The First Age

Anna flinched every time the creature hit against her barrier. It was almost as if she could feel the reverberations through the power every time it did. She was aware of the woman coming towards them and falling. She looked down and saw Cade go to her. The creature screamed.

Cade grabbed her and pulled her into a building. Her cage dissipated at the distraction. Anna found herself leaning against the wall, her breathing shallow. Her eyes stared at the wall across from her, her expression hollow. She didn’t hear Cade’s exclamation. She didn’t hear the creature begin to claw at the door behind them. She didn’t hear the approaching sirens of emergency vehicles. She’d didn’t even see the wall in front of her.

She was aware of Cade’s presence, and instinctively a hand reached for him, eventually laying claim to part of his coat. Her fingers closed on it tightly and her hand began to shake. Her other hand opened and closed, causing her nails to scratch the wall behind her.

Her mouth opened and closed, trying to form words, but there was a disconnect between her brain and speech system. Even in her addled state, she understood that Cade would probably misinterpret what she was going through right now. She wanted to tell him. It wasn’t the monster that had scared her the most.

The only thing she saw was the woman’s lifeless body. It had fallen face down, but her head had turned to face Anna, and when had looked down, she saw the blood pooling beneath her. Her power enhanced senses had smelled it too, but the eyes. The eyes haunted her. Because for the first time in her life, she had watched someone die. Anna had seen the moment when the light in her eyes had gone out.

”I watched her die…” Anna voice gasped.

Cade wasn't sure what was going on and Anna was just sorta staring into space like death was still in her viewport. "Nothing we could do. " He wasn't an emergency doctor, but he'd done a rotation there during his residency. He hated it. Seeing kids in distress, nearly dying. He much preferred the calm of the clinic. Sure they could be dying there too but at least he'd seen it.

Though Cade was pretty sure that the death had rattled Anna more than anything else.

He looked around to see what they had entered. The creature was still scratching and clawing at the door, but it quickly gave up as the streets filled with people for the emergency. The store they had entered looked like a convenient store, a small room with rows of shelves of various things. Cade carefully unlocked the door. "Let's get you checkout out. Just in case." Cade carefully guided her out the door and towards the ambulance. "Yeah, I called it in. I think she's in shock can we get someone to make sure it's nothing serious, she didn't get hurt." He told the nearest one.

Anna was certain she was moving but it was a woman’s voice who brought her out of her daze. ”Are you okay, Miss?” the woman, a short woman with short dark hair wearing a paramedic’s uniform said.

Anna looked around, trying to figure out where she was at this point. Back outside where the…incident happened. Thankfully she couldn’t see the spot where the woman had laid. The woman guided her into the ambulance and sat her down, wrapping a blanket around her shoulders. ”Can you hear me, Miss?

Anna was beginning to register what was going on. ”Yes, I can hear you, Anna said.

The woman smiled. ”My name is Anita, I’d like to ask you some questions and do some tests to just make sure you’re okay.” Anna looked over at Cade and back to Anita. ”Do you want him to be here?” Anna nodded, and Anna asked Cade to come in and he did. Anna sighed. She didn’t want to feel alone right now. ”Can you tell me your name, Miss?”

”Anna,” she responded.

”And do you know what month and year it is?”

”December 2046.”

”And can you tell me the name of the Ascendancy? And are you in any pain?” she put a device on Anna’s finger tip.

”Nikolai Brandon. No pain.”

Anita read numbers off of the device on her finger. ”Temperature 98 degrees, oxygen saturation 88%, heart rate 95. Do you have any history of epilepsy or seizures?” Anna shook her head and the woman put a blood pressure cuff on. ”Need your feet flat on the floor, no talking, and your arm like this. You’re doing great, Anna.”

The woman adjusted her arm and began to check her blood pressure. Anna found the woman’s method reassuring and felt like she was calming a bit. ”Blood pressure 130/80. she put the stethoscope around her neck and pulled off the cuff. ”Your friend brought you out Anna, because he thought you might be in shock. You were a little catatonic when you got to me. How are you feeling now.”

”Okay, I guess. A little upset at what I saw.”

Anita nodded, ”Understandable. It must have been hard for you to see that.” she shifted gears to Anna’s vitals. ”Your oxygen level is a little low, and your pulse and blood pressure are a little high, but none of them were too out of place. They’re numbers indicative of being under stress. Right now I’m thinking you just reacted to what you saw by disappearing for a little bit. It happens and that’s okay. But you know yourself better than anyone. I’d like to let you rest for a bit, run your numbers again and see if they improve. If they don’t or get worse, might want to consider a trip to the hospital to get more thorough tests. If they improve, it’s more than likely you were stressed out and reacted.”

Anna nodded. ”Lets retry the numbers and go from there.”

Anita nodded. ”I’ll give you 10 minutes. You just relax and take some deep breaths.” she pulled out two bottles of water and handed one to Anna and one to Cade. ”I’m going to step out, get some forms ready, and be back soon. I’ll be right outside if you need me.”

Anna was left with Cade and she fidgeted with the label on her water bottle. ”I tried to help her Cade. I wanted to help her. That’s all I wanted to do.”