Slow Echoes by Kristina M. Serrano

Author:Kristina M. Serrano
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-988281-11-7
Publisher: Sands Press
Published: 2016-06-20T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Over Years

The passage led us to this monstrous round room where the gold glow was the brightest it’d been so far, rising as tall as grass by the single curved wall. The whole area was open, save for a little section of limestone that stretched in front of the passage to, we presumed, Khufu. And despite the glow and barrenness, this was the first time I felt as if I were back on Earth in a real pyramid.

With no new threats we were aware of, we all sat and drank some water, Whistler lending me a bottle from his backpack. “At least it’s not stifling in here,” I said. “I heard the real pyramids can be hard to breathe in.”

We sat in silence for a while before Cliff spoke. “I think now’s a good time to get some sleep, but we should take shifts.”

“I’ll go first,” I offered. “I’m too wound up to sleep.”

“You need to rest, Selk,” Cliff protested. “You’ve gotten pretty banged up since we’ve been here.”

“Yeah, including a head injury from a falling plate.” I rubbed my face, remembering the blow. “I probably need to make sure I don’t have a concussion first.”

“I’ll stay up with you,” Whistler said. “I don’t think I can sleep right now either.”

“But your leg needs to heal.”

“At least I’ve got the option. You don’t.”

Too drained to argue further, I smiled at him. “Well, I’m glad for the company.”

Cliff hesitated for a moment, but then Sheridan pulled him to the other side of the room.

I shook my head. “I’ve never felt so much like the floor has been pulled out from under me, like I don’t know what’s happening or why.”

“I know what you mean,” Whistler said. “It sucks feeling like that.”

I met his gaze. “At least I have you to help me make some sense of it. You’ve been like a lifeboat in open sea.”

Whistler laughed dryly. “Selk, I don’t know why you keep saying stuff like that. I haven’t done anything.”

“You’ve done everything,” I said, hoping he’d catch the finality in my voice.

I thought he blushed a little, probably the most vulnerable I’d ever seen him. He finally said, “I never thought doing everything would be so easy.”

I blinked hard, fighting off sleep that was starting to sneak up, after all. “You haven’t known me long enough. Cliff says I’m a handful.”

It sounded as if he muttered, “Cliff can’t even handle his own emotions,” but I wasn’t sure.

“What was that?” I pressed.

“Nothing.”

Starting to regret volunteering for the first shift, I snuggled up to Whistler and told myself I’d just rest my head, that my eyes wouldn’t close.

I couldn’t see. Could barely breathe. Multiple sharp points pressed into my skin. My own screams hurt my throat. No matter how hard I fought, I couldn’t get away. I heard Whistler’s voice, but he was too far. He couldn’t reach me. I couldn’t free myself to reach him. I’d die before I got the chance to tell him that he wasn’t just a crush, that I loved him so, so much.

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