Soundless Echoes

Silence has a sound.

It can be said to be the phantom sounds we have heard, or we think we have heard in the past for our minds cannot handle silence, so they try to fill it.

If echoes are rippled reflections of the sounds created in the past, what does the echo of silence sound like?

What do the echoes of someone's present and future look like if they cannot hear the sounds of their past if their past is silent?

~~~~~~

The world fades in around me. Darkness makes its home in the corners of my perception in this damp, hard, and cold environment. I try to focus on my surroundings, but the inky obscureness masks them.

Realization dawns upon me that I'm lost.

I try to move around, but I wince from a searing pain in my stomach that makes its way to my back as I attempt to move. In quiet agony, I hiss as the wind caresses my stinging wounds. Looking down on myself, all I can see are bloodied carvings and crimson streams flowing from my body.

My clothes are in tattered shreds that are useless against the cold which seeps into my core, despite the warm sticky blood that made them cling to my body. I try to get up, but my feeble efforts prove difficult. As my only support, I clung to the wet, cold wall.

With an unsteady effort, I finally found myself in a stable position. I go to take a step forward but instantly feel the weight of something dragging painfully from my back.

Turning my head to look, one of my wings is broken and lays on the ground behind me at an unnatural angle, looking like a wet feathery clump, the bone is protruding from various places. Funnily enough, the other one seems completely fine except for the lack of feathers.

Turning back, I clutched my stomach, and try to hold in the blood, the pain, and whatever else that was coming out.

It hurts to move anything and everything, but I know I'm still alive.

For now at least.

I look around and spot a soft yellow light shining down not too far from where I stand. I attempt to reach it, drawn to it by the idea of possible warmth. The cuts and bruises on my figure only make my attempt pitiful as I hobble over to the light source.

I shouldn't have had enough strength to stand up, let alone move.

It's a miracle to even be breathing at this point.

I want to call for help but it feels like there is a phantom hand wrapping around my throat, preventing any semblance of sound from escaping my lips. The pain in my mind and body envelops my senses and slowly blurs my vision.

There is a squelching sound coming from under my feet but I can't tell if it's from whatever I'm stepping in or if it's the crimson liquid squishing out of the injuries in my legs.

The pain in my body only grows exponentially with each step I take.

I just manage to reach the edge of the light before my injuries become too much for me to handle and I collapse onto my hands and knees, coughing up my blood and painting the ground red.

I can see more of that glossy scarlet fluid as it drips, seeping out of my wounds. A puddle quickly forms around me, yet all I can seem to do is stare blankly at the murky image I see on its shiny surface as my strength continues to leave me.

I try to recall anything about why I am in this sorry state, but my mind is blank.

'What happened to me? Where is this place? Why can't I remember anything?'

Whatever feeling there was left in my limbs had now completely trickled out of me and it suddenly felt like I was falling in slow motion.

'Am I going to die? But I don't want to die! It hurts so much. Hmm… it feels a bit warm, maybe I should sleep for a while.'

Just before my head hits the ground, the last thing I hear is the echo of a faint but sweet melodious voice.

~~~

When I start to gain consciousness again, the first thing that registers in my head is the warmth around me. I snuggle deeper into it and sigh. There is a beeping noise coming from my left side, which starts to annoy me.

I want to keep sleeping.

I slowly open my eyes and find myself on a bed, covered in blankets, in a room with strange equipment. It smells like antiseptics, medicine, and blood.

'Blood…' my internal voice whispers softly

Upon identifying the smell of blood, in response, I become alert and rush to sit up to scan my wounds but regret my decision immediately as it arouses a dormant pain centered in my stomach. I curled my arm around my stomach instinctively, as if to protect myself yet surprisingly the sharp sensations don't match my expectations from before.

Looking down, I understood why.

My stomach was covered in a very thick cloth wrap but from my movement, the wound had opened and was now bleeding, and it had started to show through the thick bandages which allowed the stain to get larger.

'What is all this stuff?'

I touch myself in curiosity and continue my observation.

Not just my stomach... almost every part of me was covered in long white cloth bandages that wrapped around the infinite lacerations that marked my body, preventing my blood from leaking out by tightening around them and soaking any little bit of excess that could escape.

