Scented Melody

"Is?is she dead?" A distant voice penetrated the thick fog of pain. Gentle hands lifted her from the waves that would greedily tug her back into the sea. "She's so pale?and?and?all that blood. She's so young?"

"Be gentle with her. I don't know where she has come from, but we must do all that we can to help her." A deeper, calmer voice followed the first.

It was then that her shattered form was carried away from the icy waters. Swiftly she was carried across the sands as she fought to grasp onto the thread of awareness that still remained. Her battle was lost, however, with a single word fading away slowly into oblivion?'Starlights'.

A haze of red filled her eyes as a wave of pain and nausea washed over her. In that moment, she would have welcomed the sweet reprieve of death with open arms. It beckoned her in a seduction that she wished with all her heart to answer. She would have, save for one voice that was stronger then that of oblivion. A single voice, that in its strange familiarity asked her to stay. Perhaps it was the voice of an angel.

"Be with me, my shooting star." It whispered softly in a low voice, quiet in its desperation. "Stay with me, I beg you. Your smile is the sweetest torture to ever be endured. Despair would be my companion if I were without you. Please love me."

She swam though a thick sea of pain hoping to get closer to the voice. Each stroke, however, brought her closer to a consciousness that she didn't wish to be a part of. Earsplitting noise was there to greet her as the voice slowly faded away. Desperately she tried to hang onto that voice, but it was useless.

An alarm filled her brain along with the endless chatter of many voices. The continuity of it assaulted her sensitive ears. She longed to scream out for it all to stop, but something prevented her from doing it. And so she suffered silently, trying to endure without going to the brink of insanity.

Suddenly the alarm stopped and she felt as she was moved carefully. The voices became more urgent in their persistence leading to a harsh crescendo. Through the constant noise the white-hot pain, though it had miraculously subsided, still lingered in the darkness waiting for the chance to rule over her once more.

Swiftly she rushed onward into a world of the unknown as darkness came to slowly envelope her in its timeless oblivion.

In the world of darkness she floated between life and death. The passage of time became irrelevant to her in the void of unconsciousness. Pain and noise were distant from her there, a reprieve upon the sensitivity of her senses.

She would have been content to stay in that world forever but as with all things it was not to last. Soon the world faded away into a fog, ending her plunging into the realm of reality.

A low moan escaped her as the thrum of pain returned to haunt her. Her entire body felt as if it were broken. Thick bandages covered most of her flesh and a tube was placed down her throat preventing her from speech.

Soft whispers floated around her head as she struggled to open her eyes. They opened to a blurred white light. Two dark shapes hovered in the distance.

At once the whispering stopped and the two shapes drifted forward merging into the forms of a man and a woman. They looked down at her through the fog; raw concern was evident in their eyes.

The woman, with tears in her eyes, gently took her hand careful not to disturb the tube that extended from it. Her husband, on the other hand, stared at her stared down at her. The battle with his emotions was clear on his face. He was losing miserably against whatever pain raged within him.

In her lethargy confusion reigned supreme. It was evident that the people beside her had to be her parents, but any sort of recollection failed to dawn. Her very name was something that she couldn't call to her mind. An unimaginable panic took place, tears springing to her eyes. Sensing this her mother soothingly stroked her cheek and murmured softly.

Almost immediately the panic ceased and she turned to attention to her mother's eyes. The love that radiated from the deep brown orbs could only have come from that special bond between mother and daughter. It was then that she realized that it didn't matter if she remembered them or not. It only mattered that she would be loved and that she was never going to be alone. The thought of that notion gave her a gentle sort of peace. The peace lingered with her as she drifted off into the realm of sleep.

Three forms materialized from the darkness as if they were born from it. Tight leather outfits gave them an air of danger enhanced by the grim expressions that each wore. Eyes telling of a pain that anyone their age should never have to experience scanned the night to be greeted by the moonlit sea.

"Are you certain she is on this planet, Healer?" Intense blue eyes scanned the darkened horizon. Dark blue, almost black, hair floated in the gentle, sea scented wind.

"Yes." The woman named Healer answered. "I can sense her soul. It is calling to me like a beacon in the night." She closed her eyes as if she was experiencing a deep feeling that the others could not. Finally she ended her speech in an ardent whisper. "She is here."

Fear, violent and primal, filled her heart. In that raw desperation she ran away from the beast that followed her, a beast with golden eyes. The heat from its breath fanned on the back of her neck as tendrils of blackness threatened to drag her into its cavernous mouth.

A blue fire leaped around her singeing the hem of her flowing skirt. A thick layer of gore littered the smooth marble floor. Corpses that lay scattered around her added to the sheer horror of the moment. Their glazing eyes looked upon her in accusation as stiffening fingers pointed at her.

Screams of the dying could be heard around her accompanied by the laughter of the beast. In the distance the sounds of furious battle echoed off the ivy covered pillars of the surrounding area. Floating above this came the wails of thousands of voices as they mourned the deaths of the murdered.

A moment later she slipped and fell to her knees in the bloody mess. Bile rose in her throat as the stench of death filled her senses. She looked down to her hands to see that they were dripping with crimson.

The wind began to pick up around her, sending the foulness whipping around her washing her over in a wave of carnage. It was then that she heard a distant snapping though the terror.

She looked up at the noise to see three figures emerge from the blackness. Their black leather outfits accentuated the muscles that could only be developed through hour upon hour of action. Their hair, though different in color, was tied back in identical ponytails. Microphones accented with a star and feather adornments covered their right ear and extended to their mouths. Extending from their backs where large white feathered wings.

They looked beyond her at the beast, a fierceness that hardened their beautiful features. It made her tremble to look upon them as if she was witnessing the descent of three avenging angels. A mixture of awe and apprehension overtook her as she stared at the three women. The awe dissipated fear when their attention was turned to her.

A cold shiver of dread chased down her spine at the dispassionate glares that they gave her. Accusation for all that encompassed her was crystal-clear in their cold expressions.

The seraph with the chocolate brown hair stepped forward threateningly, taking immense glee in prolonging her unease. Deliberately a smirk soaked in cruelty spread across her mouth as she, the messenger of dread, swiftly approached. Without warning, the woman kicked her solidly in the face propelling her into the waiting tentacles of the beast.

To struggle was futile as the creature dragged her across the floor the scales that plated it grating at her neck, ankles, and wrists until they were raw and bleeding. All the while the three angels watched in judgment as their divine justice was carried out.

The torridity of pungent breath intensified as the journey to the cavernous mouth grew to a close. A fine mist of corrosive spittle burned at her flesh sending dark smoke spiraling upwards to the vaulted ceiling. Dagger-like teeth ripped apart her tender flesh. It was enough to cry out at the torture but not a sound emerged from her lips at the endless agony.

As the monster was about to devour her the horrible world faded slowly into nonexistence leaving her alone to nurse her wounds inflicted by the horrific façade. The loneliness allowed her to give way to her emotions as she sent forth a bitter cry of anguish with the flow of molten tears.

Gut-wrenching sobs shook her petite frame as she lay in fetal position while spasms of pain gripped her violently refusing to let her go. Her breath came out in ragged gasps between the sobs

Her flesh felt as though it were a blazing inferno. The relief of perspiration was not present causing her skin to be as dry as parchment. And yet chills chased down her spine.

A gasp of shock was ripped from her lungs as a dampened, cool cloth was placed at her burning forehead. Simultaneously a shaking hand brushed away her bangs and caressed her cheek. Softly she smiled at the relief from the scorching heat and floated gently into a dreamless sleep.