Beyond the Void

Chapter 6, Wasting our time

ANDREW

One ten since the Mark of the Other One blossomed.

Someone was screaming. Andrew was unsure how he had gotten to bed last night. It was early in the morning. You could see the dim light outside, but inside the half-broken house it was still dark.

It took a few moments to understand what was going on. Andrew saw the dark figures of everyone sitting up on their sleeping spots and animal hides. The screaming had stopped, but it still rang in Andrew's head.

A woman was comforting someone, you could hear a girl sobbing and someone's quiet murmuring of "It's okay, it's okay, you're safe".

"Someone get the fire going again!" Lenna's voice grew louder suddenly. Andrew realised there was someone in her embrace.

"What happened?" Robert was up and walked past Andrew towards Lenna's voice.

Another dark form stood up from their bedroll and crouched next to the fire. The embers born from wood landing in the fire pit illuminated Sten's face.

"She is awake! Calm down. We have water, here. Drink and calm down. You're in a safe place." The girl who had been the last arrival was still sobbing.

Heart pounding, Andrew stood up. He felt dazed. More tired than the night before, but now nervous because of the screaming girl. That was an unpleasant way to wake up.

"Drink up. Calm down. Right. Can you tell us your name, please?" Lenna asked softly.

"It's Becca. Where am I? Who are you people? Where are my clothes?" Several frantic questions in an Irish accent sounded in the ruined house.

"Calm down! It's all ok. I know you have many questions, but... This isn't an easy topic to explain, but please. Stay with me and listen. Listen, please. This is going to sound absolutely insane." Lenna was sputtering.

Andrew decided it was better to let the others handle this.

"Andrew?" He looked towards the hazy form of Eric.

"Toilet." He mumbled. He really did not want to be in the room when someone was telling the other person something had brought them into another world.

As he pushed the rusted, rickety metal door back into place, he could already hear disbelief in the girl's voice. Andrew himself had laughed when they had told him at first. And once he had seen everything for himself, he had barely spoken for days.

"What? What do you mean?" He could hear the girl shout.

It felt as if he had gone to sleep moments ago. The fading memories of the dreams he had had were the on-goings of everyday life, and this world was the dream world. Surreal, without sense, filled with foggy thoughts and hallucinations. His mind had switched the worlds around. That was probably it.

Andrew was now walking around the gateway hill, heading towards the other end of the town. It was cold, but a quick dip in the river was better than feeling grimy and unkempt the whole day. It was difficult to get rid of old habits. He wondered what would happen if he got a cold.
"I'll probably die." He mumbled.

Except for the chicken-like creatures, there were no other living beings here. A stagnation hung in the air. Despite the cold weather, it felt like being in a stuffy room. A pressure was building in his head and for an instant, Andrew forgot himself.

The shadow in the south was moving. It had caught a scent.

The monotone roar of the distant waterfall returned as reality rushed back in to fill the world. Everything was back to normal. For a moment everything had faded behind a veil.