Strange Eyes
Thirteen

My eyes opened.

I didn’t recognize where I was. The ceiling looked transparent, the light of the moon shining through strangely. I could hear voices. They sounded muffled. I couldn’t make out what they were saying. I thought that I heard a woman. Men. A group of them, maybe. I realized then that they were speaking another language.

Sitting up, it took all of my energy. My body felt as though I had been hit by a semi-truck. I glistened with sweat. Looking around with bleary and heavy eyes, I saw that I was in some kind of canopy bed. The canopy surrounded me, white and clouded. A pale blue light came from all around me, shining in through the opacity. I was dumbstruck. Where was I?

The concept of waking up in an unfamiliar place surrounded by unfamiliar people was becoming all-too-familiar to me. It was nearly laughable. I let out a breathy, heavy laugh in a stroke of fatigue-induced insanity. Everything had been so surreal. None of it had felt real. Remembering the voices, I moved to get up. But before I had the chance to do so, the canopy opened to reveal a woman.

She had flung it open, revealing the room surrounding me. She was older. She carried a glass of water. I could see that we were in a small bedroom that wasn’t much different than the one that I had been in before. I had never seen the woman before in my life.

“Your body must rest, a-ge-yu-tsa.” She was beautiful. Stern, and an elder, yet beautiful. She had long black hair streaked with grey that flowed down her back like a thick, shining waterfall. Her skin was weathered and tanned in a way that shone in the darkness. Her dark eyes were those of a raven’s- starkly intelligent.

I stared at her, bewildered. It was so strange. She wore normal clothing, a pair of jeans and a simple white shirt. She came over to the side of the bed, pressing the glass into my hand. It felt cool. “I know that you are afraid, a-ge-yu-tsah.” She stroked my hair lightly. I felt almost in awe of her presence. It was stranger than anything that I had ever experienced before. She radiated this certain…energy. I couldn’t place it. But somehow, I felt safe. Wherever I was, and whoever she was, I felt safe.

I didn’t know what language she spoke. It sounded beautiful on her lips. Like something sacred. “You are not alone, my a-tsi-lv-s-gi.” She spoke more in the native tongue, stroking my hair as I sipped the cool water. It went past my dried lips, her words swirling around my head in a soothing lull. I gulped the water down quickly as I gained in strength. “Good.” She spoke, taking the glass from my hands.

It seemed that she both spoke and understood English. Summoning the energy, I turned to her, looking at her with a sense of subdued urgency. “Who are you? Where am I? I need to speak with Adonis. Hunter. Les. Anyone.” She looked at me with a certain apologetic essence. The beautiful Native American woman continued to stroke my hair in a matronly way.

“I am Halona. You are safe with me. The men are not here, but they will be back for you. Rest, my a-tsi-lv-s-gi.” She looked at me earnestly. Her beautiful hair shone in the moonlight. It was unnerving how…motherly, and normal, she looked. I would expect someone like her to descend from heaven in flowing white robes or something ridiculous like that.

I nodded my head slowly. Nothing made sense. But sleep sounded amazing right then. And I trusted Halona.

So I faded away again, the canopy closing around me and Halona’s presence lulling me back to sleep, my fatigued body preparing from something unknown.