Unchained, chapter 5
May. 28th, 2007 02:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xgirl30Category: drama, missing scene, angst
Rating: PG
Spoilers: None, if you've seen "Catch 22"
Disclaimer: All Lost characters are the property of ABC and their creator J.J. Abrams. I derive no profit from this and no copyright infringement is intended.
Chapter 5
The next morning Desmond rose at the usual time. He forced himself to get out of bed and kneel down to say his morning devotionals even though every movement felt like a knife going across his back. Offering up his suffering he gritted his teeth and continued, only looking up when his breakfast tray was delivered. He noted with some interest that there was a small pot of salve on the tray along with his meal. Was he being monitored while in isolation? Desmond finished his prayers then painfully stood and went to eat.
By the evening the pain in his back had dulled to a slight ache. There were still deep red welts where the whip had made contact with his skin. He had been shocked when he felt them as he applied the soothing salve earlier in the day. Had he really hit himself that hard? Desmond sat cross legged on the floor concentrating on the flickering candle in front of him. He made his mind go blank and concentrated on the dancing flame and the thin stream of smoke wafting from it, imagining it was carrying his prayers to heaven. He stared into the light, mesmerized. Desmond imagined his body was becoming as fluid as the wax that ran down the sides of the candle. The room was fading away and all that was left was warm nothingness and a small flickering light. The silence around him was deafening. He felt like he was floating. An angel appeared before him surrounded by a corona of light. He jerked back in shock and found himself sitting in his room as he had been. What had just happened? He wondered if perhaps fasting for purification hadn't been the best idea. (Desmond hadn't had anything except water since breakfast.) Standing slowly he extinguished the candle and turned on the lamp.
He made and evening offering then lay down on the bed. Several moments later he sat bolt upright as images began to appear in his mind. He saw the room where labels were applied to the bottles of wine and they were packed into crates for shipment. One of the novices, Brother Paul was carrying a box of supplies to the work table. Never the most attentive person, he didn't see there was a crate on the floor in his way and fell over it. Several of the other monks immediately came running to see to him. Desmond blinked trying to make sense of it. He hadn't “seen” things since he was a small boy and it frightened him. As he drifted off to sleep Desmond prayed for strength.
