Chapter 179

Chapter 179
Drew

Drew blinked several times as the world around him came into view. The light was so white it took several moments before his eyes adjusted. He instantly knew he was in a room. The walls, floor and ceiling were all the same harsh white that denoted the absence of everything he thought he understood.

After several minutes it occurred to him that what he seen had been a vision. None of it had been real. Stormy wasn’t really dead, it had just been a test to see what he would do if his fear became real. It had just been the cruelest form of a test imaginable.

Drew turned around and began to let his eyes drift over the room. David, Dean and Damian were all in various places in almost catatonic states. His heart sank as he imagined all of the horrible things that they must have seen or were currently seeing.

Drew noticed that Stormy was no where to be found. Her absence convinced him that this was still part of the test. He thought about what they had already endured and why they would now be put into a plain empty room. He had a feeling that the last ordeal had been meant to make them deal with themselves, while this one was about dealing with each other.

From the corner, David was starting to stir. Drew walked over and carefully put his hand on his shoulder and pretended not to see David wiping tears from his eyes. “It was vision, it wasn’t real.” Drew assured him.

“Felt real,” David finally managed to croak out. He blew out a hard breath and began to glance around the room. His eyes landed on Damian and Drew, a look of compassion crossed his face and Drew realized that David understood.

“We’re good, right?” David asked Drew with a raised brow.

Drew nodded. He was glad his friend wasn’t holding a grudge. He nodded towards Dean and Damian indicating he wanted to see if they could help him.

Drew walked over and touched Dean’s shoulder lightly. Dean jumped like he had been electrocuted. His eye’s were unfocused and he began to rock back and forth. “She left me, I lost her.” Dean mutter over and over.

Drew shook him slightly and Dean glanced up at him. “It was a test. What you saw wasn’t real. She loves you.”

Dean seemed to come back to himself. He smiled weakly up at Drew and rises an eyebrow. “You too?”

“All of us.” Drew said as she shuddered. “I saw her die.”

Damian turned and looked at him with alarm. His mouth was set in a deep grimace. “You don’t think this was prophetic, do you.”

David shook his head. “I hope not, but I actually think that it was a test. I heard a voice speaking about fears and then they were real.”

“I have the overwhelming urge to punch whoever designed it.” Damian growled.

“Where is Stormy?” Dean asked nervously.

“My guess is that she is either also being tested, or she's waiting for us to figure out how to get out of this room.” David said. “We need to find an exit so we can go look for her.”

As if on cue, series of sequenced beeps began. Some were long and some short. Drew recognized instantly that they sounds made a distinctive pattern. But it wasn’t necessarily rhythmic like a song.

Drew began to wonder around the room, hoping that there would be something else that would give him a clue as to what they were supposed to be doing. On one wall he found what appeared to simple photo frame. The inside of it looked like a plasma screen. Drew poked it and noticed a purple print appeared where his finger touched.

He wiggled his finger and a squiggle line appeared. It occurred to him that you could easily write something on the screen. This was likely where the answer was supposed to go. The problem was, he had no idea what the question was.

Drew turned around and noticed that David was counting the beeps on his fingers. His face was scrunched up with concentration. His head began to nod along to the pattern.

“I'm pretty sure it's Morris code.” David said before Drew could even ask the question. “The problem is that I am very rusty.”

The pattern began again and David started to count. He pointed to Drew and said “H.” There was a pause and the dots began again. He frowned and shook his head. After the next set of sounds he said “A.” The fourth was another frustrated scowl and the last set was a “T.”

“I’m missing two of the letters.” David said in frustration.

“When you figure them out, I'm pretty sure we are meant to draw the answer in that box that I found over there.” Drew told them.

“Maybe we can figure out the missing letters using the ones we have.” Damian suggested. He began to call them out like it was a game. “H blank A blank T”

“Try heart” Dean suggested.

Drew walked over and used his finger to write the word heart inside the frame. Nothing happened. The room stayed exactly as it was. It didn’t even registered his movements with the purple lines like it had before. After a minute, he ran his finger across the screen in another squiggle pattern just to see if was working and the line reappeared. He tried again to write the word and nothing happened. He was perplexed.

“Try drawing a heart.” David suggested absently as he continued to count the beeps. He seemed to be hoping he would eventually remember what the missing letters were.

Drew used his finger to draw a heart and a door way suddenly appeared. He carefully approached and tried to glance inside. Nothing but blackness greatest him. He touched the opening and it reminded him of the mirror gate. Drew took a deep breath and stepped through into the darkness.