Coma (Paranormal Romance) (34 page)

“Thanks,” I muttered. “Where do we meet?”

“Jodhpur airport in India,” he glanced at his
bracelet. “Now let’s get going.”

“Wait! How do I get out of my cryo?”

“Oh,” he chuckled, “Type your cryo code
here,” he extended his hand to show me where on his bracelet.

“Thanks.”

“Sure, kiddo. See you there.”

~*~

Waking up in my cryo was easy. Being with my
thoughts all the way to India, however, wasn’t. It was pure
torture. I kept justifying my actions, and regretting my decision
at the same time. Good thing, though, was the difference in time
between realms. No-one would be up before we got this done, and
that was somewhat soothing. I could only pray that everything would
go according to plan.

Michael was waiting for me at the airport. He
had a compass and a GPS in one hand, and waved to me with a map in
the other.

“We have a tight schedule, so we have to
hurry,” he said when I reached him. I nodded, and followed him out.
No how was your trip? Are you okay? Nope. Straight to business.

We entered a jeep that Michael rented for
this purpose, and were on our way into the unknown. The top of the
car had all kinds of tools fastened. The shovel was all I
recognized, but didn’t dare to ask what other stuff was. Michael
didn't seem to be in a good mood. Neither was I for that
matter.

For a good part, Michael drove down the road
with me reading the map, and then we turned to an uncharted
territory. Jessica managed to extract several snapshots of the
place from the memory chip, and that was a huge help given the
circumstances. When we arrived at the coordinates, there was
nothing but wasteland all over. I spread Jessica’s images on the
hood to see if anything remotely resembled our surroundings.
Nothing.

Michael tossed and turned the pictures over
the hood and then exclaimed, “That! Over there!”

I looked at the direction he was pointing,
but couldn’t see what.

“That rock is this one,” he put his finger on
one of the pictures.

“Oh, yeah,” I saw it, “And this one is over
there,” I smiled. Thank God, rocks were durable, and changed very
little over long periods of time.

“That means we should dig over here,” he made
a cross on the ground with his foot, and went to get the tools.

“What happens when we dig up the scrolls? Do
we disappear immediately?” I asked, swallowing hard.

“Nothing happens until we place them
somewhere else,” he started digging, “At least that's how things
went when we changed history.”

“Where shall we put them?”

“Jessica made a capsule with a time lock. It
will probably disappear along with us and all post time travel
events, but we hope that it won't.”

“Knowing how much of our info is false, maybe
it'll stick,” I shared my thoughts on the subject.

“We’ll bury it further down the road where
there won't be any digging.”

“No digging all the way to originals'
time?”

“Yap. So when it’s discovered later in the
future, it won’t open until its lock expires,” he smiled, and gave
me a shovel. “Dig.”

“Lock didn't keep the originals away,” I
scowled.

“It wasn't made by Jessica,” he winked as if
that was supposed to mean something. Well, it didn't. To me, at
least.

Hours later, bathing in our sweat, we finally
reached the scrolls. After admiring the ancient pieces of history,
we placed them carefully in the capsule, and set the time lock. It
was done. No-one would be able to hack it, break it, or otherwise
open it before certain time if the lock stayed on. Hopefully, it
will. Silently, we got in our car and drove off. Our next point was
chosen semi-randomly. In the area we knew wouldn't be touched at
least until 2222, Michael simply stopped the car when he felt like
it, and we dug out another deep hole.

Before he placed the scrolls inside the hole,
Michael said, “Any last words?”

I shook my head, saying “
I love you,
Zack”
in my mind.

“Well, Lyra,” he smiled, “It was a pleasure
knowing you.”

I opened my mouth to say
you too
, but
he let go of the capsule.

~*~

“
Sometimes the heart sees what is invisible to the
eye.”

–– H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

“Lyra, come on! We don’t have all day,” Helen
snapped me back to reality. “Get that yearbook signed, and let’s
get out of here!”

I pressed my yearbook tighter against my
chest, as if it was in danger of being stolen. Everyone I cared
about had already signed it, the rest were not important anyway. I
glanced around to see if I had skipped anyone... In that moment, as
if an entire flock of ravens collided with my chest, all air was
sucked out of my lungs, and pain ripped me to pieces.
Zack.
I whispered, and lost consciousness.

~*~

Slowly, like an elephant was sitting on my
eye lids, I opened my eyes. Bright light sent a stabbing pain
through my pupils, and I closed them back. I heard someone close
the curtains, then walk back toward me. A hand was pressed against
my forehead, then brushed down my cheek. My eyes fluttered
open.

“Honey,” I heard Mom's worried voice, but
couldn't make myself open the mouth to say something. “You're
back,” she smiled. I glanced around recognizing my room. I tried to
sit up, but she stopped me, “You're still too weak. Let me get you
some soup.”

She started getting up, but I managed to
catch her hand, “Mom,” I muttered, “What happened?”

“You fainted,” she said.

“When?”

“Two days ago,” she lowered her head, and
kissed my cheek.

“Two days?” I repeated in shock.

“Yes,” she smoothed her hand over my head,
“Doctor said you were fine. That you were in deep sleep,” she
paused, as if she wanted to say more, but instead she said, “I'll
get that soup now.” She sprang to her feet, and left my room. And
then it all came back to me.

Oh my God, no, no, no. Zack.! Oh, no. What
have I done?
I burst into tears. Unstoppable sobs gushed out of
me. I screamed into my pillow, wishing I was dead.
WHY? Oh way?
This wasn't supposed to happen. I wasn't supposed to
remember!

