Love Again - A Pentatonix Story

Chapter 5

Darkness.

That was all Avi could see.

Or rather, couldn't see. He was standing alone in total blackness. Not a sliver of light penetrated the inky darkness of... wherever he was.

'What's going on?' he pondered to himself.

He couldn't even make out the silhouette of his own hand. He tried to reach up to touch his face, only to find that his hand seemed to phase through his head. 

A wave of nausea overcame him, and his stomach did a backflip. He tried again, but his hand still passed straight through. Although he couldn't see his face, he was sure that it would have turned a ghastly shade of white.

'What—'

'Avriel.'

Avi turned around, but there was still nothing but complete black. His heart rate quickened.

'Who's there?' He called into the darkness.

'Avriel.' The booming voice said to him again.

By this time, Avi was starting to panic. He looked around frantically. His palm began to moisten and his throat tightened.

'Show yourself!' He commanded.

'Avi!' The voice bellowed again.

The floor beneath him started to tilt, and he found himself slipping. He clawed on to the slowly-but-surely tilting floor, but despite his efforts, nothing in the world could keep himself from falling as the voice called out to him again, this time a soft whisper.

'Help me.'

...

Avi once again awoke, but this time, he and his makeshift bedding were drenched in sweat. He was still breathing hard from his nightmare.

It was the same one that he had been having for months now. Ever since...

He didn't want to think about that now.

Avi swung his legs over the side of the bed, and immediately his brain spun around in his head. he clumsily fell off of the bunk, luckily landing on his feet. After a second of  gathering his thoughts, he decided that he was good to go.

He was wrong.

He fell to the ground in two seconds flat.

He hastily collected himself from the floor and took a deep breath. He then lifted his head, and pushed his shoulders back before stepping out the door.

Only the sound of silence penetrated the atmosphere of the brightly lit hallway.  Avi mentally sighed in relief that he did not have any shoes on at the time, otherwise the clanking of boots on metal panelling could have been heard for miles around.

As he paced further and further along, Avi could hear muffled speech in the distance. He then came upon a fork in the road, both with futuristic doors at their end. Avi closed his eyes and strained to hear where the voices were coming from. After making his decision, he turned to the left and continued along his path.

At the end of the line, he raised his hand to open the door using the screen to its right. Unsure of how to unlock it, his finger hesitated a few centimetres away from the screen when all of a sudden, the door flew open.

Right in front of him stood a hooded petite figure. Avi didn't know how to react, so he just stood there, stock-still and speechless.

And apparently, so did everyone else.

'So,' Kirstin said, eager to break the tension, 'Everyone meet Avi.'

Silence seemed to be the word of the day, as no one moved or uttered a single word. Avi still stood there, eyes scanning the room of unfamiliar characters.

'Well, hello there,' the small figure said with a wink.

At this, a tall blonde laughed a little and motioned to Avi. 'Don't mind Mitch. Come. Sit.'

'Um,' Avi responded tentatively, 'Okay,'

He sat down on an sleek white couch adjacent to Kirstin and next to the fair haired figure, although he tried to keep his distance from the strangers. The smallest of the trio , apparently named Mitch, came over and sat on the armrest of the couch next to the tallest one.

The blonde then leaned in to shake Avi's hand.

'Scott,' he said simply by means of introducing himself.

Avi hesitated for a second before taking his hand in a firm grip.

'Avi, right?' Scott asked.

'Yeah,' he answered

'Well Avi, welcome aboard.'

... 

Yes, I know the last chapter was really short. (Even for my standards ;))

Yes, I also know that I'm hella late

But still love each and every one of you who choose to continue reading my stories.

Thanks heaps guys. I really means a lot to me.

I'm not kidding.

Aaaannyway.

I love y'all. <3

-A