88. ghosts

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Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.

The repetitive sound of the clock almost caused me to lose my mind. 

I wanted to scream out. To yell. To cry. 

Because with each passing second of the clock, Murphy was one inch closer to death. 

His body laid motionless on the surgery bed, and it took everything in me to remain calm. But it was almost impossible. Sitting here watching my best friend die was one of the hardest things I had been put through.

I knew this is what he wanted, that he was happy with Emori somewhere in his head. But it didn't make it hurt any less. 

My feet scraped against the floor as I quickly pushed myself to my feet, deciding that I had had enough. 

"What are you doing?" Miller demanded, turning away from Jackson to face me. 

I sniffled, clearing my throat briefly before nodding toward the door. "I'm going to Bardo."

His face fell. "You're doing what?"

"I'm going to help the rest of our friends. There's nothing else I can do here." I answered, my voice wavering. "I refuse to let anyone else die. You two stay here and make sure Murphy's okay."

"Avery," Jackson said softly. "He's-"

"He's dying. I know." I confirmed, pushing down the dull ache at the back of my throat as I knelt in front of Murphy.

"Stay alive until I get back." I pleaded, not wanting this to be our final goodbye. "Please."

Letting out a quick sniffle, I stood up and pressed a quick kiss to his forehead, looking to Emori briefly before stepping away from them.

"Wait," Miller called, causing me to pause as I turned to the door. "Take this." He held out his gun, giving me a firm nod. "Be safe, Avery."

I gave him a grateful smile as I took the weapon. "I'll see you guys soon."

And as I walked toward the palace, back to the stone that would take me to Bardo, I prayed my words were true. 

There didn't seem to be a single soul as I marched through the palace. It seemed that every Sanctumite was somewhere else- anywhere else. 

That only heightened my nerves. My hands were clammy as they gripped onto the gun, my legs feeling dumb as I made my way into the stone room. 

I had no idea what I was going to be met with in Bardo. By the sound of things, a war was actually happening. If it was the 'Last War' like Bellamy had described, I wasn't sure, but Miller's recollection of what had happened clearly alluded to some kind of war. 

So, as I stopped in front of the stone, a discarded helmet picked up and in my hands, I readied for whatever I was going to walk into. 

As I pulled the helmet on, I could feel my breath becoming more and more unsteady. Even as I entered the code for Bardo, I couldn't stop my hands from shaking. 

"You have to do this." I whispered to myself. "For your friends."

The green anomaly opened up, inviting me to step across the bridge. With one final vote of confidence, I did just that.

As I emerged in Bardo, the first thing I did was rip the helmet from my head, taking a minute to breathe. However, within seconds, a gunshot was sounding off. 

My heart hammered against my chest as I gripped onto my gun, preparing to raise it. But the gunfire wasn't directed at me. Instead, it had been directed at a Bardo guard who had been preparing to shoot me. 

He had been invisible when I arrived, ready to sneak attack me. If I had kept the helmet on long enough I would have known that. 

But instead of his bullet hitting me, someone else had reached him first. 

The figure stood in front of me, their gun lowered as they slowly reached up to take off their helmet. 

I kept a hold on my gun, the barrel of it pointed at their head. I didn't know who this was. They had saved me, but that didn't mean much these days. 

As the figure carefully removed the helmet that was covering their face, my whole body was jolted with shock. It felt like I had jumped into freezing cold water. All the air sucked from my lungs as I stumbled backward slightly.

"Hey, Sunshine."



𝐒𝐀𝐋𝐕𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍─𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐤𝐞²Where stories live. Discover now