.

Amelia shook her head, her mind racing with possible explanations for the strange wound.

As she continued to examine the patient, Amelia suddenly felt dizzy. Her head began to spin, and a feeling of disorientation overtook her. She stumbled, barely managing to stay on her feet. The nurse rushed over to help her, but it was too late. Amelia's head was throbbing with pain, and she could barely focus on her own thoughts. After a few missed steps, she collapsed on the cold floor.

As Amelia was lost in her thoughts, comparing her mind to pureed potatoes, an unexpected change occurred in the room. The lights started buzzing and flickering, at first slowly and then in a more dramatic manner until a couple of the lamps burst from the overload. One by one, the rest of the lights went out until the surgery room was plunged into total darkness. The silence that followed was deafening, broken only by the sound of Rob, the anesthesiologist, using his phone's flashlight to navigate his way towards the door.

It quickly became apparent that the entire building was experiencing a power outage. As Rob made his way towards the info-desk, he could hear Noah cursing and pacing around in a state of anxiety. A few of the patients were murmuring amongst themselves, but one woman in particular was becoming increasingly agitated.

"What is going on here? Can someone tell me? Is there a manager around?" she demanded.

Zoe quickly stepped in to reassure her that this was just a temporary issue and that everything would soon be back to normal. Meanwhile, Jansen was helping Amelia back to her feet, and the rest of the team was scrambling to find a solution.

"I don't think we can restore the power from here. This seems like a central issue, especially since the generators have not kicked in" Rob reported upon returning to the surgery room.

Jansen, never one to miss an opportunity for sarcasm, quipped, "Did you become an expert now, Rob?"

"Call someone, please! We don't have all night," Jansen added more seriously.

Rob gave Jansen a rude hand gesture, but in the pitch black, Jansen was blissfully unaware. Meanwhile, Amelia struggled to stand, feeling as though her head was going to explode at any moment. The situation was quickly spiraling out of control, and they needed a solution before it was too late.

As Amelia clutched her head in agony, she heard a strange sound deep within her brain. It was a constant, rhythmic tapping that seemed to be getting louder with each passing second. The pain was becoming unbearable, and tears streamed down her face as the others looked on helplessly. What good was being in a hospital surrounded by doctors if they couldn't even help her?

Just as Amelia thought she couldn't take it any longer, the backup generators kicked in, casting an eerie crimson glow over the room. While the emergency power provided some light, it also served as a reminder that the hospital was in crisis mode. The staff was working frantically to keep patients alive, but without the full power restored, their efforts were severely limited.

Looking over at the patient, Amelia felt a knot form in her stomach. He was still asleep, stable for the time being, but with each passing moment, the situation became more dire. If the power wasn't fully restored soon, they would have to transport all critically injured patients, including him, to another facility. It was a terrifying thought, knowing that a life could be lost if the lights didn't come back on in time.

Amelia's head lifted slightly as she looked straight ahead, but her eyes quickly widened in horror and she instinctively took a step back. Have you ever been in shock? It's a state of mind that can leave even the strongest of individuals in a state of disarray. One of the most common effects of shock is tunnel vision, where time slows down and all you can focus on is the one thing that caused the shock in the first place.

Amelia was no stranger to stress, but what she saw in that moment left her in a state of terror. Despite her training to snap out of tunnel vision, nothing could have prepared her for the nightmare that lay before her. The figure in the corner resembled a man, but it was taller and more muscular than any human she had ever seen. Its arms were long and ended in two sets of razor-sharp claws, and its head was bald with narrow eyes and no discernible nose. Instead, a set of jagged teeth that looked as though they had been carved into its face took up the majority of its visage. Its body was covered in black scales, and it had a long, slimy tail that slithered under the operating table.

The creature, a serpent-like being, locked eyes with Amelia and flashed a wicked grin, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth that seemed to glow in the crimson light. Its tail moved with lightning-fast speed, impaling the patient's body and lifting it into the air along with the table before hurling it across the room. Amelia saw the young man's face contort in agony as he tried to speak, only for his body to be slammed against the wall, leaving behind a trail of blood and destruction.

Amelia's scream echoed throughout the room, her voice breaking as she realized that what she had just witnessed was no mere nightmare, but a gruesome reality.