The Matriarch

Chapter 6 Memories

He could still hear the ringing sound in his head, reverberating alongside blurry images of what seemed to be a large dog-like shadow above him. The only thing that seemed to be clear at that moment was the images of blood, lots of it, pooling, dripping, red liquid all around him.

There was even a vivid part in his memory wherein he was looking at his arms, covered in it as he laid down the cold, hard pavement.

A voice echoed behind his thoughts slowly waking him from the sudden depths of his dream-like memory.

“Special private Cruz, sir, are you listening!” the man said once more, snapping his fingers in front of his eyes.

Raising his head to see the white walls, tiled floors, and metal railings around him, along with the pungent smell of medicine and alcohol. That was the only time that he got back to reality, seeing the three uniformed men who were beside him. They were wearing a black suit and ties with sunglasses and almost had the same style of clean-cut on the side.

“Ye-Yes?” He was finally able to say, trying to sit straight in his hospital bed.

The three men looked at each other as if trying to gauge the situation. Chris could not help but notice the weird look they gave one another as if they were communicating with one another with just their body movements and eyes.

“After the explosion, did you not see anything? Anything at all,” One of the men asked, frowning as he took off his sunglasses to stare straight into his eyes.

“I...I…” Eyes squinting, Chris could feel something ominous within the man’s eyes, that he could not help but feel wary.

Once again he could hear the ringing sounds around him but this time it was much louder, almost piercing through his ears that it made him wince. For some reason, he thought he saw the man’s eyes glint for a second before he could no longer bear the noise.

Avoiding the man’s gaze while grabbing hold of his head, he tried to focus on keeping out the noise from his mind, trying to block it away.

The one who kept looking at Chris was suddenly frowning, even more, he then gave glances to his companions with a disturbed looked on his face.

“I think sir Chris is still in shock after what happened, he still hasn’t recovered yet from that explosion.” Oliver, who was on the other side of the bed quickly intervened.

The three men quickly gave those meaningful glances at each other, nodding as once again they began their silent communication.

It was then that Chris noticed what looked to be marks engraved on the back of one of the man's heads. The number six and the capital letter s are what seemed to be tattooed on the side of his neck, just under the man’s ear. He tried taking a look at the other two but was unable to check as the three men’s gaze went back to them.

“Will take our leave then,” they answer in unison, bowing before turning their backs to leave.

It was only at that moment that he was finally able to breathe easily. Suddenly feeling less tense from the interrogating gazes of the men.

“Sir Chris, are you all right?” Olivers’ eyes were teary as he carefully tried to pat him on the back.

“Yeah,” that was all Chris could say while slowly diving into his memories once more.

He was just unable to put what happened aside, still unable to believe that those things actually happened to him. Confused, disturbed, and still a bit shaken, he was still unable to make sense or reason for all the things that occurred.

“I’m glad you’re all right, I thought you were dead when...when that thing…” Oliver was unable to continue what he wanted to say, sobbing as he wiped his face from the tear after being overwhelmed by his emotions.

Chris swallowed hard carefully remembering how the blurry figure of the beast became clearer, its face suddenly came out of the ashy fog after the black smoke and fire had stopped.

The creature looked like a huge wolf with black scales covering it instead of fur and having what looked like a bluish mane.

His heart raced the moment he remembered how the beast bit his arm, still feeling the sharpness of its fangs burying through his skin. It was not that hard but was enough to cause him to bleed.

“Oh queen!” the stone-cold voice echoed inside his head, it was so clear that he could almost feel the creature's voice.

It was after that the beast embraced him, like a babe being wrapped around its body. But it was not enough to protect him as several more huge explosions came after the first one. At that moment he finally lost consciousness.

A sudden vague memory then started appearing in his mind when he fell asleep during that time. It was that of being covered in several more bodies of the wolf-like creatures.

“How long was I out?” Chris groaned palming his face as his head began throbbing just from thinking of what had happened.

“About three days sir,” Oliver quickly answers as he was now a bit calmer.

“That long,” Chris furrowed, not thinking that it was possible he then inspected his arm which he remembered being bitten, but there were no marks or anything there.

“Yes sir,” Oliver enthusiastically says, now becoming lively again.

“And what exactly happened inside the fog? Did they find out where it came from and what was the cause of it?” he asks, curious and worried as to what had happened.

“There were a lot of casualties sir, though of course, the missiles weren’t the cause of it. I’ve been also hearing about rumors saying that it's some kind of new weapon from the enemy,” the young man states saluting as he was finally able to recover.

Hearing the news Chris could not help but feel a very strong shiver, feeling angry and guilty that he was unable to do much. As the mistake kept haunting his mind.

“How...How many casualties?” He tries asking.

But before Oliver could answer the door to the ward flew open, letting in several uniformed men. They were wearing the usual fatigue uniform of the soldiers.

“Special private Cruz,” One of the men that seemed to be the leader, being the only one with a red tag on his side.

“Yes,” he answers quickly not wanting to cause any further mishaps.

The man quickly gave him an envelope that contained a letter with a red seal on it. Quickly he tries to get his wits about before these men could ask.

“You are requested at the general’s office,” the officer said, pointing at the sealed white envelope.

Swallowing hard, Chris knew the consequences and problems that will arise for him in case he disregards or declines the request. But he was sure of what might be the reason for the said summons.