Dimensions Can't Keep Us Apart

Chapter 36

It felt like lifting a 2-ton truck off of her face just to crack open her eyes. Her headache felt like a herd of elephant had trampled over it. The soreness throughout the rest of her body felt like a beehive had attacked her.

Gwen let out a soft groan of discomfort as she woke, but even that caused more pain. All her joints felt stiff, her muscles felt weak, yet despite all her pain and discomfort, her mind felt oddly refreshed. Empty, as if it had gone through a hard reset. That feeling made her wonder just how long she had been out. The last thing she remembered was blood red eyes staring into her, pouring a cold aura into her soul before she went out cold. That was all she felt before falling unconscious for who knows how long.

Her surroundings felt eerily familiar to the pit of black she was trapped in while out cold. Nothing around her was visible except for the plain hospital bed she was on being illuminated by a bright fluorescent light.

The synthetic source of light felt as if it seared itself through her eyes and into her brain, causing a nearly mind-numbing headache. Gwen groaned, trying to block at least some of the light from piercing through her eyes but to no avail.

Though it may have only been a few moments, it felt like a while for Gwen until her eyes finally adjusted to the blinding light. By then, she noticed that a small area in front of the right side of her bed was just a shade lighter than its surroundings. She studied the difference in the background, trying to see if there could possibly be anything truly different in the patch. Gwen strained her eyes to the fullest when she finally began to notice something within it.

It was some sort of figure. They were thin, yet she could clearly see the strong, agile build that they possessed.

Suddenly, the figure moved. They began walking towards the direction of Gwen. Realizing this, Gwen prepared her achy, complaining body to fight if needed, though her eyes were still trained at the approaching figure.

As they got closer, Gwen began to feel as though the figure was getting more familiar by each step unfinally, she let put a loud, audible gasp.

"Miles?"

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For some reason, Miles felt calm as he dove into the sea of darkness. It was so dark around him that he couldn't even see the sharp red accents on his suit, let alone see "her". Yet still, his spidey sense never blared any alarms in his head. His heart remained calm, and his mind wasn't racing. Instead, Miles eerily felt calm despite the danger he knew he was currently in.

After what felt like hours, Miles's body finally hit solid ground like a wrecking ball slammed. His entire body ricocheted from the momentum. He couldn't help but let out a soft groan of pain before staggering up to his feet. His entire body was on fire, yet something inside pushed him to keep taking that next step. As if his unconscious was begging him to keep searching for something. Something that was important and precious.

Despite the dark veil that covered all of his surroundings, Miles easily spotted her. However, her stature was stiff and upright. Her head was turned away from him and locked at a certain position, as if she were staring at something out of either fear or awe despite the fact that there was nothing around them.

"Gwen?" He whispered.

The figure turned to face Miles, a bright smile plastered on their face. However, the smile was too bright. Too uncharacteristically bright for Gwen to the point where he it even disturbed Miles. He didn't fail to notice the subtle flicker that suddenly crackled at the top of her head before disappearing instantly. Miles, remembering that his dimension hopper should be protecting her from glitches, scrunched his eyebrows in confusion, wondering if his stress was causing him to see things or if what he just saw was actually real and, if so, what was causing such a sight.

"Hey, Miles." She said with that uncanny bright smile. It was her voice that was more disturbing, however. It was the same voice that rattled Miles to the core as she plummeted into the pit of darkness in a fit of maniacal laughter. The usual soft, cheerful, and friendly voice that belonged to Gwen was being drowned out by an almost squeaky, sinister voice. A slimy voice similar to the stereotypical voice given to the goblins in TV shows that Miles would occasionally watch. "What's up?" Her face began to fizzle, similar to an old television that had lost signal and was buzzing grey and black except now the grey and blue was replaced by blue and white. "What's wrong, Miles?" Her voice garbled, fighting against the man's voice that was beginning to dominate hers. A gasp escaped his lips as he heard and saw the scene of the girl he loved be scribbled away into a disturbing mess.

But as sudden as her transformation seemed to take place, it would disappear, as well as everything else around her. Miles was back in the endless veil of darkness where it seemed that there was no end at sight. His stomach churned as all he could feel was cold hopelessness.

"Miles."

His head snapped in the direction of the voice.

"Miles."

It sounded just like her. It was faint. Soft, almost like silk that could be heard. Miles could feel the familiar smoothness in his ears as he heard her. The response his mind felt whenever he heard it that gave off the feeling of a soft touch. It wasn't like the fake, younger voice that he had just heard last night. It sounded older. Perhaps not by much, but enough for someone so accustomed to it like Miles, even after all this time, to recognize the difference.

"Miles."

It was softer. It was gentler. It was a reflection of all the time that the two had been through: the pain, the sadness, the happiness, and everything in between. It was familiar. It felt true. It felt like it truly was her. Miles began to see an outline begin to appear among the pitched veil. The shape was strikingly familiar and it immediately drew Miles in with a sense of hope, delusional or not, like a ship setting its sights on a light tower in the middle of a storming night. His chest surged with a renewed flame that had been snuffed out ever since that distant day when he thought he had lost her in a ball of fire.

"Gwen?"