~*~

TWO MONTHS LATER

Early in the morning, I came to our bench,
just like every day since I had returned to my time. I sat down
where Zack and I used to sit, listening to a breeze shushing
through the trees, and replaying memories of those days in my head.
I hoped there would be a day when I'd see his face coming my way,
making it all alright. At least, I hoped I'd go crazy enough to get
lost in my own imagination.

For past two months, I've been nothing more
than a zombie. Rarely talking, almost not eating, and sleeping
sometimes for days. My parents were worried sick. They didn't know
what was going on, and I had no valid explanation. They said I had
the summer free, and if I didn't get better, they would have to get
me on meds. I couldn't care less. I wanted them to drug me insane.
I didn't want to feel. I didn't care about life. I planned to make
something up so they would lock me away forever.

I took out my journal and started writing yet
another apology to Zack. If I remembered, maybe he did, too. I
planned to bury my journals at the end of summer just like I said I
would that day in the park before we met Ethan. Maybe he would dig
them up in his time, and have some closure.

I wrote him about everything as if I were
talking to him, not writing. I told him how my parents planned to
take me to the same hospital where poor Sophie was. This time
around, I couldn't help her, but I secretly hoped she had her
memories, too. If she did, I could tell her I was sorry, and why I
did it. Not that it would matter. She'd be pissed anyway. If she
didn't remember, than it must have been our memory omission that
caused my brain to malfunction like this.

Each journal entry, I'd end with how much I
loved him, and then headed home to get lost in my dreams. At least
it didn't hurt so much when I slept.

~*~

The end of summer came without any progress
in my state of mind. I knew there wouldn't be any change, but my
poor parents had their hopes up. When they saw there was no end to
it, they had no choice but to take me to see the psychiatrist. The
irony was, they took me to see Sophie's doctor, Alexandra Moore. It
was weird sitting there, looking at her, knowing what had happened
before, and now she had no F-ing clue. There was a moment when I
wanted to tell her about the Bible in her home, but I decided
against it. What good could have come out of it? None of it
mattered now. I told her the truth, and that sealed my faith. I was
officially delusional, crazy, schizo, and needed medical help.
Fine! Throw away the key!

They placed me in a room near Sophie's. It
was the same kind of grim space with bars on the window, and a bed.
I climbed into my new bed, and burrowed my head in a pillow. It
felt okay. Safe. I remembered how Sophie had said the same thing
about this place when she first arrived. I felt slightly excited
about seeing her again. Even if she didn't remember me. Maybe
excited was too strong of a word to describe what I felt. Glad was
more appropriate. Excitement wasn't in my dictionary anymore.

With sullen faces, my parents came to say
goodbye. I could see how much it hurt them seeing me there, but I
couldn't make myself live my life for their sake. I sacrificed the
one thing that mattered to me, and now there was no will power
left. In a morbid kind of way, I felt happy for being here. I could
be miserable without Mom and Dad hovering every five minutes,
asking me how I was, hoping I would get better.

~*~

In this place, a person easily loses track of
time. I had no idea of how long I've been there. Sophie had no
memories of our time travels, or me, but we became great friends
regardless. Eventually, I told her all about it. She didn't believe
me, but there was a hint of something that told me that she didn't
quite dismiss it either. I wasn't happy, but I felt content.

After lights out, the nurse brought me my
share of pills, and darkness engulfed the ward. When she locked the
door behind her, I tiptoed to the window in my room, grabbed the
bars, and enjoyed the silence of the night. The coolness of iron
bars under my fingers felt soothing. Sporadic cars that drove down
the road, briefly shining light on surroundings, reminded me of
black and white movies. There was no color in the dark. Just like
in my life.

“Ly,” Zack said softly behind my back.

I swung around, and jumped into his embrace
with a shriek. So much pain and love combined into one moment
rushed through my body that I felt as if I was about to explode. We
kissed, and hugged, and kissed again, afraid to let go of one
another. I had imagined that moment so many times before, but
nothing could prepare me for how it truly felt. I grabbed onto him
as if he were a dream I wasn't ready to wake up from.

After quite a while, Zack threaded his
fingers through mine, and pulled me along to sit with him on my
bed. Staring into each other’s eyes, we smiled, and exchanged soft,
gentle touches. That deep green eyes I loved so much were here. I
reached for his face and smoothed my palm down his cheek. He closed
his eyes and inhaled deeply.

“You're really here,” I breathed, transfixed
by the feel of his skin under my palm.

“I told you I would find a way,” he smiled,
leaning his head against my palm.

“How?” I muttered.

“Jessica's capsule worked. It stayed in
place. She put the memory chip in there, so when they opened it in
the distant future, they saw what really happened, and what you and
Michael did.”

“Oh, my God,” I clasped my mouth shut, but I
was sure my eyes smiled.

“They decided to reward your sacrifice. They
found Michael and me, and gave us time travel abilities to find our
soul mates. I'm here to stay with you forever.”

“Forever?” I felt ecstatic. My heart was
bigger than the freaking psych ward.

“Forever,” he repeated, kissing my knuckles.
Gently, he lowered us on my pillow. “So. This is our new home?”

“Yeah,” I chuckled.

He grimaced glancing around the room, “Well,
it's not so bad,” his eyes moved back to mine, “Nothing is bad when
I have you in my arms.”

He kissed me softly, and we drifted off to
sleep, snuggled up as always.

Before dreams took over, a weird thought
swished through my mind. Maybe I was really crazy. Maybe I imagined
it all. Maybe everything that happened was only in my head, and I
was insane. I didn't care. I got my happy ever after. I could keep
my Zack forever. And that's all that matter. Reality is a state of
mind, anyway. And my Zack was real to me. Slightly hovering, but
real. And I loved him more than life itself.

THE END

_______________________

Thank you for purchasing this book! If you
enjoyed it, please feel free to leave a review.

Coma (Paranormal
Romance)

###