C2 2. Lime to neon green

Saturday. Night.

Voices.

“Follow…” the voices demanded. Deep and unidentified. Hypnotizing. Maybe hinted to sound dark. But not very. Almost neutral. With no emotion.

“Move…” There was no echo; it seemed as if the voices were one. I was in bed, but awake, still turning from side to side, trying to find the perfect position to sleep. I kept my eyes shut.

My eyes fluttered open at the sound of it.

I had to move.

Everything else zeroed. Anything else in my mind lost significance, was erased, deleted. I lost the ability to wonder, to question, to find, to think. I couldn’t fear or feel anything, right there, at that moment, when I was staring at the ceiling, in the darkness of my room. The only thing I was aware of was the obligation.

“Walk…” the voice said sternly. I didn’t process anything, just obeyed. Unemotionally and mechanically, I slowly slid out of my bed covers. It was late. My parents were completely unconscious. Being as quiet as possible was my first priority. I pushed my feet into my shoes, slowly, quietly.

“Walk…” the voice repeated as I turned to pace down the hallway. I walked silently, every step I made had a lot of effort in it. My face was utterly blank and my eyes wide open – unblinking. My arms rested motionless to my sides. All I could think of was the obligation, the request of the voice. And all I could do was obey.

I stopped at the staircase, unsure of where to go. My face expressed no feeling and so did my body, I stood there absolutely motionless, waiting for the voice to tell me, to guide me in the dark.

“Follow…” the voice said, and for the first time the word came out expressing something. Approval.

With the same care and silence I walked down the stairs one at a time. My eyes stared at something, somewhere far away. I walked slowly, hypnotized by the voice. “Come…” The tone of it was impelling, made me want to follow even more. I walked to the door, and stopped, outstretching my hand to the doorknob, ready to twist it. “Open it…” the voice ordered me again. I obeyed – my eyes were vacant, empty.

I cautiously pulled the door open and a wave of cold wind slapped my face. I didn’t feel it though, I could feel nothing. I was completely hypnotized. I closed the door behind me as noiselessly as I could. “Walk away… Far away…” said the voice, harsh but soft at the same time. I walked down the porch, mechanically; no sentiment was mirrored in my face. It must’ve been cold… though, I’m not sure… I couldn’t feel anything at that moment.

I wasn’t sleepwalking, this was different. It was like someone had invaded my mind, in every single thought, in every single breath I took. Something in me urged to find that voice, to follow, to leave everything I knew behind. I forgot who I was, where I was, what I was doing – nothing registered, I realized nothing.

I didn’t even feel fear of walking in the woods in complete darkness, with the wind being strong and cold, and my feet sinking in snow… I kept on going, walked away… far away… My breathing was steady and a little cloud formed every time I exhaled.

The breeze carried snowflakes in it, made the trees bend and shriek. The smell of fresh pine travelled around me, I could listen to the lake nearby, to the waves breaking onto the shore. I was somehow alert, but not fully. The cold was severe, and after I’d walked what I now assume was a mile, my feet got numb and it wasn’t tiredness, it was the snow.

I collapsed, clenching my jaws because of the extreme conditions, although I wasn’t able to feel anything, my body responded to the cold, I was just wearing a long sleeved shirt, and was wet to the bone. I was shivering from head to toe. “Keep going! Don’t stop!” the voice was yelling, I could discern concern and anxiety. My eyes flared. I crawled on four, battling with hypothermia.

I didn’t feel pain despite the struggle. I knew something was wrong with me but didn’t know what exactly. Nothing would stop me from moving on, the voice’s words echoed in my head. “Keep going!” “Don’t stop!” I had to. I had to keep on going, move into the unknown of the forest, the part of the woods I’d never dared to explore.

“Come on! We can’t afford losing you! Do you understand?!” The voice expressed one thing intensively – agony. Why was it so agonized? Why would my loss affect it whatsoever? But I didn’t even question anything at that time, I just knew I couldn’t stop, I wasn’t allowed to stop. A while passed, to me though, it seemed like forever, a wave of icy wind peeled my skin off, immobilized me. I could feel my heart in my chest, beating so fast and hard it shook my entire ribcage. I was so cold, so cold I was unable to move, my system was shutting down.

