After-Life

Chapter 17. Beloved Deities

Sipping quietly at their water, the trio sat on the bed gathering their thoughts after the surreal experience of having travelled through a ghostly time vortex. Eric was still shuddering over the apparitions of Sven and Claus. To ease the uncertainty in the room, Mabel turned the TV back on. They were surprised to find out that barely any time had passed since their visit to medieval Hamelin. To calm his overthinking, Kristoph picked up Eric's acoustic guitar and started to idly play a range of melodies that barely linked together.

"It's no good," Eric groaned loudly, after a while "I need a smoke! Care to join me, Kris?"
Kris looked up blankly, his mind having been lost to his melodic strumming. Cautiously, he looked at his own watch before sheepishly glancing over at Mabel, "will you be, okay? We shouldn't be too long."
Mabel snorted, "I'll be fine. We're not due another apparition for another forty-five minutes, by Helga's reckoning."
She paused to consider how ridiculous such a statement sounded in her own head. "You two go ahead, I'm going to see if I can spot Adrian, Peter, or Jésús in one of these news reports," She grinned, hoping she sounded more aloof and relaxed than how she truly felt. Kristoph narrowed his eyes suspiciously, unconvinced; but reluctantly took her word for it. Carefully, he rested the guitar against the wall, and headed outside with Eric.

Mabel sighed and headed to the bathroom. The warmth from the hotel room was stifling in comparison to the clinging chill that she'd experienced in Hamelin. Looking at her reflection in the mirror, Mabel was surprised to see beads of sweat building up on her forehead. As the sweat began to drip, she noticed the colour in her face drop to an ashen pallor with a green hue around her cheeks. The fine hairs on her arms stood on edge as a wave of nausea overwhelmed her. Unable to hold back, she bent over the toilet and proceeded to heave and dry-retch over the basin.
"Rough night?" Thet's soft voice asked.
Mabel couldn't answer. While hearing his voice had made her jump, she was more concerned with feeling her stomach pressing against her spine as she gasped before violently retching again, her hair slipping down in front of her face.

She felt the soothing strokes of a hand on her back, while another hand deftly and gently held her hair back as finally, she brought up the few sips of water she'd had earlier. Mabel took several steadying, gulping breaths while massaging her sore ribs. Calmly, she closed the lid to the toilet and turned around. She was surprised to see Thet in human form, dressed in his usual smart three-piece suit, offering her the flannel from the bathroom's counter, with an apologetic expression.
"Are you alright, Mab?" The concern in his voice was calming and comforting.
Mabel nodded and hastily washed away the sheen of cold sweat, before grabbing a fresh toothbrush the hotel had provided and, stealing some of Eric's toothpaste, started to brush away the acrid taste of bile.

After spitting out the minty wash, and drying her face on a plush, soft towel; Mabel felt a little better, if not somewhat shaky and wobbly on her feet. She smiled weakly at Thet and went to take a step toward the bathroom door, but her knee buckled beneath her. Deftly, Thet reached out a hand and, with more strength than she'd ever have given him credit for, caught her before she fell. With ease, Thet lifted her up into his arms and carried her into the main hotel room.

She was relieved to see that Kristoph and Eric had not yet returned from their cigarette break. Quietly, she shakily uttered, "thank you Thet, I dunno what came over me."
Thet smiled and tucked a dampened strand of Mabel's hair behind her ear. He was being so affectionate that Mabel felt her cheeks flush with a sudden blood rush.
"You have just astral hopped without any prior experience. The sensation can be exceptionally overwhelming for anyone who's never done it before. It takes a strong stomach to handle such an experience without being poorly," He knelt beside her and with more concern, he cautiously asked. "Are you sure you want to continue with tonight's events? I can always ask Helga if she can break the ghostly traversing into separate nights, rather than just hours," He smiled warmly, and Mabel couldn't help but feel an alarming and confusing mix of emotions as she looked into his friendly features.