Into the Void

by Amanda Frame

  The monster’s back was toward me. It was facing John, who was backing away slowly. John looked unsure. He met my gaze and gave the smallest shake of his head.

  I couldn’t focus. I could see the faint overlap of the physical. Medical staff were lifting John’s empty body onto a stretcher and wheeling him into the ICU. I guess this would be the best place to crack your head open. Silver lining?

  I tried to block out the chaos and focus back on John’s predicament. We locked eyes again.

  “Run?” I mouthed.

  He shrugged. It shocked me how nonchalant he seemed. But I guess he had had far more run-ins with Stalkers than I had.

  I watched the faint image of Albert being wheeled down the hall, just to the left of the Stalker. It froze and raised its head as if sniffing. Then it stalked off in the same direction.

  “What?” I said, confused. It just left? Did it really just lose interest in him that quickly? I pointed down the hallway where they had just wheeled the body, trying to communicate to John that if he wanted to get back into his body, he needed to go that way.

  John’s eyebrows were furrowed as he tried to understand what I was signaling. Then he nodded. He paused for a moment, thinking. Then his eyes turned to saucers and he gasped, running down the hallway after the Stalker.

  CHAPTER 55

  ANNA

  I sat on the wide window ledge facing the courtyard, tapping my foot impatiently. What was taking so long?

  Finally I saw Becca and Brian walk into the center of the courtyard. I hadn’t been in view of whatever door they had come out of. I breathed a sigh of relief. She was holding his elbow and leading him to a bench in the center of the lawn. An orderly followed about ten yards behind.

  Now I just had to wait for John’s call. I glanced around the lobby. There were people coming and going in every direction. Doctors, nurses, family, patients. Just going about their lives with no idea about the world full of monsters that lay just out of sight. I envied them.

  I turned my attention back to the bench outside, wishing I could hear their conversation. Brian was twitchy and nervous. The Leech wasn’t with him. Thank God. The plan had worked. Relief washed over me.

  I debated going outside and trying to talk to them but I didn’t want to risk Brian losing his shit, especially with Becca there. So I just had to sit there in the lobby like a useless bump on a log.

  Becca was ringing her hands, trying to keep the awkward conversation going. If you could even call it that. Brian seemed to rarely actually notice her.

  Suddenly Brian’s body went slack, head slumped against his chest. He slid off the bench, crumpling to the ground. Becca leapt up and took a few steps backwards, hands over her mouth. The orderly ran over and kneeled next to Brian, pulling out a hand radio and speaking into it.

  I ran outside and sprinted over to Becca.

  “What happened?” I asked, catching my breath.

  “I…I don’t know,” she said, finally taking her hands away from her mouth. I wrapped her in a hug, feeling awful for dragging her into this. Again.

  The orderly was still kneeling next to Brian’s body. He had two fingers pressed into Brian’s neck, checking for pulse. Still talking into the radio.

  “The ER is full? Yes, I know it’s being renovated, but there should still be…okay, so where do you want me to bring him, then?”

  I heard the static of his radio clicking on and someone on the other side saying that they were on their way with a stretcher to bring him to ICU.

  Becca and I stepped back to watch the scene unfold. As four people loaded him onto a stretcher, I called John. I couldn’t wait any longer. If he was busy, he just wouldn’t answer.

  It rang three times. “Damn it, pick up the…John!” I gripped the phone hard and heard it squeak. I tried to relax my grip but I was too nervous. “Brian passed out in the courtyard. They just loaded him onto a stretcher and are wheeling him inside.”

  “What? Where are they taking him?” John said, sounding out of breath and distracted.

  “I think I heard them say the ICU.”

  “Follow them up if you can,” he said quickly.

  “What if they don’t let us in?” I asked, switching the phone to the other ear.

  “If they don’t, the code to the entrance is 55362.”

  “How do you know that? Wait, is that where you are?” I asked. That didn’t seem right.

  “Yeah, we’re…” John started, then cut off. I heard the crackling noise that signified him dropping the phone. Great.

