Human Nature (Book 4): Human Nature IV by Borthwick, Finlay (13 ebook reader .txt) 📕

Cora was at a loss for words, “I—” As she stuttered, a certain injured woman being dragged from the debris caught her eye. “No… It—It can’t be…” She shook her head in disbelief, as she floated like a ghost over this injured passenger.

“Cora? Cora!” The man called out after her, confused by his friend’s trance-like state.

Tina was also in complete disarray, “How… How is-is she here?”

Cora slid down to the injured woman’s side.

“It’s okay, Rylie. I’ve got this one.” She dismissed her friend.

“You sure?” Rylie further asked.

Cora nodded in confirmation, prompting Rylie to lower the injured woman’s arms back onto the ground.

“Do you mind if I go help with some of the others then?” Rylie requested.

“Yes, please do.” Cora granted them.

In an instant, Rylie was already running back towards the wreckage; they had a tendency to help those who were in need.

Mentally preparing herself, Cora refused to look down at the woman’s face for several moments. Taking a deep breath, she finally did so…

…Within less than a second, Cora had burst into a flurry of tears. “Mum!” She cried out in awe. “I can’t believe it! She’s alive!”

Although Erica was still passed out, Cora was simply too upbeat to even care.

“Are you okay, Cora?” Valorie joined at her side, “Who is this?”

“It’s her… Val, it’s her!” Cora expressed jovially.

Valorie looked down at Erica, “You mean… Your mother? This is her?”

She nodded perhaps half-a-dozen times in excitement.

“Oh, my goodness!” Valorie declared as she covered her mouth in shock. “Cora, I’m so happy for you! All this time, and now, you’ve finally found her!” Her happiness for her friend was genuine also.

“Nrgh…” Elliot grunted as he reached up to his bleeding head. “God dammit.” He cursed under his breath.

“Cora! This one’s coming around too!” Sandra, a middle-aged woman with frizzy ginger hair, called out to the group leader.

But Cora was too distracted by another passenger to respond.

“I swear she cried out ‘Mum’ just now.” Kieran theorised as he treated the wound on the passed-out Gwen’s arm.

But Sandra wasn’t so sure of what she had heard. “I think poor Cora’s just become a little delusional, you know.” She suggested in kind as she assisted Elliot with sitting upright.

“She’s been looking for her mother for so long… Combine that with the disappearance of Naomi as well as the fact that an entire plane just dropped out of the sky, and I think you’ve got reason enough for even the sanest person to fly off the rails.” Despite speaking like a psychologist, Sandra had absolutely no expertise or knowledge in the subject area.

“Who’s there?” Elliot asked as he felt the ground around him with his hands. “Are we on… Grass?” Having lived in the Czechian town for so long, Elliot had not felt natural landscaping for quite a long time now.

“Uh, yes. Yes, we are.” Sandra was confused by Elliot’s behaviour at first, but she soon quickly noticed that his pupils were grey, as well as the bright scar that stretched across his eyes. “Oh, are you, um…” She didn’t know what the politest way to ask this question was, “Blind?”

Elliot nodded in affirmation, “I am indeed… Don’t worry, you don’t have to be coy about it. The name’s Elliot, by the way.” He held his hand out for a shake, albeit ever-so-slightly in the wrong direction.

Kieran smirked and supressed laughter at this, for his sense of humour was beyond broken.

“I’m Sandra.” She shimmied around out of respect for the blind man and accepted his handshake. “This here is Kieran, though you’ll probably hear him referred to as ‘grumpy old git’ quite a lot of them.” She joked with a light-hearted smile.

“Oh, ha-ha. Very funny. Very funny indeed.” Kieran rolled his eyes.

Gwen’s eyes shot open, though she did not move.

“Uh, Sandra…?” Kieran called over to her.

Sandra scurried over to Gwen’s side before assisting her with sitting upright as well.

After rubbing her eyes, Gwen quickly glanced at her surroundings, completely ignoring the two strangers looking down at her. “It… It worked?” She remarked.

“What can you see?” Elliot asked his stepmother. “Gwen?”

“Elliot…” Gwen was completely flabbergasted, for she recognised her surroundings perfectly. “The lights that Anna mentioned, the old camp: They’re one and the same. Elliot, we’re back—"

“What?” Elliot cried out in disbelief and shock, “You mean… You mean we’ve landed right back in it?”

“Yeah… Yeah we have.” Gwen affirmed in a soft and surprised tone.

“Now hold on a minute,” Kieran interrupted their conversation, “You mean you lot have been here before?” He was starting to believe his theory about Cora more and more by the second.

Gwen cleared her throat and perked up, “Well,” she brushed the soot off of her jacket, “Where would you like us to start…?”

Chapter 7: Reunion

The following morning, Erica was slow to wake up. Aside from her banging headache, she had also just had a rather strange dream about her long-lost daughter.

Cora had been at her mother’s bedside all night and was awake nice and early to see her finally come round again.

The bedroom creaked open, drawing Cora’s attention.

“Oh, sorry!” Rylie apologised, feeling that the creaking may have disrupted Erica’s sleep.

“Don’t worry.” Cora nodded to Rylie forgivingly, “Can I help you?”

Rylie nodded, “One of the others have woken up. I thought I’d tell you just in case, you know, it’s another one that you know.”

Looking over to her mother once more, Cora kissed her on the forehead before rising from her bedside. “I’ll be right back.” She mumbled to her.

Cora had followed Rylie into another hotel room just down the corridor.

“It’s this one.” Rylie nodded to a woman through the gap in the door.

Instantly, Cora’s face lit up. Without another word, she pushed the door open and entered. “Well, aren’t you