The smell of sulfur contaminates the air.
My heart still beats slowly.
A sharp object is pressed against my chest.
I open my eyes slowly, adjusting to the low light.
I'm alone in a room full of sharp, macabre objects.
The light is very dim, so I can't identify what the objects are.
They're all around, in tables, on cabinets in the walls, some even dangle from the ceiling.
I'm strapped to a stretcher by leather restraints from chest down.
A dagger full of glowing red symbols and a sculpted silver handle rotates vertically, slowly.
I would think it's a beautiful piece if it weren't ten millimeters away from piercing my chest.
I need to get out of here before Sally gets back.
Funny, I thought she was nice with her warm smile and kindness.
Now I find out she's a psychopath who wants to kill me.
My life is very good.
If I had a little mouse to chew through these bonds.
"Sinuhe." I whisper.
Nothing.
'Sinuhe, come, I need you' I project.
A white, furry mass appears in the half-open door.
It works this time.
Sinuhe jumps on top of me and slowly bites the dagger handle, it offers no resistance, then places it in the metal table level with the bed I'm in.
'What?'
'You will need it.'
I don't argue.
'Where were you?'
'I was hiding under the bed, I was being cautious, and why did you let her poison you?'
I make a face at him.
He bites and breaks the bonds attached to my wrists.
I sit on the stretcher and grip the dagger tightly.
It's truly beautiful and extremely sharp.
I've never seen those symbols before.
The embossed symbols start at the handle and end in the middle of the blade.
Through the reflection I could partially see myself.
The left side of my face is covered in clotted blood forming a pasty mass.
My hair is also matted with blood.
The same goes for my clothes.
I look like a walking crime scene.
I am completely useless.
It was so strange, why didn't I feel any urgency to run far away? It's like my real senses were blocked. I was just going with the motions without feeling any danger. If Sammy saw me right now she'd say I have the senses of a rock.
This agonizing strangeness spikes my anxiety.
Sinuhe cuts the bonds that bound my feet.
I get up, but I'm too weak.
I stagger to the door gripping the dagger tightly in my first.
I look outside.
There is no one.
The corridor leads to a white door, old and peeling. I put my ear against it but there's no sound outside.
It's unlocked, I try to open it silently and only halfway through. Just enough for me to pass.
This must be the place a shed would be in the backyard, there's no one around, just the dried grass and the looming back of the house.
'I'd better go ahead and see if there's anyone there, look through me and you'll know if you can go or not.'
'Wait, you're very fragile, I don't want them to catch you, and as for seeing through your eyes, what does that mean?'
'Oh, you're wrong, I'm not fragile and seeing through my eyes means seeing what I see.'
'Huh? How do you do that, Mr. Know-it-all?'
'Just focus on the bond that binds me to you.'
'So easy'. I scoff.
He walks stealthy around the house to the front with me right behind his heels.
So silent like a little predator.
I close my eyes and concentrate.
I think about when I found him.
About the feeling of protection that came over me when I held him in my arms.
And when I open my eyes again, it's no longer me who's seeing.
It's him.
An explosion of colors passes in front of me.
Everything is clear.
I could see for a mile or more.
It's amazing.
I move on.
I see the entrance, the sidewalk, the sun shining, and the deserted street.
Everything is so alive, so sparkling and shiny.
Sinuhe looks to the left.
There's Sally, and a black shadow beside her.
Sinuhe is motionless now.
They are talking about something.
'I don't like his energy.' warns Sinuhe in my mind.
'Change the angle.' I ask.
Sinuhe goes behind a bush, from there he has a perfect view of the shadow.
I concentrate.
The black shadow gestures and Sally points to the house.
Then the shadow raises its black hands and lowers its hood.
It's not a shadow, it's someone dressed in black from head to toe, not an inch of skin from chin down is visible.
His gray hair shines in the sunlight.
He turns to the house.
It's Theodore Emmerich. He's come to take me.
Before my mind stops working I head towards the back door again.
Sinuhe continues to look at Theodore.
He opens the front door and walks in. Sally follows him.
It would be a matter of minutes before they realize I was no longer there and come after me.
Sinuhe breaks the connection.
He runs as fast as he can to where I was.
When I see that little white ball of fur, I realize how defenseless he is. Even though he was acting tough, the worst part is that I'm also defenseless.
But I won't let Theodore take anyone else away from me.
I make an effort to force my speed and pick him up.
I gather what's left of my strength and run through the side of the house before they can reach the backdoor.
I run as fast as I can. I know it may not be enough, but it's all I can do right now. Even if my body wants to give up, I force it and force it again to keep up speed.
I don't see where I'm going.
Everything is a blur.
Although the streets disappear under my feet, I don't spare a single thought about it, I just keep running and running. As everything dissolves in mist I'm back in the forest again, passing near a river, a waterfall. I have no idea where this is.
Is this even real?
Was any of that real?
I can't tell anymore.
I don't know if he's following me, if it's all a hallucination.
Maybe I'm still bound to that bed.
Maybe that part wasn't real either.
Maybe I've been dreaming all of this all along.
The trees and bushes give way abruptly to soft grass, then hot sand stretching both ways without end.
Right now I'm a mindless beast with only one command keeping me up, my knees giving way here and there, falling and getting up again.
My vision blurred and unfocused.
My head is so foggy it takes a long while to discern the sound of waves crashing at a distance.
A small house appears in my field of vision.
Sinuhe leaps down from my arms, exhaustion takes over, my knees buckle over but I don't feel anything else but the burning in my limbs.
Soon I don't feel anything.
***
I don't know for how long I was unconscious.
But I guess it was a long time.
When I wake up Sinuhe is resting beside me, his head curled up in my chest, breathing softly.
I remember little from before I passed out.
But I know Theodore is after me.