  “Hello? Hello!” I swore under my breath and pressed the end button.

  “What’s going on?” Becca asked nervously, chewing on her nails.

  “I’m not sure,” I said, frustrated. “Sounds like John, maybe Liz too, are also in the ICU. But I don’t know. He dropped the phone mid-sentence.”

  “Well, let’s go then,” she said, starting to walk back. I grabbed her sleeve to stop her.

  “What?” she asked, annoyed.

  “You should just go home. I doubt there’s anything more you can do,” I said.

  She looked hurt. “You brought me here to help. I’m gonna help. He’s my cousin. Come on, let’s go.”

  I groaned. I wasn’t going to win this one. “Fine,” I conceded, and let her drag me toward the building.

  We took the elevator to the fourth floor in silence, each ding getting us one floor closer. The doors opened and I released a breath. We turned the corner into absolute chaos.

  Brian’s stretcher was parked not too far ahead of us, waiting for a different group of medical staff to get out of the way. There was a lot of shouting. I tried to see around Brian and his entourage, but there were too many people. It looked like there was another stretcher blocking the entrance to the ICU.

  Once the traffic jam cleared up, we followed Brian inside. No one stopped us; there was too much going on. There was a streak of red where the first stretcher had wheeled through some blood. I twisted my mouth and shuddered. The sight of blood had always made me queasy.

  I saw no sign of Liz or John.

  “Are we in the wrong place?” Becca asked impatiently, looking around.

  “He specifically said ICU. He even gave me to code for the door.” I sank down onto small bench against a far wall, set in a little alcove clearly meant for visitors. She sat next to me.

  “Call him again?” she suggested.

  “Yeah, I guess.” I took out my phone and hit John’s contact. I held the phone to my ear and waited. One ring. Two. Three. Voicemail. I shook my head and hung up.

  “He knew we were coming here. Should we just wait?” she asked.

  “I guess. I don’t know what else to do. I’m freaking out a little,” I confessed.

  “Yeah. Me too.”

  CHAPTER 56

  ELIZABETH

  I rushed after John. He wouldn’t be able to see what was going on in the physical world so I needed to help.

  “Which way is my body!” he shouted at me.

  “That way,” I said, pointing down the hall.

  He was running, getting closer to the Stalker.

  “Slow down! You’re getting too close!”

  “Doesn’t matter, I have to get in front of it!” he yelled.

  “What? Why? Just wait, I don’t think it’s gonna survive here! We can just hide until it’s dead.” I stopped.

  “What are you doing? Come on!” John said, hearing my footsteps cease. He motioned me along frantically.

  “John, just…” I began, trying to calm him down. If we just kept away from it a while longer, we would be in the clear.

  “No, no! You don’t understand. I can’t see my body unless I get close to it; you have to tell me where it went!” He darted his eyes around, turning in a circle and scanning the area. He ran over to me and grabbed me by the shoulders. I was close enough to the Echo for him to be able to interact with me.

  “Liz, listen to me. I think the Leech is able to get into my body.”

/>   “Why?” I asked, my pulse quickening. I was starting to understand why he was acting the way he was.

  “Anna came across a girl who had a Leech get into her body when she got stuck in the Void. It’s…it’s not exactly the same situation, but I think it’s possible. Help me!” he pleaded, taking my hands in both of his. “I can’t get stuck here again, I can’t!”

  I couldn’t let Albert be violated by a Stalker. I knew it wasn’t Albert anymore, but knowing his body would be used by one of those things made me sick.

  “Okay, yeah. But I don’t know what to do!” I thought for a moment and an obvious fact struck me. I protected bodies from Stalkers all the time. I was doing it with my own right now. Granted, his didn’t still have a soul attached it so it might be a little different, but it probably worked the same way. Water should affect it way more when it existed completely in the Echo like it did now, rather than when it was in the Barrier with me. Although it had been able to get into the ICU after it faded from the Barrier, but it looked significantly weaker now that it had moments ago.

