Chapter 3 - Changed world

I shook away those horrible thoughts and I began to look around my room. Finally, taking in the magnificence of it. "Was I even in a hospital?" The room was quite spacious. My bed was luxurious compared to most hospital beds I've seen. There were no wires connected to me and no beeping to indicate I was alive. The floor was carpeted and the bathroom looked large. The TV the doctor had turned on was large, spanning about sixty-five inches. The lights were not as bright compared to when I first awoke, but their shimmer added a nice ambiance that gave me a familiar sensation of peace. 

"Where am I?"

I couldn't help but mumble thoughts out loud. Was I really that depressed and sad I couldn't even assess my situation this past week? My pain had been so excruciating and my will to live without my family had been so low that I missed all of this around me. Finally taking it all in, I felt these new pieces of information truly brought me joy. 

Wait.

I paused and couldn't help but shudder from what just crossed my mind. Was this his power, the glow and pulse that instantly calmed my nerves? Was this some type of antidepressant?

That made the most sense, what else could it be? What a scary power. Does this trial give humans such powers? Could I maybe be able to do something like this? No, I couldn't get my hopes too high. What about my family? I felt confused. I truly wanted to mourn them, yet I no longer felt sad. 

Rather than let my thoughts consume me, I decided to attempt to get out of bed. Lifting my leg I slowly and carefully stood up. I felt fine. No pain, or ache, or tremor occurred. "I was fine!", I thought excitedly. Standing tall, I looked around the room. I noticed a desk and a nice chair, a night lamp, and a closet to boot. This was truly a novel experience. 

I took a step forward and when no pain occurred, I was dumbfounded. There was even a little bounce in my step. I noticed a mirror in the bathroom, so I made my way over there. I truly felt like no harm had transpired in my body. Stepping in front of the mirror, I was confronted with a monstrosity. It felt so out of place that I reeled back attempting to protect myself from the mirror monster. I was horrified, goosebumps quickly manifested on my skin and I felt cold. 

"This is me?"

The first thing I noticed was my skin. It didn't look like skin anymore. It was shiny in places, tight and stretched in others, as if my face had been melted and crudely reshaped. Deep red patches covered parts of my cheeks, while other areas were darker, almost black like charcoal burned past recognition. I lifted a hand to touch my jaw, but the ridges of scar tissue felt alien under my fingers as if I were exploring someone else's face.

My lips tugged into an expression I didn't intend, warped by scar tissue that refused to move the way it should. The left side of my face pulled tighter than the right, twisting my mouth into a grimace. I couldn't tell if I looked angry, sad, or just...broken.

My nose was barely there anymore, crooked and misshapen, with one nostril almost collapsed. I leaned closer, and the mirror betrayed the faint, shiny webs of blood vessels beneath my scarred skin. I caught a glimpse of my eyes, or rather, what was left of them. My right eye was milky and dull, the lid unable to close completely, while the other stared back at me, bloodshot and tired, but still alive. Barely.

Then I saw my scalp. Or what used to be my scalp. It was smooth and uneven, a map of bald, scarred patches where my hair had been burned away. The few strands that clung to my head were brittle and lifeless, reminders of what the fire hadn't taken, though it might as well have.

I pulled back and let my gaze drop to my hands. My right hand looked almost normal, just mottled, with angry red and pink patches of skin. But my left hand… It was grotesque. The fingers were fused together in places, stiff and useless. I flexed them anyway, trying to feel something, but the nerves were deadened, and I barely managed to curl my hand into a fist.

I stared at my reflection again, forcing myself to take it all in. The person in the mirror wasn't me. Not the me I remembered, not the me I thought I'd always be. This face was a stranger's, a ghost of someone who had walked through hell and barely stumbled out the other side.

For a moment, I felt rage bubbling under my skin, the same rage I felt every time I thought of what I'd lost. But as I stared longer, something else began to stir.

I didn't know who I was anymore, but I wasn't gone. The fire had burned me, melted me, tried to erase me, but I was still here. Scarred. Broken. But alive.

I straightened, meeting my own gaze. My reflection looked monstrous, but behind the ruin, I saw something that hadn't been taken. I saw the flicker of something that refused to die.

It wasn't hope. Not yet. But maybe it was the beginning of it.

The next day the same nurse came in and greeted me with a warm smile and waved his hand. I have seen what he sees looking at me, but I pushed those thoughts down and waved back. I knew a smile wouldn't do what I wanted justice. 

In the most friendly and sincere tone I could muster, I said "Good evening, I never got the chance to ask but what is your name?"

"Rowan Sylvara. My occupation these days is a healer. Before last week, I was a minor influencer. The changes in technology are so fast in this world that a social media career isn't an option." He talked a little fast and had a sarcastic sigh at moments, but the news he gave me was still interesting and I listened attentively. I was curious and continued to ask questions.

"So the world is similar to a fallout currently?"

"Yes, the Anathema of Reality didn't just cause people to vanish and make people have illusions, but it also altered what we once perceived as reality. Only a day after the Anathema appeared in our world, people began disappearing and finding their loved ones in shambles. Once our world's atmosphere was opened, the Drenakyr came through. I have learned that the Drenakyr are harsh, primal, and creatures of brute strength. You learn more in detail about this invasion during your trial, if you undertake it. Honestly trial is the wrong term. I just use that personally because it sounds cool. Everyone else calls it 'The Cry'. You get pulled into a different plane while sleeping and experience terrors beyond your imagination. If you die, we can tell because your body starts to shed tears of blood. When I was undergoing my trial, it felt like months before I came back. Being awake again was so liberating that I literally cried tears of joy. I have heard stories of people claiming they thought they were in the trial for years. However once they awoke, they were notified that it was only one night. That's the most intense part. Your mind experiences months to years of agonizing pain only to find out it was merely one 8-hour night. Seriously, it's a horrifying experience" he said with a deadpan face. 

He seemed to be having flashbacks of his own experiences because his gaze held still and his hands were even shaking. He quickly snapped back and gave a small smile in my direction.

 I felt a little worried at his skill to mask his emotions, but also couldn't help but praise it. 

"What are the next steps then? I feel fine and I was even able to move around with no pain yesterday." I stated.

"The next steps are for you to either complete the ritual to start 'The Cry' or to try your best to live in this disguising new world. The EcoSphere Alliance cooperation has worked together with the The Vanguard Compact cooperation of mars to fight against this invasion. Some religious people are calling it the rapture. Regardless, we can work out the details of your future together. As a thanks for being my experiment for my powers." 

He then faced me and took a short bow and in a weirdly ominous voice said,

"Thank you".