A Timeless Place

Chapter 18 - Part I

It was pitch dark, save the light coming from behind my back. I looked around me, realising I was at a beach. My foot hit a camp fire site, my shoe connecting with rocks as they fell into the area which had had a fire only a few hours ago, the embers only slightly discernible. Wes? Was this the night we fell asleep at the beach? No. No, it wasn't.

I realised too late, only when I had ducked down and grabbed a handful of sand. It was cold and grimy, not warm as it had been that night. I looked to my far left at the periphery of where the light source was, taking great care to avoid looking directly at the source. I could see the sea, darker and thicker than blood, welcoming me back as it did every night. I closed my eyes. Oh, god. I knew I shouldn't. But I did, as always- I opened my eyes wide and turned my body around as though a force compelled me to, preparing myself to face the light source. To face the lamp post, where I knew three figures would stand, as always. Hand-in-hand. Looking directly at me with eyes darker than the sea itself.

Bang!

My eyes flew wide open. I was looking up at the roof of the tent. Dragging in a ragged breath through my lungs, I propped myself up on my elbows, looking around me.

Eli was sleeping beside me, curled up and breathing slowly. I looked up through the connection tunnel connecting our tent to Wes' and Jordan's. I could see Jordan fast asleep on his side. His left arm was slightly extended where he had fallen asleep holding the torchlight we were using as our light source. The space next to him was empty. Where was Wes?

I ran my shaking hand through my hair, trying to slow down my heart rate. I really needed some fresh air to clear my mind.

I climbed through the hole and gently tugged the torchlight from Jordan's hand. I switched it off and slipped it into the front pocket of my hoodie. He reminded me of when I used to sleep with a torchlight when I was a child. I was too scared to sleep in the dark, so my mother had given me a torchlight. It was white, the handle slowly yellowing from use. It had been small enough to perfectly fit my hands as though it had been especially moulded for my use.

"Don't let the darkness scare you," she used to say every time. "You're only scared of what you can't see." But still, I'd clutch the torchlight tighter to my chest and fall asleep, knowing that I always had the power to see what I couldn't in the dark.

I walked towards the lake, breathing in deeply. The air was so fresh that it had an instant effect on clearing my mind. It rustled my hair and cooled down my body as it breezed against my bare legs.

Relax, Kitty. It was just another dream.

Did I just refer to myself as Kitty? Oh, god. What have these people done to me?

I ran my hands through my hair again in frustration. At least my hand was shaking less now. My breathing was still uneven though...

Bang!

I spun around in alarm. Oh, right, that was what had woken me up in the first place. Damn, was this place even safe? Was that a serial killer? Are we all going to be part of some messed up horror story? Was I going to be the sacrifice to make sure my friends got a head start? I really didn't want to die. Not like that anyway.

I visibly relaxed as I spotted the source of the noise. Okay, so I may have overreacted. Just a tad. Well, I was already on edge as it was! I didn't need Wes beating up a lamp post. If only I could have done that in my dream. Hit the lamp post, make it fall, end the dream. Wait, why was he even hitting the lamp post?

He had his back turned to me, his arm leaning heavily against the lamp post. I could read tension in every muscle of his back that was covered by a nicely-fitted maroon hoodie, rolled up over his forearms. Kitty, this is so not the time to be checking him out. He kicked the lamp post a few more times in frustration. Wow, I had never seen Wes this uncontrolled before. He always had this unaffected façade on and to see him losing control...