Page 2 of The Raven

Death

The Raven

My lungs constricted as I bolted upright with a deep gasp. Desperate to suck in air, my fingers grabbed at my throat, trying to find whatever was wrapped around it, preventing me from breathing.

But nothing was strangling me.

Consumed with panic, my lungs finally expanded. Sharp pain like I was being stabbed with a thousand knives coursed through my body, once again taking my breath away. I fell onto my back, writhing around on the ground, and unable to stop the moans of torture escaping me.

“It gets easier,” a man said from somewhere nearby.

I tried to look around for the source, but my vision blurred from the tears stinging my eyes, and all I could make out were fuzzy shapes shrouded in darkness.

“Help…me,” I managed to croak, my voice hoarse.

“Deep breaths,” he replied calmly. “You’ll adjust to it.”

Why wasn’t he helping me, dammit?

Bile churned in my stomach and began inching its way up. Despite the excruciating pain, I somehow rolled onto my front and pulled myself onto all fours as my body heaved, expelling acid that burned my throat as I spat onto the floor.

But the suffering didn’t ease.

“What’s…happening?” I managed to get out between heaves.

“Your body is remembering.”

“Remembering…what?”

“What happened before you came here.”

His words didn’t make sense, and with the avalanche of anguish tearing through me, I couldn’t take a moment to ponder his meaning, not helped when another retching fit took over.

After several minutes, my body stopped heaving long enough for me to suck in several deep breaths, just like the man had told me to do. Slowly, the tension coiling inside me began to unfurl, the pain not going away, but rather, my body adapting to it.

“Where am I?” I said, shifting from all fours to sit with my back resting against a wall, and my legs stretched out in front of me.

Every muscle in my body ached like I’d run back-to-back marathons without a break, and without any food or water to keep me going.

“Some call it the in-between. Some call it nowhere. It doesn’t really matter what it’s called; it doesn’t change where we are,” the man replied cryptically.

Now that my vision was clearing, I shifted my gaze around, taking in the place around me. My confusion grew.

The derelict train station looked like it had been abandoned hundreds of years ago, if not longer.

Long weeds had overtaken the rusted tracks, and every window in the old ticket office were shattered.

The decaying brick walls were coated in thick, rotting ivy, and the gut-churning stench of mold hung in the air.

Wherever this place was, night had fallen, and the only source of light shining was from the bright moon high in the sky. As my eyes scanned my surroundings, they landed on an old man with hair as white as snow. He watched me from where he sat on a bench, intrigue covering his face.

“Who are you?” I asked, his ambiguous answer to my last question already forgotten.

He chuckled softly, standing from his seat and grabbing a walking stick that had been leaning against the bench.

“It’s always the same questions. Where am I?

Who are you? How did I get here?” he said, putting his weight on the stick as he limped over to me.

“Let me ask you a question. Why are you here?”

I frowned at his line of questioning. Not because he didn’t answer me, but because when I tried to recall my last memory before waking up here, there was nothing but a black hole.

“I…I don’t remember,” I replied, shaking my head.

Nothing made sense, and with the throbbing at my temples, I couldn’t think straight to even begin making sense of what the hell was going on.

The man gave me a sad smile, pity filling his eyes. “It’s a common symptom, especially for those who have suffered severe trauma.”

A whirlpool of dread instantly swirled in my stomach when I met his gaze, and an ominous feeling settled in the marrow of my bones. Something bad had happened to me. I didn’t know how I knew, but I knew, without any uncertainty.

His statement didn’t answer where I was, though. Or who he was.

Reaching me, he stopped and towered over where I sat in a quiet stupor, desperately trying to remember…anything.

Now he was closer, I could make out his features in more detail.

Dark spots marred his face like he’d sat out in the sun for too long, and bushy white brows matched the same tone as his short hair.

A light smatter of silver stubble graced his cheeks and chin, and the skin around his eyes was wrinkled with age.

But his eyes captivated me. Deep brown eyes with light flecks of pure gold stared down at me, piercing me with such intensity, it was as if the man was peering into my soul and watching every day that I had lived.

In that moment, I couldn’t tear my gaze away from him. I was trapped under his scrutiny, helpless but to expose my deepest, darkest secrets to him. After what felt like an eternity, he blinked, releasing me from his hold. My body slumped in relief, my muscles aching more than I thought possible.

“Raven.”

My brows furrowed. “How…how do you know my name?”

“I know many things, Raven. But our time together is limited, and there are more important things to discuss.”

Summoning strength from deep within, I slowly got to my feet, nausea swimming from how much it hurt to make the simple move. “At least tell me your name,” I said when I was face-to-face with him.

“My name is Osiris, but you can call me Oz,” he replied, bowing his head.

In the darkest recesses of my brain, the name sounded familiar, but I didn’t know why. I couldn’t remember ever meeting him before now.

“Oz. Please tell me what’s going on. won’t lie, I’m beginning to freak out a bit.”

He gave me another sad smile, taking a step forward and closing the distance. “Raven, I want to help you, but you need to know that for me to help, it will mean facing more suffering than what you are already experiencing. Are you sure you can handle that?”

Frustration swamped me, adding to the myriad of emotions my exhausted body was already drowning in. “Please stop talking in riddles, Oz. Just tell me what is going on.”

He exhaled deeply, his eyes visibly turning a shade darker while the gold flecks grew brighter.

“I can’t tell you, Raven. But I can show you.

” He reached up and placed his hands on either side of my head, holding me still.

“And once you’ve seen the truth, you will have a choice to make.

A choice as to whether you go back or move forward. ”