Page 93 of Exchange of Heart

‘Corey.’ My large hands grasped Corey’s shoulders with the grip of a beast, shaking him with my wide eyes so close to his face that my lashes grazed his cheek when I blinked.

‘Holy shit!’ Corey jumped off the mattress and put some distance between us. ‘What the hell are you doing?’

‘Be quiet,’ I yelled.

‘You’re freaking me out,’ he yelled louder.

‘Shh.’ I held my palms in front of me, eyes maniacally focused on the window.

It came again. The gentle rumble, coaxing me and luring me to the window, causing Corey’s golden curls to sweep against my forehead in the breeze.

‘Do you hear it?’ I whispered.

Corey didn’t respond, but the warmth of his breath touched the back of my neck. A moment later, his heartbeat pounded against my back, and his arms wrapped around me.

‘I can hear it,’ his voice muffled against my back. ‘Let’s go outside.’

‘We didn’t find the umbrella.’ I shook my head and examined the red, curved mark across my palm.

Corey lifted his own hand and stared at his. ‘Maybe the umbrella never mattered. We can only try.’

I swallowed the lump in my throat. Perhaps he was right. Maybe this had been a supernatural experiment to see if we’d learn more about ourselves and each other. To learn we were both capable of more. Either way, we couldn’t turn our backs on this chance. I grabbed his hand and our marks nuzzled together like puzzle pieces. We made our way to the lift in silent anticipation where despite being the middle of the night, Gerald waited.

The lift dinged open, and we waited for him to move inside before following and waiting either side of him. The floor numbers slowly decreased as the lift dropped further down the building. Somewhere around level two or three, a horrific smell of boiled eggs filled the small space. I shifted my gaze to Corey, and he subtly shook his head. The doors opened at the ground floor, and Gerald gave a cheerful goodbye before heading around the corner to check the mail. I raced through the lobby, out the doors to the fresh air.

‘Was that you?’ I shrieked. ‘My throat is thickening. My lungs are either swelling or shrivelling, I can’t tell. The only thing I can tell is that air shouldn’t smell like that.’

Corey laughed. ‘That’s what I call the Gerald special.’

‘There is nothing special about that smell, I assure you.’

‘Even your citrus scent is better than that,’ he agreed.

I sucked in more fresh air. ‘He competes with that foul second-hand store for World’s Worst Smell.’

‘All right, all right. Give the old man a break. Replenish your lungs, Nora Claremont. We’re off to sort this shit out once and for all.’

A few steps down the path, we stopped. Despite the fierce wind, there by the pole on the ground, sat Corey’s umbrella. The universe deemed our shitshow complete. A full circle of madness. I could feel it in my soul. Our souls. The universe was shaking our hands and congratulating us, handing us our prize. The damn umbrella that had ruled our lives these last two weeks.

‘This is it,’ I shrieked. ‘It’s actually happening.’

‘How the hell did it reappear from Katoomba?’ Corey asked.

‘Fate? Destiny? I don’t know! But we can’t miss this opportunity.’

Goosebumps raced down my back, thrill and excitement consuming me. Corey put the umbrella up and I wrapped my hands around the stem overlapping his.

‘As freaky as this has been, it’s been nice to get to know you. Even if I got to know you as me,’ Corey yelled over the rumbling thunder.

‘Would it be wrong to say I’m almost glad this happened? I’ve learned more about myself in the last two weeks than I did in twenty-eight years of being me.’

‘Nora, there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you.’

I waited, recognising his hesitation as nerves.

‘I want to—’

His words were cut off by the blinding light and crack of thunder.