Surviving the Andersen Brothers

Induced

I felt like I was swimming in darkness. A thick, mud-like abyss with nowhere to go and nothing to do. I wasn’t even sure which way was up. I was alone and there was no sign of anyone having been here recently. There was no light to guide me.

            That’s when the questions began.

            Where was I? What was I doing here? How did I get here? What was… here? Where was everybody? Why were they not coming to help me? What was that annoying beeping noise that suddenly came in to blaring focus to my ears?

            My thoughts were scattered.

            It was so dark in here, so quiet—aside from the steady beep, beep, beep, beep.

            Why couldn’t I see?

            Maybe my eyes were closed.

            Yeah, that had to be it.

            It felt like weights were keeping my eyes closed, though, I could feel them struggling against the idea. I tried to move my hands up to my face to force my eyes open but they wouldn’t move either. I couldn’t even move my legs.

            What was wrong with me?!

What was the last thing I could remember? The darkness. All I could think about was the never-ending abyss of the black void. And being alone… I was so alone.

            Then the image of a man with blonde hair and green eyes played in my head. He seemed familiar to me but I could not place a name. He looked sad though, like something terrible happened to him. His eyes held tears in them and his features were torn. I felt the strong urge to wrap my arms around him and protect him from whatever made him sad.

            I held on to that image. It was the only thing I could see in this dark place. It was the only thing that made sense to me at this point. I wouldn’t let go.

            The memory of intense pain came back to me then.

            The only things I could remember were pain and the green-eyed man. Oh, my name was also a given: Jasmine Clark.

            My thoughts began to repeat themselves with the questions about here, the image of the sad man, pain, and a new thought… maybe I was in love with this sad, green-eyed man!

            Then, right at the thought of my love did everything come flooding back. I remembered every thought, every touch, every kiss, and every person. I remembered Vincent’s face over mine as I bled out on the road. I remembered the stinging, the smell of blood, and the pain when I drew a breath.

            One question still remained…—

            “How did this happen?” the familiar voice of a woman asked in place of my thoughts. It was Lilly’s voice.

            Lilly was here! I searched for her.

            Still, I only saw darkness.

            I felt the pressure of a fragile hand on my cheek. Lilly’s hand.

            “Did Lucas do this?” I could hear James ask.

            Why wouldn’t my eyes open?!

            This didn’t make sense to me. I could hear them, I could feel them, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t see or respond to them. What was wrong with me?