Everything was white, brisk white.
It dawned on Ethan that this wasn't really a place. It was more of a state of consciousness really. He had no idea how he came about this place, or why, or if he was even in his physical body.
He liked the calm, but after a while it started to irritate him. There was absolutely nothing. No phones, no internet, not even a pen and paper.
He couldn't be asleep, because all of his dreams always involved either creatures he and his friends have fought, or would eventually. Another example of just one of the perils of being a Seer. In all reality, he liked the power he had but more often than not it was just irksome. He was sick of not having any powers to defend himself, but he did enjoy making the plans for everyone to carry out. He did feel safe when Sarah was protecting him, and wanted to make her feel the same way.
He rubbed his head furiously. Sarah. Benny. Even Jesse, he had to know what happened. The last thing he remembered was Stern broadcasting the Lucifractor signal, and the bright purple haze over everything. Why did he have to provoke Stern like that? The man was clearly unstable anyway; he should've seen that earlier. The power just rushed to his head.
That's all that power is good for, Ethan decided. Even when he felt the Lucifractor it simultaneously gave him a surge of energy and confidence, but after that moment he was just drained. Not unlike how he felt after Jesse tried to turn him into a fledgling, it was just painful and sucked all of the energy he had out of his system. But he had all of the power at his fingertips. He wasn't helpless.
That's why he remembered this place. This blank, empty cube. It was the place his mind went to after Jesse bit him. He almost died that night, or worse. He was both grateful that Sarah sucked the venom out of his system and slightly resentful that she even met Jesse in the first place. Realistically, without him he and Benny wouldn't have even met Sarah, and he wouldn't have found out he was a Seer. Granted Jesse also tried to murder him twice, but sometimes desperate times call for desperate measures.
He had to make sure Benny was okay. Considering he was brainwashed only minutes before the explosion happened, he could be even worse off than Ethan. Sure Benny could be a doofus, he was very rarely an idiot. He knew he could be okay, but what about everyone else? Without Benny he was just another nerd. At least he and Benny got in trouble together, and fixed it together too, somehow.
What if he was the one that was gone? He never imagined what it would be like for anyone if he died, or what it would be like in general. Ironically, with all of the times he and Benny had faced almost certain doom, he was never concerned with death. Yeah it made him nervous sometimes, and he hated funerals but it wasn't the worst thing his friends came up against. Sarah couldn't technically die, and Benny could use his magic to get him out of trouble. He had nothing.
He had to find a way out. If it was his own mind, he had to find a way to wake himself up. If he was trapped in some pocket dimension, he had to find some way of contacting anyone else. Considering there was nothing there, he decided it must be his own mind.
"Okay, Ethan, you can do this. You need to figure out some way back home. It doesn't matter where the hell this is, you need to get back. If you do, tell Mom and Dad about everything. This isn't just about Sarah anymore if something happened they deserve to know."
Maybe Erica's meditation junk worked. Maybe that's what he needed. Introspection and all. He wasn't helpless anymore. If he could convince Stern that the Lucifractor had more power than he did, what else could he do? Grandma and even Jesse seemed surprised he could telepathically communicate with them. Maybe next he could move stuff with his mind or control people. He shuddered. Telekinesis was cool and all but he drew the line at controlling people. Maybe that meant people could control him just as easily.
Maybe that was why he was trapped in this room. Because he couldn't stop feeling helpless. Because every fear he had controlled him all the time. He always managed to outthink every enemy, but he was the only person here. No fights, no vamps, no magic, just Ethan. He didn't need a master plan.
No plans, no weapons, just thoughts. Thoughts were okay, unless you always manage to overanalyze every breath you take. He tried to lie down, but the ground was cold like cement. Eventually he got tired enough to try and fall asleep, but oddly enough, he woke up on ash outside of the Vampire Council building. His head was throbbing, and his arm was bent out of shape, but he was okay, somehow. It took him a few minutes to find his balance and figure out where Benny and Sarah were, but they were okay.
Whitechapel seemed baron without the council building there, but aside from that everything was exactly the same. He couldn't find any traces of Stern anywhere, which was probably for the best. A broken arm and a scratch on his head were a small price to pay for knowing he had defended, and saved, his friends. He was useful after all.