The Last Sunrise
She woke up with a terrible thirst. The room wasn’t familiar to her. She was afraid to open her eyes. She felt the hot sun rays piercing between the curtains. Like a newborn animal, she struggled on the floor, naked. With countless things going through her mind like a freight train she trembled as she felt her way around the room. She dared not open her eyes. But her other senses seemed heightened. She covered her ears to shield herself from the sounds of cars a hundred floors below. She was able to hear, feel, smell everything in and out of the room. Somehow, she knew that she would be blinded if she was to open her eyes. She felt around the room and found a cloth on the floor. She quickly wrapped it around her eyes. She could still see through her shut eyes and the cloth.
She eventually realised that she was in a high-rise apartment downtown. She had no idea how she got here. The last thing she remembered was being grabbed from above at night. She wasn’t sure how long she’s been here. She saw her clothes and put them on. Who ever put her in this room knows that she is sensitive to light and the black light proof curtains facing the east was Godsent. She still felt the unbearably hot sunlight behind the curtains. She sensed the unforgiving sunlight outside.
The thirst didn’t relent.
The entire floor seemed to be one apartment. A few minutes passed and her nerves calmed a little. Her breathing eased. She rushed to the kitchen and opened the fridge. She was glad to see a large jug with water. Without hesitation, she poured half the jug of cold water down her throat. She noticed something peculiar. The water, despite appearing cold, was warm. And despite drinking a litre of it, the thirst didn’t subside.
She was desperate. She knew if she couldn’t stop this thirst soon, she would pass out. Her hands trembled. The fridge was empty except for a black bottle at the back. It looked like a wine bottle without any labels. She finished the rest of the water. When she realised that she couldn’t satisfy her torturous, painful thirst, she slowly reached back and took a hold of the black bottle. She uncorked it and smelled. It was blood. She was taken a back for a moment. She knew that it was blood but it smelled sweet. At the sheer smell of it, she could feel coming alive. There wasn’t a second to waste. She took a big gulp of it. Immediately, she felt strong, energised. The thirst was now quashed. She still had the cloth on her head. She felt the sun light getting increasingly intense outside.
She sat on a velvet couch for few minutes to get her bearings.
Suddenly the phone rang on the coffee table. She was afraid to answer it. The phone didn’t stop ringing. She finally answered.
“Welcome to our world Kiana” a calm friendly voice said on the other line.