Mezzanine

| 51 |

The next morning, the sun streamed through the dark shades of an unfamiliar room. As the fog in my brain cleared, I remembered where I was. I was at my brother's house...in his living room.

I got up from the couch and shuffled over to try the light switch, but it didn't work. "Shit," I muttered under my breath. The power was still out.

Voices and laughter drifted in from the kitchen. Was I the last one awake? I made my way out to the hall slowly.

"Hello?" I called.

"Jay," a voice called back. It sounded distant, but at the same time, it sounded like it was coming from right behind me.

I turned around slowly. Within the darkness, something flickered like a flashlight passing over silver. Was someone there?

I took a hesitant step. Everything felt...wrong...like gravity was tugging at me from all the wrong directions. My head buzzed like a field of insects.

Come back to me. We need you. I need you.

The voice was soft and warm, like an embrace. My legs shook beneath me as I tried to take another step, but I felt like I was frozen in place. Something touched my wrist, and a hand wrapped around mine.

I gave in to the gentle tug, and finally my feet responded. I took a step forward.

Darkness filled my mind, and then a vision came to me—a forest. Like being pulled through someone else's dream, my body responded beyond my control. I walked forward, diving deeper and deeper between the trees.

At the end of the tunnel of branches and leaves, a shadowy figure waited. Its feet were suspended above the ground like it was floating underwater.

"Who are you?" I asked.

Two eyes flashed to life from where its head should have been. The glowing red orbs flickered like candles in the wind.

Something pulsed inside it, like a heartbeat. I reached out towards it, suddenly feeling the need to touch it—to break through the darkness and find out what was on the other side. When my hand made contact, the shadow flickered beneath my touch. Something wet and thick leaked over my hand, coating it in red.

"Jay," a voice called.

My vision faded to darkness around me.

"Jay!" Something grabbed my shoulder and shook.

I blinked, and a room came into focus around me. I wasn't in a forest...I was in a living room.

"Are you okay?" a familiar voice asked.

I looked to see Carter standing next to me. Lola and Damien stood behind him. The three of them stared at me like they were watching an animal in the zoo.

"What?" I asked, trying to shake myself back to my senses.

How did I get in the living room? Last thing I remembered, I was at the top of the stairs...and then...trees. A voice calling to me, and then a dark shadow waiting somewhere in the depths of a forest. I tried to force myself to remember what happened next, but it was like trying to recall a dream. The harder I thought about it, the more distant the memory became.

"What just happened?" I asked. It almost felt like...I wasn't myself.

"You came down the stairs acting really strange," Carter said. "We tried to talk to you, but you ignored us and came in here."

I ran a shaking hand back through my hair. What the hell? Was I sleepwalking or something?

He's shaking like crazy, Carter thought. He looks like he's about to pass out.