Shadows

Cold... It's so cold, what's going on? My body feels numb, yet there is this wet tightness gripping around my left arm and leg, a cold clutch spreading through my very being except for my right wing. Within this soft cold abyss, it's burning, creating a confusing equilibrium of sharp sensations keeping me somewhat aware... My head, its spinning, I'm not sure what to make of all this disorder, I just feel worn and tired, flaking just like the front of that bundle of stories. Will this chaos end so I can rest? Just for a little bit? Within this inferno of heat and cold, it is like my body itself is melting away, melding towards the quiet between.

"Khatryn..." Who?

"Khatryn.." Who's voice... it is calling a name.

"Khatryn." Oh, how could I forget, it's calling for me.

"Khatryn stay with me." It feels inviting, where else could I go?

Lights... small prickles of light chasing the shadows making way for a blurry image, A clock, a bathtub, a plate, more than countable books stacking one side of a wall in a lit room oppressed by a heavy dark door. Above me, a blue eye peering forth from a worn leather mask, messy black hair covering the rest of his unobscured features... His gaze... It gleams with care and worry. Harry, how could I, my head... through this hazing pain, I feel like I've forgotten something important what can it be? My left, it feels so unbearably heavy.

"I was getting really worried there, you would not wake up even when you looked to be in so much pain." Harry's large and warm hands are holding onto my right, clutching, yet caring, inescapable... Huh? Isn't that strange?

"What happened? What's going on? Why can't I move?" What is going on? My chest... it, it's tightening so much, I can't breathe.

"Khat, hold on, I'm here, you are fine, focus, deep breaths, remember, deep breaths." Heavy... breathe, focus, my chest, it's making me dizzy, the air a whiff of grass tufts like the times I've wandered through forests and green fields... Is it Harry, has he been outside recently?

"Feeling better?"

"Yeah, somewhat, I dunno, it's nothing." Is it just me or does the mattress feel softer than usual? Like I'm sinking into its embrace...

"It seems like you had a backlash during the night and your condition worsened. You probably feel confused, I'll give you a bit to gather yourself so just take your time." Right, I fell sick just before he came back didn't I? I started feeling a bit better after a few days then... then.

"You will stay with me right?" Besides my chest, I've been feeling strange, like hands tugging, tearing at my beating heart, like every worry I've ever felt during those empty streaks of lonely dread... all at once. Harry's gaze seems puzzled, always so kind.

"Of course I will, you are my reason in this world." Why am I asking? Of course, he would... Wait... huh? My tears, filling my eyes and nose, blurring his face into a silhouette, why am I crying? One of his hands, is it his left? Cupping my cheek as the thumb gently wiping the tears away with care. The blur is fading, herding his face back in focus but there is something strange, the shadows in the corners have grown longer, breaking from the walls like curious animals, circling the edges of the room, closing in... giving for a feeling, it is somewhat unplaceable what can it mean?

"Khatryn, hey, can you hear me?" Oh, the shadows returned to normal, whisking away this strange sense.

"Ah, sorry, thought I saw something strange. Sorry for worrying you." His arms, strong and embracing, warm yet... almost slightly faint?

"I won't ask, just worry about getting better." His voice vibrating through my left ear, the emotions right on his sleeve, caring, fatherlike, and his scent... pungent and metallic? The embrace is now wet and cold.

"H-Harry." Grip still firm liquid sliding down, sticking to my body.

"L-let go." The hold, it's loosening.

"Ah sorry, was I smothering you?" My god, he's drenched, from the edges of his coat to the tips of his unruly hair, coated in a dirty red. Giving me a look of confusion.

"Why are you looking so scared Khat? Are you seeing something in the room?"

"C-can't you tell?"

"What do you mean? Khat you're looking all pale." That hand, dirtied, dangerous... no, don't... Huh? Where is this strange light coming from? Peering through the wooden panels, the books, all without casting a single shadow, an ethereal light in the shape of a square peering through this room of ours.

"Shock." Who? Another disembodied voice? Concrete, rough around the edges.

"Make it?" Another one? Softer, more collected than the last, soothing.

"Should we do?" A third? Shaken up? Wait, this touch, a warm hand cupping my cheek again, as another finds itself placed on my forehead, its touch clam and sticky.

"You're burning up, you should get some rest while I get you some water and something to eat." Harry... Your eye, still so worried but somewhere deeper beneath something alien and chilling writhes.

"Harry..." He's turning around, head to toe still doused in that rusted color of death.

"Yes?"

"Why did you suddenly change?" His head tilting, noises of something slippery splashing against wood can be heard, is it beyond the door?

"What do you mean?" Wait... the door, swinging open revealing light, bright beams eating away at these now spectral surroundings.

These blinding rays are giving way for somewhere else, a brightly lit white room. On the right corner, an open window bringing in the scent of grass and blooming orchids, the folds and texture of the sheet, pillow, and mattress are incredibly soft, like it is sewn and filled with silk and feathers. But that's not all, outside of this harmonic enlivening sense of this strange space there are people, two strangers watching over me one which holds my right hand.