Carlton opened his eyes. He was in a long, empty hallway. He looked around, trying to make sense of his surroundings. The air was thick and humid. He felt sweat dripping down his face. He took a few steps forward and looked around. There was another long hallway with glossy white walls around the corner with a window at the end of it.
Looking around him for clues, he started walking down the hall. Light ricocheted around him, and he pulled his hand over his eyes to see where he was going. He squinted to make his reflection in the window clearer and saw himself at 12 years old.
"How am I going to tell him?" he heard a voice echoing down the hall where he had just been. He turned around and saw his mother sitting on a chair crying. A young woman was sitting next to her rubbing her back.
"He's dead," a different voice echoed through the hallway. The window lit up with lightning and he turned around to see his father standing in the middle of the road on the other side.
"Dad!" He yelled, running down the hall and banging on the window. His dad looked up from the middle of the road. He smiled and waved and took a step towards Carlton. But as soon as he did the lightning struck again, engulfing his dad in flames.
With a flash, his father was gone, nothing but a dark shadow of smoke where he had just stood.
"Dad!" He tried to yell, but as soon as he opened his mouth to yell water started pouring from the walls. The water fell quickly, rising over his feet and to his knees. He took off running towards his mom, but she was running away too.
"Carlton!" She called, reaching her arms out to him, but as soon as he caught up to her, she fell through a hole in the ground. He tried to stop but couldn't and soon he felt himself falling too. The world around them started spinning as they fell and fell and fell down the hole.
There was a loud honk and he looked up from the back seat of a car. He saw his mother in the driver's seat and Althea in the seat next to her, their hands resting on the center council together.
"Althea is going to move in with us, Carlton." She turned around and smiled at him.
"She's… what?" Carlton asked. They had just fallen to their death. Did she not remember that?
Unfazed, his mother turned from him to look lovingly into Althea's eyes.
"Crash!" The echo sang in his ears.
She didn't see the light turn red. She didn't stop. She didn't even slow down.
Carlton looked over and saw a big black van speeding towards them. With a loud crash, the black car slammed into the front of their car. The car spun and spun and spun and hit the building on the opposite corner of the intersection.
"Mom!" He cried out, seeing his mother's body limp in the front seat, hers and Althea's blood mixed together on the front window. He tried to tap her shoulder to shake her awake, but he was too far back. He couldn't reach her.
"Mom!" He opened the car door to escape the now smoking car, but when he did, he stepped out into a smoky bar. He looked around and saw Marlowe standing at the bar. She was wearing the red dress from the first night he met her. He went up to talk to her, but she walked away into the bathroom.
Don't go. Don't leave. Please. Don't do it. Don't go to jail. I don't want to lose you. I don't want to lose two years with you. I love you.
He watched her leave, longing for her to stay. He sat at the bar for a minute, breathing in the thick air.
"What are you waiting for?" The echo told him. "Go!"
He got up quickly and followed her to the bathroom, not wanting to give her time to leave. He pushed past the line of people waiting at the door and shoved the door open, but as soon as he did, a thick fog spread towards him, making him cough as he stumbled forward.
"Marlowe!" He called, using his arm to cover his mouth.
The fog cleared to reveal a bright light shining into his eyes. He tried to close his eyes, but they weren't working. His eyelids wouldn't cooperate and the light continued to burn his retinas.
As suddenly as it came, the light was gone, and he found himself standing on the parking garage from when he had found Marlowe's victim. He pulled the coat over the head of the victim, expecting to see a man, but instead saw blond hair falling haphazardly around the body.
"Marlowe!" He cried out, falling to the ground where the love of his life lay cold and white. Her eyes were still open, blankly staring at the sky. Her body felt stiff in the red dress. He put his hand on her neck, trying to find any sign of life, but there was nothing there. The blood wasn't moving through her body.
"She's gone," the echo whispered in his ears.
"No!" He cried in response, getting on his knees clumsily attempting to restart her heart. "Stay alive!" he willed her, pushing against her tense chest.
Using all of his strength, he pushed.
One.
Two.
Three.
And then she was gone, swallowed by a hole in the earth.
Carlton felt momentum carry him forward as he attempted to resuscitate a body that was no longer there. He stuck his hands out to catch himself on the cement of the parking garage, but he kept falling. He tumbled and flipped and landed with a hard thud on the ground.
He looked up and saw dark sky above him. The only light provided shown from a giant clock that lit up the platform.
"Half-past four," the echo sang. "I'll drop by half past four!"
"O'Hara!" Carlton cried out, jumping to his feet to find his partner strapped to a chair. He ran to catch her. Put his hands on her shoulders and tell her he had her, but the second before he got to her, the clock began to loudly chime.
Flames erupted down the wire attached to his partner's only connection to anything solid. Carlton watched for a moment as the chair she was tied to erupted in flames.
"O'Hara!" He ran to the edge of the balcony to save her but as soon as he got to her the chair disintegrated into dust and the world fell out from under her. He saw her reach out her hands as the inflamed rope around her waist disintegrated and he lunged to grab her.
Her fingertips grazed his own, but he missed her hand, momentum carrying him over the ledge of the building behind her. He watched her fall below him, crossing his arms over his face to brace himself.
He landed with a solid thud in a brightly lit hallway, unharmed.
He looked around and rubbed his head, trying to refocus his eyes. His partner was gone and replaced by a bustle of people hurrying around him. Loud beeping echoed through the halls.
"Daddy?" he heard a small voice say. He looked up and saw Lily walking towards a room with a big sliding glass door and ducking behind a curtain. He ran to catch up with her.
"Lily!" he called as he chased her down the hallway. When he got to the door where Lily had entered, he stopped dead in his tracks. He saw himself, laying on a bed with tubes coming out of his mouth and his arms. He looked dead. The color was gone from his face and his body was covered with bandages and blood.
"Daddy?" she said again, pulling herself onto a chair and tapping his cheek.
"I'm gonna get her!" the echo-y voice sang. The sound filled the room, carrying a dark fog with it. The fog danced through the space, wrapping itself around Lily and pulling her away.
Carlton blinked and found himself back in the bed, watching the dark fog escape the room, taking his baby with it.
"No!" He tried to scream, but he couldn't speak. His throat felt sore and stiff and his vocal cords wouldn't cooperate. Something had them paralyzed in place.
"Get this off of me!" He tried to scream again, but again, nothing came out. He reached up his hands to pull the thing out of his mouth. He needed to speak. He needed to save Lily.
"I'm gonna kill her!" the echo-y voice sang again, more cheerful this time. "And there's nothing you can do about it!"
He watched Lily be pulled out of the room. He tried to get up to save her, but he couldn't move. Heavy pressure was pushing on his arms, keeping him stuck to the bed.
"Daddy!" He heard his baby cry out. He looked out the room and saw the black fog closing around her in a box, shrinking her down to nothing
"Lily!" He tried again, but nothing came out.
He tried to fight the heavy pressure that was keeping him down, kicking and screaming with every ounce of his will, but his body wouldn't budge. He couldn't reach her.
"Lily!" He tried again, but his chest was getting suddenly heavy, a thick sludge sucking all the strength from his muscles. Each breath felt like a struggle and the attempts to move his legs and keep his eyes open were rendered useless.
Despite his desperate efforts, the thick fog covered his body, dropping him into the blackness. Through the heavy air, he could just barely make out the sound of his baby crying as he was forced back into sleep.
"Daddy!"
