Forsaken Chronicles

Chapter 5

Adara dropped wearily into the armchair she'd covered with an old, clean blanket. The ruined springs dug into her backside, but it was still more comfortable than the floor.

What a night. A zombie I may or may not have dreamed. Thugs. And then a giant wolf to my rescue.

Alice and her Wonderland had nothing on Adara's life. All she lacked was an evil villain cackling "Off with her head."

Your life isn't a movie or a story. This was her reality. One that defied explanation.

"Why me?" she whispered. "Why?" Finally alone, her nerves stretched taut, she gave up trying to hold it in and giggled hysterically.

A wolf? Of all the things to imagine, she'd chosen a canine. I don't even like dogs. Her body shuddered with forced mirth until the laughter turned into racking sobs as the shock set in.

I'm so scared. Something she could only admit to herself. She couldn't tell the doctor, he'd lock her away again. She couldn't tell anyone because she was alone.

ForsakenÉ

The safety she'd wallowed in while recovering in the hospital, coupled with an inability to remember, had kept her free of fear. That cocoon disappeared when she found herself dumped from her safe asylum nest and subjected to a splintering mind.

How long before I completely lose it?

Zombies and wolves. Even she knew it was crazy. And it would only get worse. How would she survive? When would the fear and nightmares she lived with each day stop feeling like a heavy stone dragging her down?

There're pills in the bathroom. The ones the doctor gave you to help you sleep. Enough to end it all. Now.

No. I don't want to die. Adara hiccupped and tried to rein in her emotions. She didn't want her insidious thoughts to win. Suicide wasn't the answer. Things would get better. They had to because, seriously, how much worse could it get? She'd already hit rock bottom.

Fearful that she might not control herself by taking just one sleeping pill, she decided to go without. She certainly felt tired enough to sleep for several days.

In the asylum, she'd eagerly waited for the little pill each night. It sent her into blissful oblivion. She liked that dark, quiet place.

But she couldn't keep hiding in it.

SoÉno pill tonight. Just sleep. Adara left her uncomfortable chair to huddle on her mattress, which lay directly on the floor. She cocooned herself in several blankets, trying to stay warm, but still, her teeth chattered. It wasn't the chill of the room but rather the shock.

Why do bad things keep happening to me? I'm not completely stupid. I know something occurred in the store, much as I'd like to pretend it didn't, and as absurd as it seems. However, something saved me from that creature, and then, I was rescued again from those thugs. Why? And the better question, who? Who cared enough to bother?

Did it matter? Despite the danger she'd courted this evening, there was a bright side. At least she'd escaped the hospital. In the end, it wasn't any safer than the real world. Not with the covetous eyes of the new male intern making her cringe every time she turned. All she'd had was fear - her constant companion after everyone else had abandoned her.

Exhaustion overcame Adara, yet her eyes refused to shut. How crazy to fear sleep?

Relax.

She breathed deeply, focusing on one thing, something that made her feel comforted. It used to be a chair. A giant, worn, burgundy seat in the corner of the recreation room at the asylum. It hugged her. Protected her back. She could even tuck her toes under her and keep them from getting nibbled.

Nibbled by what?

She shuttered her mind and tried to imagine that chair, except it turned ebony and hairy. And suddenly had eyes, vivid green ones. The shaggy wolf sat in front of her closed lids, his gaze reassuring.

Sleep. I'll guard you.

For some reason, she trusted him. She let loose her hold on the waking world, slipping into a deep slumber, but not an easy one. Without the drugging effect of the pills, she found herself in that other place - the one she forgot every time she woke. But I know this place.

Knew it with the hazy recollection of dŽjˆ vu, and yet she didn't recall ever actually seeing it. Only in her dreams, and it was always the same. A vast field of swaying grass, the green fronds long, some of them gone to seed, the smell of it fragrant. Interspersed among the vibrant green were flowers, the blooms much like poppies but of every imaginable color. In her dream, she sometimes plucked them and inhaled their vibrant scent.

Thinking of it had her reaching for a bloom. She snapped it from its stem and held it up. Stared. The hand holding the flower didn't appear like her hand. It was stronger. Callused. Capable of doing things.

Nothing about Adara's dream-self resembled her. In this imaginary world, she was tall with waist-length platinum tresses. Her body toned rather than emaciated.

She always found herself dressed in white from head to toe - white leggings that hugged her skin, the material soft and stretchy. Her feet clad in boots made of a supple leather so malleable she would have said synthetic except that sounded wrong. She wore a slim-fitting silky tunic, buttons marching up the center. Almost like a uniform.

There was no mirror in this place, so she never saw the face. Would it even be her face? Nothing else resembled her.

Not even the attitude.

This brighter version of herself had something Adara had yet to find - courage. When dreaming as her alter ego, Adara felt as if she could take on the world. She always enjoyed this part of the dream, even knowing what was to come. The ugliness that left her shaking and weeping when she woke in bed.

As with every other time she dreamed, she walked across the field of green grass - on my way to seeÉ

Who? She could never quite see a face.

The verdant ocean of color and life brought her great joy - but not as much happiness asÉ

A blank spot. Something missing.

Forget.

She found herself at the edge of a huge forest. It loomed over her, ancient and mighty, a veritable wall of gnarly giants whose spreading branches blocked the bright sunlight that streamed from an unseen sun. Shadows hid under those boughs.

Secrets, too.

Adara screamed at her dream-self to turn away, to not enter the woods, but her brave projection never seemed to hear. Would this shining version stop if she knew what was to come?

Probably not, because in the moment before I enter, I am happy. The last time I recall ever being such.

I step into the forest and, immediately, the warmth of the sun ceases bathing my skin. Cool air, a light breeze hinting at the darkness of the woods, kisses my flesh.

But I don't shiver. I've nothing to fear.

I move deeper into the forest. I've been here many times before. Too many to count.

The bright light fades the deeper I go whilst the pockets of darkness spread.

The forest is old, and I can almost hear its slumbering snore. Perhaps that is why they've warned people not to come here.

I am not afraid.

A mournful wail emerges from the gloom ahead of me. A pathetic sound that stabs me. With no fear and good intentions, I head toward the heart of the forest. Here, there is no daylight. Nothing to warm the earth and grow a seed. Brown leaves and twigs crackle underfoot. Dead brambles and thickets snag at my clothing and hair. Minor distractions. I brush them off and push on, the heartbreaking cries putting haste to my step.

Ahead, I can see a huddled figure, a tiny, fragile thing, her knees drawn up so that frail arms might hug them. Hair as dark as the coal burned to stave off the cold covers her features.

A part of me wants to stop now and turn. Run from what comes next.

Running is for cowards. That girl needs my help.

I head toward her, only to halt as a sound draws my attention. I whirl, and my smile starts out as one of welcome but quickly fades.

Out of the shadows steps a demon, a nightmarish creature with leathery gray skin, burning eyes, and a hulking body.

I do not even feel a quiver. I fear no evil. I am the light against it. "Step aside, foul creature from Hell," I order.

The squat and ugly demon laughs instead. "If it isn't the favored one. We've been waiting for you."

How did they know I'd be here? Had I been betrayed?

Surely notÉ

The first hint of fear almost makes me shiver.

But I will not show it.

My sense of bravery means I won't back down even as I am screaming inside to run away. I never run from the danger. And thus, the reason for what happens to me next. "You are no match for me, demon."

But her dream persona was wrong. And that demon wasn't alone.

Adara - all sides of her - screamed even as her body slept, the sound so high-pitched, so haunting in its misery, it sliced through the night and the minds of those able to hear.

It rolled out in an incoherent call, one full of misery, a request that begged.

Help me.