Chapter Six | Lilly & Levi

                                    

                                          
Silence filled the room, and I felt I was finally alone. I forcefully open my eyes and look around at my surroundings. The room envelops me in a somber embrace, its dark green walls casting shadows that seem to deepen my anguish. Clear cabinets line the walls, their glass doors revealing an array of bandages and wraps, alongside glinting healing tools that mock my suffering. My gaze drifts to the desk, cluttered with papers and books stacked precariously high, a chaotic testament to my overwhelmed state. Above, framed pictures of bones, muscles, and a skeleton loom, a stark reminder of the fragility of my own body. 
Each breath I take feels labored, each movement a painful reminder of my condition. Fear claws at the edge of my consciousness, gnawing away at any semblance of peace and solace. In this room, I am consumed by a sense of helplessness, trapped in a deep feeling of uncertainty. How the hell am I going to get out of here?
The bed I'm in is more so of a cot than anything else, its grey and the comforter is quite fluffy it felt surprisingly comfortable to be in. I lean forward putting my arms at my sides to prop myself up but that seemed to be a mistake as a horrible sharp pain shot through my arms to my temples. I close my eyes in frustration and bite my lip. 
I didn't even know I was crying till I saw little droplets fall onto my bandaged arms. I don't even know what they look like under there or even why they are wrapped. But I know it's for a reason because they burn like hell. My head throbs as I try to stand, the pain becoming unbearable as nausea threatens to take over. I curse myself under my breath and look for anything to help me out of this place. 
The door swings open and I immediately jump back feeling completely terrified. 
"Hey, you're awake!" A man shouts peeking his head out from around the corner. He's tall, definitely over six feet tall, with strawberry blonde hair, and freckles can be found kissing the bridge of his nose. Unlike mine which are untamed and everywhere. His lips are a soft pink and he's wearing a brown shirt with navy blue denim jeans. He looks like he's in his early twenties, about seven years older than me. I'm eighteen. 
I wince in pain. My cheeks still stained and wet from tears. I always hated crying it's such a sign of weakness. If I could control it, I'd honestly never cry. 
"Hey." The man begins in a softer tone. "I'm really sorry. I forgot that humans don't heal as fast." His brows furrow showing intense concern. As his lips form a thin line. Humans? A confused look forms on my face as I look at the man puzzled. He begins grabbing herbs from a drawer beneath the cabinet. 
"Oh yeah, uhm- when we found you." The man grabs a chair and pulls it over to my bed. 
"It was a pretty bad scene, Elizabeth." My eyes widen at the mention of my name. 
"Your car was totaled, and the windows were shattered." He pauses and rubs the back of his head. 
"The windshield was almost completely gone." He gestures towards my bandaged arms. 
"About that, a piece of shattered glass cut both your arms it was pretty deep, and you lost a lot of blood. He trails off. 
"Sorry about your dress." He says going quiet at the end. 
I look down and my once golden and sparkling dress is now covered in my dried-up blood. It's on my entire left side and travels down. I can only imagine what my appearance looks like right now. I look down at the ground as my hair falls alongside my face hiding me like a blanket. I bite my lip trying to hold back tears. He leans forward and anxiety gets the best of me as my arms shake.
This happens sometimes and I never know how to stop it, usually if I'm sitting, I'll bounce my legs instead. The man leans back in his chair and introduces himself. 
"My names Levi, okay? I'm one of the people that found you, and I knew what your name was from your bag." He says as he tilts his head toward my bloodied purse on the wooden table. 
"Do you remember anything from that night?" His voice laced with concern. 
The sound of metal-on-metal screeches in my mind and then everything goes black. I slowly shake my head no. 
"Why don't we get you cleaned up, yeah?" I shake my head in response agreeing with him. But when I try to get up again everything hurts. 
"What's wrong?" Levi asks his voice laced with concern, I suck in sharply and whisper, "Everything."
Levi begins to make what I can only assume is a healing tonic, I notice he uses some of the herbs from the box in Amelias closet. 
"Here, it'll help you feel better." I stare at the cup for a while trying to decide what I should do. "How about this, if I take a drink, will that make you feel comfortable enough to have some? I promise I only want to help you."
"Why'd you bring me here?" Levi looked like he was fighting his own thoughts and then decided. 
"Drink this and we'll get you all cleaned up." I against better judgement decided it wouldn't hurt to drink it.
I took a sip, and it wasn't too horrible, it tasted like pure chamomile with a hint of peppermint. The peppermint taste really helped overcome the grassiness of the chamomile.
"You may want to finish the whole thing." Levi suggests, and with that I drink the rest of the healing liquid. 
"I brought you here because we help people."
I look around some more. "This isn't a hospital."
"Well yes and no." Levi says in response. 
"What did you mean by you forgot humans don't heal as fast?"
"You caught that?" He chuckles nervously. 
"Well yeah, it's not a typical thing people say." 
"Elizabeth are you familiar with the moon? Like spiritually?"
"You mean like the zodiacs and stuff?"
"Uhm no not exactly. Let's see how you're feeling now, try and stand." Levi moves his chair taking a step back. 
I sigh as I move to the right side of the bed and grip onto the railing for support. I slowly ease my feet to the floor, so far so good I thought. Once I put my full weight onto the ground, I felt a little wobbly. Levi comes to my side and as much as I'd love to freak the fuck out right now. I try and keep my composure, realizing many girls fell for Ted Bundy and I will not be one of them today. 
But he is extremely beautiful; my eyes clash with his brown ones and I notice he has just a hint of yellow in them, reminding me of the sunlight shiny through baren trees. Within such close proximity he honestly smells like cinnamon, and I can't help but produce a small smile. Levi lets me use him for support as I adjust to walking. It doesn't hurt its just numb, like my whole body is asleep and its horribly tingly. Levi helps me out of the healing room, and down a corridor. I carefully watch my feet as I take each step, not wanting to fall. We approach some stairs, and Levi helps me one step at a time. 
Is he sweet or is he luring me to my death? The stairs, although an obstacle, are a beautiful dark marble that slightly swirls to the top floor. There's a fireplace going in the center of what I can only assume is a type of living room, and up the stairs are more rooms than I can count, and then we stop.