I felt my body twitch, then took a moment to ponder the strangeness of that.
No, not the twitch. The fact that I felt my body. And, on second thought, I wasn't sure I had even had a body for the last...long expanse of time. Huh. Well, only one thing to do, I suppose.
I took a deep breath and opened my eyes, looking up to see a disheveled man whose hand was gushing blood. I then glanced down at myself, making sure that I, well, existed, and noticed something rather crucial.
I existed, but my clothes certainly did not.
I sat up and made some attempt to cover myself, inadvertently blurting, "What the..."
I gazed into her eyes. I felt a deep sense of completeness spread throughout my body. This is my calling. This was why I had decided to lead them. She was alive. And breathing.
My face was scruffy and my posture was relaxed and I had dangerous look in my eye. I reached into the pocket of my dufflebag and drew out the dress and sandals I had purchased that night in Calcutta and handed it to her.
"I'm Wesley Pryce. This is the middle of nowhere. And you were dead but now are alive."
I paused. And I heard a noise from far behind me.
"Dress and come with me if you want to live." I said turning my head to see what it was.
In the distance I heard the scratch and rattle of the chains of the demons that had been exiled here slowly catching our scent as they began to run in our direction. Even from this distance of several hundred yards I could see down in the gloom the reflected light off of their scales and armor.
Wow, um, okay. This one's got an aura like I've never seen before. Kinda...unhinged. Gonna have to tread carefully here.
And I was dead? I guess that makes sense, in a very, uh, abnormal way. I can probably thank him for my being alive again, though from the sounds of the things coming towards us, I'm not sure I want to. I didn't know where I was, but I didn't remember pain. It was peaceful, at least.
As I slipped into the clothes he'd brought, another thought occurred to me. Why would this man, this stranger I'd never met, want me alive badly enough to, by the looks of it, cut his fingers off? Who was I that I was so important? I mean, I knew who I was, who I am, but my memories were very fuzzy.
But those are questions that should wait until we're not running for our lives.
"Okay, Mr. P-pryce, uh, Wesley. L-let's get out of here."
I removed the remainder of the shaped explosives and their pressure-detonators from my dufflebag and set them on the floor in a broad arc between us and the pursuing demons. The sound of their pursuit became louder and the dull clanging of the alarm sounded through the complex. I nodded to her confidently.
It was a simple alarm, a single bronze bell shaped like a concave shield. I gazed over her form. She looked entirely healthy with no trace of the bullet wound to the torso that had taken her life those many years ago. Then again I had not thought to look for the scar.
I nodded to her and my hand lightly touched her at the elbow as I led her down through one of the stone corridors. In the distance was the cool light of the ice field that this corridor terminated on.
My mouth dropped open a bit as he took all kinds of high-tech gadgets out of his bag. I wouldn't know the first thing about how to handle those things, or even what they were. Oh well, I had no choice but to trust that he knew what he was doing and that we'd make it out of here alive.
As we entered a stone hallway, I looked around at my surroundings. What on earth was this place? My memories might've been unclear, but I was pretty sure I'd never been here before.
"So, uh, Wesley, do we have t-time for me to ask questions, or would that d-distract you from keeping us alive?"
The surroundings were short cut blocks of stone fitted tightly into each other forming a corridor about ten feet wide and ten feet tall. The floor was polished smooth while the walls were rougher and the ceiling jagged with stone work.
The demons began pouring down the far end of the hallway from where we had entered and began running towards us. We still had thirty feet to go until daylight and relative safety.
"We have time for questions as long as you feel comfortable running for your life at the same time."
Comments 11
No, not the twitch. The fact that I felt my body. And, on second thought, I wasn't sure I had even had a body for the last...long expanse of time. Huh. Well, only one thing to do, I suppose.
I took a deep breath and opened my eyes, looking up to see a disheveled man whose hand was gushing blood. I then glanced down at myself, making sure that I, well, existed, and noticed something rather crucial.
I existed, but my clothes certainly did not.
I sat up and made some attempt to cover myself, inadvertently blurting, "What the..."
Reply
My face was scruffy and my posture was relaxed and I had dangerous look in my eye. I reached into the pocket of my dufflebag and drew out the dress and sandals I had purchased that night in Calcutta and handed it to her.
"I'm Wesley Pryce. This is the middle of nowhere. And you were dead but now are alive."
I paused. And I heard a noise from far behind me.
"Dress and come with me if you want to live." I said turning my head to see what it was.
In the distance I heard the scratch and rattle of the chains of the demons that had been exiled here slowly catching our scent as they began to run in our direction. Even from this distance of several hundred yards I could see down in the gloom the reflected light off of their scales and armor.
Reply
And I was dead? I guess that makes sense, in a very, uh, abnormal way. I can probably thank him for my being alive again, though from the sounds of the things coming towards us, I'm not sure I want to. I didn't know where I was, but I didn't remember pain. It was peaceful, at least.
As I slipped into the clothes he'd brought, another thought occurred to me. Why would this man, this stranger I'd never met, want me alive badly enough to, by the looks of it, cut his fingers off? Who was I that I was so important? I mean, I knew who I was, who I am, but my memories were very fuzzy.
But those are questions that should wait until we're not running for our lives.
"Okay, Mr. P-pryce, uh, Wesley. L-let's get out of here."
Reply
It was a simple alarm, a single bronze bell shaped like a concave shield. I gazed over her form. She looked entirely healthy with no trace of the bullet wound to the torso that had taken her life those many years ago. Then again I had not thought to look for the scar.
I nodded to her and my hand lightly touched her at the elbow as I led her down through one of the stone corridors. In the distance was the cool light of the ice field that this corridor terminated on.
Reply
As we entered a stone hallway, I looked around at my surroundings. What on earth was this place? My memories might've been unclear, but I was pretty sure I'd never been here before.
"So, uh, Wesley, do we have t-time for me to ask questions, or would that d-distract you from keeping us alive?"
Reply
The demons began pouring down the far end of the hallway from where we had entered and began running towards us. We still had thirty feet to go until daylight and relative safety.
"We have time for questions as long as you feel comfortable running for your life at the same time."
Reply
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