Welcome to the Nirvana

6

<< As a special for the last two parts, I play a little bit with Maya and Jordan's point of views. You'll understand why as you read along >>

                MAYA

                Kasey frustrated the heck out of me. The once sweet girl I had met at the start of the semester was gone. She had the best guy chasing after her in this dark, disgusting place and yet she hid from him. Any normal person would have blacklisted this place after what she had lived, but no, not Kasey. She was even excited to return. I thought that maybe she’d follow me into leaving when I’d mention it to her since I had been the one to bring her here. Again, nope, not Kasey.

                When we’d left the boss’ office she had left my side almost immediately. Only hours later when Jordan and some red-haired girl had mentioned looking for her did I think about searching for her myself. I wasn’t exactly surprised to find her sitting in the tree but I was surprised at how… gone she was. The transition from the old Kasey to the current Kasey had happened so fast that neither Jordan nor I could pin-point exactly when or why it happened. All we knew is that she was no longer the same girl.

                Thus, with the new her, I didn’t feel like her friend anymore. She was shoving me aside, replacing me with the stars. I wasn’t the only one being replaced and I thought that if she didn’t want Jordan, then I’d take him.

                ‘’Did you find her?’’ he asked me, almost desprately.

                ‘’Yeah, I did. She told me that she never wanted to see you again.’’ I shrugged and stroked his arm gently.

                My eyes moved to the side, from where we were, I was pretty sure that Kasey could see us even from her perch. If she really held onto him, she’d come to him.

                ‘’What is going on with her?’’ he frowned and made to turn and leave but I held onto his arm.

                ‘’Why keep fighting for a girl who clearly doesn’t want you? You know, I haven’t known you for as long but I wouldn’t push you away.’’ I smiled and took a half-step closer to him.

                ‘’You wouldn’t understand.’’ He stared straight into my eyes, probably trying to convince me to let go but I held onto his arm.

                I saw his eyes sparkle for a moment and took the opportunity to reach up and kiss him. I held onto him as I kissed him, giving him the full force of my desire. However, that was apparently not enough for him. He pushed me back and held my shoulders at an arm’s length from him.

                ‘’What do you think you’re doing, Maya?’’ he asked, frowning. ‘’I love Kasey and you’re her best friend. How can you do that?’’

                ‘’Seriously, Jordan, must you really ask?’’ I shrugged out from his grip and looked again towards the forest. ‘’Its clear that she wants----‘’ I stopped talking when I spotted a dark form on the floor of the forest. Precisely under the tree Kasey had been perched on.

                ‘’She wants what?’’ he asked, but I ignored him and slowly made my way into the forest towards the dark form. Jordan followed behind for a moment before he gasped and ran towards the dark form.

                ‘’KASEY!!’’ he screamed and threw himself on his knees beside her.

                I quickly got my phone out and dialled 911. ‘’I need an ambulance outside of The Dark Factory, please! Quickly!... Hum, I think its an overdose.’’

                Jordan glared at me when he heard me give the reason for the ambulance. He picked her up and we made our way to the upper floor which was the bar named The Dark Factory. We crossed the bar with the rag-doll-Kasey in a rush and everyone stared after us. We waited only a few moments outside before the ambulances finally arrived. They carted Kasey into the ambulance and Jordan sprinted towards a jeep parked a few cars away. I raced after him and got into the passenger side just as he started the jeep.

                KASEY

                I opened my eyes and found myself in Jordan’s bedroom but everything was too bright. I blinked and rubbed my eyes but nothing dimmed the bright, aggressive colors. How had I ended up here? My last memory was of falling from the tree and seeing Maya kiss Jordan.

                I pushed the blankets off of me, noticing how I was naked under the covers. I frowned, my memory refusing to bring up images after the kiss. I glanced down at myself, analysing my body, trying to figure out a memory trigger. Aside from the fact that even my skin seemed too bright, nothing helped.

                The door to the bedroom opened slowly and Jordan walked in with only a pair of pajama pants on, riding low on his hips. He held a metal tray with two glasses filled with what I guessed was orange juice and two plates with syrup-covered pancakes. He smiled at me and set the tray on the dresser before crawling onto the bed where he proceeded to kiss me.

                ‘’What happened?’’ I asked when I gave me a moment for some air.

                ‘’What do you mean, ‘what happened’?’’ he asked in return, frowning.

                ‘’What’s with the bright colors and how did I end up here?’’ I pulled the blanket up to cover my chest.

                ‘’You’re still only waking up, hun, it’s the sleep in your eyes.’’ He reached out to stroke my cheek but I pulled away, nervously. ‘’You really don’t remember how you ended up here?’’

                I shake my head and close my eyes as confused tear slips from my right eye. His thumb is warm on my cheek where he wipes the tear—too warm, and again I flinch away from him.

                ‘’Hey, Kas, calm down. You’re safe with me, you know that, right?’’ He whispers, leaning away.

                ‘’No, I don’t know that Jordan. My last memory is of me falling from a tree and watching you kiss Maya as I felt myself dying.’’ I whisper, afraid of my own words.

                The colors shift around us- they twist, turn, mix and for a moment even Jordan’s presence is lost in the swirl of colors. As they settle, they make up the bakery’s kitchen and I see the first time I met Jordan. As I watch the ‘past’ us meeting, the ‘present’ him takes my hand and this time I let him.

                Moments later, the colors start swirling again and show me my birth, each of my siblings’ births, my graduation, the most touching moments of my younger years. When the colors settle back to Jordan’s bedroom I fall to my knees, nauseous with the constant swirling and environment changes. As I stare at my knees, controlling my empty heaves, my mind screams a single word at me. DEAD

                I stand up quickly and stare at Jordan who is resting in the bed, smoking a cigarette – something he had never done before. ‘’Am I dead?’’ I ask, afraid of the answer.

                ‘’Why would you be dead?’’ he rolls his eyes and takes a gulp of the bright orange juice.

                ‘’Because, in my last memory, I was dying and now I’m in a place where the colors are too bright and swirl and show me parts of my life from back home and from the university! Am I dead?’’ I scream, punching the bed.

                ‘’No, you’re….’’ his words die off but I can see his lips moving.

                He reaches towards me and takes me into him into a hug so warm and tight that it burns my lungs and cracks my ribs – or at least, that’s how it feels. The pain is so intense, the colors so bright, the memories of my past so fresh… I close my eyes and give up on trying to understand.