by Eddy G Mora – © 2024 Eddy Mora – All Rights Reserved.
When Avril opened her bloodshot eyes, the sand blurring her vision felt like jagged boulders. As if looking through a murky glass, the faint shadows of her hands moving in front of her face confirmed that something had happened to her eyes. She tried to move, but the pain on her side reminded her why she was there. Grief overcame her as she remembered attempting to save the girl, but their separation was inevitable. As her hands desperately tried to find solid ground, Avril found comfort in feeling the sand beneath her. In the least, she was not free-falling any longer. A vague memory of the sound of the second blast and the feeling of her arms being pulled by someone created a space for fear. “Please don’t let it be him.”
The burning in her arm and neck reminded her how her body had morphed into something unknown. It was as if the universe had exploded inside and around her into a new galaxy, a new black hole, a new star, a new beginning. Her molecules had danced and swapped, fusing into one with an essence, not hers. The third blast divided her through time and space as her blood trailed in an endless thread from her side. Free-falling, she had drifted into the dark space of nothingness.
The intense heat of the desert sun woke her from her dream. Attempting to open her eyes, the burning pain intensified. Her body twisted into a horrid, dizzy spell as she felt her temperature rising. The peaceful silence embracing her assumed the memory of another place and time. She realized she wasn’t home; possibly another time, not her own, and perhaps another forsaken space.
Through her distorted vision, she saw only an expansive space populated by unending dunes as far as the horizon. Not knowing where to go, her instinct told her she had to move. Her legs gave in momentarily as she tried to get up. The sun’s burning heat on her exposed face warned her of the imminent danger of dehydration. Struggling, she followed a path with no direction, hoping to find either a glimpse of hope or fate.
The night began to settle once more. She had kept count of days by counting the night—once, twice, thrice—then a flickering light appeared. The light had seemed unmoveable until it jumped to another place. Avril realized it probably was a carbuncle, a night creature she had known since childhood, a light she could safely follow. With the insect, hope had become visible once more.
The bright lights of tall buildings made it impossible to focus as Avril confronted the towering city before her. She had walked endlessly through the sandy desert, and now, in front of what she thought was a mirage, the feeling of being lost at another time cut as deep as the pain on her side. Half blind and unable to go further, she stumbled through dark alleys, attempting to remain invisible. Her instinct told her this place could be antagonistic. As the pain in her body intensified, she started feeling nauseous, and soon darkness overtook her as she collapsed.
A woman stooped over her with curiosity. Concern grew when the woman saw the wound on the girl’s side. Avril heard the commotion of voices as the woman called for help. Curious bystanders slowly gathered. Avril tried to open her eyes. It was all a mix of blurred lights, people, sounds, and whispers. She had no other choice but to give in and trust. The woman bent over to say, “Help is on the way, my dear. What happened to you? Please hang in there a little bit longer. “
The dark silhouettes pulled her out of the trash and tore through the remains of her burnt clothes to clean her wound. The sting of liquid and the pressure as the medics tried to help her made her come back to full consciousness.
“Where am I?” She said with difficulty.
“You will be fine, Miss. We are here to help you,” said the reassuring voice.
“I can’t stay, ” she mumbled as she felt her body elevated and put in the ambulance. “I have to go find Ayan.”
The race to keep the girl alive was pressing as her body, badly burned and wounded, began to convulse before she reached the hospital. The significant loss of blood had her in a balance between life and death. Nurses and doctors rushed to help stop the bleeding and in an attempt to keep her on this side of life. The ER doctor in charge of examining the girl noticed something peculiar. Her blood type was unknown, but second, as time passed, the surface of her skin tissue seemed to change, regenerating faster than any human being. Not trusting his judgment, he requested that the authorities be involved and samples be analyzed immediately.
When Avril awakened, the hospital room reminded her of a time filled with wonder, fear, and uncertainty, but she could not remember why or where. Avril noticed that the man standing outside her window was not a doctor. He was wearing a black uniform. The man’s voice rang in her ears: “She is awake, sir,” she heard him say. A minute later, doctors and nurses stormed in and began to check their monitors and ask her questions. It was all an unusual interrogation of sorts. Who are you? Where do you come from? How did you get here?
All she could say was, “I don’t know. I don’t know.”
She felt a rush of something foreign in her arm. A moment later, everything vanished into darkness.
