Reality’s Shadow

Lyla pulled out a pair of binoculars. The view from up here was amazing. She knew logically that it wasn't real, but that didn't stop her from enjoying the beauty of the landscape.

The climb it took to get up the hill was definitely worth it. Before her stretched miles upon miles of grass, bushes, and rolling hills. It extended almost beyond vision, like a great untamed sea of earth, frozen in its majesty. Grand mountains and cliffaces rose up like petrified waves, vast tsunamis of earth and trees that seemed to beckon to Lyla, as if issuing a challenge to cross the great sea between them, daring her to discover what lay beyond.

Lyla was only too happy to oblige, but she wanted to plan a route from the high ground first. She began to scan the land with her binoculars.

Keeping to the high ground would provide the best view, but it would be slow going trying to compensate for the constant elevation changes. There were precious few trees until you reached the mountains, so finding shade would be difficult unless she stuck to the low ground between the hills. Then again, a mass of storm clouds lazily drifting over the mountains suggested it might rain within the next day or two.

Wait. What was that?

At the very top of the furthest mountain was a shape. Its angular features skylined against the clouds. Was it… a building?

Then the bell that signifies the beginning of school snapped Lyla back to reality.

There was a test that day in school. There was seldom anything else happening in any of her classes, it being near the end of the school year. This time, the test was for World History.

Lyla hadn't studied, but she hadn't really studied as one thinks of studying since 2nd grade. After that, school just wasn't difficult anymore. Then, between 4th and 5th grade, it got boring. She had stopped caring long since then. She did what she had to do to pass her classes, nothing more, nothing less. 

Today was no different. Lyla was confident she could finish the test in probably 20 minutes. 30 at the most. Then she'd have the rest of class to do what she wanted.

She clicked her pen in anticipation as Ms. Thomson passed out the tests to each student. The moment it was in her hands Lyla began. She read the first question:

What British Document written in 1215 C.E. outlined the people's rights and limited the king's power?

Lyla thought for a moment before resting her head on one fist and closing her eyes. The sounds of pencils scratching and students whispering began to fade. The outside world did not fade entirely. It simply lost priority with her senses. If she concentrated, she could still hear the girls that sat behind her whispering. Some of the other kids had started a rumor that Lyla had an earpiece and was receiving test answers from some unknown accomplice. Of course, this was not the case, but Lyla found it amusing and saw no reason to draw attention to herself by attempting to dispel the rumor.

Lyla opened her eyes and she was in her bedroom. Technically, her eyes were still closed, but it didn't feel that way. Her mind palace had become vivid to the point of being a reality unto itself.

She hopped off her bed and surveyed the room. It actually had a slightly different layout than her current room, which had been rearranged some years after she had already begun constructing her mind palace. Here, the nightstand and alarm clock were on the left side of the bed as they had once been and the window was still covered by light pink curtains from when Lyla was about 9 years old.

This room was where Lyla stored short-term, more trivial facts and reminders. She needed information, but she wouldn't find it here, so she left the room and made for the front door of the house.

The rest of the house was almost the same as her actual home, and Lyla had spent quite a bit of time putting details into it. She had systematically examined and memorized the details of her house and added them to her mind palace, one room at a time. Eventually, her parents had thought it strange that she would spend hours pacing about the house, deliberately studying the walls, floor, and furniture. She had switched to doing it at night before they got too worried. Every detail could prove useful in the storage of information. 

She reached the front door, turned the knob and pulled it open. Closing her imaginary eyes once more, she stepped through the door into a black expanse. When she opened her eyes again, she was back in school. However, Lyla very much preferred her own version to reality. The halls were much less crowded. Empty in fact.

She began walking the halls back to her history classroom. The school she had created was nowhere near as detailed as her house. Unfortunately, she had yet to devise a way to analyze the hallways and classrooms of the building without drawing unwanted attention. Additionally, she did not particularly want to spend the time it would take to examine such a large area. The only rooms she had bothered to add detail to were the classrooms she was in everyday anyways.

When at last Lyla reached her history class she began checking the furniture in the room. This was one of Lyla's primary methods of storing information. Most of the objects in the room had visuals associated with them which served to remind her of various facts. After a series of seemingly random images, she came to a desk with a single piece of paper on top. On it was drawn a simple picture of a magnet on top of a wooden cart. That's what she needed.

Lyla opened her eyes, for real this time, and wrote the first answer: The Magna Carta.

