A Paradox Reality

Chapter 3: Pain Like Never Before

Thank you GreekMth for the awesome comment/idea for how they will meet... Maybe it's going to happen in this part? Not to spoil anything... ;)
-Twinys

Previously with Edmund:

After a while, Edmund got tired of his small room. He knew his door was unlocked, there was no locks in the house, but he didn't dare step a foot outside the door, just incase his father was watching. He should've. He should've taken a good, long look at his father, no matter how angry he would be. It would be a LONG time until he would be able to see his father again, that is, if he didn't fail the obstacles to come.
***

HE WAS BEGINNING TO GET DROWSY.  Edmund's eyes drooped, and his head fell.  He was falling asleep.

As most people know from experience, it is very easy for things to get out of hand. Terribly easy.  With one simple mistake, people can ruin days, careers, and sometimes even lives. 

Perhaps his small misplace of hand wasn't a bad thing.  Maybe the following events would have happened anyway. Nevertheless, his mistake cost him AT LEAST a peaceful sleep, and at most... A peaceful life.

He slept, per usual, on his hard mattress.  Stretching out on his bed, he unconsciously reached his hands outwards. Edmund stretched his fingertips outwards to where a glass vase sat on his dresser, which happened to be right next to his bed.  With the seemingly small misplace of hand, he knocked the fragile vase over.

On any normal day, this wouldn't have done anything except anger his father even more. But for Edmund, it wasn't a normal day.  He currently happened to have the worst of luck, he had just been blessed, and it was his birthday. No, for Edmund, it was definitely NOT a normal day.

In the quick flick of a wrist, the vase flew sideways.  It tumbled, it rolled, it hit the hard wood, and it shattered. The glass shards flew through the air, destroying the soft skin that his arm had just been supplying.  His face was cut, his arms were cut, his torso was cut, and at this point, he was DEFINITELY awake.

He howled in pain.  The glass had ripped at his skin, revealing blood everywhere.  And to add to that, he could feel his energy slowly subsiding and dissipating.  A migraine was ripping his skull open, too.  It was pain like he hadn't ever felt before.

Strangely enough, as his energy decreased, his pain also dissolved.  In minutes he was left with no pain at all, with a major headache, and out of breath and sweating.

Looking down, he examined his body.  Not even a scratch was visible, and all that was left of his terrible experience was the blood on his sheets, the dried blood that was caked on his chest, and the shards of glass on his floor. Edmund, who was scared of only being an alien from Joy, was afraid. Why was this happening? It was inhuman to heal this fast.  It was inhuman to heal like this at all.

Although he now had healed skin and organs, he could not move.  His breathing had grown shallow, and his heart was sputtering at the end of his usually healthy pump. His brain felt like it had a knife thrust inside it, and it was wrenching from side to side. Not only was he feeling weak and disoriented, he was feeling confused and terrorized.

Taking a deep breath, he slowly, inch by inch, curled his body into a ball.  Edmund cradled his head gently, as if it could take away the pain. He lay like this for a while. A long while. In fact, when he finally had the strength to unwrap his small cocoon, his father had already left the house to go to a casino with his friends.

Edmund had no wounds on his body, but he was still so utterly exhausted from his dispersed energy that he shook with every breath. Did his body take THIS much energy when he usually healed, he didn't know. But then again, never had he healed so quickly.

With a firm mindset, Edmund pushed himself to an upright position with his weak and trembling arms. Before he thought better of it, he placed one foot in front of the other, and as quickly as he could (which was not very fast), he scampered to the bedroom door.  He turned the unlocked doorknob, and made his way down the stairs in a zombie-like fashion. He thought that perhaps he could walk his major discomfort off.

He started off onto a long, winding dirt trail, which also happened to lead to his favorite "thinking spot." The trek unfavored his terrible stamina, but his perseverance payed off when he made it to the small wooden bench that overlooked the city; his "thinking spot."

His "thinking spot" was perched on a cliff side, overlooking the red sunrise and the pink sunsets. A wooden bench was secure in the side of the mountain, where the cold, fresh, and clean air possibly made him think better.  Hence the name, "thinking spot."

Since he was a little boy, he sat up there when he was feeling the most alone, confused, or glum. He often used to think about his mother, and why he never met her.  Did she dislike him? Did she divorce his father? Did she find a better place than the house he called home?

His father never told him anything about her. He never told him what she looked like, how they met, how old she was; never spilled an ounce of information.  He was just that way. The only thing his father would give Edmund was a look of longing; he must have loved her very much.

Today, though, Edmund's problems were much different... And possibly more complex. How'd he heal himself so quickly from the vase's wounds? Who WAS that girl; the "voice?" Why was he in so much pain? Why was he experiencing this all on one day, and why on his BIRTHDAY of all days?

He was feeling so overwhelmed; so terrified. It took all his might not to crash down on the ground and start to weep. Instead, he asked one simple question, as if it would be answered honestly.

"WHY?" he wailed. "WHY ME?"

Silence. The whole forest stayed extremely quiet, not a single bird's call braking it.

Instead, a voice did.

"Because," it sympathized. "Edmund, dear," the voice paused. "Haven't you ever heard that life is never fair?"

In a swirl of green, brown, and gray, Edmund sunk into the Earth.  All he could see were murky swirls of color, smell was dirt, feel was wet earth, and he could even faintly taste the damp surroundings.

If all this didn't scare him, what he heard did.

A chorus of voices whispered, "Life is never fair... Life is never fair... Life is never fair..."

And then, one voice, very different and possibly more rebellious than the rest started rapidly, "And neither is Mother Earth."

***

Fancy seeing you here this Sunday (or whatever day you might be reading this on)!!

Here's our questions:

Maybe it's obvious who the "voice" is (the one who said, "Haven't you heard that life is never fair?" It's NOT Elyssa), but what do you think the "voice" is going to do to him? Do you know what his ability is yet?

Tell us: do you have any predictions for the book, or anything you want to happen?

Please comment, and don't forget to vote if you liked the chapter!

'Till next Sunday!

-Twinys