My broken wing had rods and cloths enveloping it, holding it straight, but making it impossible for me to move it. In the spots along my arms that weren't covered in bandages, of which there were few, were many pieces of tape securing numerous tubes that had managed to snake themselves underneath my skin.

I didn't know what they were for, but they felt annoying, restricting, and painful. I ripped them off and tried to get off the bed. Yet, as soon as I did, a group of people in the corner of the room started to notice my actions.

As soon as we saw each other, it was like the calm before the storm, and time froze for a moment before the chaos ensued.

"Quick, get the doctor! She's trying to get up!" One of the women frantically cried out

A fair-haired lady in blue scrubs yelled out to someone. Another lady dashed out while the fair lady approached me, followed by a menacing, dark-haired, male figure in green scrubs began to approach as well.

"Try not to move or you'll undo all your stitches and…" The same fair-haired lady said.

The lady spoke softly. Something in her tone made me want to listen to her, but I remained stubborn, the seemingly soothing tone having no effect on my currently frantic mind.

"Who are you!? Where am I!? What happened!? What did you do to me!?"

My body was trembling, its voice sounded hoarse and raspy, and it was difficult to use. It was almost impossible to understand the noise that came out of my mouth.

I was scared, suffocating, feeling like I couldn't breathe. Gasping, trying to take in as much air as possible, but it never felt like it was enough.

Then they started to surround me as if to herd me into the corner of the room.

'They're too close!' I screamed in my head.

I tried to back away from the strangers as they continued their approach but soon there wasn't any more space to escape into.

It was too crowded. I began to feel threatened as they encroached in my space, causing me to growl, snarling at them as I held one arm close to protect my withering wounds while using the other to claw and defend myself when they got too close.

"Please! Try to calm down. We only want to help…" The menacing man said

"Stay back!" I screamed

They didn't listen…

'Why aren't they listening to me!?' I wasn't used to disobedience…

It only served to make me more anxious, and my action became frenzied and wild.

I started to slash more and more frantically at the spaces in front and around me with my hand. The blood began to seep out of my wounds ever more rapidly.

The man in green sighed and out of thin air, pulled out something sharp and pointy.

I sensed that it was dangerous… Life-threatening…

"Forget it, Lydia. Given the state she was in when she got here, it is understandable that the kid is like this. Let's give her the tranquilizer to stop her from moving before she bleeds herself out."

The menacing man steps closer to me, brandishing the item in hand like a weapon, which caused me to growl ever more fiercely. I swing my hand towards him but sadly was only able to lightly scratch his face before the lady in blue pulled him back.

"Kenny, I don't think that's such a good idea…" The lady, Lydia holds him back.

Wanting to speak once again but I wasn't even able to make a sound before the situation worsened.

A sudden pain washes over me, and I fall onto my knees, yelling out, crying all while clutching my head. It felt heavy and full like my perception was off balance. The pain in my stomach was nothing in comparison.

Due to the sudden movement, my stomach ripped wide open and now the blood was severely leaking through the bandages, spilling onto the floor.

My chest feels tight. I bend over onto my hands and start coughing and heaving, soon blood starts coming out with each heave. I struggle to take in air with all the blood that was filling my lungs, only forcing out the viscous liquid but unable to take in the breath that I needed.

Between the coughing, the gasping, and the pain, my mind was in shambles, making it hard to pay attention to anything else around me.

"AAAAAARRGH!!"

A gurgling cry escapes me as the sheer amount of pain causes my vision to fog up.

"FUCK! KENNY, GIVE HER THE TRANQUILIZER! QUICK! BEFORE SHE MAKES IT WORSE!"

The blue lady starts shouting and it makes my head feel like it's being squeezed.

Both rush to my side.

In the chaos, instinct takes over. I attempt to jump to the side and rush away, even with all the pain I'm in. Alas, the only thing I manage is to slip in my own blood.

My actions were of no consequence to the menacing man as he manages to catch me by the arm. But the blood on the floor throughs off his stance and we both end up falling, crashing onto the floor.

I grunt out in pain before I reflexively start attacking him, scratching him a couple of times and even biting him, but he refused to let go even as I struggle with everything that I have.

Taking advantage of our entanglement on the floor, the lady snatches the needle and I immediately feel something enter the side of my neck. They hold me down tightly and prevent me from moving until whatever they put in me does its job. They soon release their hold on me.

Seeing them drop their guard, I struggle to get up and escape again but my body doesn't want to respond.