“Come on, come on… you’re almost there!” The voice tried to sound reassuring, persuasive, but the concern was still there, hinting each and every word. I wanted to get up, to make myself move, but was completely unable. I looked up, only now did I realize I was climbing a hill, the terrain was uneven, rocks and projections stuck out. I must’ve travelled a decent distance from my house. I instinctively searched for light, I stared at the sky, but there was no moon, it was a moonless night. The stars provided light but it was trivial, insufficient, I was lost in the gloom.

Every move demanded so much energy – energy I did not have, even lifting my chest to breathe was a challenge. Every move caused me excruciating pain. I was slow, extremely slow, but I had to follow the voice’s instructions, I had to move! It felt like my limbs weren’t a part of my body anymore, I was so numb, and so cold my lips had turned purple. I somehow managed to extend an arm in front, to sink my fingers into the mud and drag myself forward. “Yes! Yes! Climb up. Come on!” the voice yelled, trying to push me, to help me.

I was quivering, my jaws vibrated. I kept on going though, pulled my functionless body forward with my hands, gripping on to the frozen mud. I started getting my senses back. I felt pain, unbearable pain, and I don’t know how or what made me clench my teeth and move on. It would be impossible to any ordinary person. I just kept on repeating the voice’s words in my disorientated mind. “You’re almost there!” I’m almost there, I thought to myself, over and over again. I’d covered a long distance, and this was a part of the forest I didn’t recognize even though I’d been running in these woods ever since I was a little girl. For the first time that night I felt fear. I felt something.

What was I doing? Why was I even listening to voices? Was I paranoid? Crazy? There was a decent chance I was mad. But I wasn’t.

I dragged myself forward. I was filthy, covered in mud, snow and greenery. The forest remained soundless, I could only hear myself, the dragging sound as I pushed myself in front planting my fingers in the dirt. My jaws vibrated uncontrollably, I was shaking. I suddenly stopped, unable to tolerate the iciness anymore. I slowly pulled my hand out of the soil. I stared at it. It was red and I couldn’t feel it. At all. Every part of me was shaking, blinking was hard, a great challenge.

“Don’t you stop… Please, we need you…” The voice was soft now, it had turned into a melody. A pleading melody. I couldn’t move, I could follow any more. “I can’t…” I weakly whispered, my eyelids falling shut. I couldn’t do it, I wanted to move so badly but just couldn’t.

I allowed my head to fall, my body to recoil, thinking that these were going to be my last moments. I was exhausted. I awaited death, I’d been exposed to the cold for too long, my body temperature had dropped dramatically, my body wasn’t responding. I was admitting defeat. Suddenly, I heard footsteps, heavy footsteps. I opened my eyes, lifting my head slightly. I couldn’t run away if someone was coming for me. I realized that, I realized I was trapped.

Then, I saw him. A young man, my age, pushing the snow covered bushes away. He extended his muscular arms towards me and grabbed me. He pulled me up. I hadn’t realized I’d managed to climb the cliff. I didn’t react to his foreign touch, I was too weak to.

He set me on my feet. Assuming I was stable enough, he let go of me and I smacked to the ground at once. “Woah, okay, you’re not walking tonight…” he murmured picking me up in his arms. I buried my face in his chest, touching my lips and nose on his shockingly warm body. A sound of relief left my mouth, the warmth soothed my pain.

Who was he? What did he want from me? What was he doing in the woods at night?

I didn’t bother questioning at that time, I was just so glad I wasn’t going to freeze to death. I was just so glad someone had found me even though I didn’t know his intentions. I found his heartbeat reassuring. His warmth soothing. He was well built, very muscular, his torso was rock hard. I could feel every sharp line of his body. Maybe that was why I had this feeling of security.

I opened my icy palms and touched them on his abdomen, a sound of relief escaped from my lips. “Little human…” I heard him commenting. Little human? Human?

He walked, his feet steady, his breathing even, and his arms securely around me. Where was he taking me? Fear started making its appearance. What was he planning to do with me? Even if I needed to run away I was incapable of it. If he wanted to harm me I had no strength to defend myself and I was so unable to flee. It scared me. The fact that I couldn’t do anything scared me. I relied on a stranger, a total stranger, and for someone like me, who never trusted anyone generally, it was a scary feeling, having to trust and rely on someone because of the circumstances.

I eagerly pressed my body against his absorbing the warmth, warmth I so desperately needed. His body radiated heat, lifesaving heat. I could breathe, I could breathe without any pain. My heart was still beating unnaturally fast but slower than before, before he had found me. Why did he even bother saving me? How had he managed to find me? Questions. Countless questions started forming in my head.

