The Rapture

TWENTY-EIGHT

PEARL

The weird mattress I slept on was hard and too uncomfortable. My aching back screamed in protest, radiating pain down both legs. I tossed and turned for a while, trying to find a position that didn't make half of my body numb from pinched blood vessels, and gave up.

My stomach churned.

Around me, the room was dimly lit, so it was hard to see. François snored in a bunk above me, oblivious to the emotions that stormed inside of my chest like a hurricane. That chest in question also tightened, like four ropes wrapped around it, squeezing like a boa.

The air had a cold bite to it, causing goosebumps to sprout across my skin. The area between my hips cramped, and I groaned quietly.

Was I seriously about to start my cycle now?

I whimpered.

As if things couldn't possibly get worse. Truth be told, the amount of stress I'd been experiencing should have staved it off for a few more weeks.

I raced through memories and the bitterness of my emotions, trying to make sense of the mess in my head. I struggled. Half of my memories were missing, leaving me with strange blank gaps that concerned me.

But they weren't quite empty spaces, either, because something occupied them I couldn't make out. I froze, sucking in a sharp breath that hissed through my teeth.

Wait.

Not a something, a somebody.

A person watched calmly through my eyes, barely noticeable unless I focused on it. There was something fluttering at the edges of the invader's mind, tangy and sharp.

Anger?

I inhaled steadily through my nostrils. The sweet smell of a familiar male I knew expanded my lungs. A sense of happiness overwhelmed me, but guilt and unease quickly chased it away.

"Well... crap," I moaned.

Please stay out of my head, Dumuzi, I begged. You aren't getting anything from me, so don't even try. I'm exhausted.

My neck muscles tightened like taut piano wires. I rubbed my temples, trying to maintain my loud breathing so I didn't wake Francois. Even though I was angry at being violated in this way, my eyes prickled.

I missed him.

Could he feel that? Could he hear the way my mental voice wrapped around his name like a hug? I didn't want him to think this had anything to do with him, about me leaving.

I ached to be with him. To touch him, to hear him chuckle, and to feel his body on mine. We had such little time together, to really peal back our layers.

My head was about to explode if he didn't get out of it.

There weren't supposed to be two people in it. There wasn't much of a reaction from him to my words, which didn't surprise me. The man had a flawless poker face, and it seemed that extended to the way his brain worked.

His presence in my head intensified. Tingles covered the surface of my skin. Dumuzi was only stepping his toes in. If he were to fully enter my head, I'd be quickly overwhelmed.

More anger came through and I tasted copper. I bit my tongue and cringed on the slab of metal that was a pathetic excuse for a bed.

What is your location?