She woke up

Water….. Thirsty..

Aelin felt her throat burning. She struggled to get up, but her body felt odd..disorient….. Heavy? She felt the shadow of a person. She tried calling but no sound came from her throat. Luckily, the person still noticed her.

Water.

She moved her lips and tried to convey as much as she can without her voice. The person said something but she couldn't understand maybe because she was feeling somewhat dizzy. She felt relieved when the person extended a glass of water. The person hurried on about something but Aelin ignored everything. She felt her life was depended on the glass of water. Only after she finished drinking it, she felt she could take a breath.

She tried to make sense of her surroundings.  White rays shine through the window, showing the beauty of the many white lilies neatly arranged together. The walls were also white. Soft music was playing in the background. Everything spells comfortable. But the main issue was she was unfamiliar. She doesn't know where she was. The door to the room opened and a person came inside, male. She remembered she was reborn and then she was kidnapped. They were trying to force her. Were they successful? Was everything going to repeat itself? Will she no longer be able to escape from her past? Her body started shaking. She felt as if she was shoved in iced water. Her teeth chattering. She couldn't breathe. She started losing consciousness of her surroundings.

Darius was receiving a phone call in a nearby room from his subordinates. It has been two months since they rescued Aelin and it took that much time to wipe all the traces of the sleeper cells in the country. They couldn't apprehend any of the higher-ups but they were able to stop all their activities inside the country. It could be safe to say that he has made country X the safest place for Aelin. He just exited the room after finishing the call when the nurse informed him that Aelin woke up.

His heart started beating rapidly. He couldn't believe his ears. He tried to calm himself. His legs started walking, running to her room before he could make sense of his emotions. He didn't know what he was expecting but surely not the scene he was faced with. His heart was splashed with cold water as he saw Aelin's trembling body curled up on one side of the bed. Vaskov was telling her to calm down but it looked like although her body was here, she was already somewhere else. Someplace far from his reach. Her eyes blank, face pale and she was murmuring something unintelligible.

"It looks like she received some sort of psychological shock. I mean I was expecting this but…." Vaskov informed him, "it will be better if you talk to her fast, reach her and bring her out before she shuts herself inside her own world."

Darius felt pain in his heart as he tried to hold Aelin's trembling body in his arms. "Aelin, Baby are you hearing me?" He removed the locks of hair from her face and caressed it. "Baby, look at me" He whispered.

Aelin felt that she was not reborn but in hell. She read a book before where it stated that hell keeps repeating itself. She was certain of it now. She saw phantoms speaking to her, whispering in her ear, holding her.

"Stop it" she shouted holding her ears. "I don't want to hear anymore."  

Darius was shocked. She kept repeating the same thing. He holds her face close to him. "Aelin, wake up."

"No! Don't come near me." She tried to push his hands with whatever little strength she has. He can see her retreating, closing her emotions. He felt it in his heart that if he was not going to do something, anything. He was going to lose her forever.

"Aelin, nobody will come near you anymore. I will protect you. Okay? You will be safe forever." He rubbed her back and arms trying to warm her cold body. "Baby, please look at me."

"Da...ri..us" She uttered slowly as her body stopped shaking.

"Yes baby, I am here. Everything is going to be alright. You don't need to be scared anymore." Fear and worry gripped his heart as he checked her. When he saw her eyes finally looking at him, he felt relieved.

"You are here. You are finally here. I am so sorry." She buried herself in his chest, wrapping her arms around him so tight, making sure that he was real. That he was there with her. She wasn't in hell anymore. "Darius, please don't leave me." The sound of his strong heartbeat made her feel safe. She started wailing, her whole body shaking. "I am sorry, so sorry" she doesn't know why she was apologizing. Maybe because she betrayed him in his previous life or just so that he doesn't leave her. She was tired of everything and she felt the safest place in this world was in his arms.

"Shh..its okay.. Everything is okay." Darius kept soothing her as she cried until she fell asleep