Grace
Unknown
Asoft, cool hand strokes the side of my face as my eyes start to flutter open. I manage to open them fully, but everything is bright, and I wince and close them again.
“One moment, Shadow.” The hand pulls away, and the voice disappears.
After a moment, the hand is back on my cheek, repeating the small, soothing strokes. I attempt to blink my eyes open again to find the room darker than before. I lift my hands to wipe my eyes and groan at how sore my body feels.
“Fuck.” I try to rub the blurriness away.
“The sensation shall fade soon. The moment you’re moving, you shall feel it lessen.” I still, recognizing her voice.
Milly.
I try to sit up when her hands gently place me back into a lying position. “The moving can withhold a little longer.” She rubs my shoulders as my vision comes into focus, locking with her golden irises.
“Milly,” I whisper with a raspy voice.
“Here.” She leans backwards and grabs a glass of water, handing it to me. She helps me sit up slightly as I take the glass from her hands and sip at it.
“Thank you,” I mumble, feeling how dry my throat is.
She stuffs pillows behind my back as I adjust to the new position and look around the room. “Where am I? What—what happened?”
I try to look around.
There are curtains blocking the sunlight. The walls are wooden, anda few cobwebs hang from the ceiling. There is a stained glass window above, leaking rays of rainbow light across the room.
I look down and touch the velvet of the couch I’m lying on. It’s emerald green and large enough for another body to lie beside me. I continue to fidget with the fabric of the couch as I gather my bearings.
Small twinkle lights hang down the walls where they connect to the ceiling at a sharp point. A table in the middle of the room holds books and boxes of what appear to be files. The furniture is in all different tones of fabric and colored woods, showcasing a love of jeweled tones. Along one wall is a large bookcase that runs its entire length, displaying even more novels, textbooks, and journals, most of which are romance novels with titlesI recognize.
“What is this place?” I ask again, confused.
“Welcome to my escape. I’ve done my best to make it as cozy as it can be. It’s my room…in a manner of speaking.” She looks around, her face smooth with relaxation. “Ironically enough, it’s in the steeple of the chapel—the attic to be precise.”
Milly glances around the room before looking back at me with her beautiful, soft smile. “I’m so terribly sorry for what happened, truly. But I had to get you out of there. There was no time to explain.” She glances at her hands as they slightly fidget.
I place the glass of water on the table behind the arm of the couch and lay my hand on top of hers, stopping her nervous fidgeting.
“Hey,” I whisper, waiting for her eyes to meet mine. “It’s alright. Thank you for helping me get out of there. I’m sure my fate would have been very different if you were not there.”
She chews on her lip. “I don’t believe you quite understand the gravity of the situation I placed you in.”
I pinch my brows together, my hand stilling on top of hers. “Milly, what do you mean?”
I try to reflect on what happened right when we heard the footsteps outside the door. I remember her placing her hands on me. I remembermy body becoming quite cold, but I just assumed it was because she was holding onto me. I figured I was having a panic attack when I couldn’t?—
My thoughts abruptly stop.
My eyes fling to hers. “Milly, how did I pass through the wall?” I ask in disbelief.
She hesitates for a moment before lifting her chin, finding the courage to speak. “I simply changed your form to a non-corporeal one, that is all,” she says as casually as she can.
“WHAT!” I whisper emphatically as I fling my body forward into a sitting position. I grip the strands of my hair, pulling them softly until they sting.Okay, I can feel pain. But does pain correlate directly with living?
“It was only temporary. I did not even know Icould, but I had to try. It drained me completely, wiped every bit of strength I had once I got you here,” she rushes the words out, recognizing my shock.
