Incessant Calling

~Chapter Eleven: Bryce~

Have you ever gotten that sensation of the world turning white? Like when you stand up too quickly after laying on the floor, or a dark room suddenly becoming light after flipping a switch. Everything suddenly disappears, and your head feels like an anchor begging to be dropped down. The floor has never looked so comforting, and you slowly fall to meet it. That is exactly how I'm feeling right now. Not to mention Cole is still ranting about how reckless it was for me to run off, and how is he supposed to find me now, etc.

I guess at some point I just lost it, because the next thing I know I'm pressing my forehead to the concrete and yelling, "Stop! Just Shut Up! Make it stop!"

"Brooke what's wrong? Is he hurting you?" Cole's words pound and echo in my head.

"What is it? Make what stop?" Blue eyes asks me.

"The voice..." I sniffle. When did I start crying? "There's a voice in my head, make it stop."

He immediately checks my ears and takes out the device. "There, look! I got it out, the voice is gone. Just breathe, calm down, you're okay."

I take a few deep breaths. The headache is starting to clear enough for me to see properly again. Looking around, I try to find some indicator of where I am. I just felt a wet wind on my face, so I'm not inside. The concrete smells like rubber and gasoline, and there are painted lines everywhere, ah ha! We're in the parking garage!

Somehow I need to let Cole know... A concrete pillar catches my eye, and I give a small smile, "Um, why does that sign say B2? We're parked at A6."

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Cole:

"Alright, this should be far enough, see if your earpiece works." Thane tells me. Brooke seemed to be in a very downcast mood in the car, so I think it's time for a little humor therapy!

"Ladies and gentleman, this is your captain speaking. If you can hear me, please exit the vehicle and do the chicken dance."

She makes a noise somewhere between a laugh and a scoff, "Yeah, I ain't doing that."

"Okay fine, let's get going though. By the way, your mood swings are impressive. You go from bubbly to aloof in like two minutes."

"Why thank you." I can hear the smile in her voice before I see it. She and my sister get out of the car and start heading towards us, which is our cue to split up.

"Alright Jeffery, I'll see you soon." Thane smirks as I grimace.

"Ugh, why does my code name have to be Jeffery, you know I hate it."

He walks backwards into the airport then calls out, "Exactly why we chose it!"

I make a face at him before turning to Brooklyn, who just materialized right next to me. "Okay, so Nate told me to follow him and Jen at a distance." I whisper.

"Wait, who are Nate and Jen?" She whispers back.

"Nicknames, remember? I'm Jeff, you're Heather, he's Nate, and she's Jen." I answer. Something seems off about her... "Are you feeling alright?"

She closes her eyes and leans against the glass door behind us, "Yeah, I'm fine. There are so many people here, it's kind of overwhelming..."

I have a feeling she's not as fine as she says, but Thane, uh, rather Nate gives me the signal before I can question her further, "Okay. They're looking at us now, time to follow." I take her hand and gently guide her along behind me.

The airport is impressive, to say the least. It's one of the few airports left in the country, and I can see faint outlines of where signs used to say 'DIA' before the 'I' was removed due to the international travel ban 30 years ago. Even though you can only travel between the 49 states today, this place is crowded with people.