C0NV3RG3 (Sequel to M3RG3)

Chapter 34

Arista

A tug yanked me to the surface. The air that greeted me was cold, frigid, freezing. Unnatural. Memory serum.

I sprinted to my room, biting my lip so hard it drew blood. Each inhale was swallowing icy fire. My knees were wobbling, my room a few steps away. I just needed to-

Kyle. He was out there. Poisoned. I had to get to him.

But getting him here was useless. I couldn't heal him.

The windowpane on my left shattered.

"Arista!" A muffled voice shouted. My dad- my dad? was on the hovercraft, standing on the rails and stretching a hand towards me. "Get on!"

How was my dad here? What was that hovercraft? I shook my head to clear my thoughts. This was my way out. The best option out of everything else. Still...

"Kyle's poisoned," I yelled back. "Can you heal him?"

"What type of wound?" He hollered, the hovercraft humming behind him.

"Venom," I shouted, swallowing the lump in my throat. Without the antidote, Kyle was going to die.

Maybe they had the antidote. Maybe they had other ways to save him. My father's steely eyes met mine.

"There's no time," He said, his bronze hair gleaming. "You have to come with us."

"How many minutes do you have?" I asked.

"Five minutes, why?"

"Stay here. I'm getting him." I had resisted serums and simulations before. Surely, this one would be no different. Right?

He was only a few feet away from me. I inhaled deeply, letting the icy burn travel down my throat. I could- had to do this.

One step. My legs shook, aching from the leaden weight.

Two steps. My vision burned, fiery black.

Three steps. Everything hurt. Everything burned.

Just... one more step. My legs buckled under. The numbing sensation spread through my veins like permafrost. Everything dimmed around me, I could only hear my rapid breaths and the desperate racing of my heart.

Kyle. No. A rush of words escaped from my frozen lips, memories that he would never remember, emotions that I could never bring myself to tell him.

The darkness consumed me like a roaring tide.

------

I dreamt of pain; burning, aching pain. I dreamt of emotions, strong, wild and raw. I dreamt of memories, vivid, lucid and surreal.

I was in a river, warm and iridescent. I was soaked, but soaked anew, the water rubbing into the pores of my skin like a gentle towel, scrubbing me till I was clean.

The currents carried me downstream, the echoes of laughter growing louder until I could see where they were coming from.

"Mum?" I gasped.

"Come join us! We'll have so much fun!" She giggled, doing a jig next to Caelan.

Their clothes glittered like the afternoon ocean, the colours changing from blue to green. I had never seen my mother so happy, so unconcerned, so free. Caelan was radiant, his cheeks flushed red, a rare smile on his face. Behind them, the trees swayed, the warm breeze caressing around my hair playfully before sweeping it into a messy tangle.

"But I thought you were..."

"Dead?" My mother laughed, her voice a stream of silver bells. "Here, there are no worries, because we don't have to remember anything!"

"Is this real?" I wanted it to be real. To be in a simple bliss, to be ignorant of everything, to dance until the river dried up, the grass turned brown, and the trees withered.

"It's as real as you believe it to be," She threw her head back and did another twirl. "Join us, you know that reality fares worse than fantasy."

The image just wasn't right. It should've been my mother and father dancing, Kyle welcoming me here, not them.

I swallowed hard. "What's my name?" I asked.

"Whatever you want it to be." Her tinkling voice replied.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"Whatever I want it to be." She squealed when her toes touched the river.

"You're not my mother," I whispered, backing up until I was leaning against the riverbank. The water was suddenly frigid and cold. "You just want me to stay so I won't remember anything."

Her eyes turned cold, hardening into crystal shards. "You will regret this," she snarled.

Then, I was paddling back until the tide pulled me into a whirlpool. I grappled for stones, rocks, weeds, but they all came loose under my grip. There was only me and the furious river.

This isn't real. I struggled pathetically against the roaring currents. Wake up. Wake up!

Darkness enshrouded me, the waters wrapping me in a tight cocoon. This was it. I was going to die, alone, at the mercy of the memory serum.

Something grabbed me, their touch comfortingly warm. I angled my head upwards and squinted at the blinding lights. Dad? I mouthed. He said nothing, only continued to pull me up until my clothes had completely dried.

"Wake up, Arista." He whispered. When I turned around, he was gone. The leaves rustled, a gentle breeze caressing my cheek.

As I exhaled, a weight was released within me. I was lighter, the breeze picking me up like I was a mere feather. Then, I was flying, higher and higher until the fields became nothing but a splotch of green in the distance.

Next update: 6th September