Swan Song || The Lost Boys - & The One Who Found Them...

Chapter XVI ~ ᛊ (Sōwilō) Part II - Of Frailty... & Those Who Seek To Abuse It

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" Never feed the fire that threatens to burn you."
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{I think she's coming back! Her eyelids are all twitchy!}

{Like that means something. She could just be havin' a nightmare!}

{She doesn't. If she had a bad dream we'd know it...}

Three distant & more than familiar voices snuck their way into my subconscious, drawing closer with each word as I wandered aimlessly through the dark. With my mind finally drifting back into a certain state of awareness that allowed me to perceive what was going on around me I took a long & deep breath, granting the freshly drawn air with new oxygen some time to circulate through my respiratory system before exhaling, all the while paying close attention to my body. Every breath that followed assisted me in becoming more aware of the here & now, despite my still rather clouded mind & numbed senses. The voices became much clearer, the fog in my head lifted gradually.

{Told ya, blockhead! She's coming back!}
That was without a doubt Paul speaking.

{I never said you were wrong, now did I?}
Was that... Marko? It had to be. This was clearly his soft, juvenile voice I heard close to my ear.

So he was finally awake...

{Both of you shut up! You are as insufferable as a married couple ~}
... & that was David, in his voice a peculiar undertone that rang so crystal-clear, it made the hair in the back of my neck stand upright.

With the voice came the memories, with the memories came the pictures, assembling before my inner eye like a mental slideshow & pulling me back into the arms of reality much faster than expected.

Too fast for my body's liking...

{She's waking up!}

A violently throbbing pain in the back of my skull shook me awake at last, causing my ears to ring & sending so many shock waves through my system that my mouth flung open, unleashing a short but quite distressing cry filled with agony.
The pain resulted into a sudden adrenaline rush, one that forced my body to snap out of its paralysis & myself to rocket upwards into a sitting position, hands reaching up to hold my rapidly spinning head.

I felt so sick that I wanted to vomit, but the pain in my skull was so distracting that I literally couldn't.

" ... oh my God... D-dammit..! "

" Easy, little flower, easy! "
A gentle palm cupped my back, drawing circles in an attempt to comfort me. From the corner of my blurred eyes I recognized Paul inching in on me, lowering his own head to get a better look at my face.
" No sudden moves, okay? You're safe, we're here. Big ol' Paul is here ~ "

I felt his fingers on my forehead, carefully pushing aside a few strands of wet hair to tuck them behind my ears. His skin radiated so much warmth that mine seemed oddly cold in comparison.

" Paul..."
My voice cracked halfway.
" What... what happened..? "

" Let's just say 'a lot', little flower... But what's far more important: how are you feelin'?? "

Slowly but surely I lifted my gaze to find myself nose to nose with Paul since he was sitting so close to me, his eyebrows hanging low in genuine concern.
I blinked a few times to erase the blur caused by my headache.

" I can't really tell... But my head hurts so bad.. "
My hand went up to reach for the back of my skull, the tips barely grazing something that felt like a thick band-aid when Paul suddenly snatched me by my wrist.