The rest of the test was not difficult. Lyla didn't even need to access her mind palace for most of the questions. Once she had finished, confident that she had gotten 100%, Lyla proceeded to change 9 of the 50 answers. After all she did not want to draw too much attention to herself, and this would still keep her score at a comfortable 82%.

Lyla was well practiced when it came to remaining inconspicuous. She almost never spoke to anyone while at school unless strictly necessary and made sure to keep her grades at a passing level while simultaneously keeping them unremarkable. Most all of her grades were perpetually between B- and B+.

For a time, Lyla had straight A's, but people began to notice. Once some of the other students began asking for help on assignments, she feigned ignorance and started lowering her grades slowly. She was not a sociable person, and that was the way she liked it. The moment somebody knew you as anything more than a stranger they began to expect things of you, eventually to an unreasonable or unrealistic degree. This way, no one could be disappointed by Lyla's failure to fulfill such expectations.

Despite her taking time to utilize her mind palace, Lyla was one of the first students to finish. The rest of class would likely be dedicated to finishing the test, so she had plenty of time to do what she wanted before her next class. She folded her arms on the desk, put her head down so everyone would think she was asleep, and left reality behind.

Lyla lowered her binoculars. It was indeed a building at the top of the mountain. She would definitely need to investigate. She originally intended to continue construction of the mind palace. The school year was almost over, after all, which warranted some careful deconstruction of now irrelevant mnemonic devices. Her curiosity wouldn't have it though. There was no telling what might happen when she let her mind do what it wanted, and she much preferred her own world of dreams to simply reconstructing what already was. 

She decided to head straight toward the building, sticking to the low ground whenever possible. It was probably a 15 to 25 mile hike, so she got right to it.

The sun beat down on the land heavily, causing the distant hilltops to shimmer with the heat. Lyla missed the shade terribly and was almost grateful when a great storm smothered the sun and replaced its rays with rain and wind. The storm persisted for the rest of the day and even after the sun had set the rain continued to drum all around, turning the dirt to mud. Eventually, Lyla was forced to move to higher ground when it began to flood. For the sake of visibility, she had to stop and wait for the sun to return. She did not need sleep of course, so she simply waited and admired the tops of the distant mountains.

The clouds finally dispersed at the rising of the sun and Lyla continued her journey. She wondered all the way about what the building would be for. What might it contain? A new challenge, some great treasure, or nothing at all? She had not planned on visiting any such thing, but her mind quite often introduced unexpected elements.

It was a very long hike, but luckily, just as Lyla began to tire of the scenery, she arrived at the foot of the mountain. On her side, it was more of a cliff really. A seemingly endless stretch of uneven rock rose straight into the sky. She could see no way around it, so she began to climb.

The cliff face was filled with indents and pieces of rock that jutted out to the side, many of which were ideal places to place a hand or foot. Because of this, the going was relatively easy. It was just like one of those fake rock walls you could sometimes find at a gym or recreation center. Regardless, the cliff was massive, and Lyla found it increasingly difficult to contain her excitement and focus on the task at hand. She was so close now. If she had managed to stay on target, the strange building should be directly above her. She could practically feel it. It called to her, urged her onward with every handhold. It wanted to be discovered, she knew. There was no going back now.

Thanks to Lyla's persistence and the fact that none of this was technically real, she reached the top in pretty good time. She spotted the top of the building's roof as she grasped the edge and finally pulled herself back onto flat ground. She dusted herself off and stood up. There it was. Lyla recognized it immediately.

It was her house.

Lyla stared for a moment in confusion before walking towards the front door. It looked exactly like her house in reality. Even the series of cracks on the walkway that led to the front porch was consistent. Her mind was in a mood to play games it seemed.

She reached the front door and found that it was unlocked. Lyla could contain the sense of anticipation no longer and threw open the door. As she did, a strange feeling took hold of her. It was not bad, just… strange. So complete in its unfamiliarity as to be indescribable. It was there for a moment, and then gone the next. Lyla could not decide what to make of it, and eventually simply continued on, still bursting with curiosity.

She entered the house and, sure enough, it exactly resembled her actual house. Here, however, the lights all remained off, and the atmosphere was distinctly more empty. No… not empty. She could feel it now. That sense of strangeness which inhabited the entire building. A feeling of anticipation that seemed to mirror her own curiosity in a way. As though there were another calling silently out to her. Patiently waiting to be found.

Lyla turned left into the hallway adjacent to the front door. The first door into the hall was her bedroom. She felt drawn to it for some reason, and barely hesitated to open the door when she reached it.