  “What? Do you know—”

  I cut John off. “Just give me a second.”

  But John’s body was probably still moving. There was no way I could surround it with water. Plus I didn’t have any.

  “Hold on, I’ll be right back,” I said, fading back towards the physical.

  “But…” His voice faded until I could barely still hear him.

  I ran in the direction that the Stalker had gone. I was safe from it here. Sure enough, it was following the body.

  I whipped around when I heard Anna’s voice. I saw Brian on a stretcher coming toward me. He was unconscious and Anna and Becca were following close behind.

  “Anna!” I yelled.

  “Oh, thank God!” she said, relieved. “What’s going on?”

  “Who are you talking to?” Becca asked. “Is it Liz? You look like a crazy person right now, talking to thin air.”

  “Yeah it’s her. Just nod along like I’m talking to you.”

  “I need you to do something for me, and fast. But you’re not gonna like it.”

  “Uh oh. What?”

  “There was a stretcher that came through right before Brian.” She nodded. Her reaction told me she didn’t know it was John. “It’s John—” I started, and she cut me off.

  “Oh my God, is he okay?”

  “It’s complicated. Just listen. Do you see that room up there? 202? That’s my room.”

  She looked the way I was pointing, standing on her tiptoes and trying to see over the four people surrounding Brian. They wheeled his body around a corner and then we saw John. She gasped when she saw it was indeed him. He was parked against the far wall, two doors down from 202. A woman was checking his vitals. I saw her mouth something to someone and then jog away, leaving the stretcher unattended for a moment.

  It was now or never.

  “Push him into 202!” I said quickly.

  She looked at me confused. “But…”

  “Just do it! If you don’t, he’s never coming back! Go! Now!”

  She looked at me wide-eyed, mouth parted, then finally darted in his direction.

  “Wait!” Becca called after her. She took a couple steps forward, not knowing if she should follow.

  I tried running after Anna but I was getting too weak. I was bleeding and in pain. I tried to stay close to the physical but at the same time, needed to make out what was happening on the other side. I couldn’t. There were too many people running around. It was hard to make out the faint overlap of the Echo with so much movement on this side. I stumbled forward a few steps.

  I saw Anna reach in front of the stretcher to turn the knob of the door to my room and push it inside. I stumbled along, slowly making it a few more feet in her direction, thinking we were in the clear, regardless of the fact that staff were banging on the door. Anna had managed to secure the door somehow, buying herself precious time. I was flooded with relief. We had done it.

  Then I heard her scream.

  CHAPTER 57

  JOHN

  “I can’t get stuck here again, I can’t!” I said to Liz, grabbing her hands in mine. I was terrified.

  “Okay, yeah. But I don’t know what to do!” Liz said. Her pause felt like an eternity. Every fraction of a second that went by I lost more and more hope that I would be able to return to my old life. Then a look of realization passed over her and she hit herself in the forehead. She had an idea, I could see it.

  “What?” She didn’t answer. “What? Do you know—”

  She cut me off. “Just give me a second.” She squeezed her eyes shut and held up a finger. I stared at her, growing more and more impatient.

  “Hold on, I’ll be right back,” she said, and faded.

  “Wait!” I yelled after her. I squinted to try to see her outline and was able to follow for short distance before I lost sight of her. I had lost track of the Leech too, but could still feel it nearby. Damn it.

  I crept in the direction she had gone, staying close to the wall. I crouched down behind the nurses’ desk and waited a couple minutes, trying to sense the connection to my body and not scream in frustration. Every moment that went by was a moment closer to losing my entire life.

  Yes! There, I could feel it. The pull toward my body. I knew if I got close enough, I would be able to see it. I followed the direction of the sensation and turned a corner. I almost walked right into the back of the Leech, catching myself a moment before. It was standing at the entrance of a patient room, looking inside, not attempting to step over the puddle of water on the floor.

