2 Chapter 1 - A Director's Intuition
*BEEP*
*Beep*
*Beep*
That was what Lancey heard when her consciousness came back.
She tried to open up her eyes but failed for she felt like her eyelids are glued to each other. The feeling is somewhat familiar. Then she realized that it's the same experience when she got sour eyes when she was young.
An unusual dryness can be felt in her mouth.
Being conscious of such a thing, Lancey gulp and found out that her throat is dry, along with her lips.
What's happening? She asked to particularly no one as panic started to form on her chest.
But it was when after trying to open her eyes and failing for the second try, the panic she was suppressing escalated towards her limits.
She can feel her heartbeat beating faster and louder. The beeping that resonates the surrounding is the proof of that as the said sound started to increase its pace. Her breathing becamed ragged.
Where is she? Why can't she open her eyes? Why does her mouth felt like she just travelled in a desert without consuming a single drop of water?
Alongst the lot of questions encircling her mind, someone's footstep can be heard from the corner, approaching the place where she laid.
Who is it? She thought.
"Oh my God, Lancey." Said a woman's voice. "Doc! Nurse! Anyone!" The said woman called with voiced laced in desperation before enveloping into a fit of sniffing.
"It's okay, everythings going to be okay." continued the woman.
The voice sound so sweet consoling her. She can still remember the first time hearing that same voice. It's her bestfriend Cristine.
Her thoughts suddenly came into a halt.
Cristine.
Yes. Cristine called her.
Their house.
Fire.
Her family!
She tried to talk but failed. She wanted to scream or pull her hair out of their roots in frustration.
That was when a doctor along with some nurses burst into the room in a hurry.
"Calm down Ms. Arceo, take a deep breath and exhale." said a baritone voice.
It must be the doctor, she thought. With this thought she decided to try calming herself down. She inhaled slowly and felt the air filled her lungs before exhaling. Her breathing started to stable as well as the the thumping of her heart.
"Good. Now, slowly open your eyes."
And she did. But to no avail, she still failed. Fortunately, before she started panicking again, the doctor spoke.
"Just relax and try again. You can do it."
And so she tried again and this time she succedded.
Blured.
That's what she saw at first but her sight gradually clears as time pass by. She exhaled a sigh of relief as her vision started to come back.
The first face she saw was the doctor in front of her, she moved her eyes at the side where a shadow of a woman she knows so well is standing.
The said woman is holding her hands and is looking at her with a worried face.
"How are you feeling?" Lancey didn't bother looking to the person who spoke as if she didn't hear a thing. The only thing on her mind right now is her family.
She stared at her friend before opening her mouth.
"W-where...Mom...dad..?" her rasped voice echoed inside the dead silent room. The only thing she could hear is the ringing on her ears that is starting to give her a massive headache. She knitted her brows.
No one is answering her. Not the doctor, the nurses or her bestfriend. They only looked at her as if trying to find something...any words/excuses to say.
Why?
Dread slowly filled her hollow chest.
She knew those look. She knew it too well. But she don't want to acknowledge it.
No.
NO.
"NO! WHERE--" she started to shout but was cut short as a series of cough escaped her trembling lips. Her throat is burning so painfully that tears started to swell up on her eyes.
"Lancey!" Cristine said in a panic while the doctor poured a glass of water before helping her gulp it down.
A salty taste invaded her mouth as she continue to drink the water mixed with her own tears.
"Don't." she whispered and looked at every person in the room pleadingly. "Please. Don't look at me like that." she continued as her tears steadily falls down her pale face.
She then shifted her gaze and stared intently at the door. "Dad, I know you love to joke around but this is no fun." she started as if someone was behind it. She gulped down the lump in her throat before continuing "Mom.." she let out a small laugh "How can you let dad to this? Stop it already..."
"Leanne, are you there too? You shouldn't be there, you should be at school right now. Come here, I won't scold you as long as you come out. I promise...so please, I'm begging you...please."
"I'm sorry..." she heard as she felt someone hugging her tightly. "I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry."
She stared at her friend's tear streaken face "Why are you apologizing? What are you sorry for? There's nothing..."
"I'm sorry." Cristine continued
"There nothing to be sorry about.."
"I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry."
Lancey started to feel annoyed.
"No!" she tried to push Cristine away but failed. "No! NO!" she pushed her with all her might without caring of the pain she's feeling where the needle connecting the dextrose is.
Cristine noticed the blood on her friends arm and abruply freed Lancey.
Lancey quickly grabbed the blanket covering her and throw it away as she tried to stand but was stopped by what she saw.
Her lips trembled as she confusedly stared at an empty space where her right foot should've been. "What..."
What happened? She wanted to ask.
"Lancey..."
She breathe deeply and continued to stare at the same place.
Her emotions are all mixed up. She don't know what to feel anymore. She don't want to feel anything.
The light on her eyes faded. She felt like there is a hole in her chest. Like something that should've been there is missing.
"Nevermind." she uttered and step her left foot out. She felt the coldness of the tiled floor as she fell unto it.
The people inside all went to help her up.
She saw their faces with the same expression she always made her actors portray in the movies she directed.
She closed her eyes.
She doesn't want to see those faces.
Darkness met her.
She is scared of the dark.
But ironically, she felt at peace with it right now.
She wished to stay in here.
To never wake up again.
She wished to be with her family.
She wished for death.