The room was dark, and regardless of the similarities, she couldn't think of it as her room. Combined with the unfamiliar atmosphere, every detail in the house only served to remind her how fake the building was. Under no circumstances could Lyla ever mistake this place as her real home. Every moment she spent inside it made it seem that much more alien.

Then she noticed the dark mass huddled in the center of the room.

Lyla took a step forward.

It turned.

Another step.

It moved. Lyla stopped.

Then, it leapt. Lyla stumbled back as the black thing collided with her. She fell to the ground and nearly managed to scream as it writhed onto her face and darkened her vision into nothingness.

The rest of her senses soon followed.

The house was gone. The mountains and surrounding landscape were gone. Even Lyla felt that she had been removed from existence. She was no longer in control, and couldn't seem to open her eyes. There was no waking up. There was only the darkness.

In the darkness she floated, without sight or feeling. She checked to make sure she could still breathe, but found such a function unnecessary. Her limbs wouldn't move, yet nor was there any assurance they were actually there. She tried to think. What had just happened? Why couldn't she remember? How long had she been here?

She should've been scared. It didn't make sense. But feeling and sentience didn't seem like such attractive concepts right then. Why couldn't she wake up? This wasn't real, was it?

Oblivion. It was peaceful, in a sense. As though her worries had been annihilated along with her existence. What was time? What was reality? She found it increasingly difficult to distinguish seconds from minutes, minutes from years, years from millenia. Hadn't she always been here, just floating through the void?

Of course, said the blackness, though Lyla didn't hear it audibly. You've always been here. Free of feeling, free of responsibility.

A twinge of fear found its way through the darkness and into Lyla's being. "You… know me? What are you?"

I am the Voor. You are not. How curious. 

The fear faded quicker than it had come, and the blissful oblivion quickly filled in the gap. The part of Lyla's mind that was still conscious tried to speak reason to her, but Lyla didn't care anymore. Yes. That sounded right. No more responsibility. No more expectations. No more people. Nothing to worry about now. She could just… sleep he--

Then the bell that signifies the end of class snapped Lyla back to reality.

She woke up on the floor next to her desk in her least favorite place to be: the center of attention. A ring of worried faces surrounded her. One boy whose name Lyla didn't know reached out his hand to her.

"Uh, Lyla? You o---"

"What? I wasn't asleep."

"You… what?"

Lyla ignored his outstretched hand and stood up. "Nothing. I'm fine."

After assuring everyone an absurd number of times that she was fine, Lyla was able to disperse the crowd. She even managed to convince the teacher that she was simply sleep-deprived. Still, the teacher insisted that Lyla go home and rest. It was a miserable time waiting to be picked up from school, but it was worse driving home as she had to constantly reassure her father as well.

Finally, they made it home and Lyla went straight to her room. She failed to suppress a shiver as she opened the door and quickly switched on the light. There was nothing there of course. Not this time. It was normal enough she could convince herself it would be alright. At least tomorrow.

Until then, Lyla decided to rest. That was probably it. She just needed to rest. But she could still feel it. That sense of wrongness, of loneliness, numbness. The Voor.

The Voor lingered. It hid in the corners of Lyla's every thought, watching closely, constantly. It was elusive, but Lyla could still sense it. If she looked, she could always find it hiding amongst her thoughts. Whenever she did, it would skitter away, only to return a short time later and resume its vigilant observance.

Unsettling as it was, Lyla found it fascinating. It felt like a real thing, yet she could not picture it in her mind. It did not seem evil, only… she didn't know what. She knew nothing about it. For all she knew, she could be going completely insane.

The following day, Lyla awoke late in the morning. Her parents had refused to let her go to school and all but ordered her to stay home and rest. Lyla was not particularly worried about her grades and consented, at least to put her parents' minds at ease.

Lyla got out of bed around 8:00 am. The room was normal. Her reservations of the previous day had almost faded with the arrival of warm, peaceful sunlight. Almost. Though morning brought courage, it could not entirely dispel thoughts and memory. 

The day was very uneventful. She spent most of it either sleeping or reading and took some breaks to make herself food, but the Voor still hovered at the edges of her thoughts. Lyla couldn't seem to fully focus on anything. The morning was relaxing, but the afternoon brought an unexpected feeling of mental exhaustion. By evening, a thin haze had settled over her mind, making it seem like she was constantly half-asleep.

By the end of the day, it had become maddening. She couldn't do anything. She couldn't think. Something had to be done.

