Chapter 5
My head perks up at the sound of the 3 little knocks. Thoughts of whom, or what, it could be flow through my mind. My eyes roll to the back of my head as my world falls into blackness. I float through the void, allowing myself to be submerged into the total darkness. All my pain slowly disperses, and I am left numb to the terrible world that surrounds me. Every nerve tingles slightly, the feeling of small sparks of electricity trickling through my veins like a shot of strong bourbon.
My memories fade together, projecting every decision and experience of my life. A numbness settles within my veins as the tingling subsides. The cold seeps into my bones, sinking me further into the abyss. As I sink, my thoughts jumble together, causing me to panic. The fear splits through the noise, rapidly spurring on my already deafening conscious. Some memories are blackened, replaced by others from later in my life. I fight the cold blackness, the steady thumping speeds up as my anxiety heightens. I claw to the surface, ripping the chill from my bones. I'm immediately overwhelmed with blistering heat throughout my body as I force my hand to the surface. I feel the pad of my thumb brush against something; I feel it and take in a sharp intake of breath. My head is plunged below the surface again, and I'm pulled back down into the darkness. I attempt to resist the weight, straining at the unwanted, biting, cold.
I feel the life begin to drain from my fingertips, years of hardship slipping through my calloused hands like water. I grip to it; willing it to not leave me, yet it is the thing that weighs me down. My thoughts buzz, the possibility of letting go growing in my mind. My heart beats louder, rattling my rib cage. The thumping vibrates through my ears like drums. My breathing quickens but gets shallower, my lungs burn. My mind screams at me, screeching to make it stop. Please make it stop; make the pain stop.
I awake to the sight of the ceiling, bright orange flickering against the beige. The soft smell of smoke and ash drifted through the small room. My hand is wrapped around somwthing soft and warm, I run my finger over the small hand, savoring the supple and tender comfort.
I jump, whipping my arm away. I grasp my stomach, tracing the yellowing edges of the bandages. Air gets caught in my throat as familiar, burning pain spreads through my torso like a wildfire. I groan quietly from the pain and look down. A dark red shadow bleeds through the bandage, outlining the gash in my abdomen. The blood is dried. I look to the sleeping figure on the floor; it shifts slightly. I back away slowly, knocking into the table behind me. I turn swiftly to see my notebook resting peacefully on the table; it sat in the same position that I left it. I grab my journal and flip through the pages, freezing in shock.
Colorful drawings of flowers and fairies litter the border of a few pages. My eyes widen in shock, I looked closer. Messier handwriting was written next to mine, commenting on my theories, fixing inconsistencies and filling in unexplained facts. I slam the book down and spin to face the small, sleeping form. As I do, the door opens, revealing a figure shrouded in darkness. They stop in the doorway, watching me intently.
"Nice to see you're finally up." They speak in a soft voice. "I know that this is a bit disconcerning, but, we helped you." They pointed to my dirty bandages, taking a few cautious steps towards me. I step away, frantically searching my home for my backpack. My eyes land on the shoulders of the stranger. They step in fully and close the door behind them, dropping the worn backpack from their shoulders. I grit my teeth, a low growl sounding from my throat. They run a hand over their head, pushing off the hood. The hood reveals a head full of dirty blonde curls, and brown eyes. The teenage boy looked at me as he set the bag on the ground, crouching down to unzip it.
"I honestly don't care if you growl at me like a rabid dog, but, can you not do it to my sister?" I looked to the small sleeping figure on the floor, the small hand I held left alone on the hardwood. "I don't understand why you are doing that in the first place though, you seem very intelligent from your writings in the journal. My name is Abram and my little sister's name is Eden." He pulled out a few cans of food, the ripped wrapping made my mouth water. He took out the knife from the bag and stabbed it at the rim of the can, he groaned in frustration as it only made a small dent. He pulled back the knife and stabbed into the can harder, his hand slipped and it slid against the metal with a horrible squeal. We both cringe at the loud and obnoxious noise.
The girl sits up from her position on the floor, her light brown pigtails snarled in all directions. She stands up, holding a worn out and disgusting stuffed rabbit. I watch her from the corner of my eye as I grab the can from the boy. He is startled by my sudden movements and jumps back. I grab the dull knife as well and jab it into the dented metal, it goes through. I push the knife along the circumference of the can, opening it partially, before pulling the rest of the lid off. I stare into the sad can of old peaches, my stomach disagreeing with the sight in front of me. I look between the two siblings and set the can down on the table. I turn, knife in hand, to reach for another can. I struggle across the floor, painfully shuffling to the cabinet. I open it to reveal my untouched stache of food and pull a can of potatoes from the pile.
"That's where you keep your food? I looked everywhere, that would have been so useful to know earlier!" I grunt at his comment and stab into this can. The teenager watches me closely, studying my technique as I rip the lid off of it. I wipe the knife against my pants and set it down, I close the cabinet and walk back over to the boy. I slide my fingers in and fish out a slab of potato before handing the can over to him.
"Feed my sister first, please." He pleaded, and I spun slowly to the girl to hand her the food. I froze as I stared into those familiar eyes.
"Thank you, sir."