Chapter Twenty-Eight

THEN

 

Lyric was escorted home by an officer after identifying the bodies at the Hospital Can Misses in Ibiza town, and dropped off at the apartment he shared with his family.

Had shared…

The officer had asked if he would be all right on his own, to which Lyric had only grunted in response. The grief counsellor at the hospital had requested Lyric stay overnight at the hospital for observation, but he had refused.

He wanted out of there. They had asked if he had anyone whom they could call to notify or who could come and pick him up. But he had no one. No one was left. This had been it. His whole family.

Lyric’s movements were almost robotic as he passed through the many minders at the hospital, signing papers and documents. Flashing his ID whenever needed and answering questions he could not now remember. There was so much paperwork and red tape to clear that he just switched off as his way of dealing with everything. His hands felt numb as did his legs. He was simply going through the motions in a dream-like state of unawareness, counting down the seconds until he could be alone again to process all that had happened. When he closed his eyes the noises around him turned to static and left him with an odd sense of comfort despite the hellish scenario. He longed to stay there longer and just let himself drift away. But it wasn’t long before someone interrupted his trance and plagued him with something else he had to attend to.

When it was all over, at least for that moment, he was permitted to leave, as long as he checked back in with the hospital first thing in the morning for an evaluation.

As the officer drove him back to his house, the road seemed different somehow. Almost alien. The curves were unfamiliar and the sounds otherworldly. He allowed himself to rest his head on the window and look up at the inky-dark sky. Even the stars seemed to dull, despite the clearness of the night, and the thrumming of the engine mirrored the throbbing in his head.

When they arrived at his home, he and the officer parted ways and exchanged emotionless pleasantries. It was as he closed the front door, and the darkness surrounded him, that he lost control.

He smelled the vanilla first. Strong and sweet like someone had placed a vial of smelling salts directly beneath his nose. It was so immediate that he flinched as the scent invaded his nostrils, making his head swim.

“Cedar?” he cried out. For vanilla was his twin’s signature scent. Always had been. Cedar had adored it ever since they were little, demanding that all the candles in the apartment be vanilla scented. He loved vanilla ice cream, vanilla soda. Even vanilla perfume—which Lyric had always teased him about as it was such a female-associated scent.

But as his bleary eyes searched the darkness, he didn’t expect to find Cedar there, despite the odd smell in the air. The throbbing in his head was getting worse and it persisted until it developed into a ringing in his ears that got so loud and unbearable he had to shut his eyes and grit his teeth.

Dropping to his knees, both out of exhaustion and from the sound in his head, he opened his eyes in an attempt to centre himself and was surprised to find his vision so out of focus. He reached for a light switch and flicked it on in hopes of clarifying the misshapen surroundings of his home.

But the lights only made it worse. Everything blurred until a sort of halo surrounded the furniture in his lounge. He rubbed at his eyes to clear them, but it was a fruitless attempt. The panic came next. A fear that wormed its way through him, leaving his limbs shaking and cold.

A moment later, he was floating. Weightless. Like a feather drifting in the breeze. He watched as his stiff body grew smaller beneath him as he seemingly rose above himself until he was able to look down upon his blurred frame. It was as if he had been pushed out of his own body and was merely a spectator; a passenger in the car and someone else behind the wheel.

Then he was gone.