Altered Dimension

It was the first time in a while that I could feel anything. It definitely wasn’t the most pleasant feeling, but it was something. My face, my skin, it felt warm. Hot. It was tightening around my bones and muscles as I breathed. I felt a slight wind caress my cheeks. My hair danced across my forehead and I smelt the faintest scent of grass. Then, I remembered. It was like an explosion went off in my head. The screams. The blood. The bombs. The soldiers fighting. My life getting ripped from my fingers. The pure terror and anger. It all flooded over me in an instant of realization. I fought for control of myself as I began flailing out. Part of me wanted to jolt up and kill everything in my path while the other half wanted me to just lie there and hope a stray bomb came my way. My thoughts were soon turned aside when I heard someone sigh near me.

I shot my eyes open and became blinded by the bright light in the sky. Sun. I haven’t seen that in a while. Nor felt it. That must have been the burning sensation I felt on my face. Sun burn. I wondered how long I’d been out here. I slowly lifted my right arm to block the sun from my adjusting eyes. Pain of my torn muscles darted through my arm. I was taken by surprise and let out a small yelp as I cradled my body. “I thought you were dead.” I heard a raspy voice say. It then cleared its throat. “You’ve been lying there a while. Not moving. Getting red. If I’d known you were alive I would have killed you, but I guess it’s too late now.” I turned my head to face the being that this threatening voice came from. “I’ve grown used to your company.” I looked to my right and sure enough, about fifteen feet away, a person sat, staring out to the sea. *The sea*.

“Where the hell am I?” I found myself saying and immediately regretted my outburst. I saw him blink slightly. Clearly he was startled by my outburst as well. He took a deep breath as he closed his eyes for a moment. His brown hair swayed across his face and neck as the wind blew. I immediately felt like a peasant looking up to a God. He was wearing what looked to be a thick, black compressions suit. A dark grey armor covered his vital extremities; neck, shoulders, torso, arms, elbows, wrists, lower-back, thighs, knees and calves. It seemed to be more metallic now that the sun was glistening off of it, creating ribbons of light dancing among the grass. On his hands were these thick black gloves that were accented in grey. Black steal-toed boots covered his feet and stood out boldly next to the fresh green grass. He was sitting with his left leg stretched out in front of him with his other bent slightly to his chest and his arms placed behind him to support himself up.

“I’m guessing you’re upset by the sea?” He asked in a soothing tone. I felt myself nod my head as he opened his eyes. He picked up a twig from next to him and threw it down the steep cliff we were on that was towering over the ocean. “Maui.” He stated as he placed his hand back next to him and looked at me. I felt my heart jump into my throat and stop.

“Maui.” I repeated to myself in clear astonishment.

“Yerp.” He said as he leaned his cheek onto his right shoulder. I flopped back down to the grass and started breathing heavily. Panting. There suddenly wasn’t enough air to fill my lungs. Maui? I remembered coming here once or twice. It took separate plane rides. One two hour flight out of Niagara International and a twelve hour one from Chicago. What the hell was I doing all the way out here?

I began to hear a small sobbing sound. I looked around frantically to see where it was coming from when I realized that it was coming from me. I was so scared that I was crying, throwing myself into a panic attack. I brought my hands up to my face and wiped away the salty tears that were stinging the wounds on my cheeks. When I took my hands away I was startled by the man now standing over me. “Have you killed anyone?” He stated slowly. I intertwined my hands as I stared, horrified. I shook my head slowly and saw him close his eyes in frustration. “I’m guessing that’s your parent’s blood on your face?” My heart started beating again. Fast. He aimed his left hand at me. I was confused for a moment as to what he was doing, but then I saw the gun. My heart pounded into my throat. Months ago I would have done anything to know that I was alive. But now, I wanted to rip my heart from its cage and give it to this God as a peace offering. “You’re useless to me at this point.” He spoke in a cold tone. I closed my eyes. A few seconds later I heard a clicking sound. I swallowed the scream that I was keeping inside of me and began thinking of everything. Everyone that I loved. I felt him dig his hand gun into my temple. Emotions flooded me and I wanted nothing more but for him to pull that trigger. “Any last requests?” He asked.

“Shoot me.” I felt his hesitation through his gun.

“What?”

“Shoot me.” I said, pronouncing every letter. I could feel his expression change from disgust to interest.

“Why?”

“I have nothing left. No one to go back to. My parents are dead. My friends are dead. Everything I knew is gone. I want to die so I can forget all of this.” I sat there, squinting my eyes shut as I waited for an eternity. I was on the verge of tears again and held back a wavering sob.

“What if I told you that, if you die, you wouldn’t forget any of this?” I opened my eyes at his question and stared up at him. The gun was slowly lowered from my head as he studied my face.

