The Awakening

"Is this the void?" Would be one of the thoughts she would get if she would have a conscious awareness during her current state, but she didn't have it. All just dark, motionless nothingness. Not even a thought, not even a spark. Up until there were some thoughts. First some hazy silhouettes, then more darkness, but also voices, unknown and yet, familiar, as if it wouldn't be the first time they were heard. Definitely not the first time at all. And then, a tremendous thunder, shook the walls of the very room she was in, and even the light felt somewhat more than a visual element.. which jolted her from the deep slumber.

As her eyes opened, she looked around, carefully, curiously.. knowing nothing, confused by everything. Where was she, who was she? All those questions and many more started to emerge and swarm her mind as wasps set free from a jar. Among all that confusion, one thing was certain: Amy. Possibly her name? Yet she wasn't sure, that was the only certain thing she could find within her mind at that moment. And then, looking around some more, she saw nothing of real interest of value, but contrary, a repulsive display of dust and decadence. Shackles.. were laying on one of the ragged beds nearby. Rusty and apparently not open, but broken, torn. Were those hers? Or was there someone or something else before her?

A considerable amount of time passed, yet she felt just as confused as during the first moments after she woke up. Walking aimlessly through the room, rummaging through the things she would dare to touch, finding nothing. A window, stood on one of the cracked stone walls. Since it was too dirty and dusty, she could barely see much through it, yet it was clear that outside, it was raining, heavily. Trying to open it, the old, metal handle wouldn't give in, but neither did she, and eventually, pulling harder, almost savagely, she plucked it out from its socket, and the window slowly opened. "How refreshing" she thought as rain, which resembled slightly less of a waterfall's amount, was also pushed through the window by the motion it received along from the wind.. splashing onto her face and body, almost soaking her, yet she did not move, she did not mind, but rather, it was a welcome change in her current situation. A bright blinding light exposed a large courtyard beneath, surrounded by heavy, tall walls, and barely lit by a few dim lamps, that could not make much of difference through the night's darkness and the heavy rain. The distance was also considerable, she thought along, as her first idea would be to go there. A moment later, another thundering roar from the sky shook the entire surrounding area, which startled her, but she did not move away from the window, instead, she kept watching some more, thoughtlessly, yet trying to also remember something, anything, with no result.

Suddenly, through the corner of her eye, she spotted a bit of motion in the courtyard. A massive humanoid creature, slowly creeping through the dark atmosphere, whose details were slightly more visible as it passed by the lampposts, carrying a large bag on it's back, as well as some type a pickax, which seemed rather tiny, a bit bigger than a piece of cutlery, considering the proportion of its hand. As it slowly walked on, and it would exit her visual range as it drew near a corner, her tendency was to lean over the window's edge as to catch more details before it left her sight. That moment, it stopped abruptly. And just as its head appeared to turn towards her, she pulled herself back into the room with such haste that she fell onto the floor, somewhat frightened.

Did it see her? No, it was impossible, the distance was more than a few dozen of meters, maybe over a hundred, or two, or more. And the night's darkness, along with the heavy rain, it can't be- she thought, trying to calm herself. After a while, sitting on the floor, motionless, occasionally splashed by some of the rain that managed to pass through the window, she eventually stood up again, carefully approaching the window, then sneakily peeking into the spot where she saw it. This time it was gone, and even though she could breathe in relief, she felt a hint of unease. Even though she had no idea where she is or what is this place, she knew she wasn't the only one there.

With nothing else to do, and not wanting to leave the soothing air that the night was bringing her, she stood there, by the window, some more, while trying to survey the surrounding area. On the occasional times when a lightning would appear, she could distinguish the large, tall walls of the building she was in. Was this a castle? Maybe, yet she could not entirely grasp the end of the walls, due to their surface or due to the angle of her window, but one thing was certain, that the place was huge. There were also towers in the distance.

After some more time, she eventually went back into the room, searching some more, until her finger hit the switch of a small lamp. It started spreading a dim light throughout the room. While it was not much, it clearly let her see everything much better, which was not necessarily a better thing, as the grim atmosphere of the room was not so much covered by the darkness' veil. Stepping near a full mirror, she could also look at herself now, a bit more in detail, noticing how the previously silky attire is now clinging to every shape and curve of her body due to the exposure to the rain's water. This did not seem to bother her at all, not even the fact that she could see her entire body through her clothes' transparency, maybe due to her not having the concept of "naked", or due to not remembering it.

For a long time she did stare at herself, into her own eyes, over her slender figure, yet without any expression on her face, blankly studying what she could, trying to make sense of what she could; and a while later, without much of a trail to follow, she sat on the bed, motionless, for a long time once again, not even appearing to breathe at times, but rather resembling a delicately sculpted statue.

