Chapter 15 — Between Worlds
The sound of the ladder breaking was small, almost forgettable.
But the silence that followed was not.
The banner slipped.
The metal support loosened.
The ladder wobbled.
"Trina!!!"
Alex's voice came too late.
She fell.
Not violently. Not with a scream.
Just a quiet, weightless fall as if her body simply stopped holding on.
Roomy hit the floor beside her first, knees scraping against the polished tiles.
"Trina.. hey ,hey look at me please.."
No movement.
Alex was already there, arms sliding beneath her, lifting her with hands that shook without permission.
Her skin was too cold.
Her breathing was too thin a whisper slipping away.
He didn't think.
"Roomy. Keys."
Roomy didn't ask. He ran.
Between Worlds
There was no pain.
Only quiet.
A soft, dark quiet like floating underwater with no need to breathe.
A faint hum, like a heartbeat in the dark.
Trina heard voices there not from outside, but from deep, deep inside memory.
A girl's soft laugh.
A lullaby sung out of love.
A promise whispered long ago.
"Remember who you are."
The darkness pulsed.
Something ancient stirred.
The Car
Roomy drove like the world was ending.
Alex sat in the backseat, Trina resting against him, her head on his shoulder, her hand in his.
"Trina… stay with us… please…"
Roomy reached for his phone to call her parents.
Before the call connected
Don't.
Please.
Don't call them.
They'll be scared…
The voice was soft.
Not spoken aloud.
Alex froze.
Roomy saw it in the mirror.
"What happened?"
Alex swallowed.
"She… spoke. But she didn't move. I heard her."
Roomy didn't speak again.
The car kept moving.
The Shadow
At a stoplight, Alex glanced out the window.
Someone was watching.
A boy.
Still.
Silent.
Expressionless.
Not moving.
Not blinking.
Just watching him.
The light changed.
The figure disappeared.
Alex didn't say anything.
He just held Trina closer.
The Hospital
Doors flew open.
Nurses rushed her away.
Roomy explained everything in a broken, shaking voice.
Alex stood frozen, hands still half-curled as if he were still holding her.
Roomy touched his arm.
He let go.
The hallway felt too big.
Too bright.
Too empty.
Something important had cracked.
And no one else could hear the sound of it breaking.
Three Weeks
Trina did not wake.
Roomy stayed during the days, reading softly beside her, even if she couldn't hear.
Alex sat through the nights, elbows on his knees, whispering apologies that weren't really apologies.
They didn't talk to each other.
They didn't talk about the fall.
They didn't talk about the voice.
Silence held everything for them.
And beneath Trina's stillness something waited.
She was breathing.
But she had not returned.
Not yet.
The Awakening
It happened on a quiet morning.
Roomy had fallen asleep in the chair, his hand lightly resting close to hers.
Alex was awake watching.
Trina's eyelids fluttered.
Slow.
Like someone rising from deep water.
She didn't gasp.
She didn't cry.
She didn't ask what happened.
She simply opened her eyes.
Alex stepped forward carefully.
"Trina?"
She didn't look at him.
Her gaze traced the ceiling ,the window, her hands and this world.
Then, softly, calmly
"Why?"
Roomy's breath caught.
Alex felt something inside him shift cold and sharp.
This wasn't shock.
This wasn't confusion.
This was distance.
Like she had left something behind…
or brought something back.
Just beneath her ribs something faint pulsed.
A soft glow.
Gone in an instant.
Alex saw it.
Roomy did not.
And Alex understood:
Whatever secret he has been hiding
is tied to her.