ROSE
If I knew which door led to the Void, I’d open it and leave. There’s nothing here for me; the longer I stay with the white walls closing in and the fluorescent light hurting my eyes, the more terror sets in from not knowing what this alternative I’m trapped in is. The Void contains other people... things. They can’t all be bad, right? But here…I’ve counted twenty identical doors, twenty identical rooms and there’s more. They stretch on for eternity - my eternity? I’ve listened. I’ve walked. I’ve touched.
But I’ve refused to cry.
There’s nothing else for me to do but hope the nurse-like guy comes back for me. I open a door and step inside the small room, sit on the black seat and cross my arms and legs defensively. Someone will come.
I’m not sure how long I sit in silence with my eyes closed, again willing myself to wake up from the coma I’m sure is responsible for the nightmare. I trace over my life, from childhood to the day of the accident, and push away thoughts of Alek, Finn, and strange houses. They don’t exist. I’m dreaming. I repeat the mantra over and over.
Metal against metal sounds as the door handle is pushed down. A mix of relief and trepidation over who will walk in accompanies my gaze to the opening door.
Alek hesitates outside.
I jump to my feet, and rush to the door, terrified it might close again and he’ll disappear. His dark-circled eyes are dull and skin pallid and he straightens his slumped stance when he sees me, mouth parting in surprise. Is he another figment of my nightmare or a horrible indication I’m not dreaming at all?
“Alek?”
He doesn’t speak, just shakes his head numbly, and wrap my arms around his waist. He’s real. The arms encircling me and crushing me to his chest are real. The heart beating beneath my cheek is the person who came here for me, who told me he loved me in his strange way. Only this time, I’m not overwhelmed with the energy which usually flows between us. I’m aware of the softness of his lips on my forehead and the comfort of his embrace.
“I thought I’d lost you,” he says hoarsely into my hair.
I withdraw from his grip and trace my fingers across his face. “It’s you? I don’t... feel you.”
Alek strokes my cheek with the back of his warm hand. “We haven’t got any energy, we’re... I don’t know, something else.”
“Shades?”
“No. I’m not sure but I don’t know where this place is. I thought I was going to the Void but I found myself here.”
“How did you get here?”
Alek takes my face, and rubs his thumbs along my cheeks as he holds me gently, eyes searching mine. “You’re right, about the energy, though. I’m not overwhelmingly drawn to pinning you against the wall and...”
I tug my brows together. “Not appropriate in our current situation, Alek. And I’m not stupid, I know you’re changing the subject.
“It’s a good thing,” he whispers. “It proves you’re more than the physical addiction.”
“I think you coming here to find me proves that,” I say.
Something else surges inside, not relief but genuine affection for Alek. Whatever it took for him to come here, he did because of me. Not affection. More. I wind my hands around his neck, stroking the nape with my fingertips, and place my mouth gently on his. The situation around us is crazy and unreal, but we’re here together, and this kiss is different. There’s no searing lights, burst of energy, or desperate need to consume, just a gentle connection as if we’re kissing for the first time. The awareness of how soft his fingertips are on my skin and the surge of butterflies as his mouth moves against mine is the opposite to the hungry desire we normally share. This kiss is with a man whose life I want to be part of, who’s prepared to give himself part of me he never wanted to.
Does Alek feel this, too? He slides his lips from mine and nudges my cheek, sighing quietly. “I hope I’m doing the right thing.”
“What do you mean?” I peel his arms from around me and rest against the wall, studying him for clues. “Are we trapped? Will we be here forever now?”
“I’m getting us out,” he says, but he’s not happy.
“How?”
“Do you know who sent you here?” he asks.
“I presume Finn; I felt him take the energy.”
He hesitates. “Yeah. And when we go back, he might do it again.”
“Then why try? We can stay here?”
“Really, Rose?” he gestures around us. “Here? The Void? Hell?”
“Hell?”
“Finn got rid of you because you’re his mistake and that’s where we belong. But we’re being given a chance to go back and keep fighting.”
All I can hear in my mind is the word Hell. “So I am a demon?” I whisper.
“No. We’re not demons! We’re Between!”
“Are we? Isn’t that just a species of demon? Don’t we want exactly what they do?” I slide to the floor and wrap my arms around my head. Hell.