Lyla went to bed early that night. She didn't bother with the covers and laid on top of them instead. Closing her eyes, she sought out the Voor. It didn't take long to find it, and it retreated as soon as she did, but this time, Lyla followed, while reality stayed behind.

The chase began in Lyla's room. Immediately upon "opening" her eyes she left the room and chased the Voor through the house. She couldn't actually see it, but she could feel it. It had a distinctive aura which she had no trouble keeping up with.

Suddenly, after no more than a minute of pursuit, it was gone. Lyla stopped halfway through the kitchen.

What? … wait. It wasn't gone, but it had left the house. Lyla sped to the front door and threw it open. Without hesitation, she stepped into the dark expanse with eyes closed. She opened them to find herself in the main hallway of East Hills High School.

A shadow darted away down another hallway upon her entering and she immediately pursued. The chase was annoying. The Voor was fast, never seeming to be truly visible. Its passage was at best glimpsed, but mostly felt. The feeling of something waiting behind you that scurries away just as you look. Some part of Lyla's mind screamed at her to stop, to turn back, but she wouldn't have it. She needed answers. 

The Voor sped around a few more corners, but soon disappeared through a classroom door. Lyla burst through the door and recognized the place as her usual classroom, but the Voor had already gone. She looked around, but it seemed to have given up running. The feeling was still there though. It was nearby. Lyla looked through the small window built into the door on the far side of the room, but saw nothing unusual. She hadn't even been in that room before, so it wouldn't have much detail to speak of. 

She opened the door to look inside and found it anything but empty. There were desks arranged in a similar pattern to the last room, the scratches and wear and tear of use clearly visible on them. Even the whiteboard had notes about certain assignments and mostly erased math equations, none of which Lyla recognized. The detail rivaled, and perhaps surpassed, that of her own home. 

But it was unfamiliar. Wrong. An uncomfortable silence had settled, and beyond the dark windows of each closed door there seemed to emanate a feeling of anxiety. Illogical fear. Dread. 

Lyla walked slowly to the door that should lead back into the hallway. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea, charging ahead recklessly. This was her world though. She could just go back home and continue in a more familiar place. She turned the knob, went through the door and entered the hallway. But it was not the same hallway. 

The hall was brightly carpeted and painted in aesthetically pleasing patterns of red, green, and yellow, with identical sets of doors lining each wall. At the end was a corner where the hallway turned to the right. Lyla recognized it immediately, and a slight chill ran down her spine when she did. She had gotten lost in this hotel as a child. The occasional nightmare still brought her back to this place, forcing her to helplessly watch her 4 year-old self run through the labyrinthine corridors, tears staining the carpet behind her.

Lyla started towards the other end of the hall, but jumped as the lights all shattered, plunging the hall into blackness and sending shards of glass across the floor. She covered her face until the last fragments tumbled to the ground, clinking against each other all the way. Eventually, she lifted her head again and carefully brushed pieces of glass from her hair.

Stretching out her arms, she was just barely able to touch the walls on either side with her fingertips. With one hand on the right wall and one out in front of her, she began to walk forwards. The glass crunched noisily under her feet. It was extremely loud… too loud.

Lyla stopped for a moment and let the silence rush back in. She couldn't shake the feeling of being watched. Followed even. Mirroring her footsteps. Perhaps she could test it. She lifted one foot, but stopped it right before it touched the ground.

*crunch*

The blood drained from Lyla's face, momentarily freezing her. She then put her foot down.

*crunch*

The silence returned. Never had Lyla felt more conflicted. She wanted more than anything to leave this place, yet she could not bring herself to move.

A quiet scrape along the wall behind her made the decision for her. She bolted down the hall, sending glass shards skittering across the floor in her wake. At the end of the hall, she turned right and collided with a wall. No. Not a wall. An elevator button glowed dimly in the darkness off to the side. Lyla pressed it.

Behind her, the glass continued to crunch and clink madly. Something scraped along the walls. It had almost reached her.

Then the elevator opened. Lyla dashed inside and pressed every button she could find. For a terrible moment, the doors wouldn't move. But then they began to close. Slowly. So agonizingly slowly. Just before they finished, Lyla felt something colder than ice scratch her ankle.

The doors shut. Silence once again reclaimed the atmosphere. Lyla let out a shuddering breath as the elevator began to descend.

In the exceptionally dim light of the elevator, Lyla looked down at her ankle. It hadn't drawn blood, but the sock had a long tear in it now. It was the Voor, she knew. She had a surprisingly difficult time regaining control of her own breathing as she waited for the elevator to stop. Why had it brought her here?