Looking around, the wooden walls are very simple, but still cozy. The bed is a single bed with a comforter and one pillow under me, it smells a little like dampness and soap. The only sound is Sinuhe's little breaths and the waves crashing.
Is this the cabin I saw before passing out?
The sea breeze perfumes the air.
The cabin is devoid of any form of technology.
As if it were frozen in time.
Next to me is a medium mirror with metal edges.
I get up without making any sudden movements so as not to wake Sinuhe.
My clothes are still soaked in blood and smell unpleasant, but my skin is clean.
Strange.
On a small table near the bed rests a plate of fresh bread with some red jelly and hot chocolate that's still warm.
My stomach instantly comes alive. It tastes quite good, like homemade.
After eating I feel more alert.
I get to what should be a door, but it's just a fringe curtain.
Outside the waves crash against the rocks as they have done for centuries.
Birds fly in the sky occasionally, the sparse white clouds drifting slowly in the azure sky, reflecting in the sea like a lapis-lazuli expanse, glittering the sunshine.
A golden haired boy is sitting on the sand at some distance, his back hunched, looking contemplative.
A white cloak covers him neck down and drapes over the sand around him like a fluffy gown.
He probably found me lying on the floor and brought me here.
Strange.
I don't know many people who would shelter an unconscious, blood-soaked stranger with a wolf pup.
Anyway, I decide to go there to say thank you.
I can't stay, Theodore is certainly on my track, and I couldn't involve a completely innocent person, who still sheltered me.
It must be sheer luck he hasn't arrived here, I don't think I did such a good job of covering my tracks and the blood is a good giveaway.
My mom used to say kindness should never be expected, but appreciated and repaid tenfold and I agree with her. I have nothing of value with me now but maybe I can get his contact and pay him back in the future.
My steps leave deep imprints in the soft sand. He doesn't seem to notice me approaching.
I get close enough for him to hear me call out.
"Hello?"
He turns around.
His face is beautiful, but too ethereal to look real, like he's in a distant sphere, a white pure flower in a mountain peak.
The protruding jaw, sparkling gray eyes, the high nose bridge and the charming cupid's bow in his pink shaded upper lip.
"You're finally awake." He is amused.
"Oh, yes, thank you for saving me, it must have been crazy seeing me for the first time. Well, how long have I been unconscious…"
My voice catches in the back of my throat as he stands up.
It's not a cloak, it's wings.
A pair of gigantic pearly white wings, moving smoothly and forming a looming backdrop high above his head.
He opens them completely like… a stretch after being in the same position for a long time.
The sun shades over them from the back giving the white a faint glow, their shadow covers me completely. For some reason I feel small right now.
Seeing is indeed believing, Lucca had told me all that but it's not until now that it clicks what it all meant. That beings that only use human skin but aren't humans are everywhere around. Walking between us, their existence completely out of the realm we understand.
His wings aren't shaped like in the representations of angels though, it's not just an upside down V shape, they are shaped like a bird's with long broad feathers ending in primary long feathers with wide gaps, the more distant from his torso, the longer the size of the feather.
Since he's only with loose linen pants, I can see he seems to have two extra pairs of ribs, his shoulders broad with a straight waist, with his wings open his neck, shoulder and sides of his waist muscles are full tense. It must ache like hell, that's the only thing that echoes in my mind.
Then he folds them back.
I'm completely stunned.
I remember the dream about Lucca, his wings in the dreams were exactly the same as the blond boy's.
I imagine him like this carrying me to the cabin, then cleaning my skin.
I get goosebumps instantly.
Then blush beet red, I can feel my face get hot. For some reason it feels too much right now.
"You were unconscious for about three days." His baritone voice is soothing.
"You don't need to explain anything to me, your wolf already told me everything."
I try to imagine him talking to a wolf.
It immediately cuts the awkwardness and makes me want to giggle.
"By the way, I'm Loren, and you're Alexandra, right?" He looks a little eager.
He seems amused by the look of astonishment I'm probably making.
"Yes."
"As you may have already noticed, I am a Neefilin."
There was no need to even spread his wings, just a look at his beautiful face and his sculpted body and no one would deny he's an angel.
"Thank you again for taking care of me, but I need to go, I can't involve you in my problems."
He lowers his eyes, his long eyelashes, as golden as his hair casting a shadow over his cheeks, making it impossible to see the emotion in his eyes.
"So you're really leaving?"
I hum softly.
I look down at my sneakers, all dried up blood and sticky sand.
I look up again, at the horizon line where the sea and the sky merge.
I don't even know him.
Why is it so hard to say goodbye?
"Where are you going?" He asks quietly.
His silvery eyes show an unreasonable sadness.
"I don't know, maybe where the road leads. " My voice sounds distant.
"So I can at least find a place for you to stay?" He asks shyly.
"Do you have any recommendations?"
I wasn't supposed to say that.
"It's not much, it's an apartment in a city six kilometers from here, you would share the rent with a friend of mine."
"Sounds cool." I say after a pause.
My brain, why doesn't it obey me? Is it that difficult?
"Is that a yes?" He takes a step closer.
His face lights up like a child's.
He almost seems naive.
Almost.
"I think so."
No, you can't say that!
Brain, you're really not going to obey me, are you?
I cringe at my own awkwardness, it's not like I was raised in the mountains and homeschooled with no contact with strangers.
"Well, before we go, wouldn't you like to take a shower? Change out of those soaked clothes? I didn't want to make you uncomfortable before." He gestures to my very dirty clothes that have probably caused a mess in his clean bed.
I had almost forgotten about that detail.
"That would be a good idea. Thank you again."
"No need for thanks. There's a bathroom right behind the house."
He walks beside me, his clean and salty scent lulling me to lower my guard.
Will I ever learn?