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“I don’t really remember. How long was it for you?” she asked.
“I think it lasted around six months for me, but it was a nasty concussion,” he said.
“How did you get it?” she asked.
“Car accident. My buddy was a little too drunk. He swerved to avoid an animal in the road, lost control, and hit a tree. I got thrown through the windshield,” he said.
I glanced at Sephie, who’s eyes were wide in shock. I never knew about this story, either. “When did this happen?” I asked.
“Just after high school. I was a shit in school. Always did what I wasn’t supposed to do. My friend was worse. It was good though. The accident was the wake-up call I needed,” Andrei said.
“What happened to your friend?” Misha asked.
“He walked away from the accident. You know how they always say the drunk people survive the accidents? It was true in this case. He had a couple of bumps and scrapes, but they had to life-flight me to the hospital. They thought I was going to die. I haven’t touched alcohol since that accident. I don’t think my friend can say the same. Last I heard, he was spiraling out of control. He couldn’t deal with the guilt,” Andrei said.
I felt Sephie’s eyes on me. I knew she was connecting something, but wasn’t sure what just yet. She looked to Ivan with the same look on her face before she looked back to Andrei. “Bubba, were you unconscious when you were in the hospital for the first however long?”
He nodded. “I think I was out for four days.”
That’s what she was connecting. I caught Ivan’s eye as he realized where she was going with this as well.
“Do you have any memories of when you were out?” she asked. There was a flash of immediate recognition on his face, but he looked like he was uncomfortable talking about it. She quietly got up and went to him. “You don’t have to talk about it, Bubba. But I have a feeling I know exactly what you remember,” she said as she put his giant arm around her shoulders, so she could hold onto his waist. He looked down at her, curious. “Was it like swimming in the nothing? Like you could see your own body but nothing else?” she asked.
Andrei’s eyes went wide. “How did you know that? Did you just do that mind reading thing to me? Get out of my head!” he said as he put his hand over her eyes.
She laughed, taking his hand from her eyes. “No, Bubba. It happened to me too. When I was on the plane, that’s what was happening. Adrik’s voice pulled me out of my nightmare and pulled me there. His voice is eventually what helped me find my way out.”
“That’s what happened when I was at the hospital. Sephie’s voice pulled me there out of my nightmare where I’m trying to kill the doctor that experimented on me when I was a kid,” Ivan said.
“That’s what happened when I was a kid the first time someone tried to get to my father through me. My father’s voice is what pulled me out of it,” I said.
Sephie laughed softly at the shocked expression on Andrei’s face. She then looked to Misha, Stephen, and Viktor. “Have you three had similar experiences too?”
They all had equally shocked expressions on their faces, but they just nodded their heads. Sephie smiled, looking at me. “That’s why we’re all here together. We’ve always been connected.”
Chapter Eighty
Sephie
“I just never thought the darkness is what would connect us,” I said, mostly to myself. I had walked back to sit next to Ivan, so he heard me. My mind was racing trying to understand what we’d just discovered. I knew we were all connected in some way, but I didn’t expect it to be the same, somewhat otherworldly experience.
“Doesn’t that happen to everyone?” Misha asked. He was clearly still surprised at finding out we’d all been in the same “place” within our heads when seriously injured. For some reason, we all looked at Stephen. If anyone had the answer to that question, it had to be him.
He looked surprised at everyone looking at him. “I have a lot of answers to a lot of questions, but that question is not one of the ones I have an answer to. I’ve never heard of this many people essentially sharing an experience. In all my 900 years,” he said. I had no idea how he managed to keep a straight face all the time, but I found myself admiring him for it. It was impressive.
We were all quiet for a few minutes, everyone’s mind racing, trying to comprehend our conversation. Andrei leaned onto his elbows on the counter. He was staring at his hands. “We’re all evil, aren’t we?” he asked.
I think he meant it as a joke, but I could also hear the legitimate worry in his voice. “Bubba…” I said.
Ivan interrupted me before I could say any more. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I enjoy it when I’m in the darkness. It’s difficult to leave it sometimes. I’m arguably the most evil out of all of us, so you might be on to something there, Andrei.”
I hooked my arm through his and leaned my head against his shoulder. “I don’t think any of us is evil. And I think you enjoy the darkness because you know nothing can hurt you there. You’ve found peace in your darkness, both literally and figuratively. You and Adrik both. You’re both fine with the fact that you might be a little evil. You understand that people can be both. Most people are both. The world is both. The point of life is to find the balance between the two.” Ivan squeezed my arm that was still hooked through his. “Mine was necessary to remind me of something important,” I said. I was finally starting to understand why things had happened the way they had. “You all know how much I hate being cold. My darkness is cold. Like bone-chilling cold. At first, I couldn’t see anything at all, not even my own body. I started to hear Adrik’s voice and I could faintly see the outline of my body, but nothing beyond it. That’s also when I started to hear my uncle’s voice. Every time I would hear his voice, it would get darker. When I would hear Adrik, the opposite. It would get lighter. Eventually, it started to get warmer too. You all heard my fight with my uncle. Once I finally kicked him out of my head, I could see. I needed that reminder that my light comes from me. Adrik was the spark to make me remember.” I glanced over at Adrik. I’d never explained what had happened when I was stuck in the nightmare loop to him before now. I don’t think he realized how much of an effect he had on me when I was trapped in my own mind.
“That’s similar to how it happened for me when I was in the hospital. Every time I’m in the hospital, I see the same doctor’s face that used to delight in torturing me when I was a kid. I’m trying to kill him when I fight whoever is in front of me. It doesn’t matter who the person is, I can’t see them. I can only see the doctor,” Ivan said.
“But you see Sephie. She’s the only one you don’t fight,” Viktor said. Ivan looked down at me. We knew why he could see me when he couldn’t see anybody else. I could see it clearly on his face that he didn’t want to share that information with everyone, just as I didn’t want to share it either.
“The only thing we can figure out is their shared hatred of doctors. Like Sephie said, their demons recognize each other, if you will,” Adrik said. I glanced at him, thankful for stepping in so we didn’t need to elaborate. I glanced around to see if the rest of the guys were looking at us. When I was satisfied they weren’t, I signed a “thank you” to Adrik.
