Chapter 7: Her strength is his weakness

Aria's POV:

"Dylan, no!"

That was the last thing I said before I realized that I was back in the hospital room. I was down on my knees on the floor, and my eyes were filled with tears. My heart was uneasy pounding too fast and about to jump out of my chest. I'm certain that Dylan is unconscious almost gone before I returned to my room. Is it because his energy becomes weak and used his last strain of power to transport me back here? Even my clothes were back to normal as if everything was just a dream.

I don't understand what's going on and how his power works but I know that he is in pain and badly hurt. I wiped my tears dry, get on my knees and look outside the window hoping to see him, but he is nowhere in sight.

"Dylan, where are you? Please be safe," I whispered. The tears once again fall from my eyes.

I was startled when the door opened then Clarren shows up in a hurry and panting.

"Aria, I heard you screaming. Are you hurt?" he panicky said to me while scanning every inch of my body. "Aria, you're crying," he said worriedly and then wipes my tears away by brushing his fingers across my cheeks.

"I'm okay," I immediately replied in a trembling voice.

"Tell me what happened," he insisted. "You're cold and shaking." He closed the window thinking that the cold wind from the outside is causing my body to chill.

I have no choice but to lie to him to prevent him from worrying. "I just had a bad dream."

"Are you sure?" He looks at me full of doubts.

"Yes, Clarren," I confirmed to him. "I need to go back to sleep now." I lowered my head to avoid looking at his eyes.

After saying those words, I led him to the doorway and locked it. My hands were still shaking from what happened at the Festival. I don't think I can sleep tonight and will keep thinking about Dylan but it would have made no difference to my frustration if I stay up all night, so I call it a night and take a rest.

I woke up early morning, and he is the first thing that comes into my head. "Is he alright?" I ask myself. He is the Supreme Being, so I guess he will be fine and I'd like to think that he is going to be okay.

I was too fixated on the thought of him that I didn't notice the changes in me. My body is lighter and healthier than before. Is it because I absorb all of his energy and suddenly I magically become stronger, but how? Am I capable of doing such things, or it is part of what his power can do to the wish maker? All of these questions are giving me headaches and making me hungry. I went to the canteen to grab something to eat and there I saw Clarren waiting for me.

"You're up early, how was your sleep?" Clarren greeted me with a smile.

"Good morning, Clarren," I greeted him back casually. I acted as if nothing happens like before. "I'm starving. Let's go get something to eat," I invited him.

We go to the counter to get our breakfast.

"You are really hungry today huh?" he said looking at my plate with three sausages, four slices of bacon, two omelets, four pancakes, two chocolate muffins, and a bowl of fruit salad.

"They all look good and I couldn't decide what to eat so I grab them all," I said and start eating my food hungrily and hastily. I was eating as if I haven't eaten for days and was too excited to munch all the food in front of me.

"Slow down, Aria, you might choke. Do not devour your food like a vacuum cleaner and chew it properly." He astonishingly said while watching me eat.

For some reason, I feel hungry and even if I ate a lot, I'm still hungry for more. It feels like whatever that awakens inside me is burning all those energies quickly inside my body and rapidly draining me.

"Is there something wrong? You've been staring at me the whole time," I curiously ask Clarren.

Then something weird happened, I've been hearing whispers of people from different locations, the noises of the utensils from the kitchen, even the laughter of the children playing in the corridor, dripping from a leaky utility sink faucet, sounds of traffic, a horn honking, and an engine revving. The sound is getting louder and louder. These noises are piercing in my ears almost deafening me.

These noises came to me all the same time and it was too much for me to handle. It's ear-spitting and drilling inside my head. I shut my eyes close and focus on nothingness. I placed both of my hands on my ears hoping to make it all go away but it was pointless. I want all these noises to disappear because it's torturing the hell out of me.

"Hey, Aria, what's going on?" Clarren worriedly asks me.

"Stop it!" Please, stop!" I screamed so loud that makes every head in the canteen turn around.

"Okay, fine, I won't stare at you anymore," he panicky said to me. "Geez, Aria you don't have to make a scene," he nervously speaks and tries to make me calm.

