Chapter 2

• Nerissa POV
• Slowly I opened my eyes noticing the soft light coming from the opened door.
• I took a chance to observe my surroundings, and I noticed I was in my room and still at Alex’s packhouse.
• I didn’t even notice that I was tense before, but soon as I realized I was safe and on familiar ground, more clearly in the home of one of my mates, I could feel my body relaxing.
• Soft footsteps drew my attention, and I noticed Emily walking out from the bathroom.
• “Oh, Goddess! You’re awake!” pressing her palm to her chest, she said to me the moment she saw me wide awake.
• I watched her rush to me, sitting down on the side as her arms reached for me.
• I sat up and wrapped myself in her familiar embrace, trying to hold in my tears as it felt like an eternity when I last saw anyone I loved.
• Emily sniffled, making me realize she was crying, and that was it for me. My walls collapsed down, and I let go, and in the next second, we both were holding onto each other and silently crying.
• She pushed away from me, looking at me through her teary eyes, “I’ve missed you.”
• Sniffling, I gave her a weak smile as I replied honestly, “I’ve missed you too.”
• She pulled me into her embrace once again, holding me tightly before we parted.
• “You really scared me, well everyone. How are you feeling? O dear Goddess, how rude of me, do you need me to call a doctor, Alex or Allister or someone else?” Emily was blabbering so fast. More and more she was thinking, I could see the worry growing in her eyes so I took her hands in my own, stopping her ranting as she looked at me in silence.
• “I’m fine, please, calm down,” I told her gently, giving her a small smile as I saw her taking a deep breath.
• “I’m sorry, just you scared me so much.” She said.
• “What happened?” I had to ask as I couldn’t remember anything before I passed out.
• “Y-you don’t remember?” Gasping, she asked as her eyes were wide like two marbles.
• Carefully, I looked at her as I shook away my head. “All I remember was the pain and then I passed out.”
• Her mouth shaped like an O, making me wonder how long was I even passed out?
• “Umm… how long was I… unconscious?” Carefully, I asked her.
• She swallowed before she replied, “A week.”
• “A week?!” I shrieked out.
• Emily looked at me with worry, slowly nodding her head as she said, “Yes, but now you're awake, and everything will be ok.”
• I looked at her, trying to remember the details before I passed out, and that’s when it came to me.
• Black veins…
• I looked down to my chest, lifting up my T-shirt, I saw the black awful looking veins showing up on my chest.
• My eyes widened, filled with horror as I let go of my T-shirt and noticed tiny veins, barely visible in the inside of my wrists.
• “Nerissa… it’s ok, calm down.” Emily tried to soothe me as I looked up at her with my horror-filled look, not being able to say anything.
• The memory of an old woman came up in my mind, the one that came with Allister. Blinking, trying to shake away this feeling of fear, I looked clearly at Emily and asked, “The old woman… I can’t remember her name, but she came with Allister…”
• “I know, I know. Her name is Annaya, she is the Shaman.” Emily said, rubbing my shoulder, trying to calm me down.
• “Yes, her. I remember she said that I have a little more time and to choose but I couldn’t do it, Emily, I just couldn’t. Why is everyone pressuring me to choose?” Feeling frustrated about everything that has been going on, I held my head in my hands.
• “I don’t know, but all that matters is that your back.” She said.
• The realization of her words dawned on me as I looked up at her, asking, “Why do you keep on saying I’m back? Is there something you're not telling me?”
• Emily looked away as she said in a small voice, “Annaya said after you passed out that the curse had started and…”
• I heard her take in a deep breath, while she was making me feel like I was on edge.
• I asked, “And what?”
• Blowing out a deep breath, she looked at me and said, “And she wasn’t sure you ever even woke up.”
• Swallowing, I said, “So in other words, I could have been dead.”
• A tear fell down over her cheek as she nodded her head slowly.
• I moved closer as I wrapped my arms around her shoulders, pulling her closer, feeling awful for upsetting my best friend.
• “It’s ok, Emily, I’m here and I am not planning to go anywhere.” Rubbing her back, I said in a soothing voice.
• Sniffling, she hugged me tight, and we stayed that way for a little while.
• After we pulled away, she asked me, “So what happened, I mean, were you dreaming because you looked like you were having a nightmare?”
• The memory of the darkness and the beast, chasing me for what seems like hours, crossed my mind.
• “It was like a nightmare,” I said honestly.
• “Do you want to talk about it?” I knew she was curious, but at the same time, she would respect my decision if I choose not to talk about it.
• Deciding it is better to share my worries, I said, “I don’t know how to explain it better, but after I passed out, I found myself surrounded by darkness and all I could feel was like it was pressing down on me. There was pain going through my body in waves and I felt cold to the bone, but what was strange, I remember some feeling of comfort inside of my heart, that was in a strange way forcing me not to give up and lose hope.”
• Emily was silent as she listened to me, so I continued.
• “I did not know how long I was trapped there. The time there never existed, but I know I tried to find a way out.
• That morning before Alex brought me here, I passed out in that lake house, but I could come back as I found a way like a light that dragged me out, yet this time, there was no light, not at first.” I said.
• She looked at me shocked and confused, asking, “Then how did you escape?”
• “I know you will think I’m weird or even crazy but I felt something inside my heart, like a compass leading me through the darkness at first, then I heard a voice too,” I said.
• “Wait, what? Who’s voice?” She asked, feeling confused.
• Shaking away my head, I said, “I don’t know… I couldn’t recognize it, but I somehow knew I could trust it.”
• “Then what happened?” She encouraged me to continue on.
• “Then it led me through the darkness and I ran into a horrible red-eyed monster that chased after me. So this voice was leading me where to go and pushing me not to quit when I started to feel tired and long story short. It helped me escape this monster.” I told her, shrugging my shoulders as a memory of my escape played in my head.
• “The worst was when I crashed into something, a wall maybe, I don’t know, and the voice told me what to do and search for so I did, but I was so scared especially when I saw the beast, that monster, approaching me. It almost grabbed me, but I fell through that wall in the last second.” The chill ran down my spine, making me shake my shoulders, trying to shake away the feeling.
• “So it was like a big place that you were basically locked inside?” Emily said, thinking about what I was saying.
• “Yes, kind of. When I passed through that wall, let’s call it like that, then the weirdest thing happened. I saw at first a small light at the far end that started to grow and it was so comforting and warm, but that is not what was weirdest in it.” I said, trying to bring back the memory if I could somehow see who that silhouette person was.
• “Don’t leave me hanging, what was the weirdest thing?” Emily said, curious about what happened next.
• I looked at her and said, “Well, there… there was someone and before you ask me I don’t know who it was, but he was standing at the end and I heard his voice, the same voice that was helping me all along. The voice came from that person who called me to follow him. When I reached him, I tried to see who it was but his back was facing me and all he said is when the time comes I’ll find out everything.”
• Thinking deeply, she looked at me and said, “Wonder what did he mean by that.”
• Shrugging my shoulders, I said, “I don’t know.”
• Before Emily or I could say anything more, the door of the room opened, making us both turn and look its way, noticing Allister walking inside.
• The moment he took a step inside, I saw his eyes land on me, blinking a few times as he whispered my name.
• “Nerissa?”