1Chapter 2...
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A vision of a desolate gray sky and sounds of waling winds was fading, and she watched with dead eyes, no hand reaching out in vain at the scene that was shrinking by the second, no attempt to retrieve whatever memory she plausibly just lost. Her body was an empty shell: no emotion, or pain, or feeling; of anything. The only thing she could make out was a vague falling sensation, and her body seemed to weigh nothing, and her mind was detached from her body. No thoughts entered her mind, for it had become a void nothingness. She just fell, and fell, and fell, to who knew where.
An indefinable amount of time later, her eyes gradually eased open to what seemed to be a blurry hospital room. She lay still on a firm mattress, back straight and eyes grimy with rheum. She was aware that she wore nothing but long cotton nightgown, but hardly felt self-conscious considering she was tucked under a thick blanket. Around her she sensed heavy breathing, and realized that sleeping others must have filled this clinic to the brim.
Her hair was soft and brushed well, making her frown as though it seemed unnatural, because it was. A small chorus of laughter then lit the air not too far away, and she craned her neck to see, though only finding the heads of a handful of strangers while fingering her caramel-colored strands of hair, still wondering why they were so smooth and perfect. Her hair never felt like butter in her hands as they did just then. She was never patient enough to bring it to that condition.
Her eyes wandered across the unknown place, and she immediately saw that the entire room was quite large, and everything shone a brilliant white: the beds wielding slumbering people surrounding her, their comforters and sheets, the small bedside tables, the vases, the carnations adoring the vases, and even the medics' uniforms...
Or rather, dresses and tunics...
It struck her odd that the medics were so youthful, laughing and chattering amongst themselves in a small throng of teenagers instead of talking in hurried tones and rushing to aid patients. And why were they all in different cloth? She had always viewed hospitals as rigid facilities.
She sat up, rubbing her sunken eyes, and tried to get a better view of her supposed caretakers. She noticed that everyone seemed to be around her age, and wearing plain white clothes that seemed to radiate a sheer light.
Everything she could see seemed to have a pale glow to it, and the boys and girls seemed flawless in appearance, smiling with pearly white rows of teeth and blinking colorful, shining eyes. She was so drowsy that it took her a painful second to take notice of their most strange aspects: their halos. And... their wings.
Her eyes widened in astonishment at the sight of the flapping bundles of feathers, and she could have gasped out loud, but her voice seemed broken. Perhaps it had diminished from lack of usage... how long had she been in this place? Her mind was filled with empty worry, and she began ponder ideas of escape, but was pulled from them by a raucous snore erupting from the person in the neighboring bed.
The group started giggling yet again, but she ignored it, and just stared at their wings in awe, seeing that their colors ranged from charcoal gray to a faded white. They seemed to erupt suddenly from their backs, causing her to cringe in wonderment of how painful its growth must have been, and they were fairly large in size, perhaps a third of their height.
Their halos, with their everlasting luminosity, floated above their heads while bobbing up and down whenever they moved. A girl with reddish-brown hair and scattered freckles, however, had a coil of wire wrapped around her forehead attached to her halo, apparently keeping it aloft. A boy sharing her appearance also had a coil of wire supporting his halo. They must be siblings, she thought. And maybe... newcomers. Like me.
She also saw that the brother and sister had no wings, instead simply large bandages hugging their torso. They looked on with the group wearing fake smiles and sad eyes. The redheaded siblings seemed to be mainly ignored, for they whispered to only each other.
No one paid the slightest attention to her either, but she felt intrigued rather than sulky. Squirming in her bed, she realized she too had bandages binding her torso. She turned her head to find a shimmering halo and wire sitting atop her bedside table with mild surprise.
She had to find out where she was; or rather where she prayed she was not; and how she had even gotten here. There was no more time to waste.
Slowly and carefully she peeled the blanket off of herself, and slid her legs over to the side of the bed. She then put both her feet on the floor, grasping the side table for support, arms trembling. Hauling herself up to a stand with great effort, she found that she was terribly weak and uncoordinated. She let out a cry when she stumbled to the ground, knees buckling beneath her. Talk ceased immediately, and soon the unknown group of people had crowded around her, offering their hands in help.
She refused the strangers' assistance angrily and tried pulling herself back up. They stared at her in pity and shook their heads, as if she was a wild animal.
Managing a wobbly stance whilst leaning against the bed frame, she swatted at them, croaking for them to go away. They tried hushing her frenzied outcries; assuring her in soothing tones that they were there to help her, not hurt her.
For a split second, she hesitated; briefly considering letting them cavort with her in this strange clinic and maybe even nurse her back to health.
Even if for the tiniest moment, her uncertainty proved a terrible idea. As she thought about calling a truce with these people, since they didn't seem too dangerous, she had involuntarily extended her arm halfway in greeting, causing her to slip.
Her feet wavered and she lost balance again, hair clouding her face and arms limp as she spiraled downward. The strangers leaped forward to catch her, but they could not reach her in time.
Her head hit the table with a clang, and all went black.
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