And with that, the ground shook like fury and every last remnant of the Midnight Library dissolved into dust.
At one minute and twenty-seven seconds a๎er midnight, Nora Seed marked her emergence back into life by vomiting all over her duvet.
Alive, but hardly.
Choking, exhausted, dehydrated, struggling, trembling, heavy, delirious, pain in her chest, even more pain in her head, this was the worst life could feel, and yet it was life, and life was precisely what she wanted.
It was hard, near impossible, to pull herself o๏ฌย the bed but she knew she had to get vertical.
She managed it, somehow, and grabbed her phone but it seemed too heavy and slippy to keep a grasp of and it fell onto the ๏ฌoor beyond view.
โHelp,โ she croaked, staggering out of the room.
Her hallway seemed to be tilting like it was a ship in a storm. But she reached the door without passing out, then dragged the chain lock o๏ฌย the latch and managed, a๎er great e๏ฌort, to open it.
โPlease help me.โ
She barely realised it was still raining as she stepped outside in her vomit-stained pyjamas, passing the step where Ash had stood a little over a day before to announce the news of her dead cat.
๎ขere was no one around.
No one that she could see. So she staggered towards Mr Banerjeeโs house in a series of dizzy stumbles and lurches, eventually managing to ring the doorbell.
A sudden square of light sprung out from the front window.
๎ขe door opened.
He wasnโt wearing his glasses and was confused maybe because of the state of her and the time of night.
โIโm so very sorry, Mr Banerjee. Iโve done something very stupid. Youโd better call an ambulance . . .โ
โOh my lord. What on earth has happened?โ โPlease.โ
โYes. Iโll call one. Right away . . .โ 00:03:48
And that is when she allowed herself to collapse, forwards and with considerable velocity, right onto Mr Banerjeeโs doormat.
๎ปe sky grows dark
๎ปe black over blue Yet the stars still dare To shine for you
