Numbered

Chapter 12 - Ruptured

A spirit, Zeke thought cynically. Had she completely lost her mind? To him, spirits and ghosts were one in the same. In either case, they did not exist; they were simply a figment of the imagination designed to explain the paranormal. The possibility of a rogue flame was sounding better by the second. Looking at Angelica though, he was a little shocked to see the seriousness in her expression. She wasn't joking; she honestly believed this blue object to be a spirit of some sort. To top off his disbelief, a daring glance at Jake revealed his friend to be considering the slightest chance of it being so. He quietly left the room, only to sit on the bench in the hall. He figured if he got away from the insanity, he might be able to think clearly. Unfortunately, the spirit idea kept rolling through his head, as if it was trying to force him to accept it. He finally had enough of this solitary thinking and decided he wanted answers.

"Why do you think it's a spirit?" Zeke demanded after more or less storming into the room.

"For starters, I've read plenty of books about them." Angelica answered, a slight edge in her voice. She apparently was still upset at him. "Some people are unable to completely pass on and their souls are earthbound for reasons only known to them. The spirit you saw may very well have been a victim of the crash."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I'm not. I'm simply making suggestions, if you were listening. The spirit could also have caused it."

"How?"

"Possession. It took control of the pilot and brought the plane into the nosedive, leaving only at the very last second."

"It all sounds plausible, but there is one problem."

"And what would that be?"

"Spirits don't exist."

"You don't know that."

"I'm fairly certain they don't."

"You want to bet."

"Gladly."

"Would you guys shut up," Jake shouted over them. "God, I want to tear my ears off just listening to you two. We're all dying here and all you can manage to do is argue. I would think we'd be getting along."

Would you stop bringing that up," Zeke screamed. " We're all dropping like flies; we got it. You think you're helping, but you're just proving to be damn annoying."

"You're one to talk," Angelica piped in.

"Don't you even dare start to patronize me."

Just as Jake opened his mouth, in what would have been, a failed attempt to calm the room, the hospital began to shake violently. Zeke felt like he was a ball being bounced up and down, then thrust suddenly forward. He rolled across the floor and slammed into the wall opposite his original position. Angelica and Jake screamed a little as their hospital beds rolled forward, also crashing into the wall. The hospital continued to shake for several more minutes, tossing the trio around the room like a pan of eggs. As quickly as it had started it had stopped, giving the group a moment's respite before more could happen.

A loud crack sounded from far below, beneath the very structure of the building. This time, they were flung against the ceiling rather than across the floor. Angelica let out a higher pitched scream as her nose came within an inch of it. Before they knew what happened, they were tossed back onto the floor; Zeke winced from the pain of smashing his back into the ground. Rising to his feet, Zeke limped over to the window and looked out it, slightly perplexed at what he saw. The blue from a little while ago was now a dark brown. His eyes widened in shock at what had occurred and he spun around to the others.