Thanks for reviewing. I think it might be only two more chapters. Or three. I know how it ends, but I'm not entirely sure how the story will work out. Work with me here!
Cult
With Terry leading, the two of them, Terry and Steve, tried there hardest to get out of the dark hallways of the hospital. Terry's nerves were on end, and the fact that they had to stop every now and then to let Steve catch his breath wasn't helping. What also worried her was what Steve had said earlier. The leader of the cult dedicated to restoring Varuchio's work? That didn't sound like someone she wanted to meet.
Terry was waiting for Steve to catch his breath when she heard it for the first time. It was a gentle ticking. So soft and so natural that Terry had just considered it to be part of the hospital.
"Why are we stopped?" asked Steve. "What's wrong?"
"That," responded Terry. Steve stared at her, confused.
"What?" Steve questioned.
"Shh!" demanded Terry.
"I'm confused," muttered Steve.
"Just listen!" growled Terry.
They both stood there for a while in silence, listening to the noises around. The gentle hum of the emergency lights, the buzzing of the wall clock, and the occasional dripping sound coming from the restrooms just ahead of them. It was not too long before Steve heard it too.
"That ticking?" asked Steve.
"Yeah," answered Terry. "Do you know where it's coming from?"
"Sounds like it's from the janitors closet," Steve responded. He walked a few feet towards the partially closed closet towards their left. He opened the door, and froze.
"Shit," he muttered. "Terry?" he whispered. "How fast can you run?"
"An average speed, why?" Terry inquired.
"Don't get too scared, but there's a bomb in here,"
"What?"
"That damn hypocrite of an organization," growled Steve. "They claim they don't want anyone to get hurt, yet they wire a time bomb?"
Terry felt the color drain out of her face. Was Steve being serious? Was the ticking really a bomb?
"I want you to run out of this place," Steve began. "And hide behind some cars or something. Make sure you're a good distance away."
"What-!"
"Just go!" Steve cut off, and Terry ran.
Steve watched Terry go, and focused on the bomb. He couldn't let all the people in this hospital die. He had to do something to stop this. He looked down at the mass of wires attached to the ominous dynamite. He looked at the clock mounted on it.
"Five minutes," he watched it count down. "Perfect,"
Carefully, he picked up the bomb, and walked towards the exit, only twenty yards, or so. He was careful not to pull on any of the wires, and thought. A small swamp was towards the left of the hospital, and that was where he'd go.
Terry shoved open the doors, not realizing that the exit was so close to the bomb. She ran as hard as she could towards the street that was so far away. She didn't stop running until she saw something out of the corner of her eye. Steve was coming out of the hospital, holding the bomb.
"What…" she stared idly for a few seconds, before realizing what Steve was going to do. He was heading towards the swamp.
"No!" she shrieked. "Steve, don't!" She turned and started running towards him.
Steve was a good distance from the hospital now. He thought about things. He thought about the disc, the cult, and his Terry. Especially his daughter. It was strange; how he remembered everything they did together just then. He thought for a minute, more, and watched the clock strike the last ten seconds.
"Terry," he started. "I'm sorry I got you involved."
Seven seconds left.
"Or maybe… you already were. And please,"
Four seconds left.
"Set my daughter free… from "The World","
Three seconds left.
"Goodbye, and… I'm sorry,"
One second left.
"Sorry for everything."
Terry ran as fast as she could, but didn't reach Steve in time. She heard a loud beep, and saw a burst of flames. Steve was gone. All that remained was a burning hole in the ground.
"Noooo!" cried Terry. She felt her legs give out under her, and she collapsed onto her knees. "Steve!"
Terry felt hot tears sting her eyes, and slide down her cheeks. She felt a drop of water fall from the sky, and remembered it had been raining the whole time. Terry was so caught up in the moment that she'd forgotten the weather outside. Suddenly it grew all to obvious. She grew cold.
Terry leaned forward, and landed on her hands. She began crawling towards the burned earth as the fire slowly went out. It had been a huge bomb. Terry was surprised that she hadn't been caught in it. After only a few seconds of crawling, she felt the scorched earth. In mere seconds she reached the center, and sat down.
