BONDS
Cimmerian (adjective): very dark or gloomy.
DAY 22, HOUR 3
My eyes shot open.
Instantly I knew something was very wrong.
A window must have been open because snow was falling inside. Cold wetness coated my cheeks, and there was a fine layer of white dust across my pillow.
I was lying on my stomach with my arm hanging over the bed, but Aran was not holding my hand like usual. Her fingers were limp in my grasp. Ice froze us together.
I opened my mouth to call her name, and I meant to shake her hand to wake her.
Nothing happened because I couldn’t move.
I was paralyzed.
A vibrating sensation pulsed inside my chest, and it felt like I was being stabbed with a serrated blade. It felt like my heart was being carved out.
The bunk shook harshly beneath me.
My mouth opened on a silent scream as agony tore through my insides. It took a moment to process that the bed rocking was coming from above.
Twin intuition filled me, and I knew without a doubt that John was not well. I needed to get to my younger brother.
I needed to save him.
As a young child, I’d promised myself that I would never stand by and watch him get hurt. I would sacrifice every bone in my body to protect him.
Body taught with unimaginable torment, I shattered the ice and released Aran’s hand.
I slowly turned myself over and stared up at the twitching bunk. Horror filled me as I realized Aran hadn’t made a noise of disgruntlement like she always did when I stopped holding her hand.
John twitched violently above me.
Aran’s bed below me was eerily quiet. Too quiet.
The pain intensified to another level, and my back arched as an invisible force dug my heart from my chest.
The only two people I lived for were suffering inches apart from me.
I was paralyzed.
Unable to help them.
Useless.
There was a snapping sensation as the agony in my chest crescendoed.
The bunk above my head went still.
Darkness blurred my vision, and I clawed desperately against unconsciousness, but it mercilessly pulled me under. There was nothing left of me as everything went black, just a peculiar sensation inside my chest.
A staggering barrenness.
I felt dead.
