White Noise (The Inadequate Experiments 1)

9. The Inequits

Sera

I stumbled through the door into the back room of the Java House essentially blind. I heard the door slam against the wall beside it before slamming itself closed once more. I gripped the stone counter beside me, my body shaking. Pain flared in my temples, and there was a ringing in my ears that reminded me eerily of the explosion.

Unable to keep myself upright, I slid to the floor, my back against the cupboards beneath the counter. I rested my head on my knees and covered my ears with my still-shaking hands.

What is happening to me? The thought just made the pain stronger.

...Sera?

I flinched. The voice in my head wasn't my own that time.

Sera, listen to me. You need to calm down. Take a deep breath. Slow your heart rate. You could be dangerous to those around you if you don't. Try not to panic – if you just listen to me, everything will be oka—

"Stop!" Though I said the word aloud, it still had the intended effect. The boy in my mind went quiet.

What is happening to me? I thought. Why are you in my head?

It felt as if the boy laughed. I'm not in your head, Sera. The problem here is that you're not in your head either.

I squeezed my eyes shut against the pain in my temples. That's ridiculous. I thought. What—Who are you? How are you doing this?

You don't recognise my voice? I'm offended.

In my mind, he showed me an image – a boy with messy brown hair, a splash of freckles across his cheekbones, and light blue eyes behind thick framed glasses.

...Cooper?

I could picture him smiling. The one and only.

B-but... How?

I don't have time now, but I'll explain later.

Later? I asked. What do you mean?

I could almost feel him wink.

Dream a little dream of me, Sera Grey.

I felt a door close between us, and then my Soul Mate was gone.

* * *

The dream felt strange. I had dreamed of Cooper so many times, even when I was younger, yet none of them had felt like this. I supposed having some kind of understanding of what the dream was made me feel differently about it. Earlier, he had told me the problem was that I wasn't in my head. Did that mean that while I was in the dream, I wasn't in my head either? I shook my head as if to shake off the thought, and opened my eyes in the dream.

My first impression was green. Bright green grass on the ground where I sat, bright green leaves hanging over me like a canopy where I leant against the rough bark of a tree trunk. The wind whistled through the leaves, and the sound seemed to relax me.

Susurrus.

When I got out of this mess, I promised myself I would thank Oliver for teaching me that word, even if I could thank him for nothing else. It was strange, I thought, how easily words could make you feel better. But now I had a rough idea that Cooper was a real person who I could – apparently – very easily communicate with, I figured I would be out of Oliver's mess very soon. We couldn't pretend to be Soul Mates if I found Cooper, my real Soul Mate. It all made sense to me that way – even though nobody else could, being able to communicate through thoughts with my Soul Mate seemed almost logical. But that still didn't explain why I could communicate with Calliope.