Death's Exception

Chapter One

My chest rises in a frantic attempt to breathe. Panic is funny in that it always appears when you never want it to. I cannot see, hear, feel, or smell the world that surrounds me. The fact that I cannot sense what is going on around me, probably shouldn't be more terrifying than the fact that I am not breathing, but it is a truth that I cannot deny. My mouth is open in a failing attempt to coax the air in to filling it, but my lungs are cowering in fear at the idea of breathing for another lifetime. You may know what it feels like to be holding your breath while oxygen is being withheld in your lungs, but you will probably never know what it feels like for your lungs to refuse you that luxury. I am trying to breath with no ounce of anything in my lungs. Maybe my lungs are asleep and selfishly want to deny waking up.

Air.

I inhale sharply. Any breath that I get reminds my lungs how wrong they were for rejecting me in the first place. It is a pleasure that I cannot describe to be able to live outside of the captivity of Death. My mouth remains open, and my esophagus wide in fear that my body decides to reject me again. This shell that keeps me alive, and conscious is a nothing. It is a nothing floating in oblivion. I have no idea what goes on around me as I simply bask in the privilege of the breath given.

I feel.

Pain attacks every cell in my body with a poisonous knife. A raging fire fills my bloodstream and runs runs runs through every inch of my body. Suddenly death becomes my long lost friend, and oh how I miss him. I feel my throat grow raw, and though I do not hear myself scream, I know that I am doing so. My head feels as if my brain is going to burst through it. I feel my heart's swift beat as if it is trying to reach the finish line of three marathons wrapped in one with no water. My eyes burn with tears as I weep for my friend death, and the peace that came with him. Everything is so unnatural. I do not belong here.

I hear.

A screech echoes through my ears. I hear the shouting of evil men, and the clanging of menacing instruments, and the screaming from my throat. I hear myself panic and try to talk. Everything is all slurred together into a massive shout that makes my ears ring with pain. I bite my lip until I taste blood. I start to sob, and cry for help, and please send me back I do not want to come back.

Please.

Please.

Please.

"Please calm down, you will be alright." Is the first sentence that makes perfect sense. The first sentence that stays in my mind, that is repeated over and over and over, and the first sentence that applies to me. It makes me relax.

"Sedate her." I do not understand. I do not understand and I am terrified, and I am sobbing again. Something sharp and cold and unwelcome enters my neck.

"You didn't have to do that, she calmed once I-" The sweet sweet voice that I long to hear comfort me again floats away into oblivion. My muscles start to relax, and the liquid that intruded my neck quickly becomes a beautiful intrusion that I welcome. The pain does not subside, but it slows. It takes me longer to realize my pain. My eyelids grow heavy, and I resort to the closest place I can get to death.

I sleep.

~~~

"Don't freak out." I jerk up, but a leather strap holds me down, and slams me back onto a metal table. I open my eyes, and all I see are a blob of colors hover over me. It is so bright I can barely open my eyes. I try to bring my hands to my eyes to block out the bright bright colors. I groan. I still ache.

"Can you not open your eyes?" I open my mouth, and reset my jaw.

"Bright." I mutter. It startles me to speak. I hear a pen scratch against some paper.

"Try opening your eyes, but this time, try to focus on the red triangle above you." I do as she says. At first I do not see a triangle, but I can make out the color red.  So I try to determine the shape of the color. My eyes burn with frustration. I close my eyes, and try again. This time it is easier. I see the shape, but it is still very blurry. I look to my left where the voice had come from, and I see the outline of a woman sitting beside me, staring at a piece of paper.

"Now, Aurora, I have some questions for you." I tense my muscles against the leather straps.

"Rory."

"What?"

"I go by- I go by Rory." She seems surprised by my response. I grit my teeth, trying to ignore how terrified I am to be here.

"Do you know where you have been in the last fifteen years?"  I search my memory, and I find darkness. I do not remember anything. I gasp, and struggle against my restraints. I start to cry.

"Where am I? How can I remember how to talk, and my nickname, if I do not remember who I am and where I am?!" I feel myself melt into unanswered questions. I my whole existence is wrapped around inquisitorial statements that have no reply. Suddenly the pain in my head is so much more real, and I start to become very cold.

"Rory, hold on to what you know. My name is Lilly. You are in a scientific lab in Colorado, USA. You have been dead for the past fifteen years, and you are the first to have been resurrected through cryonics." Dead. I couldn't have been dead. That is impossible. I was just hit really hard on the head, and I cannot remember my LIFE anymore. I force out a cruel laugh.

"There's no way that I was dead." My vision clears a bit, and I see that Lilly almost has a terrified look on her face. Her face is pale, and her eyes wide as she stares at the paper. She did a nice job of hiding her fear through her voice, but I see the raw horror in her eyes.

"You were born in 1998. You died in 2014. It is now the year 2029, you are supposed to be dead." I feel my lungs shrink in my chest, and it is so much harder to breathe. The simple idea of breathing that comes with being a human leaves me. I grit my teeth, and strain against my restraints. Could it be that I could have been dead, and that is why Lilly is so afraid?

"WILL YOU PLEASE GET ME OFF OF THIS TABLE?!" I scream. I am no longer unanswered questions. I am just panic. Lilly stands, and positions herself behind the chair.

"I- I just have to ask you some questions. It will be quick, I promise." I shrink back onto the table, and cry.

"I am so scared." I whimper. I hear Lilly step closer to me with caution. I don't understand why she is so terrified of me. I am normal. I am Rory Destiel. I look over at her, and see her pick up a syringe.

"I am sorry, Honey. I am so so sorry." She eases the needle into my neck. I fall asleep staring at her with large curious eyes. Her fear is what I fear. What am I to cause such terror?

Who is Rory Destiel?