'Why can't I move!?'

I continue to yell out in frustration and agony until my energy is gradually sapped away, slowly leaving me breathless and sore.

Eventually, the pain subsides along with my vigor, and the realization hits me once I completely lose all feeling and control, that I had lost this battle.

I'm semi-conscious and the menacing man called Kenny gently carries me to bed and walks away to retrieve something. The lady called Lydia poked at my arms with sharp thin sticks until she was able to hook me back up to the tubes. Kenny returns and starts to clean the blood on the floor while Lydia wipes me down, removing any trace of blood, then rewraps my wounds.

"Look..." she sighed, "We only want to help you. You were almost dead when you were brought here, and your condition was so extreme that anyone who saw you became crestfallen. You were extremely lucky this time, but you need to trust us. We promise not to hurt you. We only want to alleviate the pain."

She spoke to me with a voice that was so gentle and soothing as she stroked my head. I slowly start to breathe more evenly, and my body starts to loosen up.

"We really don't like hurting people. So, will you try to trust us, so that we won't have to experience any of this again? Promise?"

I nod ever so slightly that for a second, I thought she wouldn't see it. She picked up all the bloody bandages and threw them away, cleaned up the trash from the sharp sticks, then left. The side-effects of extreme fatigue overwhelm me, so I let myself drift into empty sleep.

~~~

Slowly my eyes open and I gradually gain awareness.

This time I didn't freak out and took regard for my surroundings. Remembering my promise, I wanted to look for... I think her name was Lydia. She helped me calm down and think rationally so I wanted to thank her.

Carefully, I sat up and looked around. This time, there was only one person in the room, and they were sitting in the corner next to the window. It was the same person who had left after Lydia yelled out.

She wasn't dressed like the others who were here earlier. She was wearing a black T-shirt thing, dark-colored jeans, and she wore a worried expression on her face. I tilted my head to the side and just looked at her.

She had a pair of small horns that began from just above her temples and grew up and back, making them look like they were hovering just above her head. They were a dark blue at the base but shifted to a lighter teal towards the tips.

Her hair was a shiny, pearlescent, goldish, white color, it cascaded down to her shoulders in silky waves. She had fair features and her skin was slightly tanned to a slightly darker ivory tint.

She had an aura of authority and experience as if she has lived through everything, but when paired with her features, made her beauty seem ethereal and ageless.

On her back were a rather large pair of wings, but unlike mine, hers didn't have feathers and instead were made of scales and skin between the protruding bones.

She had a tail covered in scales of which most were a hue of white gold, except for the few that decorated with a pattern of scales of various shades of blue.

"Hello…" I said with a curious tone. I wasn't afraid like I was last time, and she didn't look dangerous, at least not to me. But that didn't change the fact that I didn't know who she was. Didn't know what she was.

"You were here last time, but you left when Lydia said to get the doctor thing."

She suddenly looked up at me and was startled, but then the worry on her face disappeared. She smiled and a soft chuckle left her lips.

"Yes, I was sent to get him. I was also the one who found you and brought you here to the hospital." Her voice was melodious and sweet, and I recognized it as the one I first heard in that dark place I awoke in.

She looked relieved to see me awake, which confused me.

"Thank you, I'm grateful to you. But… I don't understand. What are you? Who are you? Why did you help me? Do you know me?" I couldn't hold back my curiosity or my tongue for that fact. I just stared at her with fascination and continued to watch her, observing her actions, waiting for what she would do next.

"Ah! It completely slipped my mind. No, I don't know you, and you don't know about me. Why don't we change that! Hello, my name is Lynx Swift, and I am a Drake Lycan. I helped you because I found a little broken child on the ground, in a pool of her blood, near-death just outside a dark alley. I'm glad you're alright now, but do you mind telling me what happened to you so I can try to help."

She smiled at me as she stood up from the seat and walked to sit in a chair next to my bed.

"Lynx…Swift…" I said her name to try it. There were still some things I didn't know.

"Umm…first, what's a Drake and what's a Lycan?" I asked her and waited for a reply, but she just looked at me in surprise, momentarily stunned. She shakes her head and clears her throat before responding.

"Well, a drake is like a smaller type of dragon or a mythical creature similar to one. A Lycan a general term for someone from our race, beings who are part human and part animal and who can shift between the two. Our animals are bound to our soul, which is why our human forms have animal parts and features." I stared at her, trying to process the information.

