“Oh, fuck off,” I grumble, seeing her sitting up once more.
5
Sable
My limbs feel weightless and featherlight. A slight breeze would carry me across a field. My throat feels empty but choked. Like there are a million words and ragged screams caught in there, but only air fills the space.
I blink against the darkness. It’s like peering through a foggy window that’s turned the universe black and white. The edges are murky. Sharp lines are blurry. A low whirring filters through my ears. High-pitched, yet it has a base timber. It’s like floating in between time and space.
Where am I?
It’s chilled but not cold. Hot but not warm. An unsteady place in between that never feels quite right.
Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.
How did I get here?
Dead, something in the back of my mind says.
I blink, trying to make sense of my surroundings. A soundless cry rips from my throat as I turn my head and come toa seated position. Pain thunders down my spine from thecrackin my neck. White and black spots scatter over my vision as my throat catches again.
Where am I?
Look.
I can’t.
I don’t understand.
My hands, they’re like mist.
Look.
What’s happening?
It’s cold.
Is it?
Look.
Who is that?
He looks familiar. Why? He looks… I don’t know. He’s blurred. Yet not.
His lips are moving. He’s saying something. He’s… he’s beautiful. Those eyes—something’s not right about them. They’re different somehow. The wrong shade. And his voice… his mouth is still moving, and a deep, rumbling sound comes from his chest.
“Start talking.”
The words make sense but not at all. They ring a distant bell that makes my tongue roll, trying to do as he asks, except nothing comes out. All the sentences are tangled because… I don’t understand.
What’s happening?
Does he hear me ask the question? Did my lips form each letter?
He’s saying something again, but I can’t hear anything save muffled sounds.
What’s hap?—