People coming in and out of her room woke her from her sleep. They were government people this time. She recognized their military uniforms. News of the unusual girl had already leaked, and people from the press were also attempting to enter her room. She could hear their voices in the distance and make out some of their conversations. She knew they were talking about her. Their voices showed some sense of urgency. “Who is she? Is she foreign? Where was she found? Can you comment on her? How long was she missing? Is she from an alien source? ” The reporters asked.
“Commander, the girl is awake, ” another voice said.
“Gentlemen, I don’t know what you have heard, but she is simply a girl who was found injured. We will let you know more about it as we know more. Now, let us do our job,” the commanding voice said.
He entered the room and started the interrogation again.
As the days went by, slowly, Avril felt her body healing. Her pain had subsided, and her vision had returned. She had a sense of danger. The potential of becoming a subject of study or, worse, a dissected display in some god-forsaken place seemed imminent. Laying in her bed, she pretended to sleep when nurses came to check on her. Overwhelmed by the constant scrutiny, she decided it was time to leave. She waited until the guard would temporarily leave his post. She got up and disconnected her IV. Slowly, she got a gown to cover herself. She opened the door, squeezed through it, and walked past the nurse station. The sound of people reminded her of another time she would listen to voices, perhaps when ill or bedridden. Having made it through the first door, she exited through another double door and down the stairs to the main exit.
The world outside the hospital came alive as she stepped onto the street. Avril observed the spectacle with admiration. Motor cars roared as they passed, moving people rushing to get somewhere, standing people going nowhere, and there was an endless splash of bright lights. The long strip of shops, windows, and signs brought to mind the movies and photos she had seen at her place of origin. She had never seen it firsthand until now. Hookers and pimps called on her. Some of the girls mocked her appearance. The hospital gown accentuated her shaven head, making her look like a girl out of a psychiatric ward. People stared with curiosity. Avril ignored them all as she kept walking. Limping from the still-open wound on her side, she sat down in a corner. A wave of dizziness overwhelmed her; closing her eyes, she passed out.
“Hello, sleepy head,” said the young nurse, massaging Avril’s arms and legs, “you have been sleeping for days. Your body needed it to recover. Now you need movement.”
“Where am I?”
“Phoenix City Hospital,” the nurse replied.
“Phoenix?”
“Arizona. Somehow, you walked through the desert and ended up here.” said the nurse. “Everybody has been interested in you. You are quite a celebrity. “
“Why so?”
“Your blood tests show you might have an interesting constitution and perhaps a fascinating identity. But I cannot say more because I could get into trouble,” the young nurse said.
“Someone will come to help you in a little while; in the meantime, you have to stay put and rest. Would you like something to eat?”
“Sure.”
Avril tried to move. Her left hand was attached to the bed with handcuffs. An older nurse entered the room, checked her vitals, and informed Avril she would leave the hospital in a few days. She asked her a series of questions, which Avril could not fully answer, then left as quickly as she had come. Avril noticed the woman’s fear on her face.
As the days passed, many people made it to her room. She never saw the same person twice. The police commissioner had come to ask her questions about her past, her present, and her health. She did not know what to say, could not remember much, and the little she remembered was vague. It was the truth, and she decided that if she were to remember, she would keep most of it to herself.
The day the cuffs were removed, a short, stout woman introduced herself as a social worker. She informed Avril about a foster family who had agreed to keep her until they located her parents, who, according to the woman, were traced to some small town in the Midwest. The woman helped Avril with clothes she had brought, which were not entirely her size but would have to do.
The trip to the foster home was short but stressful. She did not know what a foster home was or what to expect. She felt the urgent need to escape, but she didn’t. The chaos of other children’s voices overwhelmed her as she entered the home. After meeting the parents, Avril was shown to a small room filled with bunk beds where other girls, apparently residents, were working on their hair. The girls looked at her with curiosity but kept on with what they were doing, ignoring her. After settling down in one of the bunk beds, she fell asleep.
The thunder woke her up in the night, causing the house to tremble. She felt a sense of familiarity briefly before realizing she had been dreaming. In her dream, she found herself inside a clear glass tube surrounded by a coiling snake made of liquid. Relieved to wake up and realize it was just a vivid dream, she tried to go back to sleep but with no success.
Curled in the dark corner of the bunk bed, she felt a surge of energy flowing through her body, which she attributed to the storm. In the darkness, as she listened to the other girls breathing and softly snoring in their sleep, Avril suddenly felt a sense of uniqueness and fearlessness. Despite the lack of light, she found it fascinating that she could see every detail in the room. If someone had seen her then, they would have noticed that Avril’s eyes were glowing red, resembling those of a wild animal waiting for its prey in the dark.