"What do you mean by our race…?" I said in a questioning voice that caused Lynx to frown.

"You don't know what you are?" She sounded confused and worried. I just huffed out a breath and looked right at her.

"Actually, I can't recall anything. Nothing about what I am, who I am, where I came from, what happened to me, and pretty much everything else. All I know is what I have experienced since I first woke up in the alley…"

I froze as if something in my mind had been made abundantly clear. At that moment, the reality of my situation dawned upon me. I looked down because the only thing I felt now was troubled, confused, frustrated, and helpless.

The feeling of wanting to know and understand but with reluctance accepting that it wasn't within my power.

Her eyes widened at my statement. I only look away in shame.

"I see… That is quite troubling... Okay, I am going to go get someone to check what happened with your head. I will be right back." Lynx quickly got up and gave me two pats on the head. I then watched as she rushed out of the room.

Waiting in my bed, I eventually grew bored and curiosity got the better of me. I decided to try and walk around, being careful to not hurt myself once again. I had begun to move my legs to the side of the bed when felt some part of my body move my pillows and blankets.

I turned around and lifted my unhurt wing and saw a tail attached to my rear. It was soft and fluffy and a bit shorter than my arm, and surprisingly seem to be the only part of me that was left uninjured. I thought about moving it up and that is exactly what happened. I played with it for a few minutes.

I was confused. Thinking about what Lynx said about our race, made me want to look at the rest of my body.

I slowly stood from the bed and tried to look at myself. As I did, I also noticed that my wounds were almost healed shut. The only one that was still open was the one on my stomach, which would most likely be the only one that would scar once healed. It started a little from the right of the middle of my stomach to around the lower middle part of my back, giving the illusion that I had almost been cut in half.

Even though the gown I wore made it hard, I tried to look as best that I could, but it left me unsatisfied, feeling that this was only part of the picture. Not wanting to further frustrate myself, I ignored it and just started walking around the room instead.

Starting my attempt to walk away from the bed but then finding myself unable to proceed further, I turn to the object that served to be my anchor. The tubes attached to my arm. I followed the tubes to the end and saw the bags attached to them and how they hung from a rod on wheels.

I moved across to the other side of the bed and grabbed the rod on wheels, using it to support myself as I started my walk from the bed.

The floor was cold, the room was quite big. There was a large painting hanging on the wall across from my bed. The walls themselves were of a light lilac shade. I walked towards the windows, various shades of green as far as the eyes could see. Glancing down, a tray stacked with empty plates and cups was on the table next to the chair Lynx had been sitting in.

I guess she has been staying with me since she brought me here. That prompted a few questions to mind. How long was I asleep and how long have I been here? I walked two steps when a sudden bloating urge overwhelmed me, flooding my stomach.

'Wait! Where's the bathroom!?' I looked for the door that would lead me to it and rushed to it, nearly tripping along the way due to a certain metal rod holding me back.

While washing my hands after finding sweet relief for my once bloated stomach, I saw a glossy surface that took up the entire wall to my left. I froze and stared at the person I saw on the surface, and they did the same thing. I tried moving while watching how they reacted and to my surprise, she followed my every movement.

I walked up to her, and she did the same before we stopped right in front of the glass wall.

I looked at her closely. She had a pair of wolf ears on her head that were smooth chocolate brown, but the fur on the inside glistened like gold strings. She almost doesn't have any hair on her head, only but a bit of fuzz. I assume if she did, it would look like some variation of the fur on her ears.

One of the wings on her back was wrapped up and was being supported, or rather restricted, by some sort of contraption while the other one was neatly folded behind her back.

Around the black center of her eyes was a blue so deep, so pure, and clear that it looked like a gemstone and practically shone under the light, but it was lined with shiny metallic gold on the outer edge which only served to add to its mysteriousness and allurement.

She looked young compared to the other people I've met so far. She was covered in bandages and wore a loose gown, not unlike my own, and was also attached to a rod on wheels. She looked skinny, weak, and very unhealthy, which sadly obscured her uniquely beautiful features.

As I took the last step towards the wall, I reached out a hand to touch, and she did the same. I jumped back in complete shock for at that moment, I was enlightened.

I wasn't staring at another person...

I was looking at myself.