Being Anna Marie

Being Anna Marie part 16

The water’s arctic contact instantly numbed my chilled skin, making the impulse to gasp almost instinctive and yet the burning I felt inside as air was denied to my flaming lungs told me to ignore such innate thinking. My darker self stirred from within like an encaged incensed beast and yet she held back as if finally we had reached some sense of harmony among us, as if at last she realized that I was the one who truly belonged in control, and yet here I was silently begging for her unspoken guidance. 

“Anna, you have to start relying on the gifts given to you. You already know what to do,” I barely heard her whisper as thoughts that once was clear began to become hazy and the knowledge of limited time began to dawn on me. 

Withdrawing further within myself I tried to ignore that relentless burning that had seized my chest while still allowing my body to thrash violently against my restraints knowing that if I became too docile my demented captors would instantly be alerted to my inner tactics. 

“Think light and dark, Anna. They are both a part of you,” she whispered, her voice soft as my body grew weaker.

Focusing on the strength inside me both light and dark I allowed the coldness to disperse from my form, my body temperature rising swiftly. As wickedness and righteousness collided and what would have turned my skin into a warm touch distorted into an incineration as if unseen fiery flickers lied beneath a tanned surface, a brush of my fingertips would have scalded the surface of skin beyond what a mere burn could ever do. I felt scarlet slice into the rim of my hazel irises’ but this time it did not attempt to surpass, but to conjoin as if a piece of the puzzle that embodied me had finally found its rightful place.

What was once frozen liquid altered into a tepid warmth caressing my body while still choking the life from its form until the blistering essence of my skin turned its temperature sweltering, a humid mist coming off its surface as the binding that once held my hands melted finally granting my freedom just as the demon at last thought it best to allow me oxygen.

I could feel the steel underneath my skin weaken under my blistering touch, the sound of my body rising bounded off the walls as if my weight was too much to be held, and instead of shivering as I once would have as the coldness of air hit my now smoldering skin it no longer fazed me as I allowed oxygen to enter my lungs quickly while silently preparing myself. My eyes took in the nonchalant stance of my demonic subjugator seeing his superiority to my advantage and it was only as he smirked towards Maria that I let my grip on the edge of the metal slab release, finger indentations still welded into its surface. With that arrogance still fresh in my mind I aimed to wipe it from his face, and just as the table stood erect I allowed my feet to slip to the ground already running for the door. 

Sprinting across what felt like acres of tile I relied on surprise as my ally in my aid to escape this room as I raised a hand already aching in its need to suppress the white light within my skin as it ripped at muscle and fused into blood before bounding from my palm in the direction of the demon’s head. Doctor Foster and Maria ducked my wrath as I hoped they would crashing to the ground as surgical tables behind them received it full blast. Beneath such force they vaulted from the ground crashing into the other side of the room while allowing me time to direct that same power towards the door, watching as its metal surface crumpled until it fell before me. My feet barely felt the coldness of the crunched metal beneath them as I dashed over its surface, water dripping from every crevice I possessed, my heart hammering in my chest as I ran through the now open exit, the sound of claws scratching the flooring in quick pursuit rang out into the background like a soundtrack to a nightmarish movie that now seemed to define my existence. 

The halls remained the same, a bland likeness of white conformity and endless tile, night bounding pass glass windows showcasing my enemy’s natural collaborator as my feet slapping against the slick flooring remained the only sound to spring off the walls in this sparsely lit mausoleum they labeled a hospital. My breath came out in quickened spurts, my eyes wild as I searched for a place of concealment for I could hear the entrance of the demon’s minions, could smell the putrid aroma that wafted from rotted flesh as they hunted my frightened form without mercy, with a blind unsympathetic expedition of obtaining what was commanded. Could hear the destruction of plaster as talons ripped into once pristine halls as rubble lined the floor along with shards of glass only to be further crumpled under the massive weight of so many. I glanced behind me watching as they crashed over debris blood lining the path as glass sunk into skin and yet still they remained unfazed by the pain that mere mortals would have felt, never conceding to their preconceived notions of humanity’s weakness.