Purgatory

Chapter 17

Whispers pierced through the darkness in a soft reminder that I was still alive.  I had an overwhelming sense of not being alone, and my eyes shot open.  For a fraction of a second a figure loomed over me as it whispered, its blackened eyes a stark contrast against its pale face as it whispered to me.

“May you find peace through your pain,” it whispered, “and may Death carry you to a better place.”  I panicked and tried to move, but my body screamed in agony as I fought against the binds that held me on my back.  I had never felt a more intense pain throughout my entire being, and I closed my eyes to fight against it.

“Go away!” I yelled to the figure, and the whispers ceased.  I opened my eyes again to be met with the white walls of the barren room I was being held in.  There was no sign of another presence, but I still felt my anxiety rise.  I began to call for help in hopes to be saved from my current predicament.  Every breath I took was labored against the sting I felt in my chest.  I wanted to look down and assess my wounds, but even my head was tied down.

The white walls carried the typical plastic sheen of Purgatory that constantly seemed to have a glow to it.  I tried to give a command prompt to the system, but the voice never replied.  I didn’t want to be alone, or even be in the same room as that figure.  The walls around me seemed to shudder and tremble as a dark haze began to sift through the seams of the doorway.  The haze looked like slithering shadows that flickered like fire as it moved through the open spaces of the room, and despair took me.

The door hissed open, and a tall figure rushed through the seeping darkness.  His movements dispersed the shadows and whisked them to nothing as he neared me, and I quickly closed my eyes to prepare myself for whatever may come.  If this was Death, I did not want to look at him as he took my soul.  But I remained alive, and only felt the restraints around me loosen.

“Helena?” a familiar voice called to me, and my eyes shot open.  Cole hovered over me in deep concentration as he unclasped each tether until I was completely free.  He scooped me up in his arms and began to carry me out of the room, his brow furrowed with possible anger.  We were in the medical ward, but in a section I’d never been to.  The place seemed to snake like a labyrinth, and I was thankful Cole knew where he was going.

My body felt so weak and I hated it.  I was a pathetic mess all because of that fall.  That fall that hurt Juels.  She was coming to get me because I had gotten distracted.  I killed Juels, and the guilt overwhelmed me.

“Cole,” I said softly.

“What is it?” he asked as we neared a more familiar corridor.

“Put me down,” I requested, but Cole continued to walk briskly down the hallway towards the exit.

“I’ll put you down when we get out of here,” he stated.

“We’re leaving Purgatory?” I asked in hope.  I wanted away from this terrible place.  If I had never come to Purgatory, Juels would have never died.

“No, just the medical ward,” he replied and dashed my optimism.

“Let me walk, then,” I said, but he would not stop until the doors to the medical ward closed behind us.

“Do you think you can walk?” he asked me skeptically, his eyes searching mine in a thought.

“Put me down and we’ll see,” I said curtly.  “I don’t want people seeing you carry me like some broken toy.”

He reluctantly lowered me down to the floor, allowing my bare feet to hit the cool surface first.  My legs shook beneath my weight, and a sharp pain shot up my left leg that caused me to collapse.  Cole caught me, and I held back my anger at the situation.  He remained silent as I righted myself again and fought against the pain, and I was thankful he did not try to convince me to stop.  But I knew I would not be able to walk very far without help, and I took in a deep breath.  I never liked asking for assistance.