Wendy sat up in her bed a ran a hand through her newly cut hair. Her head had been bleeding so much that after it had dried up, it had matted in her hair disgustingly. It was extremely hard to take off the blood off the edges so they had cut it to where it was shoulder-length. Wendy snorted. The way the nurses had coddled her and complimented her, Wendy felt as if the haircut was some kind of goodbye present. Thankfully though they had kept her bangs intact. Wendy liked her bangs. They were a part of her- at least they were a part of whatever was left of her. Kevin had left a while back to spend the night with Jason and she was incredibly bored. She hated being confined to a bed when people were dying. She hated feeling so useless. She bit her lip thinking about how badly she wanted to leave and it began to bleed. Wendy ignored the rusty penny taste, a feeling of desire surging through her. Suddenly, it all went black.
***Wendy opened her eyes and was amazed to see that she was outside her room! What was going on? She quietly opened the door to her room and caught her breath when she saw that she was still on the bed! The other Wendy was unconscious and appeared as if she was resting peacefully. What the hell is this? Am I cloning myself now? Ugh, things were so much easier when all I had to do was randomly wait for a vision. Wendy walked up to the sleeping Wendy and shook her. It had no effect.
"Damn it, wake up!" Wendy hissed angrily.
Everything went black again and the awaken Wendy disappeared in a purple light. The sleeping Wendy was briefly surrounded by the same light before waking up. She huffed loudly for a few seconds before her eyes darted to the monitor. It was increasing in numbers and Wendy hurried to calm down. She didn't want any doctors to come barging in right now. She reached for her purse and began digging through it for a handbook that Bludworth had given her. He had given both her and Adie one to highlight any powers they might receive so that they could read up on it. In hers, Wendy only had precognition and telepathy highlighted. She immediately turned to the table of contents and found the page for 'Cloning'. She read through it but realized that it wasn't cloning. According to the book, you didn't have to be unconscious to clone. With a sigh she started from 'A' and began browsing through the possible options. Acid generation, accelerated healing, animation, areokenesis, and astral projection… She instinctively turned to the 'astral projection' page.
'Astral projection (or astral travel) is an esoteric interpretation of any form of out-of-body experience (OOBE) that assumes the existence of an "astral body" separate from the physical body and capable of travelling outside it. Astral projection or travel denotes the astral body leaving the physicalbody to travel in the astral plane while the person is momentarily unconscious.'
Wendy only understood about half of it but from the looks of it, astral projection was her newest power. She highlighted it and smirked. She could go anywhere she wanted and still be in her hospital bed. Wendy closed her eyes and longed to leave. Within seconds, astral Wendy was inside her apartment.
*** "Shouldn't there be one more person with you?" Bludworth asked when he saw Adie and Freddy standing outside his door for the second time that day.
"Kevin's at home with his son Jason. But we had to come here and tell you, we got all the spirits that we needed." Freddy told him enthusiastically.
The corner of Bludworth's mouth crinkled. He almost smiled. Almost.
"That's good news. But now comes the hard part. Tomorrow, we're going to Death's Domain. As you both know, Wendy figured out how to get there. The incantation and potion she made are at her apartment where we will be going. When we get to the Domain, we'll summon the spirits quickly and I'll take it from there while you all follow." He instructed.
Adie found the nerve to ask what was on everybody's mind, "What about Wendy? What's going to happen to her?"
Bludworth didn't answer.
"Did you hear me? I asked, what's going to happen her!" Adie fumed.
"I don't know. I wish I did. All we can do is hope that maybe by defeating Death, her ailment can be cured."
"And what if it doesn't?"
"Then she'll die." Bludworth said simply.
Adie scowled. "You better hope she doesn't." she threatened.
Bludworth grimaced. "I think its best that you go now."
Adie started to protest when Freddy took her arm and led her away to her car.
"What was that for!?" she cried yanking her arm away.
"It's not the best idea to get the guy who's helping us defeat Death pissed off." Freddy retorted, starting up the car.
"Don't you care about what happens to Wendy?"
"Of course I do but if there is a way to help her it's by defeating Death and we can't do that without Bludworth."
Adie dejectedly rolled her eyes and quietly gave up on the topic.
*** Wendy peeked inside Jason's crib and beamed. He looked so cute and peaceful. She ran his chocolate brown hair with her fingers and then tip-toed to her and Kevin's room.
He was sprawled on top of the bed with the exact same clothes he had been wearing during his last hospital visit he hadn't even bothered to take off his shoes. There was a carton of take-out on the cabinet next to him and Wendy smiled sadly. If she did die what would happen to Kevin? He couldn't even cook for himself let alone baby Jason. She sat on the edge of the bed and prodded him on the back. Kevin shifted uncomfortably and when his eyes finally opened they grew large and he jumped up with a surprised scream.
"Agh! What the hell? Wendy what are you doing here?" he inquired frightfully, slurring his words.
