The Floaters [cake au] ✔

⌛ ➀➀: fade. ⌛

Chapter 11: fade.

"Luke! Luke, where are you?" I hollered down the hallway of his house. It was dark inside, hauntingly dark paintings only just about visible on the walls. In the light they looked joyful, jovial, but now they just appeared terrifying – like something out of a horror movie.

After checking upstairs, I came to the conclusion that he wasn't there so hurried outside to continue my search. I wasn't sleeping tonight without knowing where he was, how he was, whether he could forgive me for being such a dick as usual. The first place I went was the river, and when I realised he wasn't there either I headed to the centre of the town.

The nightlife was blindingly bright and deafeningly loud – people were running about rowdily with home brewed alcohol in their hands, party hats shoved on their heads. There was some sort of event at the pub which was probably why – I made a turn away from the busy streets and found myself standing outside the entrance to the laboratory Luke loved going to so much.

The light was still on, so I hesitantly entered, the sound of the badly-oiled door resonating as it closed behind me. The foyer was empty, with not even a receptionist behind the desk which was pretty normal considering it was late. I rattled my brain trying to remember how I'd gotten into the actual lab last time – the building was large and full of winding corridors and baffling staircases.

First I decided to go up one flight of stairs – the ground floor appeared to be reserved for classes and other random things – and who would've known, my instincts were right.

Luke was hovered over a test tube in a well-lit room, eyes gleaming excitedly as the colours changed from orange to blue. Someone else who was in there with him praised him and I saw a genuine smile lighting up Luke's face. It made me think before I entered the room – this was his happy place, where he belonged in a way. Ever since I'd come, I'd made life a whole lot harder for him – maybe he liked it, but I could tell from the look on his face that he preferred being here.

I faced up to my fears and pushed the doors open, stepping into the pungent room that quite frankly stank of chemicals.

"Calum? What are you doing here?" Luke inquired, dropping his equipment on the bench top.

One look was all it took for me to realise that it didn't matter where he belonged – as long as he was by my side, I didn't care. It was a cheesy moment for me, running up to him and engulfing him in a massive hug; he struggled profusely to get out of my vice-like grip, but I wasn't letting go. I was never letting him go, ever.

"I'm sorry Luke. I always say the shittiest things at the worst of times that I clearly don't mean, but they come out anyway and I can't help it." I took a deep breath. "After Jenna leaving us today, I got so scared of the thought that we could end up separated by life and death, so I want to make the most of our time together – whether that's a few days, or a few years. Please Luke, can you agree to that?"

I finally let go, and he looked me in the eye, all glossy and wet. "Of course I can, I wouldn't have it any other way," he whispered, hugging me close.

~

Despite having just made a promise that we'd spend more time with each other, the next day when I asked him to join us to walk up Death Mountain, he refused.

"It's a horrid place to go Cal-Pal – they're also your friends, not mine. I know they still dislike me and that won't change, no matter what..."

I shut my eyes and leant in to him. "Okay Luke, I'm fine with that, but if anything happens..."

"It won't," he reassured, grasping my hands. "Now you need to go or you'll miss the early bus."

I kissed him goodbye, unsure whether this would be our last, and headed onwards to the others, who were waiting in the centre of town by the only bus stop that was actually in use.

"Morning," I breathed, watching the streams of warmth from my breath – it was a cold morning so far, with a slight haze in the air. The others all grumbled something in response as I found my place next to Michael. "You okay?"

He nodded, hands tucked sheepishly into his trouser pockets. "I guess."

"Do we need money for the bus? Cause I only have like a few grains and I have no idea how much it's gonna be."

Michael gestured with his head towards Ashton, who glared back. "You don't have to pay money but you have to give the bus driver something of yours. We usually bring a spare t-shirt or something."

I internally rolled my eyes. Somebody could've told me, surely... "Okay, well what can I give then?"

~

Half an hour later, I was shivering to death at the back of the old rattling bus that bumped over potholes and rocks cast astray. The driver had insisted I give my shirt, so very reluctantly I gave the only thing I had to remember Jenna by. The other were fast asleep so I couldn't even ask them for something.

I did recall them saying how the trek up the mountain was very hot though, so maybe I'd be in luck?

During the two hour drive, I fixated my eyes on a spot out of the window. I watched the sun move steadily upwards into the sky, spreading its rays over the acres of fields and meadows; you could even see individual rays as they poured through the clouds, reminding me of the drawings of heaven I used to draw as a child.

Damn it, I was entering my nostalgic state again. Children never know what's coming... heck, I bet they don't even know why they're alive. They just have fun and play and make noise – well, at least, that's what I did. I was never the hardworking type, at least not in terms of schoolwork. I focused my attention on other things like sport and secretly singing in my bedroom when everyone was downstairs.

A little tear trickled down my check, hardly making it past my mouth before I wiped it with my bare wrist. Crying wasn't like me.

My sudden motion woke Michael up, and that woke up the others – turns out we were arriving at the base of the trek path. Apparently, it was a three hour walk – but thankfully, those three hours passed very quickly. We told stories to pass the time although the sun made it almost unbearable to keep going, we persevered and entered the forest where it was basically pitch black and freezing cold.

I went back to shivering as we approached the massive gates up ahead, the eerie echoes of our feet treading on twigs and earth giving me goosebumps all over my bare skin. Now that the others were all awake, they noticed my 'tattoos' drawn by Luke, asking me all sorts.

"How did you get a scar in that precise shape?"

"Did you do it to yourself?"

"Didn't that hurt?"

But I didn't get the change to answer, because something very strange began to happen. My hand... it was slowly being invisible, then visible then invisible again. I swallowed hard, a sensation of being sick building up in my gut.

"Oh my God," Ashton gasped. "Your hand! It's because your near Death's gate..."

I panicked. "What does that mean?" I asked hastily, knitting my brows together worriedly.

"I think it means you're either about to wake up, or cross into the afterlife," he whispered, so quietly that I wished I hadn't heard him. Except those words were unlikely to leave my mind any time soon... I wasn't ready to leave yet. I knew that it was only yesterday that I said to Luke we'd make the most of our time together, but I didn't exactly expect it to be happening so fast.

Michael grabbed my forearms. "It's true... you're disappearing!" he shrieked, letting go immediately and running his hands through his hair, pacing up and down the same patch of ground. "What are we gonna do? We've only just lost Jenna and now you too..."

"Relax Mikey," Ashton reassured. "It obviously means something but I don't think we should worry too much about that now. Like I said, it's cause we're near Death's gate. It doesn't mean something is gonna happen imminently."

We proceeded towards the massive black bars, behind which were just opaque clouds of smoke. The porter, a dementor-like creature with no visible face, hit the ground with his massive wooden pole and declared, "Welcome, intruders. You have two options today. To pass into the afterlife, breathe out. To request the whereabouts of a floater, breathe in."

***

Who's gonna breathe out?

Spoiler: it's one of them :0

Kimmy xx