“God’s sake. Pick me up again. I’ll freaking do it.”
“I’m doing it, woman! How many fucking times do I need to tell you that?”
“You’re not going fast enough.”
The yellow light turned white with power, beckoning me forward, promising a better existence than the one I endured.
I wanted to reach for it, squinting in my mind as the light grew larger, brighter, inhaling me into its orb.
I’d never seen something so pure—as if I stared at the nucleus of the sun or the entrance to heaven.
Am I worthy of paradise, after all?
“Hurry. We need to leave.”
“Woman, give me a damn moment, okay?”
The light supernovaed. Hissing increased in decibels until it echoed in my teeth. Electricity sparked in my muscles, slowly bringing me back to life. I tried to move, to see what beast hissed so loudly, but my body was no longer mine to command. It was weak and broken and past listening to such requests.
My foggy mind wouldn’t focus; wisps of thoughts and flickers of images all faded with every failing heartbeat.
I didn’t know why I continued to cling to whatever semblance of life I had.
This was no life.
This was just damnation.
“Shit, it’s not cutting.”
“I know it’s not freaking cutting. You’ve got the ratio wrong!”
“If you’re such a fucking know-it-all, you fix it.”
My ears rang with bickering.
I didn’t know the man, but the girl reminded me of my sister. A little girl who I’d loved since childhood but also drove me nuts. She’d constantly pinch my favourite toys and hide them where I could never find them.
She ran circles around Kes and me. Driving us mad, proving that love wasn’t enough to protect an infuriating sister from retaliation—usually in the form of frogs in her bed or beetles on her cereal.
I attempted a smile, thinking of happier times.
The light went out, followed by a scraping noise.
“Now, turn that gauge to the left and that to the right. See those two lines...that’s the ideal ratio.”
“Fine. Done. Now what?”
“Now, I want to work the wand.”
“What? No way.”
Something clanged off the earthen walls. My ears twitched, reminding me they still worked, even when other parts of me didn’t. I’d long since stopped feeling the soft splash of internment droplets on my forehead or tensing when a fresh wash of agony bathed my skin with fever.
“Pick me up and then give me the wand. Got it?”
“God, you’re such an arse.”
“Kind of you to notice. Now...pick me up.”
