The Last Winter

Epilogue

Nelia
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I wake with a start, bolting upright in bed. The last thing I can remember is the severe pain in the side of my neck as my own sister turned on me, sinking her disturbing sharp teeth into my skin.

I gently touch my neck, half-expecting to feel fresh hot blood on my fingers, but I feel nothing--not a bandage, not a tender spot, stitches, scab, or bruise. There's nothing there, no indication that anything happened.

Except I'm in a cold hospital room. Get Well Soon balloons, cards, and a colorful bouquet of flowers in a vase litter my bedside table. A white curtain separates me from someone else on the other side of the room. I'm hooked up to a few wires, and a machine by my bed beeps to the rhythm of my heart beat.

All of a sudden, the events on that godforsaken mountain seem to be very distant now. Even Ronnie's cruel ugly face seems to fade in my memory.

What happened? Something had to have happened after Oriana attacked me.

I search deep in my memory for something--anything--a smell, a feeling, a sound.

Nothing.

I don't remember anything. It all seems like a horrible dream.

I shake my head. No, it all happened. It had to have happened. It was all so vivid--the pain, the heart break, the horror. It definitely happened.

There's a whisper of an oxygen mask being used on the other side of the room, drawing my attention to the curtain.

I take a deep breath and manage to slip out of my bed. I grab hold of the IV stand to steady myself, realizing my knees are weak.

Holding my breath, I reach out to touch the white curtain. The rings scrape against the hanging rod like nails on a chalk board, and once I see who is lying in the neighboring bed, I stop pulling.

It's Della.

Her cold, lifeless face flashes in my memories, and I look away to try and clear my mind.

She's dead. I saw her outside the chapel with the others--Ralph, Vena, Eddie--

She was dead!

But here, clear as day, she rests her head against a pillow as her chest rises and falls gently with each breath. Color flushes her cheeks, and I can hear her heart beat reflecting on the machine next to her bed.

A long scratch had been etched into her forehead, but it's been scabbed over for a while. It's almost healed completely.

I grab her right hand, which is reassuringly warm.

She's alive. Della is alive!

"Oh, Della," I murmur quietly, wondering if she can hear me. My heart feels like it's being squeezed painfully. "What happened?" I whisper, glancing around the hospital room.

My eyes find a calendar hanging on the wall on Della's side of the curtain. There are no marks to indicate which day it is, but the pages have been flipped to October.

My gut clenches tight. I think I forgot to breathe.

October 2015.

That can't be right. 2015?

Suddenly the events over winter break seem very far away. Other memories resurface--fresher memories, memories of boiling hot heat and dry leaves crunching underfoot in the woods.

"You...cannot...leave," I hear Della whisper, her voice hoarse. She had removed her oxygen mask, and she's now fixing me with her piercing eyes.

"W-What?" I stammer, leaning forward. "Della, what happened? I thought you were dead and--"

She grabs my left wrist in a surprisingly strong grip. When I look back at her face, her eyes seem dark and strangely sunken. I'm not so sure I'm looking at Della anymore. When she speaks again, her voice is unrecognizable.

"You cannot leave!"

...............................................

Special thanks to the "Until Dawn" game, of which I obviously drew heavy inspiration from. If you haven't played it yet, I highly recommend it!

Thanks for reading~!