Comotose by Kestral Volta (freda ebook reader .txt) 📕

Comatose

Prologue

Amy waded through the knee-deep snow, her jeans soaked against her skin. Although she wore a hat, gloves and a scarf, her layers were no match for the bitter cold. Around her, snowy mountains loomed above her as she put the valley behind her. With each step, her heart gathered pace, chills clinging to her spine.
Behind her puffed Bobby, his dark hair pushed back from his face as the freezing wind fought for ownership. Thoughts of how much she loved him kept flashing through Amy’s mind, mixed with thoughts of hatred for herself. The urge to turn and run from this place was overwhelming, but even more so were the consequences of what would happen if she did! For this reason, she kept going, at a steady pace, leading the unknowing Bobby.
The mouth of the cave wasn’t big- it was only just high enough for Bobby to step through without having to bend down. The walls of the tunnel were smooth and a pale blue, brackets hung from the walls bearing dim, yellow lamps. Moths thronged the space around the lamps, each jostling for position in front of the light.
“Amy? Where are we going?” asked Bobby, innocently.
“I-I wanna show you something.” murmured Amy, trying not to meet his gaze.
The two weaved their way through the maze of tunnels, Bobby getting more curious and annoyed at the mystery.
Eventually, they came to a room. It was huge, cavernous and circular, the walls covered entirely with writing; ancient letters from centuries ago. The light from the tunnel cast deep blue shadows around the centre, where an altar stood. Engraved around the base were the same symbols and glyphs. The surface of the altar, however, was bare and a pale red colour.
“What are we doing in here?” asked Bobby, gazing around in wonder.
“I just wanted to show you this place.” explained Amy, stopping near the entrance.
“It’s...err...kinda creepy, can’t we just go see a movie or something?” Bobby frowned.
Just as Bobby turned, every shadow shifted and figures appeared, surrounding Bobby! Bobby spun, wide-eyed at every figure in horror. Chanting rang out around the room, the monotonous droning making Bobby dizzy.
Suddenly, three of the figures sped forwards, charging at Bobby, throwing out their fists, hitting out at Bobby. One of the figures hit Bobby square in the jaw. Bobby cried out in pain, throwing up his fists in a feeble attempt to fight back. Another of the figure kicked out with it’s foot, sending Bobby to the floor. Bobby struggled onto all fours, only to be kneed in the face by one of the figure’s knees. Bobby fell onto his side.
Amy watched in horror as the three figures repeatedly kicked Bobby in the stomach, each kick sending pathetic yelps of pain, his blood beginning to pool around him. Each cry of pain, confusion and fear sent shards of anger and fear through her, tears escaped her eyes. How she wished it would stop, be she knew, all too well that it could not stop! It was almost unbearable to watch, but Amy forced herself to watch.
She felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning, she found herself looking at Dean’s chest. She looked up into his hazel eyes.
“Hey, it’s gonna be ok. You’ll learn to forget him. We all will.” He reassured her, pulling her into a tight hug. Over his shoulder, Amy could see the figures move away from Bobby, who was panting in pain, lying on the frozen floor in a pathetic heap. The figure bent down and took his coat from him, along with his scarf, gloves and hat. All Bobby was wearing was a plain, black T-shirt and blue jeans with black boots. One of the figures bent down and scooped up Bobby’s broken body and placed it onto the altar.
“Come on. Now, we leave.” Dean pulled at Amy’s arm, taking her from the hall and out of the freezing cave.
Chapter 1

7 and a half years later...

“Are we going the right way?” asked one of the students.
“Yeah, the cave’s right this way. I think the central cavern is down this tunnel.” answered his partner.
“I don’t know. The other’s went back towards the village.”
“Only because they couldn’t find spring water- I mean, what type of assignment is this, anyway? Mr.Hallas doesn’t know what he’s on about when he says spring water!” scoffed the first student.
“Yeah, but if we find some and the others don’t, then we’ll get a higher grade!”
“Swat.”
The two made their way through the tunnels, each gazing at the ancient patterns engraved into the pale blue walls. Eventually, they came to a large cavern. Large chunks of ice blocked the entrance, covering most of the floor with a thick layer. The two fought their way onto the ice flows, creating foot prints in the frost.
Dark blue shadows clouded the room, the sound of dripping rythmatic in the background.
“Hey!”gasped one of the students, looking down into the ice. “There’s something down there!”
The other student slid over and followed the other’s gaze.
“What is that?” he mumbled, bending down and touching the ice. Rubbing away the frost, a black blob was just visible. The student bent down and breathed onto the ice, creating little droplets of water scurrying over the surface. The ice flow moaned, a small crack appearing in the ice. The two students backed away, their expressions turning fearful.
“What did you do?” asked the first student.
Silence. And then the crack widened, becoming as wide as the entrance within the space of a second! The crack became two and then three and then four, working it’s way downwards.
The students ran.