  The creature lifted its arm. I was so close that I could see its muscles contracting, its claws twitching.

  And my body. Directly in front of it, on the other side of the threshold. It extended one claw delicately…

  “No!” I screamed, and the reflection of my body disappeared.

  The creature was gone.

  CHAPTER 58

  ANNA

  She wanted me to basically go steal an unconscious patient. Yes, it was John, but wouldn’t they stop me? There was no one around him now but…

  “Just do it! If you don’t, he’s never coming back! Go! Now!”

  I heard the truth in her words and I was terrified. I froze for a moment but then took off. I couldn’t lose him.

  “Wait!” I heard Becca call after me. I didn’t.

  I reached him and grabbed the handle, trying to push it towards the room. It was heavy but I managed. I looked down at his face as I wheeled it, my arms straining. He was unconscious, his chest barely moving up and down. It kind of looked like when he had passed out in his kitchen except his head was bleeding and his skin was pale.

  “Hey! What are you doing? Stop!” I heard footsteps running toward me from the opposite hallway where Liz and Becca were. I ignored them and quickened my pace.

  I managed to get the door to 202 open, get John inside and slam the door before anyone reached me. I parked the stretcher directly in front of the door and searched frantically for something to lock the wheels. There was no lock on the actual door so I had to block it. I found a foot pedal with a picture of a lock on it and stepped down. It worked. Thank God.

  Steady beeping echoed around me, and I gasped when I saw Liz’s body was in the room with us. I barely recognized her. Tubes and wires came out of everywhere. She was pale and thin. I could tell it wasn’t Liz. Now I understood why John and Liz considered themselves completely different from their physical body. That wasn’t a person. It was an empty shell. Barely more than a corpse. I shuddered.

  I didn’t know the purpose of what I had just done, but I had succeeded. I knew it was important. I leaned against the wall and closed my eyes, trying to catch my breath, and ignored the banging and yelling on the other side of the door.

  I heard the sheets rustle. I snapped my eyes open and stood up straight.

  “John!” I said as he began to sit up. “Thank God you’re—” I froze midstep. H
e looked at me and an inhuman growl fell from his lips. That wasn’t John.

  He jumped off the stretcher and began stalking towards me, taking odd jerky steps. My heart was racing and I looked around for an exit. There wasn’t one. There was a bathroom door.

  He—it—lunged at me. I screamed and dodged out of the way just in time, making it to the bathroom. I slammed the door behind me and locked it. I walked backward and let out a sob. My heels hit the toilet and I almost fell, stumbling and grabbing onto the sink.

  I looked around, panting and desperate. There was nowhere to go. I had barricaded the door to the hallway, and who knew how long it would take before anyone was able to get in?

  I heard growling and banging from outside the bathroom door. The beeping of the machines grew irregular and alarms blared. I sank to the tile, hands clasped over my mouth, tears streaming down my face.

  The steady trill of a flat-line hit my ears.

  I closed my eyes and sobbed.

  CHAPTER 59

  ELIZABETH

  Her scream willed me to move faster, but it was difficult. I feared the worst had happened. I saw medical personnel bust open the door to my room. As I got closer, I heard yelling and…growling.

  Something else was wrong too, though. It took me a moment to put my finger on it. I didn’t hear the familiar harmony of the machines keeping me alive. I heard alarms and chaos.

  I let out a sharp sob when I finally reached the entrance to my room. Chaos was putting it lightly. Four men attempted to restrain the body that once belonged to Albert. It was growling and spitting at them, an inhuman strength keeping them at bay.

  But my body. The huge bypass machine had been knocked over, tubes and wires disconnected. I watched in shock as the heart monitor beeped sporadically, and then flat-lined.

  I almost fell over when I felt a weight immediately lift from my chest. Despite the commotion in front of me, it brought an immediate sense of peace. I hadn’t felt this since January fourteenth, thirteen years ago, in the short span of time between when I died, and when I had been put on life support, my body kept alive by the drugs and plastic tubing of Western medicine.