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?”