Gone were the feelings of curiosity and fascination. The Voor did not just feel different now. It was wrong. It's existence simultaneously mystified and horrified Lyla. She needed to get rid of it. And she couldn't help but think the feeling was mutual. 

Then the elevator plummeted. It scraped against the walls and made a deafening screeching sound as it fell. Lyla felt herself lifted off the floor. Her screams mingled with those of the elevator as they both shot ever downward.

She opened her eyes, and had to consciously release her grip on the sides of the bed. The room was dark. The sun had fled, allowing the shadows to reclaim the house. The distorted shapes that made up her room in darkness glared at her with their unseeing, constant vigilance. There would be no rest tonight. 

The days dragged on, but the nights did not. Every night was an eternity of its own. An endless mix of staring at the ceiling in unimaginable boredom, and terrible nightmares. The Voor was always there, but it no longer just observed passively. Now Lyla could feel its oppressive gaze constantly. It no longer just hid in the corners of her thoughts but instead shattered them, directing her focus back to itself. She couldn't think. She couldn't focus on anything. And not by lack of effort.

She tried reading. She tried homework and chores. She even resorted to exercise after a few days, but soon stopped as it only made her more tired. And tiredness meant sleep. Sleep meant more nightmares.

It occured to Lyla repeatedly that she very well may be going insane. She never imagined it would ever be this difficult to distinguish reality from dream. She needed to tell someone. Her parents had already noticed her exhaustion yet complete aversion to sleep. She resolved to tell them the truth, but had no idea when they would return home. It seemed like they hadn't been home for some time indeed. 

Lyla was splashing water on her face in the bathroom when she felt it again. The paranoia that signified the Voor's presence.

Look in the mirror, It said, though no actual sound reached Lyla's ears.

Lyla continued to stare straight down into the sink. This didn't make any sense. She was awake. Wasn't she?

Instead, Lyla turned around. There was nothing there of course. But… wait… there was nothing there. Just a blank wall.

Where was the door?

Lyla turned around again and the lights began to flicker. Halfway through the mirror was the Voor. It finished crawling out as Lyla backed into the corner. It was hunched over near the ground and had few distinguishable features. It was just a blackish-grey form, vaguely humanoid with unnaturally long claws, moving in a smooth, predatory fashion. Part of its face -if that's what it was- was left behind in a cloud of blackness and ash as it turned toward Lyla. Everything it touched was left with smears of black and ash gray.

Suddenly, it cocked its head to one side and the lights went out.

Lyla awoke and sat up quickly, taking a moment to regulate her breathing. Strange. She didn't remember lying on the couch to take a nap. She didn't remember what time of day it was either though. Or what day it was...

She looked around and saw that she was alone. Her parents should be home soon, she hoped. She laid back down and there it was. The Voor was perched on the ceiling, looking down at her.

It stayed motionless for a time, as if allowing her a chance to absorb the situation. Then it pounced.

Lyla felt its impossibly cold claws tear into her side before all went black.

Lyla awoke and sat up quickly, taking a moment to regulate her breathing. Strange. She didn't remember lying on her bed to take a nap.

She looked around and saw that she was alone. Her parents should be home soon though. She got out of bed, changed her ripped shirt for a fresh one, and left the room.

Lyla liked to think that she was a brave person. But, didn't everyone? Regardless, when unexpectedly faced with a dangerous predator, it is many people's first reaction to freeze in terror. Do nothing. This included Lyla. And she hated it.

It was as if the Voor was mocking her. Insulting her. It showed her that she was nowhere near as brave as she thought she was. It forced her to confront the fact that she was scared. She was really scared.

And she hated it.

But that scared Lyla even more. The Voor couldn't be real. It made no sense, but Lyla was no longer able to tell what was real and what was not. Half the time, she would wake up again before the end of the day, never knowing if it was the real thing this time around. She would often lose focus and pace the house or just stare blankly ahead for outrageous amounts of time.

Lyla shook herself and looked around to remind herself where she was. She was at the kitchen table, sitting next to her mother and across from her father. Lyla felt her throat catch. She hadn't seen her parents for… she didn't know how long. It seemed like weeks since she had seen anybody. They were eating dinner, so she picked up her fork and started to eat.

Then, Lyla heard a sound. It was faint at first. Barely louder than a whisper. It sounded like a machine beeping over and over and over and ov---

She shook herself again. The sound persisted, but it was getting steadily louder. Now that she thought about it, it seemed to be getting faster too.

