Ashley woke in a room full of white. She narrowed her eyes to a squint as she rose to a sitting position. It was a large room with white walls and a giant window covering the wall opposite to her bed. The bed was king size with white sheets and a beautiful white comforter with white flower designs stitched into it.
“You’ve been sleeping for quite some time.” A deep voice said from her right.
Ashley grabbed her covers and pulled them around her as she turned to face the man. He was tall and had black slacks on and a white button down shirt. His sleeves were rolled up and showed off his huge muscles. His face looked as though it was carefully sculptured by the greatest artist. His dark brown eyes gazed down at her patiently.
“Wh-who are you?” Ashley asked uneasily.
His lifted his hand and brushed his black hair from his sad eyes, “I am Aftiel. You’ve been gone for a long time. You’ve made a lot of us worry.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve been missing for almost nine years. Not any of us could find you until the Tribulation began. Then I was sent to fetch you. Tell me one thing though,” he said while taking a few steps closer to her bed, making her scoot backwards, “Why were you crying?”
Suddenly, as if the dam holding all her memories fell back all at once, the memories came back to her: the waterfall, the orphanage, her parents, blowing out the candles on her birthday, opening presents on Christmas, going to church every Sunday, her friend’s smiles, and her mother’s open arms as the building fell, crushing her body. Ashley wrapped her hands around her head, her mouth opening in a scream. The windows shattered and the curtains tore. Aftiel was suddenly next to her on the bed, pulling her into his arms.
Then all the pain melted away. He stroked her hair and hummed a lullaby as if he were trying to get a small child to fall asleep. Ashley looked down and saw that her white dress was spotted with red dots. A few more fell from her chin. Hastily she wiped at her face in horror.
“I’m bleeding, why I am bleeding?” she asked as she looked at her bloodstained hands.
“That’s what happens when we cry,” Aftiel said with sadness filling his voice. “We shed tears filled with blood.”
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