Pablo gives Nan an even stranger look and after a pause he seems to decide she must be serious.
He says it's still 1966, right?
Surely they haven't been here THAT long.
bladesworn's Storytime the first
- Thread starter bladesworn
- Start date
Pablo gives Nan an even stranger look and after a pause he seems to decide she must be serious.
He says it's still 1966, right?
Surely they haven't been here THAT long.
Nan sits Pablo down and informs him of the strange effect this place has on their relative "home" times.
Pablo glances around in confusion for a moment, but the others nod to confirm Nan's explanation. He settles down for a minute without saying anything, then asks Nan if people are living on the moon yet, in her time.
Nan says no.
Kim says not in her time either.
Pablo seems a little disappointed, but otherwise largely unphased by this revelation.
Nan says they need a plan. They should combine knowledge, maybe work on a map.
Henry agrees. Kim does too, but she says it's far too late to concentrate on things like that. They should start thinking about sleep.
Now that there are six of them, they can take 3 shifts of 2 people each. Everyone can get a few hours of sleep.
Kim says she'll take the first shift. She's not as reliable at getting up early but she can pull late nights no problem. It's part of the college schedule. Nan sympathizes. She's never been much of an early riser and hates interrupted sleep. She sleeps in late on weekends. And weekdays too, usually.
Anderson says he's staying up with Kim. She's the youngest and if anyone needs him for backup, she does. Kim doesn't object.
Pablo asks no one in particular who should take the other shifts.
Anna suggests jokingly that they should have mixed shifts, so there's no point where all the girls are asleep, since who knows what trouble the men would get up to.
But she apologizes sheepishly after nobody laughs.
With Anderson and Kim taking first shift, Nan offers to take the final shift with Henry, who agrees.
That leaves Anna and Pablo in the middle shift. They accept as well.
Kim rises from the bed and offers it to the others, but everyone is too polite to take the bed.
It's Nan's if she wants it.
Nan shrugs and gratiously accepts the offer of the bed.
Understandably, the lights are going to be staying on. But that will be the last thing keeping her up.
And yet, settling in, Nan realizes how tired she really is.
She lies down, closes her eyes, and tries to sleep.
Nan dreams of blood and sweat, and darkness.
Nothing seems to form completely.
Nan wakes up.
Nan is in a strange place. There are no real furnishings around except for these tall, strange installments that look like badly stretched canvas. She stands in a long, darkened white hallway that leads to a larger but just as unfurnished room on one side and a narrow doorway on the other, from which steady light is pouring.
Nan peers into the next room. There are six more canvases here.
Only one bears a silhouette.
And... something else.
Nan stops for a moment and watches.
She quietly calls out "Hello?"
The figure on the floor has definitely noticed her. Something about the room's atmosphere changes very suddenly.
Something on the canvas moves.
Nan runs towards the light. The darkness begins to recede behind her as the narrow doorway rushes up.
The faint, soft sound of crying hangs almost placelessly in the air.
Those splatters didn't use to be there....
As she runs toward the light, Nan takes one quick glance over her shoulder.
Nan suddenly bursts through the doorway and emerges in a cold white room full of light.
Pablo is here.
He is making soft sobbing sounds.
There is no door to the hallway Nan just came from.
Nan quietly says Pablo's name, hoping to get a response. Immediately he snaps up, pulling his head away from his hands, which are soaked with blood. He stares at Nan for a long moment, then begins to speak.
His voice is shaky and breaks intermittently as he speaks.
He says Hello, baby.
Are you coming back now?
He says I'm sorry.
I'm so sorry.
Can you ever forgive me?
Can you ever forgive me for what I did?
Baby please
I'm begging you
I'm so sorry
I know
we can be happy together again
I'm so sorry
I never wanted it to be this way
I never meant for it to happen like this
can you forgive me
please
I just want you back
Pablo.
What did you do?
He says he made a mistake
It wasn't supposed to be like this
But now you're back
Now he has a second chance
And he is going to make you live forever.
The world gets blurry as Nan becomes aware of a strange sensation on her cheek.
Nan wakes up.
Nan peers into the bathroom, but there is no one there. She calls out, but there is no response.