And suddenly, I realized something. Something that made my closed eyelids fly open. The voice. Where was the voice? Why wasn’t it talking to me? Why couldn’t I hear it anymore? I panicked and I started fighting his grip.

“What is it?” he enquired. He sounded confused.

“I have to leave! I have to go!” I squeaked. I was detectably nervous.

“Where?” he questioned sounding puzzled.

“The voice… I have to follow the voice…” I was murmuring at myself in that sudden rush of panic I was under.

“Oh, I can take you there…” he answered.

What? He could hear the voice too? I turned to look at him, shocked.

His eyes. In spite of the fact it was so dark, and even though the light was so poor I could see. They were green, but a green so unnatural. A green so… not human. The color of lime in the center and as you moved outwards neon green. The shock in my eyes must’ve been so obvious… Who was he? Or perhaps it would be better to say: What was he? Every joint in me tightened at that question and my heart raced immediately.

“Do you trust me?” he questioned. I swallowed hard while the picture of his eyes registered. What was he? I kept on asking myself over and over again, in fear of this… creature. Goosebumps travelled down my body and it wasn’t the cold… My breath had caught responsively, because of his intimidating green eyes.

I nodded, unable to swallow.

“I’m glad,” he said and turned his head in front, lifting me up in his arms again. “Because if you didn’t trust me I’d have to do this the hard way…” he muttered. I swallowed. The hard way?

He walked remaining silent. I’m not sure if what I felt was fear. I think my curiosity was greater. My interest and fear mixed together, creating an emotion I can hardly describe. I felt safe. For some inexplicable reason I felt safe being with a creature I couldn’t name. A creature I couldn’t label as “harmless” or “dangerous” and it was that that terrified me. On the other hand, I was so interested in knowing what he was; I wanted to determine whether he was harmless or dangerous for me. And in what way. A part of me screamed to run and another ordered me to stay.

My body was tight, it had instinctively tightened. He detected that. “We won’t harm you,” he reassured me, though I found no comfort in his words.

“Stop! Stop!” I said; my voice had returned, I could feel my lips; the words came out panicky.

“What?” he asked just sighing a little bit.

“I can walk. I can now,” I said, and pulled away, managing to jump out of his arms and smash into the snow with a thud. I figured out I couldn’t do it; I couldn’t trust him to carry me around.

He pulled me from my arm, setting me to my feet, lifting me with such ease as if I weighed as light as a feather. It was all so awkward, all so weird. “Walk. In front of me, don’t you run away,” he demanded and I obeyed. I hated it, knowing that he was behind me, that this creature might be planning to attack me and that I was unable to escape, that I was in such a frail position…

I wasn’t very happy about leaving his warmth but I felt better like this. I felt better being cold than to have him touching me. I preferred that. I breathed heavily and it wasn’t the wintry setting; it was because of him. I couldn’t help it. I was nervous. What did he want? Why was he following me so protectively?

I felt my heart beating wildly in my chest. Then I saw it. A glow. A blinding glow, just in front of me; a perfect sphere. The beautiful white light illuminated my surroundings. My breath caught in amazement. And suddenly my amazement gave way to fright; terror actually. I stared at the sphere as it rotated on spot, as it circled and circled unstoppably and realized that whatever was going on was completely unnatural. So eerie and mysterious.

I heard someone approaching, slowly and steadily. He stood beside me and only now did I realize how much bigger he was in comparison with me though I, myself, was a quite tall girl. He turned to look at me with those creepy, unearthly but yet attractive green eyes. His face once again mirrored no emotion, but wasn’t absolutely blank.

I glanced at the glowing sphere once again, it was slightly bigger than a car even though it sent out a pleasant wave of heat; I assumed being too close to it would be dangerous, the snow near it had melted forming little streams of water.

“What is this?” I asked in a mesmerized whisper, my eyes were out of their sockets. He turned to look at me again and I turned to look at him as well, the bewilderment was more than apparent in my gaze.

“If I were you I would try to make a run for it. Although there’s no point in that. It’s futile trying to run away from something inevitable…” he said, his tone – enigmatic.

There was a long pause. A moment of silence.

“You are the Chosen,” he said, his voice turned somehow melodic. I just stared at him. Confused, so totally confused.

Lost…