Viti

chapter four

The ground was gone.

Not broken or shattered. Just gone.

There was nothing below Grace. Nothing above or on either side.

No apartment. No coffee table with a rotten leg. No battered rug hiding a soda stain.

Grace wasn't part of the world anymore. She could still feel it, but she just couldn't see it. She couldn't make any contact. It was as if something was shoving her away. Calling for her. Demanding her attention away from reality.

Oh, how Grace wanted to follow it. The urge to depart from reality, it was almost overwhelming, but before she could, before Grace would succumb, she was snatched away from the empty void, floating, falling, thrown back into reality. Back into Earth. Back into her apartment.

Somewhere nearby, a door slammed, loud enough all the pieces clicked back together again.

Grace woke, her body not exactly in pain, just uncomfortable, so she laid against the carpeted floor for a long moment.

Down the hall, Nina's voice echoed. "Sleeping on the job, huh? Not a pretty sight."

With much effort and strain, Grace managed to push herself up into an awkward position, leaning onto the wall for support. "I wasn't sleeping," she murmured, but she couldn't offer anything more than that. She didn't really know what she was doing either.

Grace pulled herself up onto the wall, and almost instantly regretted it. Her stomach rolled violently, and she held onto the wall and took a moment to compose herself.

Nina must have noticed her current state. "You alright?"

Grace breathed out slowly. "I'm fine," she grunted between clenched teeth. Another moment, and her stomach settled down enough to let go of the wall. She looked back down at the carpet, at the broken pieces of rubble and dust that now surrounded her feet. Her gaze shot back up to her sister as she bent back down and picked up some of the larger pieces. "Clean this up."

Nina dropped her backpack on the table. "I didn't do it."

Grace yanked a few tissue sheets free from a nearby box and wrapped it around the shattered stone. "It's from your bloody science experiment, Nina. This mess fall back on you. Now, get the vacuum."

Nina crossed her arms. "You aren't the boss of me."

"You bet your ass I am. Now get to it. Our dear buddy Howlett will be here tomorrow."

Nina's arms dropped to her side. That, more than anything, got her attention. "What for?"

"Inspection," Grace said bluntly, moving towards the bedrooms down the hall. "After you vacuum Nina, please clean your room. Okay?"

Nina was young, naïve and reckless, but even she knew when not to argue. "Sure. Whatever."

Grace's bedroom was at the end of the hall. It was the smallest room in the apartment, but she didn't care. It was probably an office at one point, no wardrobes, but plenty of wall sockets, which worked out well.

With a disgruntled sigh, Grace threw the balled-up stones into the trashcan beside her small desk and plonked onto the bed. Burying her face into the yellow and black stripped duvet, Grace remained motionless for a long moment.

Grace's head refused to settle. Waves of thoughts washed through her.

The inspection tomorrow.

Her make-up test.

Falling asleep against the wall – what was that even about?

Cody . . .