Page 2 of So Below As Above
Do I even want to live? What if the danger waiting on that shore is the very thing that cast me out of the sky?
The water hurls itself against me, desperate to drag me under. But something stubborn in my chest refuses. A primitive spark.
Driving my arms forward, I push against the tide. My body moves in defiance of the sea’s will, dredging strength from the hidden corners of myself that memory refuses to illuminate. My hands strike land without warning. The shore cuts into my skin with sharp pebbles and broken shells. I collapse, shivering and coughing up slick, salty water. Heaving a deep breath, I take in more cold air than needed.
Around me, the storm subsides.
Time slips between moments of consciousness, stretching far too long for my body to handle. My mouth tastes metallic, and an earthy scent mixed with rotted fruit cloys at my nose.
A voice shatters the stillness. “She’s alive.”
My eyes open at the sound. Two figures stand above me, their faces blurred.
“Help,” I whisper, my mouth dry.
A laugh erupts somewhere behind them, wild and disbelieving.
At my toes, the sea tries to pull me back, curling foam around my legs like hungry tongues.
Not yet, something whispers from a place I cannot name.
There’s another presence replacing the one who greeted me, standing above and peering down at me. Strong arms lift me, cradling me against a chest that feels too warm for this dead world. My head lolls upward. A face emerges through the blur, carved with shadows and moonlight. His eyes, dark and unyielding, study me with an expression I cannot decipher.
“Where am I?” I ask. No one answers; they just stare.
His lips part, but his response is swallowed by the darkness that takes me under.
TWO
“I looked into the keys of life, only to realize I should have been studying death.”
— DR. KIERAN LAZARUS
When I awaken, it’s still dark. Darker than the night, I fell through the sky. At least then the moon hailed high. Now I’m cloaked in pitch black.
“Hello?” My voice echos. I feel around me finding nothing but cold, wet stones. A cave maybe?
“What is this place?” There is no answer.
I try to stand, shaky at first, anchoring myself on a jagged outcrop of rock.
What happened to me?
It’s very possible I have died from drowning and this is the afterlife. It could be Hell. Though, I remember nothing.
One measly step at a time, I move forward, feeling my way through this shadowed place. I amble forward for a long time, finding nothing tangible that could orient me to my location.
“Marissssa.” A silvery voice drifts toward me. That’s my name. I don’t know if I should answer so I stop and listen.
“Marissssa,” the voice continues, dripping with sweetness. “You are ours.”
The sound carries me through this endless tunnel until the darkness twists itself into a cold cell lined with stone. The room’s far end glows with warm light. A single mirror-like surface rests on its wall, smeared with my distorted reflection. Cautiously, I approach the first sight of myself in what feels like an eternity.
Gingerly, I trace the outline of the reflection. It’s cool to touch and smells of the salty sea. The reflection ripples like a lazy wave. Its prismatic sheen fractures, dissecting my face into a thousand scattered shards before shattering with an ear-splitting crack.
I step backward, tripping over myself.
“You will never be who you once were. The Lazarus curse has claimed you.” The voice booms, omnipresent, followed by an inhuman shriek that rattles the emptiness. Then everything collapses at my feet.
