When We Were Still Human by Vaughn Foster (best ereader for textbooks .txt) 📕

Avia wanted to die when she opened her eyes to find herself not at the bottom of a raging waterfall with her new friend, but in a stiff hospital bed. The radiant sun had been replaced by white ceiling lights. The endless array of color had been silently transfixed into a bland four wall enclosure. Her parents begged her to calm down, proffering their fair share of “thank God you’re alive,” but she couldn’t hear them. The doctors were shocked that she was able to move, much less rip out the IV’s, but they quickly recovered and ran to the bed. They tried to sedate her, but she thrashed against anyone who dared get close.

The inward whispers she’d tried to push down for years exploded to the surface. But this time, instead of quiet longings for death, the single phrase “I want to go back!” was screamed over and over again as the nurses held her down. Screamed as her parents were ushered out of the room. Screamed as the sedatives tore through her veins and into her mind. But it didn’t stop. Even when she was asleep, it was a constant blaring siren in the back of her mind that would not relent, could never relent, until she found her way back.

Three months.

For three months, no matter what she did, she couldn’t figure it out. She had completely let go of the world when she had tried to kill herself. She’d been ready to accept whatever was on the other side. Now that she knew there was something past the blackness, she found herself more lost than ever.

But one day, something changed.

After yet another failed attempt at escape, she flung herself onto the bed.

“I am nothing,” she whispered. She buried her face deeper into the pillow. “I’m nothing.”

Her mind emptied until it had become a hollow void where nothing thrived. She didn’t cry or scream, but simply lay there, yearning to sink into oblivion.

Then, a strange thing happened.

As she began to open herself to the nothing, the nothingness opened itself to her. She felt disconnected from her body and left to float weightless in space.

As suddenly as the sensation overtook her, it left, replaced by grass pressed against her back and tickling her neck. A cool breeze danced over her face. When she opened her eyes, she almost didn’t believe what she was seeing.

Mountaintops towered in the distance and a neon-yellow sun shone overhead. The chirping of birds rang through the air as they soared into a lush jungle. She wanted to run and jump and explore every inch of her surroundings, but she needed this moment to last. All she could do was lie on the soft grass and release a breath that she didn’t know she’d been holding.

“You’re back,” a familiar voice remarked, followed by a cat’s head materializing above her own. There was a time when she would have asked how a cat could speak, or where the rest of its body was, or even why it was smiling. But at that moment, time stood still, and she could become whomever and whatever she wanted. The bizarre, imp-like feline was her friend, and that was all that mattered.

Chapter 10

Avia smiled as she leaned against the balcony railing. Her three months in hell had yielded the answer to the question she had been asking her entire life: how does one escape reality?

It had been at one of the lowest points when she realized her mind needed to be empty, vacant of the most miniscule thoughts. If she grew immune to her medications, an assortment of illegal and prescription substances, she simply went further down her list until she found something strong enough to whisk her away. Alcohol and pills were preferred, but necessity had its way of breeding creativity.

She watched the small people below go about their daily business, then frowned. She had no idea why she wanted to escape the world so badly. Her parents and Julian could rot in hell, but the problem wasn’t just them. There had always been a hole in her chest. Her students, friends, Cheshire… People were constantly around, but at the end of each day, she felt more and more alone. At first, it was easy. Now, the routine had grown old. Faking a smile was like walking on a bed of nails.

Cheshire coughed and the sound broke the reverie. Without thinking, she stepped closer and leaned her head on his shoulder. The clouds overhead had turned a purple-golden hue in the sunlight, coming together before breaking apart in the breeze. She felt his hand take hers as he silently willed strength to pass between them.

Avia never knew if it really worked, but she felt better. Just a touch. Cheshire’s best trait was that he knew when to be silent. Six years ago, when she told him about trying to kill herself, his only response was “ahh.” Then he casually changed the subject.

Times like that were the reason she felt like she could tell him anything. He never judged, looked at her with pity, or even tried to give advice. He simply nodded his head and listened. And when she did ask for it, he would offer wisdom of someone far beyond his age.

What that age was, though, Avia wasn’t sure. When she was eighteen, he had followed her back from the aether, appearing the same age. He told her on one occasion that he had been twenty-four the day he became a spirit, but neglected to mention how long ago that was. There were days it felt like she was living with a five-year-old, and at other times, someone wise and ancient.

She glanced up at the pointed ears and stifled a giggle. He was a cat. No further explanation needed.

“Know what?”

“Hm?” He