“How would you know?” I felt the bitterness of those words on my tongue as they left my
mouth. A blank expression crossed his face as he stared down to me.

“I was never born.” I blinked a few times at his response as a cloud skidded overhead and blocked the sun. My eyes adjusted to the lack of brightness and I was able to see his face for the first time. His eyes were what struck me the most. They were a blue. A deep, deep blue mixed with a dark green. Just like the ocean. He quickly fell out of his trance and turned around. He took long strides away from me as he tucked his arm behind his head with his gun rested against his shoulder blade pointing to the ground. I decided to call to him before he got too far.

“Why didn’t you shoot me?” I saw him stop in mid-step and turn his body slightly towards me so I could hear him.

“Because you’re the first coherent human I’ve seen in a long while and I need someone to keep me company. Now, hurry up. I’m not waiting around for you.” Without hesitation, I jolted up and darted over to him. Every step I took felt like I was ripping my muscles apart. Excruciating pain filled my calves and thighs. It pounded down to my bones and made me collapse to my knees at his feet as I approached him. I bowed my head.

“Can I ask a question?” I pondered, staring at the grass. I was panting as the pain was sending waves through my body, causing me to tremble.

“Sure.” He shot to me.

“Who are you?” I asked as I looked up at him. His eyes shifted, and now they seemed to be filled with sorrow. The blue in them seemed to grow as wide as the ocean as the cloud disappeared and the sun returned to us.

“As of right now, your savior.” Those words hit me like a brick, smashing my being in two. I tasted its chalkiness on my tongue as I looked to my hands before me, holding my pathetic self up. I wasn’t worthy to even be in his presence. I felt him tap me a few times on my shoulder with his gun. “Come now. Get up. We have a long walk ahead of us.” I got up once more but was again knocked over by the pain. I buried my head into the grass to cover my face.

“Just go. I can’t…I can’t do it. I can’t walk. It hurts.” I whimpered. I heard him sigh tiredly above me, clearly losing patience.

“Woman. You’re going to be the death of me.” He said in a childish voice. I felt two hands under my arms and all of the sudden I was yanked to my feet. My muscles ached under my waist and I felt my eyes water up. “We’re going to have to go back to base. I’ll keep you in my room so no one kills you. They don’t take kindly to your species anymore but if you’re with me, you’ll be safe. You need to rest. Eat. Drink. You need to heal yourself. You’re too weak to be out here. They’ll kill you without thinking twice. Now, what’s your name?” My face was drained of its color. All my blood was now rushing to my heart, causing it to grow wings. Why was he saving me? Like he said, they’d kill me instantly, so, why save me? And what did he mean by my species? That didn’t make any sense. None of this made any sense. I could only muster up enough strength to ask the one question that did make sense to me.

“Why? Why are you doing this?” For a moment, I though I saw the slightest hint of a smile appear at the corners of his mouth, but it vanished as quickly as it came.

“I already told you. It gets pretty lonely being by yourself all the time. I need someone to keep me company. Now come. My human form is growing wary in this heat.” An instant later I was thrown over his left shoulder. “I’ll carry you there. I don’t mind.” Aside from his generosity, one thing still plagued my mind. *Human form*. “And you never told me your name.” He startled my thought process and I hurried to find the answer.

“Raven.” I said softly. I heard him hum slightly.

“Raven…that’s interesting.” I felt my cheeks flush as I looked back to where we came from. The cliff was a clear ninety degree drop to the ocean. Rocks were piled at the bottom. The grass was a rich, summer green. So fresh. So bright. Especially when the sun reflected off of it. I found the spots where we sat. The grass was bent and pressed to our positions. But what startled me the most was the bodies that lined the tropical forest only yards from where I was. Normally I would have been freaked out by that sight but now, I didn’t even care. It was a normalcy for me. Too much has happened for me to care anymore. I was a walking being of emptiness. Well, actually, since I couldn’t even walk, I was just a being of emptiness. Nothing could ever fill me. “Now do you see why I thought you were dead?” He again took me away from my thoughts. I was growing used to his voice now. The weird, deep tone of it. It relaxed me.

His hand wrapped tightly around my legs and a stinging sensation filled my calves, but I wasn’t about to make him stop. I was becoming used to the pain. It was a constant reminder that I was unfortunately alive. “I’m Erik.” He spoke. I rested my head onto his shoulder blade. I now knew my savior’s name. Erik. But as I looked down at the rest of his back and saw blood staining his metal armor, I rearranged my previous statement in my mind. He’s not my savior. He’s a killer. A murderer. Now I see why he thought I was dead. He tried killing me. He’s my murderer.

And my murderer’s name is Erik.