Epilogue

EPILOGUE

I didn’t know what to do. It was the hottest day of the summer so far, and my body was suffering from that. The heat literally radiated from my body, according to one of my roommates. I could hear the crickets making noise, even though we weren’t that close to a field. It was insane.

Standing up was effort. Moving my little finger was effort. Everything on this whole bloody day would be effort. I’d dosed off a few times, but no matter when I woke up, it was still boiling hot and sunny. I was trying to work off the day, you know, wait until night before actually getting up, moving around. That wasn’t happening every time soon, was it?

Alex had seated himself next to my feet on the couch, seeming perfectly energetic. “I don’t know why you’re burning up so much.” He said, looking me in the eye while I sighed, not really being able to do anything else. “Maybe you’ve got a fever. You should eat something.” He said. That was about the millionth time he’d told me I should eat something, in that day alone.

“I’m not hungry.” I replied angrily, somehow mustering the strength to stand. Alex gave me a sceptical look, before we heard the bass guitar playing from the next room. It was that stupid song Oliver came up with – ‘Ravens and Writing Desks’. Again.

“Oliver, shut up!” Alex yelled at the top of his voice, the two of us walking into his room.

It was a dump, as usual. There were guitar picks he’d caught attached to necklaces and hung around a certain nail in the wall. His dresser was practically empty, and all his clothes were strewn on the floor. He scowled at us when we entered, playing louder and louder until my shoe hit him in his head. Hard.

“Crow, what the hell?” he yelled, running towards me. I didn’t even budge, except when his fist almost came in contact with my face. I just kind of ran out of the room, turning the sharp corners of the house with my hands in my pockets. I heard his hand whack against the wall while he shouted curses at me. I grabbed my keys quickly.

“Oh, shut up already!” I said angrily, slamming the door behind me. The place fell silent, before I heard Oliver and Alex yelling at each other, until Elizabeth told them to be quiet. Well, maybe she was a bit ruder than that, but whatever. That’s Liz for you.

The heat was even worse outside. I felt like going back inside, or just stopping moving. That would be the best thing to do. My brain told me otherwise. I kept walking, no matter what, and tried thinking of other things, such as how far away the convenience store was. At least they sold ice cream.

Which brought me back to thinking about the heat.

I found my iPod in my pocket, putting my headphones on. They covered my ears, making them heat up. The music was worth it though. The convenience store was in view, but something was wrong. Things were missing. Buildings, people, life. Things, which usually inhabited the street I was walking down. It was really weird. There was nothing whatsoever as the ground towards the convenience store became blank. When I looked behind me, there was a white void, nothing there.

My steps got quicker and quicker, I sped up and soon enough I was running, opening the door, stepping inside. No one. The place was empty as hell, and the shelves were bare. The only thing there was… ice cream. I took it, convincing myself this was a dream or the heat was making me hallucinate. It was possible. It happened last year, and Alex had to punch me so I’d come back to reality.

But when the cold ice cream touched my tongue, the floor fell in, and I fell into the void, yelling.