Saving Michael Jackson

Murder Scene at therapy

I was reaching for another piece of pancake when everything vanished. Not faded. Not disappeared slowly. Vanished. One second Michael and Wanda were sitting across from me at the dining table. The next— Nothing. No Michael. No Wanda. No table. No dining room. The air left my lungs. I found myself standing in the endless white room again. The familiar emptiness stretched in every direction.

"Liam?" My voice echoed through the space.
A few feet away stood Liam. But something was different. Terribly different. He looked scared.
Not worried. Not confused. Scared. I had never seen him scared before. Now his face had gone completely pale.

"Liam?" I hurried toward him.

"What's wrong?" For a moment he didn't answer.
He looked past me. Then above me. Then somewhere far away. As if he could hear something I couldn't. Finally he took a shaky breath.

"Something's wrong, Allison." His voice sounded strained. "There is something very wrong happening." His eyes darted around the white room. "And I don't know what it is." The words sent a chill down my spine.

"You don't know?" I frowned. "Well, then we have to figure it out, right?" I stepped closer. "You have to tell me what's happening."

Liam looked at me. Really looked at me. Like he was seeing me for the first time. Then confusion crossed his face.

"You..." He tilted his head. "What did you do?"

"What?" I blinked. "I didn't do anything." The accusation caught me completely off guard. "I've done everything you told me."

Liam wasn't listening anymore. His gaze had drifted upward. His entire body stiffened. The color drained from his face. And then I heard it.
Laughter. Soft at first. Then louder. Children laughing. Women laughing. Men laughing. Dozens of voices. Hundreds. Their laughter echoed through the white room from every direction. I couldn't tell where it was coming from.

"Who is that?" I asked.

The laughter continued. Liam took a step backward. Then another. I stared at him. My stomach twisted.

"Liam." He didn't answer. "Liam!"

For the first time since I had met him— He ran.
He turned and disappeared into the endless white light.

"Liam!" I started after him. Everything shattered.

The familiar couch appeared beneath me. I almost fell forward. The white room vanished. The laughter vanished. Neverland returned. The television was on. The living room lights were dim. Someone was speaking on the news.

"...Freddie Mercury, the flamboyant frontman of the British band Queen, has died today in Kensington..."

My head snapped toward the television.
Across the room, Wanda gasped.

"No." She covered her mouth.

Michael sat beside her. Both stared at the screen. The news anchor continued speaking. But before I could process any of it— A powerful force slammed into me. Like a hurricane. Like a wall of wind. I was thrown backward. The room spun.
I hit the floor hard. Everything blurred. Then suddenly— The living room changed. Again. I was still on the floor. But Wanda and Michael were sitting differently. Wearing different clothes. Watching a different television program. The news report was gone. The lighting had changed.
Even the furniture looked slightly different. My mouth fell open.

"What the hell..."

Michael immediately stood. Concern flashed across his face. "Cindy!" He rushed toward me. "I didn't even see you come in." He offered me his hand. I stared at him. Then at Wanda. Then around the room. The headache pounding behind my eyes returned. Fiercer than before. "Freaking stupid Liam!" The words exploded out of me.