28 An Unexpected Visit

Zara tossed and turned in her bed as her dreams were filled with angels and demons fighting on an unknown plane. She had been in the dream too, trying to make sense of her surroundings. All around her was a pale yellow light, she thought it was the sun, but she couldn't pinpoint the direction of the source of illumination.

She looked out of place in her pajamas as she drifted soundlessly. She glanced down and though she felt solid ground beneath her, there was nothing except clouds. Was she already dead?

She tried to call out in the vast emptiness, "Hello?" but nobody replied. however, she was horrified to not listen to any sound, not even her own voice. She tried speaking and shouting until her throat felt hoarse, but the result was just the same.

Had she gone deaf? Dumb? Both? Do you lose your human senses when you are no longer alive?

She kept walking in the direction of the voices that were growing angrier, the clangs of weapons. The scene changed abruptly and she was now suddenly transported to a different scenery. She felt grass beneath her feet and bent down to place her hand on the ground, it felt solid enough to her. She cried out once more, "Hello?"

Though nobody answered her, at least she heard her own voice. Zara breathed a sigh of relief, at least she hadn't gone deaf and dumb. She saw a building in a distance and began walking towards it.

As the building zoomed out, she put a hand over her eyes to get a good look. She was stunned to see not one but several rooftops in front of her. She was looking at an ancient city, or what was left of it. At the centre of the mass of abandoned and decrepit buildings stood a cathedral with its huge oak doors beckoning her to come inside.

She walked to the doors and looked around, the place looked as if it had been caught in between a great war, with scattered debris of once large manors eating dust.

It took her a while, but she managed to push through the doors as the old wood creaked and swayed. She went inside cautiously and saw a vast dome shaped ceiling that was covered in intricate paintings.

Before her, stood rows and rows of pews that filled up the empty church. She ran a finger through one of the seats but couldn't see a speck of dust. Somebody had been tending to the ruined building. But how? There was no one here.

Zara turned around and thought she should look outside to find anyone, she wanted to know what this place was and how to get out of it. As she placed her hand on the door, meaning to walk out, she heard muffled steps walking inside the sanctum. She quickly hid behind the last row.

She craned her neck to see the visitor. It turned out to be a man, with broad shoulders and simple clothing. He was wearing a simple white shirt with sleeves rolled up to the elbow and black pants.

She couldn't get a look at his face. The man sat down on the first bench facing the statue of Christ. He clasped his hands together and bent his head down. Zara was unsure if she should call him out or not, she felt it rude to interrupt him.

She waited crouching behind the pew for him to finish. She glanced at the direction of the door, a small slit that allowed her to see outside. Maybe, more people would come through the door. After what felt like several minutes, she decided to walk upto the man.

Zara dusted her clothes and combed through her hair with her fingers. Pajamas weren't the clothing required for a church but she had to make do. Slowly, she inched her way towards the man, ensuring that she made no loud noise to startle him.

As she reached the middle rows, she sensed that it had been a boy and not a man, she couldn't spot grey hair in the black cloud of hair that hid his face. The boy appeared to be deep in prayer. Zara cleared her throat and meant to softly talk to him.

The boy murmured, "I am sorry, M."

However, her eyes went wide as saucers when she heard his voice. She stumbled backwards and her foot hit the bottom of the pew. The boy sensed her presence and raised his head to look at her. She had been waiting for what seemed like an eternity to get a look at him, to see him look at her.

Ryan opened his mouth and asked her with a disbelieving look in his eyes, "What are you doing here?"