Saving Death

Chapter 20

A potent stench of antiseptic filled my nose, immediately making me wretch. The smell was stronger than normal, and my eyes watered, blurring my vision. Flashes of insipid green and blue flew past me, and when I squinted hard, I saw the doctors and nurses that had attended to my mum. They were working faster than normal and it was hard to focus on them. I wiped furiously at my eyes, but my vision wouldn't clear, and as I listened, I realised I couldn't understand a word they were saying either. It wasn't that they were speaking another language, but it was like someone had put distortion effects on their voices so that their cool professional tones sounded deep and slow.

I hurried down the corridor towards the usual double doors of the operating theatre, but the faster I ran, the further away the doors stretched. I halted and stared at the doors, but they only started to grow bigger, taller, larger until they loomed straight ahead of me and I thought they'd never stop. I squeezed my eyes shut and braced myself for the force of the doors to slam into me, but nothing came.

I opened my eyes and the huge operating lights glinted through the windows in front of me. The doors were within reaching distance, my heart started to beat faster, and I wondered if this could be the moment. I could find out what was behind those doors. I reached out my hand towards the silver handle, but just as my fingertips grazed the cold metal, a hand on my shoulder stopped me. Turning around, my vision filled with those endless black eyes that had become so familiar to me. They were so black, it was hard to look at them, but I couldn't look away either. They were drawing me in, deeper and deeper into oblivion, further away from the doors that held the answers I sought. Then in a flash, light filled my senses, startling and warming me all at the same time, and I felt the weight of my body, laying on something soft.

I opened my eyes blearily and squinted as sunlight filled my vision. As I awoke, I was met with other sensations, like the warmth of the sun in the room and the heaviness of my head on a cushion and the smell of bacon. I reached up to run my hands over my face and gazed around the room groggily.

It was Seline's lounge and I could see from the clock on the mantelpiece that it was only just eleven. I'd only slept for a few hours, but it felt like longer with the dreams. Then realisation crashed into me...

Pulling myself upright, I tried to focus. Had Sam really shown me Zac's death through the black inked marks on his arm? A lot had happened, but I had no recollection of falling asleep.

"Morning... again..." came Sam's hesitant voice.

I turned my head, shocked to find out that I wasn't alone. Sam was sitting on the arm of the sofa just behind me. He was wearing a fresh t-shirt and the blood was gone from his hair. I looked at him anxiously, but his black eyes reminded me of the dream, and I had to look away again. It seemed weird that only hours ago I would have felt safer in Sam's presence than anywhere else, and now I couldn't even look at him.

"Hi," I muttered, feeling the weight of unease between us.

"You alright?" he asked, gazing at me with a curious expression on his face.

When I answered with silence, he nodded to himself.

Knowing what Sam could do was a lot to take in, and I was beginning to wonder if I'd bitten off more than I could chew. Maybe Dad was right—even after our heart to heart last night. Maybe Mum was a lot stronger than me. Then again, she'd been dealing with drug addiction and depression, not death cults.

"I should phone my dad," I muttered. I reached into the back pocket of my jeans, but my phone wasn't there. I moved aside to look down the side of the sofa just as Sam held it out for me. I looked at him questioningly, but he looked away sheepishly. I took it silently. Thankfully there were no unread messages from Dad, but it looked as though Sam had sent one.