The Abyss | Noah Sebastian

Of the Abyss

A/N: This story will contain themes of death.

11:13. Fuck.

There was no way that I was going to make it to Mia's graduation from cosmetology school. She had worked so hard for this and I needed to be there to cheer her on. Hell, I even woke up several hours before I needed to in order to make it in time.

I guess the ADHD time-blindness got the better of me yet again. To be fair, I didn't know I'd burn a hole through my blouse while ironing it and that I would have to wear a slightly wrinkled denim button up and slacks that felt like they shrunk in the wash.

I also didn't know there would be a goddamn downpour.

The weather app called for a chance of 'sprinkles' today, but this seemed like a monsoon. Upon getting into my new-to-me Mustang, I became drenched by the rain. I turned the heat up in my car in hopes of it drying me out and placed my damp hair in a messy bun before I connected my phone to the aux.

My spirits lifted a little bit as "Style (Taylor's Version)" came on the shuffle. I could no longer control that I was late and I couldn't control the weather. However, I could totally control the vibes of the 23 minute long drive to Holiday Inn the school rented for the occasion. 

"Story goes, he can't keep his wild on the road," I sang at the top of my lungs, enjoying myself to the point I didn't see that the car in front of me had slammed on the brakes. Realizing what was about to happen, I swerved into the other lane. I heard the sound of water splashing underneath my tires as they locked up and my car began to slide.

I held on to the steering wheel, trying to stabilize my car in the lane, but it was no use. I clipped the car beside me, causing me to spin out and overturn.

Taylor kept singing as the glass loudly shattered around me as my car did somersaults across the road until it came to a halt.

The second impact was worse than the first. In the final moments of rolling upside down, I realized I was going to make contact with a tree with my side of the car. I tried to brace myself by focusing on the lyrics, silently praying for a miracle.

I recalled the scraping and bending of the metal around me, squeezing me into the confined space of the driver's cabin. With the side airbags already deployed, there was no cushion to ease the impact. I felt my body good numb before I lost the new scent of pines and gasoline around me. The music kept going, switching from the joyful sounds of "Style" to "Of the Abyss" by Lorna Shore. 

From the carcass of a dead star
To the darkness of a blackened heart
We are one in the dust, in the nothingness

I tried to open my eyes, but they were so heavy. I noted that I still could not smell the gasoline I knew was leaking from my car or the pine sap from the tree that I rolled into. Instead, I smelled something familiar and peppery. I sneezed myself awake and my heavy eyes fluttered open, immediately looking for the source of the smell.

I looked to my side and noticed a small bowl of mashed potatoes and gravy sitting on a small nightstand. Curious, I reached for the bowl to further examine it. Before I could grab it, panic set in over me.

I wasn't in my car.

I wasn't in a hospital bed.

I was in what seemed to be like a dorm room or a hostel, where I was sitting in a twin-sized bed with another one parallel on the other side of the night stand. The walls were a bright shade of white, and the floors were of a speckled beige tile. I looked at my hands and glanced over my body to make sure I hadn't sustained any major injuries. There were none. There was no blood. I seemed to be fine.