Catcher

Chapter 4

Time passed by in a blur and Cahira lost track of how long ago she'd left her room with Ty. Still, the party only seemed to keep growing bigger and louder as more and more people joined the mob of dancing bodies. She was so consumed with her enjoyment that she didn't realise her walls were down. Her exhilaration and delight blended with others until it was too late for her to realise. The emotions of everyone in the room seemed to be sucking themselves into her mind. For a moment, she reached the point of pure ecstasy, before she laughed and tried to suck back in air, only to feel dizzy. Never had she felt this many people at once, and her mind grew clouded and blurry. She felt a pressure within her as though all the feelings were pressing against the base of her skull, threatening to blow through. Her movements faltered and she saw Ty slow down his dancing, reaching out to her. She stumbled back and put a hand to her head, trying to soothe the aching she felt, but she couldn't close her mind. 'C? C, what's wrong?' Panic filled his voice as he reached out for her. Just as he did, she stumbled forward and fell into him.

Something happened in that moment, something Cahira couldn't register through the thickness of the emotions in her head. Colours danced everywhere across her vision and the room grew blurry and for a second, everything turned a brilliant white, before everything grew still. She looked around her, at all the people who had only moments before been swaying and jumping. The music continued to wail but nobody seemed to notice. Confused, but no longer overwhelmed, Cahira turned to Ty – only he wasn't standing before her. With a gasp she dropped to the floor to where he lay still, his chest unmoving, his eyes closed.

'Ty? Ty!' Her hands shook as she moved them over his face and shoulders, shaking him and screaming his name over and over. She was still screaming when someone pushed him out of the way to kneel over him. Arms pulled her back as she tried to rush forward, and she could distantly hear firm instructions from the figure on the ground. An order for something was shot out and a small guy in loosely fitting trousers disappeared into the crowd. Before he could return though, a groan fell from Ty's lips. Breaking free of the hold on her, Cahira collapsed to the floor, throwing her arms around her brother's neck and pulling his head onto the side of her lap. 'Ty? It's okay, you're okay.' His eyes opened and met hers before he frowned and sat up straight in a hurry.

'What happened?' he demanded. Cahira wasn't sure when but the music had stopped, now all eyes were on him, though she could still feel the weighted pressure of brief glances on her. She staggered upright and pressed herself back into the circle of onlookers, hoping to blend in slightly despite the fact that all those in sight had seen her crouched over his body not minutes before. His eyes met hers for a moment before settling on the man in front of him. 'Luca?'

Luca cleared his throat. 'I don't know. You just dropped, it's like you just stopped breathing. Like you were dead.' The word dead rang over and over in Cahira's ears. Her breathing felt shallow at the mere memory of his too-still frame. 'Do you remember anything? Were you feeling funny?'

Ty frowned, his gaze to the floor, before it raised to hers in a moment so brief that nobody else would've thought it unusual before it scanned the faces of those around him. But she knew that in that moment he remembered her swaying before he collapsed. He was making sure she was okay. He simply shook his head. 'Nah, nothing. Must've just gotten too hot or something.' His eyes levelled with Luca's who squinted at him, not suspiciously, just curiously. 'Sorry if I caused a fuss.' Ty forced a smile onto his face before he dramatically turned around to face where the music was controlled. 'You can all go back to the celebration now!' Slowly, conversations picked up once more and a few moments later the music was once again blasting through the room. Not wanting to hang around, Cahira backed away from the circle of space that was still left around Ty and Luca, hoping to make herself forgotten from the minds of those who saw her panicking.