Human

43.

"When is she going to wake up? It's been hours."

My head is swimming.

I'm trapped in the darkness.

"Just relax." I recognize that high voice...Carrianne?

"I can't relax while she's like this." My sweet Garrett's voice sounds so strained. "Why hasn't she woke up yet? You said it wouldn't take this long." Who is he talking to? Why can't I move?

I'm trudging through an eternal night. I feel bodiless, like a spirit. Did I die? What happened?

"I can't say for sure how long. We don't even know what caused this. We will have to wait until she's ready." I think its Scarlett's mom, Mary, but it's hard to tell.

I hear a noise. Something that sounds like a fist on a wall or a table.

"Cade, get up."

"Stephen?"

"You've got to get up. You don't have time to be wasting, you've gotten plenty of beauty sleep, now get up princess."

"Don't call me that." I snapped. He knows I hate that.

"There she is." He laughs and I think I smile.

"What happened?"

"You were too stubborn for your own good. You're not invincible, Cade. You've got to be more careful. You need your strength more now than ever. Now get up."

"I'm trying to!"

"She's moving!" I hear Carrianne cry out.

I hear a lot of movement going on around me. I'm fighting the blackness. Fighting the motionless fog that surrounds me. I push hard against it and suddenly I'm jolting upright in a bed with a large gasp.

All around me are pairs of cautious eyes. I search them until I find the sweet soulful blue eyes I needed. "Cade!" He said my name like a prayer and rushed to my side. He sat beside me on the bed, wrapping his arms around me tightly. I breathed him in. I missed him in the darkness.

"What happened?" I asked with a hoarse voice. I held my hand up to my throat. Why was it so sore?

"You don't remember?" He asked worried, turning my face in his hands to inspect me. "You went back into the room at the hotel to make sure we had all of our stuff and you were in there a few minutes when suddenly we all heard you screaming. You were yelling at the top of your lungs, Cade. I walked in and you were lying on the ground and your nose was bleeding so much." He shook his head like he was trying to shake the mental image out of his mind. "You scared the crap out of me, baby." He whispered then kissed my forehead.

I tried to make sense of what he was saying. I was having a hard time concentrating though when I looked around the room. I have no idea where we are, but this is not the hotel we were at earlier. So many people were staring at me, waiting for me to say something. A woman with long grey hair braided down to her waist stepped forward and smiled kindly at me. "Hello, love." She said with a deep Irish accent. "What were you doing in the room? Were you using your abilities?"

"Who are you?" I asked ignoring her question.

"Evena." She answered. "I was a friend of your mother's."

That's right. she eyed me again, waiting for me to answer her question. I walked back through what I had been doing. I remember saying I was going into the room. I remember I searched it and went to go back out to the car. I gasped loudly and turned to Garrett. "The voices." I whispered in horror. How could I have possibly forgotten that? Just thinking it made me want to cover my ears. I began to breathe heavily and Garrett rubbed his hand up and down my back.