There was supposed to be a bright light. That's what they always say, right? A bright light at the end of the tunnel? That's a lie filled with false hope.

If there was a light, it only lasted for a brief second. A tiny pinpoint in the eternity of time. That's what it felt like, at least. That is, before everything went to black and all the pain faded from my body. 

I floated in the vastness of nothing. Just darkness and silence.  

Just as I settled into the nothingness, I could start to hear distant voices surround me, some that sounded of whispers in the wind, and others that seemed more rushed and direct. The sound climbed from the silence to a clambering calling. There was, however, one voice that managed to pierce through the increasing pandemonium.

"You can't have her!" The voice held a hint of desperation, almost anger. "It's not her time. I refuse to let you have her."

I followed that voice through the void. Floating in some senseless direction until it became louder and clearer. It was a one-sided argument, his voice being the only one I could understand. The longer I followed his voice, however, the surrounding whispers, murmurs, and calls also grew louder and busier to the point they all blurred together to create this abstract static of noise.

"Terra?" The voice I followed cut through once more.

And that's when I finally took a breath. One large gasping breath, my lungs desperate for air. My eyes popped open, but only for a split second. Those static voices came back, but now I could hear them as the nurses and doctor surrounding me.

None of them belonged to the voice that brought me back.

I tried to open my eyes again, but the blinding light blurred my vision. I could only see the figures of those who surrounded me, there was some spotlight above where I was laid out, and I could tell I was in some sort of room. I assumed it was some hospital or medical facility, based on the beeping monitors behind me and the metallic clanking of tools I occasionally heard.

"I can't control her fate, and neither can you."

My eyes shot towards the direction of the voice. It was the one. I opened my mouth to attempt to call out to that voice, but I could only manage a croak in the back of my throat that tickled my vocal chords enough to induce a coughing fit. The nurses urged for my rest. If I could not speak to the owner of that voice, I'd be damned if they would hold me back from seeing who it belonged to.

But my brain was still quite foggy.

In the back of the room, behind all the nurses and doctor, my eyes could make out a blurred vision of two people standing by the door. The owner of that voice seemed to glow. Or maybe that was just the fog infecting my vision. One thing was certain, however, he had red streaks and splotches all over his clothes, arms, and face. His figure was blurry to me, but I could've sworn it looked like blood stains. 

The other person he was talking to sent absolute chills down my spine. One glance was all I cared to see. That other person, if it even was a person, was the void I was just in. It had the shape of a person standing by the other guy, but it was just a shadowy static blur of nothing. And then it spoke, "Count your days, Marvik. You, nor the girl, can run from me forever." Its voice boomed throughout the room, but the rushed movements of the nurses did not cease.

I shut my eyes and laid my head back, but I could still see it in the darkness behind my eyelids. It was only then that I felt the tears rolling down my cheeks. In the quietest whisper I could muster, I pleaded out to the nurses around me. "Please, help me. Make it go away."

The nurses' responses didn't matter. I knew they were doing their best. I dared to open my eyes again. The void was gone, but the other guy remained. He leaned back against the door now, his hands holding his head up. I couldn't explain why, but I wanted to talk to him. I needed to talk to him. Something scratched at the back of my brain. He had the answers I sought to fulfill. 

"Marvik," I whispered the name out, but just as it left my lips, I felt the darkness tug at me again. I tried to fight it. I had yet to focus on gaining feeling back to my limbs, and the extra little prick to my arm didn't matter until I realized the nurses sticking my flesh and prodding at me. 

I didn't want to sink to the depths of nothingness again. Fear of the unknown and if that void would find me again began to enter my foggy mind. I was not strong enough, though. My determination fell just short of the temptation to let go again. Even if I weren't to delve into the void again, my body gave out and I was left with my trust being held by some guy I didn't know in the back of the room. 

Before I slipped back under, I saw him whip his head up from his hands. My vision had still been blurred, but I could clearly see confusion smacked across his face as he took a few steps towards the bed.

"What?" He asked, not so much as a question towards me, but what seemed like genuine shock. "Can you see me?"

"Marvik, help," I tried the whisper again, but my eyelids became too heavy and I melted into the mattress, unable to seek out further guidance.

There was one final expressive response from Marvik that cut through the noise of the room before I passed out fully.

"Oh shit."

And then, once again, the blankness and still of nothing. 

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Total word count: 1,013