The Truth Behind Those Eyes

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Josh was everywhere at once. He grabbed Nikki, checking her over and crushing her in an unbearably tight embrace. In her already dazed and confused mindset, Nikki half sat, half laid on her bed, wondering if she was going mad. Or perhaps she really was dead. Maybe this was her sick and twisted version of the afterlife?

Then again ...

She was sure she had jumped, but perhaps Josh had grabbed her. Maybe with his ridiculous speed he'd caught up to her without her realising.

"How?" Sam voice cut through her musings. He was in the open doorway with his brow furrowed. Nikki matched his expression, staring intently at him. She was wondering the exact same thing. Josh pulled back and gaped at her giving Sam time to join them. He drifted in and sat the opposite side of Nikki.

"You're okay?" Josh whispered, encircling his arms around her once again. "Thank god, you're okay!"

"But how?" Sam asked again. "How did you end up in here when we just watched you jump?"

I jumped!  Nikki nodded to herself and pulled out of Josh's grasp. "It's all gone a bit strange," she mumbled, unable to comprehend the incredible turn of events. "I should be dead."

"Yes you should, but you're not." Sam confirmed.

"So they were real," she murmured, closing her eyes and remembering the strange voice in the darkness.

Josh and Sam exchanged a worried look before turning their attention back to Nikki.

"Who? Who were real?" Josh asked, slipping his arm around her waist and encouraging her to lean in to him. He needed to keep her close. He wanted to keep her body in his arms to prove to himself that this wasn't a lie – that Nikki really was here. She rested heavily against him and inhaled his musky cologne.

"The voice," she began, "actually it was a nice voice, soft and gentle." She licked her dry lips and tried to contain her embarrassment. "Clearly I've gone mad because how can any of this be ... "

Silence hung in the room as the men attempted to understand her words.

Josh squeezed her gently, "You haven't gone mad Nikki. You're as sane as we are. Now tell us more about the voice."

"It said it caught me." She looked at Josh before leaning further into him. "I jumped, I should be dead."  Nikki tried to sift through the strange events and pinpoint anything that might hold any importance. "It said I was in their world and it called itself Unus."

Josh glanced at Sam, his face distorted.

"Latébris." Sam whispered, his face ghostly white.

Nikki turned to see Sam staring at her, his expression causing her stomach to flip. Something about the look in his eyes warned her that the feeling of dread clawing it's way through her body was justified.

"What? What's going on? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Oh Jesus," Josh breathed.

Sam shook his head. "Unus is the ruler of Latébris; I guess you could call them the Gods of that world. Four individuals make up one entity, each of them bringing a certain gift to the table."

Nikki tried to digest what he was saying.

"What is Lat-whatever? Why are you looking at me like that?" Her blood turned cold, as Josh remained poignantly quiet. She wanted to twist around and search his familiar eyes. To see that same lopsided smile he threw at her whenever she needed reassurance but something told her there would be no smile.

"You should be dead!" Sam replied, his voice betraying his worry. "This just isn't possible. Unus considers humans the scourge of the earth, it despises them. It is said that its chambers has a floor of humans, thrashing in agony over rock as sharp as razor blades."