As the time passed, the rain ceased, and the night passed as well, making room for the morning's rays to enter through the half-open window. Trying her best to think of something, while in such confusing and overwhelming situation, she did not even notice it, while she kept sinking so deep in her thoughts as she tried to put together the little pieces that she had, trying to grasp so tight onto the vague memories she could find.

Suddenly, a loud blow was heard on the metal door, which shook away her focus; and then another, which also startled her, just half second later, and then two more. With her eyes wider open, she turned towards the door, yet she did not move any more, or said anything.

"Feeding time" was heard from the other side, from an unnaturally guttural voice, before a small latch opened, and through a smaller entrance at the bottom of the door, a tray was pushed through. On it, there was a bowl with mushy content in it, as well as a piece of bread. Without much intention of eating anything, she drew closer however, inspecting it, blankly, then she just stood up, touching the large metal door, pushing it, pulling on its handle, as if to confirm her suspicions that it would not budge at all.

At that moment, she decided to leave it as it was, and she sat on the bed, leaning over the tray that was still on the floor. Was that supposed to be food? Of course she knew that concept, but she did not apply it to what was before her. Besides, what were the while ropes on top of everything? The bowl, the bread, even the tray, had them all over, and they did not seem to merge with the food, maybe just slightly mixing but still maintaining their form as well. Clearly it did not seem to be a part of the food. Curiously though, she got even closer, touching the viscous substance with her finger, watching it stretch as it drew back, before the string broke, when her hand was too far away. Then she looked at it on the tip of her finger, before she put it on her tongue. The taste was very strong. Is that supposed to be food? She asked herself, feeling how it persisted even long after it was no longer on her tongue. After a bit longer, she grabbed the bread and took a bite, and then another, until she finished it, without seeming to mind at all the lingering tang that was left in her mouth.

Shortly after that, she went back to the window, since now she could see the surroundings much better. The whole area was overgrown with vegetation, except for the paved parts. While watching, she spotted a couple of birds as well, flying around, and she thought about trying the same, since she remembered how similar her own appeared into the mirror earlier. And so, deciding to try without hesitation, and without even thinking to first test whether they work like that or not, she climbed on the window and then she did..

..not jump. Instead, she lifted herself above the window's level..and there she was, flying around like the birds, or actually hovering somewhat clumsily, which was beyond her understanding, yet it did not matter. The most important was that she clearly wasn't going down.

While exploring the surrounding area, and reaching closer to the courtyard's ground, even just a few meters-close, she suddenly felt a hard, metallic shackle cling onto her ankle and then, in the area behind her, she spotted a hulking creature, possibly the same she saw the night before, dressed in dirty, blood-stained clothes, and its head showed the features.. of a boar?!..

"What even the fuck is that?!" she asked herself frightened as a yelp escaped her mouth.

Immediately after, she did no wait any longer, and rushed into the opposite direction of the creature, gaining altitude as well, as much as she could, also reaching the courtyard's end, and the tall walls. As she looked back, she saw the thing just standing there, without moving, looking towards her.. and she could be almost sure she saw something like a grin as well, in the earlier moments, before she got further away.

It did not matter now, she got away, and she was not planning to go back there anytime soon. Or that's what she thought, until she felt something from her ankle, where the shackle was, spreading through her entire body. Completely new and unknown to her, she felt as if paralyzed, and burning at the same time, while her muscles went stiff and even though she did not seem to need a physical action for her flying, she started crashing towards the ground as a brick. Everything was becoming hazy, and now she was also seeing the tall walls "running" by her face as she was nearing each second. And then suddenly, a crippling pain struck through her entire body as she hit the ground with a loud thump, making a dust wave spread from the impact point.

While laying there like that, she tried to move, yet she couldn't.. as if her entire motion was restrained, and she could barely yank her arms and legs, briefly, yet nowhere near an useful movement. While feeling overwhelmed by the pain as well, she thought it must have been due to that shackle that got onto her, and she tried to reach and remove it, yet she couldn't. And as if things weren't already awful enough, she saw the large gate lift with loud metallic noises, and lumbering towards her, the creature she saw before, towering even more over her as it reached closer.

"Little birdie fell off a tree!" Is all she could hear, along with a heavy, mocking laughter, as she felt her leg grabbed by a hand which matched the voice, which then dragged her through the gate, along the hard surfaces of the courtyard.

"I did not.. it was.. you" she snarled weakly before completely losing her consciousness.

-- To be continued --