He stared into the bright lights until his unused eyes adjusted. He felt nothing; no sense of alarm or knowing, no urge to question or to shout. Not even the faintest pins and needles in his cold limbs. On the contrary! He knew, he just didn’t know how to access that information. It was like it was locked in the deepest, most darkest part of his mind. He didn’t have the key. He didn’t even know where to start searching. Or how to start searching.
It wasn’t that the knowledge was gone- it was still there. Just, locked away.
He looked around the room, the blurred shapes moving, coming into view slowly. Trying to move him legs, he found the energy fleeting and little- it was as though they were but two, heavy lumps of metal. His arms too.
Around him, he could make out through the heavy blur of sleep, huge machines, glaring menacingly at him. Screens, baring figures he didn’t understand. The walls surrounding him were a blank white, gleaming in the artificial light.
“You’re awake!” gasped a woman, appearing from almost nowhere, wearing blue scrubs.
He tried to open his mouth, but his jaw was too heavy. The nurse left the room temporarily, coming back minutes later with a man dressed in a white coat.
The man started to mumble things that he couldn’t quite make out. The man’s mumblings seemed deep and vaguely familiar yet the memory was too far out of reach.
So he lay there, gazing at the man, listening to the incoherent mumblings.

Meanwhile, outside the hospital room, Jack stood next to the door, waiting for his mum to come back with coffee. He didn’t even know why he was still here! He should be at home, studying for his Geography exam. Not standing outside some random guy’s room.
The clacking of footsteps signalled his mother’s arrival. He looked up to see a tall, dark-haired woman coming towards him followed by a small, blond girl. The woman held two cups of coffee. The girl held a bottle of Coke.
“Anything?” Jack’s mother asked, stopping and peering through the blinded window into the room.
“No.” murmured Jack, taking the coffee from his mother. “A nurse and a doctor went in a minute ago, but they ain’t come out yet.”
“Is he awake?” asked Jack’s sister, Sarah.
“Dunno.” grunted Jack, sipping the coffee.
“How did you find him again?” Sarah pressed, eager for information.
“Do I have to repeat it? I’ve already told, like, fifty people already!” snapped Jack.
“Oh, please! You haven’t told me yet!”
Jack gave in. “Fine. Me and Jamie were in the caves looking for spring water for Mr.Hallas, when we saw something in the ice. I breathed on the ice and melted it. Once all the ice had melted, there he was, lying on this altar thingy. So, we called Mr.Hallas, who took him here.” finished Jack, rolling his eyes at Sarah, who giggled.
He loved his little sister. They were practically inseparable.
The door opened and all three of them turned and looked, questioningly at the doctor.
“Is he ok?” asked Sarah.
“He’s fine. He has several minor injuries- bruising and cuts, but apart from them and his loss of memory, he’s fine.” explained the doctor.
“Loss of memory?” echoed Jack’s mother.
“We think he was frozen in the ice for around a decade, maybe less. He has no memory of who he was or why he was there. Nor does he have anything that can identify him. We also think that the ice provided the right conditions for cryogenics. We think that he hasn’t aged since he was frozen. We also think that his cuts and bruises have also been frozen. They look as though someone had beaten him before he was frozen. Anyway, it’s only a hypothesis. We don’t know anything for sure yet.”
“So if he has no memory, does that mean he doesn’t even know his name?” Sarah whispered, shocked.
“No, unfortunately not.”
“What’s going to happen to him?” Sarah frowned up at the doctor.
The doctor paused. “Well, he can’t stay here forever. We’ll probably send him on his way...”
“But he has nowhere to go! He has no home! No money! Not even a name!” cried Sarah.
“I’m sorry, but...”
“He can stay with us!” confirmed Jack’s mother, defiantly interrupting the Doctor.
“What!” gasped Jack, astonished. There was no way they could let a stranger stay in their house! They shouldn’t even be waiting here for him anyway! “Why? We don’t even know him!”
“Jack! Don’t be rude!” snapped his mother.
Jack looked down. How could this be happening? What would his friends at school say?
“You can go in and see him if you like.” suggested the Doctor.
Sarah opened the door, followed by his mother. Jack, however, stayed outside, looking in through the window at the pathetic figure that lay in the bed.

Chapter 2

Sarah thought he was handsome. He was sat up, strands of dark hair falling down onto his forehead. He had a big build, his biceps visible beneath his white T-shirt.
“How are you feeling?” asked Sarah, sitting closest to his bed.
“Great, thanks. Who are you?” his voice was calm, as if nothing had even happened to him!
“My name’s Sarah.”
“My name’s Lucy, Sarah’s mother. My son, Jack is outside.”
“Hi.” he answered, looking at the two, innocently.
“So, I hear you can’t remember anything.” started Lucy.
“Yup.” he agreed
“So, I suppose you need a name.” said Sarah glancing at her mother for approval.
“I guess so.” he agreed again.
“What about Adam?” Lucy suggested.