I could remember splashing water about, struggling to keep afloat. There was another kid around my age there also.
He stood watching me while I wrestled with the water. I had forgotten his name but I could remember the moment when I saw the look on his face. That particular dark grin. It flashed through my mind. I had seen it plenty of times.
This was the part of my life that I had covered under the rugs. While I was being strangled there, I forced my eyes open to see if I would see that grin again. Perhaps he came back for me again.
But by that time, I was already losing consciousness. I couldn't make a sound and my vision blurred completely, with everything fading into oblivion.
Even the images that flashed in my mind. Everything gradually disappeared until finally, all was blank and dark.
And I heard a voice shout something but it was too inaudible for me to hear. That one too faded quickly.
And for some time, it remained that way until I saw a faint, brief glow of light. It came and went at intervals, becoming brighter each time it glowed.
Was I still dying? Was this the path to the afterlife?
Just when I thought everything had faded into the void, I began to hear voices. Indistinct chatters from people I couldn't recognise their tone.
In fact, I couldn't even recognise their language, even though it sounded familiar. And though their voices were faint, I could still hear them.
The faint glow seemed to be nearing me. I focused on it for a moment and I could see pictures again. They were blurry but I could make out a few details. I could see the owners of the voices I heard and they really weren't familiar.
Or perhaps they were but I couldn't just remember them.
As soon as the light caught up to me, I could see myself in different places. Different places that felt like a different time. A very long time ago. It felt like distant memories, of people I was sure I didn't know but then again, I knew them somehow.
Images of a well next to a small cottage house that I could vaguely recognise. Images of a mountain covered in clouds. Images and sounds of warcry from a thousand men before me. The image of a red ornamental rope and a particular pot that I thought I fancied a lot. A stream that I always visited. A young maiden, dressed in an ancient type of clothing.
She was so beautiful and I thought she looked like Dani when she smiled.
Then, there was the image of that cave, with a greenish glow on its walls and ceiling, reflecting on the water inside it. It was one that resonated deeply with me, although I couldn't feel myself in my body while i was immersed in that image.
I saw countless other things. Things that I would forget immediately I woke up at the hospital.
---
"You're not dead yet!"
I heard a voice in my head say before my eyes opened up slowly, letting in the white light from the ceiling above.
As I regained awareness, I could feel something slip out of my mind, like a fleeting dream that vanishes when one wakes up. I tried to hold on to something and all I could hear were faint voices. Familiar, yet unfamiliar. They all faded, leaving behind a void in me. It was then that my eyes opened fully.
Where I lay was soft and comfortable. For a few seconds, I tried to remember what I had been dreaming of but I couldn't grasp anything at all.
Then I tried to remember what it was that had sent me to the hospital in the first place. And it took me a few more seconds before I finally recalled. My eyes widened and my body jolted forward on its own.
I sat up and looked around me.
"Am I dead?" I asked. But no one was in the room actually. It was a nice room for a hospital and it smelled like flowers. I was near the windows so I tried to look outside. Maybe I could tell where I was by the surroundings but then, there wasn't much to see apart from a well trimmed and maintained garden.
The serenity here was amazing. It calmed my unease which was all I could feel when I remembered what had happened in the bus.
"I thought I died" I muttered to myself. "Did I actually survive?"
I needed to know. I needed to step outside and get a better grasp of how I ended up here. So, I attempted to get up only for me to experience another stinging sensation from my side.
"Owwww" I groaned as I returned back to my position of comfort.
Yes, I was most likely alive and well. I could very well remember what had happened to me there.
After futilely dodging and evading death strikes, I ended up having my side thrust through, before I then got strangled.
And so, the big question popped out boldly in my head.
"How did I survive that? I was sure that thing was already killing me" I said to no one in particular.
As I pondered, the door opened gently and a young nurse walked in, smiling at me as she walked up to where I was.
"Welcome back" she said cheerfully "How are you feeling now?"
"I... I'm not sure" I replied, truly unsure.
"Well, do you know where you are?"
"A hospital?"
She chuckled. "I meant, if you knew the exact place you were, but it's alright if you don't know"
I looked outside the window again. From what I could hear, there was a busy highway nearby.
"So, can you tell me your name and what you can remember?"
"My name's Alexander Gardell" I answered robotically. "And honestly, I can't remember how I got here. I can only remember those two..."
It was then my mind fully flashed back. About two or more people must have died before I blacked out. I watched two people get torn to pieces and their blood splattered everywhere.
I felt a shiver run down my spine.
"Alex, hello?" The nurse had to call out to me concernedly as I had zoned out.
"Ohh. Sorry, I..."
There was no way she would believe me if I told her two bizarre things suddenly popped out of nowhere and attacked me. It felt more like a nightmare that no one else could understand.
That very moment, a lot of things dawned on me. The very fact that I had seen those things outside made me shudder. It made me shudder so much that the nurse could notice it.
'Wait? Aren't they the same with what Mr Ash showed me that day? How? Why were they in a bus with me? Just what exactly are those things? How can they possibly exist?'
I had zoned out completely again before the nurse shook me.
"Are you okay, Alex?"
"Can I ask you something?" I said to her in a low tone ignoring her concern for me just now. "Can you just tell me exactly how I got here?"
"Well, I'm sorry but you were in a terrible accident and everyone apart from you died. Fortunately, you made it out, although..."
"An accident?"
The nurse seemed a bit hesitant to continue but I really pressed her.
"Yes. The driver and the five other passengers died there" she said and then inhaled calmly. "Well, if you're looking for the particular person who recognised you and requested that you be treated here, you must be looking for Mr Ash. He owns this hospital as well"