"You okay honey?"

Lyla looked up. Her father had asked her.

"Yeah, you look a little pale. You doing alright?" Her mother asked.

Lyla looked at both of her parents' worried faces. "You don't hear that?" She said.

"Hear what?" Asked her father.

Lyla looked down. She didn't know. She couldn't tell where it was coming from. She ---

Wait… how had she missed that?

The table was covered in dark grey stains. The color of dirty ash.

Lyla looked up again. The Voor stood there behind her father, watching. She looked at her parents again, their eyes glazed over and faces smeared with black and grey.

"This isn't real, is it?" She said.

"Real?" Said her mother. She and the Voor cocked their heads in unison.

"None of it! None of you are real!" Lyla stood up and let her silverware fall back on the clean, empty plate with a loud clatter. She looked right at the Voor with its unnatural, eyeless stare. "Why are you doing this?"

...Why are you real? The Voor whispered, though it made no sound. 

Lyla didn't know what to say. In her confusion, she barely had a chance to blink as her mother picked up a steak knife and drove it into Lyla's chest.

Lyla looked at her alarm clock. 1:26 AM. She sat up and looked around the room. "I know you're there." She said.

She turned around to find the Voor perched at the head of her bed.

Immediately, she scrambled off the bed. The Voor followed claws first as Lyla backed away. It zigzagged as it advanced towards Lyla, cutting off all avenues of escape. She was forced to stop in the distant corner where she slid down to the floor and brought her knees up to her chest. The Voor slowed to a halt inches from her. Black and gray ash fell from it's face and claws onto Lyla.

"Just get it over with." Lyla mumbled through the beginnings of tears. The Voor just stayed motionless in front of her.

Then, she heard that sound again. But it was different this time. Like a constant ringing in her ears, but more… artificial. This time, she recognized it.

Flatline.

"Oh… I see." Was all she could think to say as tears flowed freely down her cheeks.

The Voor cocked its head to one side again, this time as if in amusement.

"Well?" Lyla asked. "What are you waiting for?"

The Voor moved it's head to the other side, now in confusion.

Lyla didn't know what to do. In a moment of either immense courage or utter stupidity - Lyla couldn't decide which - she flicked her hand out into one of the Voor's long claws. Instantly, her entire hand was overwhelmed by the most unbearable cold. She pulled her hand back and examined it.

Unscathed.

"You can't actually hurt me, can you?"

The Voor straightened its head.

Very slowly, Lyla stood up. "You can't. You've just been trying to scare me this whole time."

The Voor remained motionless. Even its clouds of ash seemed to go still.

To say Lyla was mad may quite possibly be the greatest understatement ever made. She was livid. Furious. Never again would she feel such incredible anger and hatred towards another thing.

"Didn't quite think this one out did you?" She said.

The Voor brought its claws back in and seemed to shrink back slightly.

Lyla clenched her fists.

The Voor took a step back.

Then Lyla decked it to the floor with a haymaker.

The Voor quickly scrambled onto its feet again and crouched low, as if preparing to pounce, but Lyla pounced first. She jumped and brought her foot up, forcing it into the Voor's face. As it fell to the ground, Lyla rested her foot on its chest.

"Leave. Me. ALONE!" She screamed, forcing her foot straight down. A small puff of ash flew into the air as her foot hit the floor.

The Voor froze. Slowly, it tilted its head one more time in confusion before disintegrating into a cloud of ash.

Lyla stood there for a moment in triumph before the room started to spin and she had to put a hand against the wall to stay balanced. The room grew darker, and balancing became increasingly difficult. She dropped to one knee, then both, then she found it too difficult to stay upright and collapsed onto the floor.

Lyla was woken up by a strange beeping sound. The same sound. She looked to her side and saw a heart rate monitor pulsing like a metronome. 

Further examination of her surroundings revealed that she was in a hospital bed. Her parents lay sleeping in chairs next to the bed.

Pain. Expectations. Reality. The Voor's whispers seemed to echo.

But no. Living carried a heavy price, but it was worth the reward. 

Her father stirred awake as Lyla tried to get herself into a sitting position. He rubbed his eyes in shock when he saw her. Then, he shook her mother awake and ran to the door to shout something into the hallway. Her mother, upon realizing what she was seeing, burst into tears and had Lyla in her arms before Lyla could say a word.

Soon enough, Lyla was in tears as well, and returned her parents' embrace. A reward indeed.