I snapped out of my senses and realized that everyone is staring at me. Suddenly, the noises disappeared, and everything went back to normal. "Is it just a hallucination, but why does it feel so real?" I turn my head around and look at my surroundings, everybody's judging eyes are darting at me. I can feel my face burning and my body almost shrinks out of shame.

"I'm sorry, I got carried away," I shyly said to him and continue to eat.

"You're acting weird, do you know that?" But it's a good kind of weird, I mean it's nice to see that you're doing well and eating deliciously," he said to me.

I honestly did not pay much attention to what he said and instead, I focused more on my food. "Are you going to finish that?" I said looking at his tray of food. "Can I have it? I pouted my lips and batted my eyelashes.

"After all that meal, you still want more? Never mind, you can have my meal." The corner of her mouth quirked up and pushed the tray closer to me.

After I had finished both of our meals, I took more food from the counter to satisfy my tummy. We went to the laboratory for my usual test routine and with the same result as yesterday, all of my diagnostics passed with flying colors.

"Can I go out today?" I said to Clarren.

He simply smiled at me and said, "You seem to be in good condition, I guess it is safe to go out."

After he had said those words, I immediately went outside hoping to see Dylan. I've searched all over the center yard hoping to see him once again. I did not sense his presence anywhere, but I see the spirits with unfinished business lurking around the center acting normal as if they were alive. This time I see them more clearly unlike before when they were just an orb of energy or a smoke-like figure then you will feel weird sensations about seeing shadows or shapes out of the corner of your eye, then will disappear when you turn your head around.

As soon as they notice my presence, they all come to me crying and pleading for help. I know they can't touch me, but the noises were too loud like a siren echoing in my head. They are grieving and suffering drained of all hope asking for redemption and salvation from me.

The weeping sound of the miserable spirits desperately crying out for help is too agonizing to hear, so I run away from them as far as I can. All of my senses are becoming more sensitive and stronger. I can feel certain bumps on the skin at the base of my body that makes all of my hair involuntarily stand up while experiencing a strong fear. I can feel their presence surrounding me.

Where is Dylan when I needed him the most? I need his protection right now. These spirits are chasing after me like they want to get a piece of me. I remember what Dylan told me when we were at the festival that the vengeful spirits will feed and suck the life force out of you, drain and absorb all of your energy so that they can have the ability to interact with the living. The more energy they absorb the more power they will gain to move objects and hurt the living. The energy can make them stay and last longer in the world of living.

"Please, get away from me," I said to them while I run as fast as I can away from them.

"Please stop!" I pleaded with them to make the noise stop.

I cupped both of my ears with my hands and shut my eyes close and started to scream and cry. I went hysterical and started to throw whatever I saw on sight smashing them on the ground.

"Please stop, I beg of you, stop!"

My heart froze, and a throng of Goosebumps coated my skin. The voices in my head became louder and deeper. I sense the darkness in its tone. I glance and dart around, my head keeps turning as if looking for answers. I open and close my mouth several times but no words came up from it. I started to throw punches at the bulky brick wall smashing it with my bare hands.

It took a few minutes for me to calm down and regain my sanity. I take a deep breath and let it out slowly to relax my nerves. When I was finally at ease, the noise suddenly disappears and I realized that I'd been punching through the center’s barricade wall what surprises me is that I was able to punch a massive hole in it.

"Did I put that massive hole in that wall?" I surprisingly ask myself then I look at my hands, there were no bruises on them, and remained unharmed as if nothing had happened and it doesn’t even hurt not even a bit.

I took a closer look at the hole in the wall then I noticed something. There is a barrier within the wall that is similar to the one that Dylan uses to protect me. It's the same cleansing fire barrier that is surrounding the whole medical center.

"Who placed this barrier here?" I'm beginning to wonder why there is a barrier in the hospital where I am admitted. "Is it Dylan or did someone else know about me and what I am?"

I thought that I was alone, and no one saw me punching through the wall but I was wrong. I sense someone is watching behind my back and when I looked around it was no other than Clarren. He must have followed me around to observe my unusual behavior. I look at his reaction, and he just gave me a blank stare and a slack expression. We have a few moments of silence having meaningful stares before he opened his mouth and said...

"When did you become so strong?"