Silent Chaos - chapter 4.1

Finally, I've managed to post chapter four! It's a long one, so I split it up in a few parts. Reviews and critiques are very much appreciated! Thanks.

“Let me start off by saying that everyone who comes here is in a coma. It’s the only way to get here. A pass, if you like. When in a coma you are in an unresponsive state, and, while your body rests on a hospital bed, you are here. Caïros is where you stay for the duration of your coma, and while here, you are put through many tests – the results of which will determine whether you will go back to Earth, or go Up There, if you know what I mean,” Mina said slowly, letting it all sink in.

Letting. It. All. Sink. In.

I was in a coma. A shiver ran up my spine whenever I heard the word. All I could see was me, lying in a hospital, looking a way I’d never wanted to – pale, lifeless; like a rag doll. And then there was my family… My parents would sit next to me, holding my hands, trying to coax me back to life. And there was Cass, my seven year old sister. She could be a pain, but she loved me and I knew it. What would seeing me like that do to her? Damage her happiness? Scar her for life, in a way I never thought possible?

What was I doing to my family? What was I doing to them?

Guilt overtook me. It was all my fault. If only I hadn’t sat in that place, that place where the impact had been the strongest, if I’d only just sat next to Hannah, my friend, at the front of the classroom like she’d asked instead of sloping off to the back to be in view of my crush, maybe little Cass wouldn’t be damaged. It would have saved my family a whole lot of tears.

I closed my eyes, willing away the stinging behind them. I thought of the other things Mina had said, the things that didn’t involve the word coma.

Tests. Tests to determine whether I woke up, or went… Up There, as she put it. I swallowed.

“Mina… what kind of tests are you talking about?” I fiddled with a loose thread on my off-white t-shirt, nervous for the answer.

“It will all be explained to you soon by my colleagues. All I can tell you for the moment is that if you pass, you’ll wake up. If you fail…” She didn’t need to finish for me to know what failing meant.

I just hoped I would pass. I didn’t want to die.

I opened my mouth to ask who and where her acquaintances were, but she stopped me by raising a slim finger, its nail sharp and pointed, painted a deep blue.

“We need to hurry up. You don’t know how many people end up here, and I need to find them before they do anything stupid, or get themselves lost. Come on, let’s go.” She pointed a sharp finger towards the left, demonstrating the direction in which we’d be going.

Five minutes later, and I was already jogging to keep up with Mina. She walked incredibly fast, and I was struggling to keep to her pace. I still couldn’t believe how strange my surroundings were – endless rows of tree trunks, their leaves too big, too green, too perfect. However, after a while, the trees started visibly thinning out – the concrete clearer of leaves and the mystery liquid that coated the tree trunks. Soon, a large, black-painted building came into sight. It loomed over the forest like death itself, spreading thick layers of shade where the trees failed. My stomach twisted. The place clouded my body with uncertainty, bringing goosebumps to my skin.

I slowed my pace, not caring if I lost Mina. My eyes, glued towards the building, took in every detail. The chimney stuck out of the roof like a misplaced, vertical pole – its silver, shiny colour that of new metal. Wisps of dark smoke floated out constantly in a thin, hazy line. The roof on which it sat was flat, and, on closer observation, I noticed it was more of a navy blue colour. It looked bright compared to the rest of the building - which, I took in with discomfort, had only one window.

The window was placed on the top left, small and firmly closed. The room to which it led was invisible to my eyes, no light shone out at all. Combined with the painted darkness of the building, it seemed so eerie, so strange…

The door was grand, with a large, silver keyhole but no handle. I could hardly tell where the door finished, its outlines hardly even there.

Trees outlined the building, in a perfect, symmetrical line; their pattern only breaking to leave space for the door. They bowed down to their master, looking so small, so unimportant, that it was a wonder I even took interest in them.

A cold hand landed on my arm, making my hairs stand up even higher. Shocked out of my concentration, I looked down – breathing a sigh of relief when I saw it was only Mina – her wide eyes observing my face carefully.

“We’re going in now, alright? Follow me, and you’ll be fine. Just follow me,” she said quietly. Her unusual softness should have comforted me, but instead it just unnerved me even more. There had been so many changes at once that I craved the old Mina, the harsh, impatient one, just so I could have a little familiarity.

Mina began guiding me towards the building, her arm reached up to my elbow, but I shook her off. I didn’t want to be patronised.

As we got closer, the knot in my stomach tripled in size. The darkness, the fact that there was no sign of life, made me want to run. Anywhere but there… Maybe if I ran fast enough, I could trick time – ending up back in the morning before school, ending up where I could prevent coming here – to this weird forest, with only an abnormally small woman’s words to rely on.

Approaching the door, and with my whole body in knots, my desire to run turned into a need. I needed to get away from here, needed to make sure I didn’t enter that door.

Needed to escape.

I ripped through the air before Mina even had a chance to turn. Air lashed at my face, punishing me for resisting its force. My trainers smacked against the concrete, marking it – pushing it down back to Earth – my Earth. Images began to fill my head… my house, my bag, ready packed, my room… And then,

Smash.

And everything went black.