"You're really dead, aren't you?" she asked no one. She felt tired.
All Terry wanted to do then was sleep, and, for once, she actually did. There were no nightmares, and there was nothing to disturb her. She drifted off during the sound of and ambulance coming. Or police car. She didn't care. She didn't give a damn if it was her mother who picked her up right then. She was asleep, and didn't care anymore.
I can't see…
Why?
There's no light…
Then you should just admit your death…
What…?
You gave up. You let them win…
Who…?
The cult…
What cult…?
The one that built the bomb that killed you…
I'm not dead…
Are you sure…?
Yes…
You gave up once Steve died…
I did…?
Yes…
Then where am I…?
Where aren't you…?
In reality…
This is you sub-conscious mind. Everything here is you.
What? I'm in…me?
A blinding light came from somewhere, and Terry was back in her bedroom; only, it wasn't her room. Everything was upside-down. She looked around, and saw herself. The strange thing was, that her double had long dirty hair, rags for cloths, and looked like a character from "The World,"
"That's right," said the double. "You're in you."
"My head hurts," muttered Terry.
"It should," responded the double. "You breathed in some serious fumes. That bomb Steve saved the hospital from let out an odorless toxic gas in a twenty foot radius, and you crawled right into the center of it."
"I'm dead!" exclaimed Terry.
"No," responded the double. "But you will be if you don't get control of yourself."
"What are you talking about?"
"You gave up."
"I did?"
"You gave up on yourself."
"I did."
"You can't do that."
"Why?"
"Because your body is letting the gas win in the real world. If you don't believe you can stop this group, then you are going to die."
"What's the point?"
"Does Claire mean anything?"
"What about her?"
"They know you were friends with her. The cult will try and get information from her."
"Would they kill her!"
"Only if she doesn't give them the information they want, and she doesn't know it."
"I'm not letting them kill two friends!"
"Then fight!"
"I will!" Terry grew confident. "I will stop them. I will stop them. I will stop them!"
She screamed the last set of words, and woke up.
"Are you all right?" asked a paramedic, shining a light into Terry's eyes.
Terry woke up around ten minutes ago. Turned out that she woke up just as a paramedic picked her up. They wanted the transfer her to another hospital, but Terry refused, and until they found something wrong with her, they couldn't take her there.
"Yes," responded Terry.
"Again," started the paramedic. "I think-."
"That I should go to a hospital," growled Terry. "Well, not now, and not tonight. I have another place I have to get to before I can do anything."
"Are you going home?"
Terry thought a minute. This guy looked like the type who would call her parents if she even coughed strangely, so she lied.
"Yes," began Terry. "I don't live to far,"
"And you're alright to walk?"
"Yes,"
The paramedic shrugged, and let her go.
"You're just gonna let her go?" demanded another paramedic.
"Yup," said the one who examined Terry. "Nothin' strange about her except for those entirely blue eyes."
Terry ran down the streets towards Claire's house. It was only after she stopped to take a breath that she noticed a van that had been following her for the past three blocks. Terry started to walk again. She made a left onto Claire's road, and started to get scared when the van turned left too.
Terry began to run, and heard the van door slide open.
"Don't let her get away!" shouted a man.
Terry ran as fast as she could, and ran up Claire's driveway. She rang Claire's doorbell, and knocked violently on her door.
Terry felt a hard blow to her head, and passed out. Two men carried her into the van, and drove off as Claire opened her door.
Claire adjusted her glasses, and looked down to see a CD and a folder. They must had fallen out of the punk who just knocked on her door's pocket. She took them into her house, and closed the door.
Terry woke up with a throbbing headache. She looked at her surroundings. She was in an old jail cell. It was large in size with only a cement hallway as her view through her cell bars. An orange light lit up her space, and an intercom crackled to life.
"Hello, Terry," crackled a voice. "Good to see you awake. It's time you paid for what you did to our master Varuchio's plans. Make yourself at home, you're not going anywhere for a long time."
END
Okay! One or two more chapters after this one. Thanks for waiting. Please review!
