The Bone Chapel

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"Clementine?"

Desperate pleas to call my friend back dribbled over my groggy lips. Hands shook me and light stabbed at the darkness behind my eyelids.

"Delilah."

"Clementine, is that you?"

I reached out in the haze, trying to dip my fingers into the water of the creek.

"Delilah, wake up. This is Everett."

With his words came an aura of warmth and panic that seeped into my thoughts. The cool shadows of the forest disappeared into the bright lights of the library.

"Everett?" His name got lost in my yawn, my arms stretching out and my back cracking with a twist. "What's up?"

"You were in quite a dream, that's what's up."

I felt the dip in the sofa as a heavy body sat down next me. I blinked my eyes and acclimated them to the light before turning my gaze to where my companion rubbed his face.

"Sorry, this library sofa tends to do that to me. Last time I slept here, I had a very similar dream. I swear I heard Clementine talking to me then and now. Maybe it wasn't even a dream, Everett."

With my vision adjusted, I was able to read the pity on his pinched lips. I also spotted Damien standing beside the couch, just over Everett's shoulder. He didn't change his stony expression at my words. Instead he stood outside our conversation like a stoic sentinel.

"That's..." He paused, patting my hand, which rested on my thigh. "You know what, can we table this conversation? I've got a lot on my mind right now and though I think it's important to unpack your grief, I think that can wait until after you meet with my advisors. If that's alright with you."

Part of me screamed to be heard, demanding that I run straight into the woods to find Clementine by the river. However, another part of me whispered its suspicions. I saw my friend beheaded and burned. She was dead. There was no getting around that. Though, I'd seen the dead rise again more than once in Whisper Valley. I, in fact, considered myself one of those cases.

"I..." I wanted to tell him that I could wait and discuss it later, but the vibrations rattling my bones made me doubt my own conviction.

"Take a deep breath and remind yourself it was a dream."

I looked at him from the corner of my eye, not pleased with his dismissal. However, I caught the worry in the lines of his forehead and the exhaustion in the dark semicircles under his eyes. I knew he was right, that one way or another, I needed to breathe and look at this logically. Even if her words begging me to seek her were still echoing in my head.

I took a couple long, steady breaths and soon my hands settled and my skin cooled.

"I promise," he said, gripping my hand in his, "after we talk with my council, we will talk about your dream, okay?"

"Yeah, okay." I shared a thin smile and a nod of my head. He then rose up with my hand still clasped in his, offering his support should my legs be uneasy after my intense dream. After a couple shaky strides, I regained myself. We passed through the lounge doors with Luc and Damien standing guard on either side. Once we closed off the lounge from the library, the ward took effect and sealed our words away from the world.

"Delilah, let me introduce you to my advisors. I'm sure you've seen all of them before, but I think a proper introduction would be best for all of us."

I stood close to Everett's side as I nodded to the inscrutable faces surrounding the table. The only one that offered me a smile was Octavia. Her beaming grin eased my muscles and loosened my back.