The Awakening

Everything had happened so fast.  My head was spinning, and I couldn’t remember what had happened.  “Brian!” I thought.  “I need to find Brian.”  Crawling over the ashes of the now destroyed cavern, I heard a faint whispering.  A whisper that chilled my bones.  I was frantic, crawling and scraping through the rubble till my hands bled.  “Brian!” I called, as the whispering grew louder and louder.  My head throbbed, and I was consumed in an overwhelming feeling of pain.  I knew who she was.  I knew what she had come for.  “No…...no, no, no, no, no!”  Searing pain clouded my vision, and I backed up against the cold, cavern wall.  “It’s just a dream.”  I thought to myself, “Just a dream.”  “Oh this most certainly is not a dream!”

Two weeks ago, I could have never imagined this happening, never seen it coming.  I was a normal person, well somewhat normal.  I was a professor at Harvard, with a doctorates degree in physics.  I usually kept to myself, and I really didn’t have any friends, except Brian.  Brian has been my best friend since as far as I can remember.  We grew up together, and just stuck with each other.  In high school, he became the popular kid, and I just stayed the same, geeky, just quietly hiding in the corner.  I was invisible, but I was fine with it.  The only friend I had ever had was Brian, and that was all I needed.  I was perfectly content in my own little world, not ever experiencing thrills or dangers, not ever taking risks, until an early night in September. 

“Come on Ashley,” called Brian.  “Hurry up.”  Somehow, Brian had convinced me to go repelling, and I was regretting my decision completely. 
“Brian, I think I forgot to mention something,” I called down to him.  “I’M AFRAID OF HEIGHTS.”  Suddenly, the rope holding my weight slipped from my hands and I fell.  “This is it.” I thought.  “This is how I’m going to die.  I’m going to hit the ground and burst.”  I closed my eyes and prayed to a God I had never believed in much that it would be quick and painless.  But I hit the ground sooner than I had thought.  “Why aren’t I dead?”  Opening my eyes, I looked up to see a hole in the ceiling of a giant cavern. 

“Ashley, are you OK?”  Brian called down to me, slowly ascending the steep walls. 
“I’m fine.” I replied, my head in a tizzy.  “Where are we?”  Looking around, at the back of the cavern, I saw a giant sculpture, completely made out of, what was that, marble?
“Oh no.” Brian said, and as my head started to clear, I saw it.  The sculpture was made out of skulls, real human skulls.  Then, a faint, almost songlike whispering filled my head, calming my now screaming head, but not my frantic body.  “Brian,” I called, almost unsteadily, “do you hear . . .”  Suddenly, a high pitched cackling filled the cavern, making my teeth chatter.  Screams snuffed out all the light and a feeling of pain, of evil enveloped my body.  I felt all the pain and suffering of the souls of the skulls, the poor people killed for sacrifices to this great evil.  I heard their screams, felt their cold, lifeless hands along my body dragging me closer to this unknown evil.  The cavern could bear the weight no longer, and the ceilings all collapsed, and it all went black.

I awoke tied to a wooden pike.  A metallic stench filled the room, and I realized it was blood.  I wriggled myself free of the loose ropes, and fell to my knees.  My head was spinning, and I couldn’t remember what had happened.  “Brian!” I thought.  “I need to find Brian.”  Crawling over the ashes of the now destroyed cavern, I heard a faint whispering.  A whisper that chilled my bones.  I was frantic, crawling and scraping through the rubble till my hands bled.  “Brian!” I called, as the whispering grew louder and louder.  My head throbbed, and I was consumed in an overwhelming feeling of pain.  I knew who she was.  I knew what she had come for.  “No…...no, no, no, no, no!”  Searing pain clouded my vision, and I backed up against the cold, cavern wall.  “It’s just a dream.”  I thought to myself, “Just a dream.”
“Oh this most certainly is not a dream!”

A beautiful woman in a billowing robe stood in front me, and I felt absolute peace, no aggression towards her.  She was gorgeous, and I mean knockout pretty.  She had long dark hair that reached her waist, and a long, black dress with a cloak over it.  She was beautiful, and there was no denying it, until I saw her eyes.  Black, soulless eyes filled her eye sockets, and I was consumed in the black, pitch of them.  She had no white, no pupil, to retina, just all black.  My head was screaming to leave, but my body was completely frozen.  A burning sensation filled my throat and I realized she was staring her way into my soul.  “No!” my body screamed.  I tore away from her wicked gaze and was now more frantic than ever to find Brian.  I started tearing through the cavern, now screaming his name.  “Oh, you mean him.” said the woman said, “He will make a wonderful addition to my collection, don’t you think?”  Moving aside, behind her was Brian.  I ran to him, fearful that he was dead.  I couldn’t feel a pulse, and I couldn’t tell if he was breathing.  “Oh come on Brian!” I thought.  “Don’t make me do this.”  But I had no choice.  I started CPR.  The first repulsion got him breathing, and with the second came a muffled groan.  “Keep breathing,” I whispered to him.  “I’m going to get us out of here.”  Then turning to the woman, I asked “Who are you?”
“Me?” she questioned.  “I am the Enchantress, the destroyer of men, maker of evil, and I am at your service.”

I stood there, puzzled over what she had just said. 
“You set me free, you released me from this horrible prison.  Your blood, from when you fell, released the spirits holding me, and I was free.”  I realized what I had done, and the world started to go black again.  “Would you like me to heal you?” the Enchantress asked, but not before I had answered.  Purple smokey cloud billowed out of her hands and towards me.  I was enveloped and screaming, but it suddenly was all drawn away, and I checked my hands.  I wasn’t bleeding, and there weren’t scabs or anything.  It looked as if nothing had happened.  My head didn’t hurt anymore, and I was able to see clearly.  “Maybe she isn’t so bad.”  I thought, until she started moving to Brian.  “Now, how shall I torture him first?  Cut his toes or his fingers?”  At that comment, I was snapped back into reality and realized I was going to have to take this witch down, with, or without Brian's help. 

While the Enchantress examined Brian, I searched the cavern for something I could defend myself with. “Salt”, I thought “Didn’t I read somewhere salt protected you from witches?”  I realized that may be the only chance I had.  I knew there wasn’t going to be any salt here, but there were plenty of minerals.  “Minerals have salt in them,” I knew this, so I started to work.  It was so hard for me to let Brian be touched and prodded by the witch of an Enchantress, but I knew I had to.  Moving to the side of the cavern, I worked on a wall, scraping with a rock till I had some sort of powder, and tasted it.  “It definitely tastes like salt.”  I thought.  I hurried and poured the powder into the canteen of water I had and thought out what I had to do next.  I knew what I had to do, but I didn’t like it. 

Silently approaching the Enchantress, I did my best not to make a sound.  I nudged a rock and it sent a whole pile of rocks skirting down the floor.  “Don’t turn around, oh please don’t turn around.”  Much to my excitement, she didn’t even flinch.  When I was close enough to her, I made my move.  I leapt into the air and grabbed her neck.  Uncapping the canteen, I grabbed her neck and tugged upward, forcing the liquid down her throat.  Almost immediately, she started to react.  The bottoms of her cloak started to smolder, quickly rising.  Rushing over to Brian I cradled his head in my lap, fearful of what was coming.  “Ahhhh,”  she screeched.  “What have you done?”  Holding Brians head, tears streamed down my face and I knew these were the last moments I would ever have.  The cavern enveloped in a purple,  smoky darkness and I knew this was the end.  “Brian,”  I tried to speak, but the words were ripped out of my throat.  Gasping for breath, I muttered the words, “I . . .  love  . . .  you…….”