UNSPOKEN: Undone Realms Book 3

Ch. 30: Whole

The pool is empty, save for Clara.

She had thought she would stay at the bottom forever, but things are different now. A pool isn't really a pool if all of the water has been drained; it's only a hard, hollow shell, one that Clara would be happy to climb out of. But it isn't that simple. There are no ladders; the walls are smooth and slippery.

Clara is wondering what she should do when the sound of people talking spills over to her. She wants to respond, but she's mute... isn't she?

They keep calling out-men and women, familiar and unfamiliar. Their voices echo off of the concrete walls.

For the longest time, she can't make sense of what they're saying. Are they talking to her? Do they even know she's down here?

Occasionally, she understands a word or a phrase, but these come and go like waves lapping the shore; there for a moment and then gone.

long time

afraid

up to her now

wake up

breath

shallow

Shallow-that word sticks. Clara spins around. She didn't think this pool had a shallow end, but maybe she was wrong. She turns again and out of the corner of her eye she spots a hand draped over the pool's edge. Is the wall on that side slightly shorter than the others? The hand reaches out to her.

Not sure of what else to do, Clara walks towards it. As she does, the wall begins to shrink. The hand crawls its way on fingertips down the side of the pool. Flesh turns metallic, fingers, palm, wrist, all warp and elongate until the hand is no longer a hand at all, but a ladder stretching up to the sky.

She steps onto the lowest rung and climbs out.

#

Clara opens her eyes.

She is propped up in a bed situated on the far end of a small cabin. Light streaming in through a nearby window illuminates a myriad of faces-Nolan, her parents, an older woman, and behind them, several people wearing long white coats.

She takes in a deep breath and then holds it. She's breathing! She just breathed!

She lets her breath go, then does the same thing all over again.

"It's okay, you're here now, Clara." Her mother lays a damp cheek against her shoulder.

Nolan grips Clara's hand. "You're like the breathing people now. It just took you some time to figure that out."

She opens her mouth. There are a million things to say, but she still can't get over the fact that she is here, in a place where she can breathe like everyone else, where she doesn't have to exist like a ghost haunting the world, unheard and unseen.

Everyone is still staring at her. She's never had so many people who were able to see her, much less look at her at the same time.

When she finally speaks, her voice is steady, melodic, certain.

"You can see me."

A/N: Clara lives! All she had to do, really, was learn how to use those lungs of hers. Thanks to her family's love and the Vitalist doctors, she's finally joined the world of the breathing people. Are you relieved?

Wait, wait-it's not over yet folks. Yes this is the last chapter-proper, but up next is an epilogue. So if you feel you're about to go into Fold Series withdrawal, don't fret just yet!

I'll get gushier in the next author's note, but for now, I just wanted to thank you yet again for your support, chapter after chapter. I wrote both UNHEEDED and UNSPOKEN because readers wanted me to, so YOU are the reason this story exists. I can't express how grateful that makes me!

Today's dedication is for one of my loyal readers, @Nerdyprincess98. Her comments are always upbeat and remind me of how wonderful it is that I can communicate with my dearly loved readers. She's awesome, and her paranormal story, THE NORMAL TEST looks super intriguing too. Thanks Jay, for being just abnormal enough to think The Fold Series was worth your time!

Today's image is courtesy of Soranyan, Flickr Creative Commons.