15 Chapter 14

It was cold.

It was hot.

Sweat droplets slipped from my face. People banged against the door behind us, but I doubted the handle would budge. With every sound Derora started shaking more. David resembled a statue. Carefully I stepped forward and pressed my hand against the dark wall. It touched a number.

1987

All the other numbers disappeared. Thousands and thousands of country's names appeared in the stone. Again it looked like a laser carving everything. David looked excited as his eyes scrolled over all the countries.

"Pick Greece!" He yelled.

Derora nodded in agreement. Once again I pressed my hand on the stone, over Greece.

The room turned white as snow. A voice echoed all around us.

"QUA CELERITATE ET STELLAS LUNA EST PLENA, SEMPER, ET NUNC NON DIFICIENT."

I didn't know what it meant, but I recited it in my head in case it had any importance.

A white light with no source engulfed me. I couldn't see David or Derora anymore. It was only me standing in this white nothingness. Endless thoughts wrapped around tendrils of white. White ghostly figures caressed my white porcelain skin, crawling along my body like spiders. Then the calming feeling of nothing. Every thought and emotion swept away. It didn't last long, but at least all my troubles faded for 15 seconds.

The floor or the ceiling, I didn't know which one, gave way. I started falling in an unknown direction. The usual wind caused by falling wasn't there to indicate what direction I was falling in. Only the churning pit in my stomach and lack of ground underneath my feet told me I was indeed falling. The feeling of fingers crawling over me like spiders returned. The white turned black and my body fell to the ground with an unkind force.

Wet sand covered my body and got stuck between my hair and my fingers. I couldn't open my eyes. My breath didn't want to work and I desired my red inhaler.

Someone's footsteps stopped near my head and lips met lips. Sweet air was blown into my lungs, it made me cough up water. My eyes opened and I saw a boy wearing a blue button down shirt that crouched over me.

I heard waves crashing behind me and tasted salt in my mouth.

The tanned boy stood up and held out his hand to help me up. I looked around and saw the blue water and white clay houses at the far end of the beach.

I was in Greece.