Above the Vaulted Sky - Page 125

                  I open my eyes again.

                  ‘Where do you think Teague’s gone?’

                  ‘God knows,’ Elle replies. ‘Yellowstone park to erupt the volcano? Or maybe his secret moon base. Something villainous.’

                  ‘Maybe he’s gone to hold the UN to ransom?’ Yates suggests, sitting down beside his physical life partner on the floor.

                  I laugh and feel a tight knot release in my chest. ‘Someone’s got to feed the flying monkeys I guess.’

                  We sit there and laugh for a second, but none of us can ignore Graham on the floor. He stirs a little as we watch.

                  ‘Yates,’ I say. ‘Something you should know about Graham is that sometimes he needs to be ignored. His mouth has no filter.’

                  ‘I’ll be alright,’ Yates says. ‘I have no regrets.’

                  ‘Do you feel any different?’ Elle asks.

                  Yates shakes his head. ‘Nothing.’

                  Elle turns to me. ‘What if it’s one big joke?’ she says. ‘Teague’s last trick.’

                  I shake my head. ‘I don’t think so. Close your eyes, the evidence is clear enough.’

                  ‘What will happen to us?’ Yates looks at his shoes. ‘If we don’t stay close?’

                  ‘Yates seemed to think Graham would die,’ I reply. ‘And you would too. That’s what he implied about me and him.’

                  ‘But how can we die? We’re already…’ Yates stops mid sentence. ‘Unless…the great beyond. It’s real isn’t it.’

                  ‘I don’t know, Yates,’ I say slowly. I realise the believer is eternally attached to the pessimist.

                  Graham stirs again.

                  ‘We’ll find out, Yates,’ I say. I talk quickly. ‘Maybe try not to mention it for a…’

                  Graham jerks to a sitting position. ‘Owww,’ he moans rubbing his head. ‘I feel like I’ve been beaten up.’

                  ‘You kind of have,’ I reply. I pause, I sense people are waiting for me to speak. ‘How much do you remember?’

                  Graham opens his eyes and looks to the side as though he’s recalling something. ‘Only this ridiculous pain as soon as I got near the table,’ he says. ‘After that it hurt too much to hear anything.’ He looks around. ‘Where’s Teague?’

                  ‘Three guesses,’ I say.

                  ‘Gone?’

                  ‘Bingo,’ Elle replies.

                  ‘What was wrong with me?’

                  ‘You were…dying,’ Elle says, master of subtlety.

                  ‘Dying how?’ Graham says, his voice going up at the end. ‘I didn’t do anything!’

                  ‘It turns out that travelling doesn’t exactly suit the alive and well,’ I reply. ‘We’ve had to bring you back, but on our side.’