Chapter Text
Chapter 1
The first sensation I felt when I came too was a sense of weightlessness. It was completely dark around me. Dizziness and disorientation clouds my mind, so much so that I am not sure if I am in complete darkness or if I have yet to open my eyes. Slowly, colours began to appear: floors lined with dark grey cobblestone connected to cracked walls that have been filled with a mixture of dirt, moss and dust. Soon, I started to make out more details about the room—an old-fashioned jail cell with metal bars mostly covered in rust. A large, thick wooden door is at the entrance of the cell, and a small window is located at the top of the opposite side. The room I am standing in is not empty. A small wooden stool is present next to a bare wooden table. A cot is also set up in the corner of the room, it looks warn-out and grimy. Bits of hay and course fabric pushing out from the seams, the blankets look tattered and barely held together. Rags would be a better word to describe the top of the bed, moldy rags that would steal your heat rather than provide it.
But it is not the bed that draws my interest but what is on the bed, a man. His face and chest look damp, little beads of sweat are running down his face. Bits of white and red bandages peak out from below his clothes. Clothes that look to be made from some type of leather and animal fur, appearing ripped and torn. The more I look at him the stranger he becomes. He is tall and lanky, his feet just barely hanging off the end of the bed. His hair, coloured with warm brown tones, streaks of blond peaking through. A narrow nose surrounded by high cheekbones, with long lashes framing his closed eyes. He also appeared to have strange green marking adorning his face followed by the largest ears I had ever seen.
“ahh.. Ahh” he pains, scrunching up his face as he tries to curl in on himself. But he appears too sick to move. I want to go over and check on him. It is obvious that he needs immediate medical attention, but I just can't seem to force myself to move. I feel strange, I feel a sense of weightlessness, but every time I try to move a limb or turn my head, it feels like I am trying to move through molasses, thick and syrupy.
My mind feels heavy, and although I can hear the man's pained cries and moans I can't seem to hear anything else, apart from the low consistency hum. Mabey if I rest, I will feel better. My head is foggy, and bits of thought are getting harder and harder to string together. I want to lie down, but I can’t even move my head can I even sleep standing? I will just shut my eyes for a moment, just to block out the flickering candle present on the table….
The next moment I awake, it is a jarring feeling. I am not slowly coming to consciousness but suddenly becoming fully aware of everything around me. It is almost like being blasted with a stream of ice water, suddenly activating and stimulating every nerve in my body.
I try to take a deep breath of air, but I am not sure if I have achieved that. I am making the physical movements to take a breath, but something feels strange. It is almost like there is no atmosphere around me to breathe in, but I am not suffocating, so I must be breathing in something.
I turn my head to look around. The previous sensation of moving through a thick slim is still there but it is now only slightly hindering my movements. The strange sleeping man is still present on the bed, but we are no longer alone.
A man and a woman are now present.
A woman in dark metal armour is leaning against the wall. While the man is leaning over the man lying on the bed, looking at the man's hand.
I slowly move forward, dragging limbs through the invisible sludge surrounding me. Looking closer, I notice for the first time a green light flickering from the resting man's left hand.
"What is wrong with his hand?" I ask the man, leaning over the sleeping man.
He doesn't respond to my question, making no notion he has even heard me.
Frowning in frustration at being ignored, I turn towards the woman. Struggling to make my way over to her. "Please, I need help. Could you please call an ambulance for me? I think there is something wrong with me."
As I make my way towards her, I can make more of her attire. It almost causes me to pause. The woman in front of me is wearing what looks like armour, not the cheap amour people would wear for dress-ups. It looks intricate and complex, with metal plates covering her chest and shoulder ordained with a white emblem that appears as a sword stabbing an eye. Dark metal plates also surround her legs, arms and feet. But there is more; the armour looks used, covered with scratches and marks.
Why is this woman dressed like that I think as I wait for her reply? I am standing less than 2 meters from her, but it is like she is staring through me. Fuck it, it doesn't matter what she is dressed like. She is just a serious LARPer , trying to justify this strange situation to myself. They can go back to playing once they call me an ambulance .
But she doesn't respond. In fact, she pushes off the wall and walks towards me.
Whoosh...
She walks right through me......