Wendy laughed. "I got a new power, astral projection. I can stay in the hospital, unconscious while my astral form can go wherever I want."
Kevin did nothing but blink for a few minutes. "So then you're not really you?"
"Uh I'm still fuzzy on that but yeah I think I'm me."
"Ok then. Wendy…I'm sorry about not being able to help you. About not being there or telling you about what the doctors were worried about. I just…I didn't want to lose you. But now I will." He whispered his eyes wet.
Wendy stroked his cheek. "Hey, nothing is going to happen to me. I'm going to be fine." She lied.
Kevin could sense her dishonesty and he hugged her tightly.
Soon, Wendy began crying on his shoulder. "I'm going to be ok. I'm going to get better, we're going to beat Death, and then the three of us will live happily ever after." She croaked jokingly in an attempt to make him laugh.
Kevin just breathed heavily and held her closer. "I hope that's true."
Suddenly, Wendy felt a stabbing pain in her head and she moaned.
"Wen? Wendy you ok?" Kevin asked her hysterically when he shook her and she didn't say anything.
The familiar hazy sensation swept over Wendy and her eyes rolled up. She fainted and fell to the floor, having convulsions. Kevin leaped from his bed towards his cell phone but astral Wendy vanished in a purple light.
***Wendy could vaguely make out the scene before her. She was back at the hospital lying in her bed, voices ringing in the background with anxiety and panic. She heard machines beeping and the scuffling of feet.
"Her heartbeat's up to 180!" a voice cried.
Wendy knew this was a sign but her mind couldn't concentrate. Everything faded.
*** "She what?!" Adie exclaimed when Kevin told her the news over the phone.
"She's having convulsions and the doctors are trying to keep her stable. Adie it's time. It's now or never. If there's a chance that defeating Death will save her you have to do it now."
"But Bludworth said that we were going to do it tomorrow."
"I don't give a damn what Bludworth said! My wife, the mother of my kid, the love of my life is dying! I don't care what anyone else says you're going to go to hell literally, and beat Death."
"But what if beating Death doesn't save Wendy?"
There was a pause on the other line.
"We won't know until we try." Kevin said gravely.
"Well, will you be coming with us?"
"I'm not leaving Wendy."
"Ok, then we'll see you later. I hope." Adie hung up and began to dial Bludworth's number when Freddy took it from her.
"What's with you today?" she asked him testily.
Freddy kept his eyes on the road. "Nothing is wrong with me but I'd rather call Bludworth if that's ok. He doesn't respond to attitudes."
"This coming from the guy who pissed him off so much that Bludworth almost crushed him into a pulp." Adie murmured.
Freddy smirked before calling Bludworth.
*** Bludworth was on his way home when his cell phone rang. Knowing that Death was after him, he answered the phone but kept his eyes intently on the road.
"Hello?"
"Bludworth, it's Freddy. Listen, Wendy is dying so we're going to have to go to Death's Domain right now."
"Excuse me? I thought I made it clear today when I said that we were going tomorrow. Besides, like I said today we can't be sure that defeating Death will save Wendy."
"Well Kevin, Adie, and I personally don't care. We're going to take the chance if it means that Wendy might live."
Bludworth sighed. So much nerve and stubbornness in the youth today. Yet, it was somewhat touching how much they cared about their friend.
"Fine. Get over to Wendy's apartment right now and start the potion. I'll be there as soon as I can." He ended the call and as soon as he set his cell phone down, the radio started up ominously.
"Drop dead a bullet to my head
Your words are like a gun in hand
You can't change the state of the nation
We just need some motivation
These eyes have seen no conviction
Just lies and more contradiction"
Bludworth's sixth sense heightened and his eyes scanned the road in front and in back of him. All he saw was the empty winding road surrounded by the dreary swamps.
Then a massive truck that read 'We Sell Guns! Good-quality for all your hunting needs!' caught his attention.
But this was Death's intention all along. For that one second that Bludworth took his eyes off the road to look at the gun truck, a reptilian animal crossed the road. Bludworth noticed it at the last second and swerved his car away. It spun twice on the road before crashing into a tree. Bludworth's head crashed through the windshield and he flew out.
*** Bludworth raised his bloody head full of bits of glasses slowly up. The whole lower portion of his body felt useless and his chest and arms were plastered by his own blood. There was a hissing and scuffle behind him and with a pit in his stomach, he turned. Behind him was the large reptilian that had crossed the road before. It was a crocodile. And there were several more behind it. Bludworth screamed for the third and final time in his life.
Author's Note: Uh if it didn't suck too much I'll elaborate more on Bludworth's demise in the next chapter but that's up to you, let me know if I should. The next chapter will be the major climax one where everything including poor Wendy's fate will be revealed. So thank you all for reviewing and reading and please review! The song is "Still Waiting" by Sum41 and all the info on 'astral projection' is from Wikipedia.
