The Heart of Everything

Chapter One

The eerie blue light fell in through the windows, illuminating the otherwise dark dorm room and causing shadows to dance upon the walls. Clothes and books were scattered across the floor and a small pizza box stood open on the desk beside the dark screened laptop. The muted sounds of traffic could barely be heard, though the sounds of snoring were audible. In the single bed in one of the dorm’s suite rooms lay a young man with short dark brown hair that was currently plastered against his head from the heat. His toned body rippled as he rolled over, in the thralls of a nightmare. He started to writhe in the bed, his sheets tangling around his arms and legs when the phone rang.

Jolting upwards he looked over at his bedside table, glancing at his alarm clock as he did so. ‘It’s three in the morning,’ he thought. ‘Who in the world would call now?’ Nevertheless, he picked up the phone and pulled it up to his ear. “Hello?”

“Is Coop Quinlan there?” an unfamiliar, rather professional sounding though distressed voice asked.

“Uh…yeah, this is he.” He blinked a few times, wondering who it was on the other end of the phone and why they were calling at three in the morning.

“Sorry to be calling you this late but yours was the only number we could find.” The voice paused and took a breath. “I am sorry to be the one to have to tell you this but at approximately 1:32 this morning, Brian Jones and Tanya Lopez were involved in a car accident.”

Coop’s breath caught in his throat as he waited desperately for the person on the other end to say more, to tell him that they were all right. “Jones and Lopez were pronounced dead at the scene at 2:04.” The voice paused again. “Did you know both victims?”

Coop sat there in shocked silence for a few moments, trying to grasp at some semblance of logical thought. “I…uh…yeah I do.”

“Good. We need someone to come to the morgue and identify the bodies, just to be sure that this wasn’t some mix-up or anything of that nature.”

“Okay…I’ll…I’ll be right there.” Coop hung up the phone and just sat there. How? Why? He had just seen them a few hours ago, just before they went out on their first date. They had both been so excited about it and he had known, he had seen that they were meant to be together. It was as obvious as the stars in the sky or the ever-present knowledge of the magick, the power that kept the world from destroying itself.

Brian and Tanya had danced around each other for weeks without either one making a single move towards the other, even when everyone else had noticed how adorable they were together. Then in stepped Coop, the resident ‘Cupid’ as he had been dubbed by his long time best friend who was like a brother to him. Blake had no qualms about any of the nicknames he had for his friends and most of them fit rather well. Coop had stepped in, speaking to both Brian and Tanya individually, surreptitiously giving them tips and hinting towards the eventual result. Brian had finally asked Tanya out and everyone had been thrilled with the idea.

Coop had even helped Brian plan the perfect date, a romantic dinner at a beach-front restaurant, complete with a nice dance floor. When they had left several hours before, everyone had been thrilled and anxious for their return to hear the details of the evening.

Now…now though there was nothing except a throbbing in Coop’s head, one that seemed to be spreading. He grimaced as the ache made its way to his heart, sending spasms through his body. Closing his brown hazel eyes, Coop took a few deep breaths. ‘Ow. Why this? Why them?’ he thought. Things had seemed perfect; they had been on top of the world, ecstatic to have actually found someone they connected with.

Slowly Coop began to stand up, his legs quivering, threatening to give out on him. He stumbled over to the closet and quickly pulled on a pair of jeans and whatever random shirt was at hand. Slipping on his shoes, he almost fell when he reached for his bag with his keys and wallet in it. He caught himself and struggled to remain standing. ‘Get it together Quinlan!’ he berated himself. Then he began to slowly stumble out of his room, heading down the hall, through the common room, and heading out to his car.

The ride to the morgue seemed to take an eternity, though it was really only a few minutes long. He turned down the radio, not wanting to hear the upbeat Pop/Rock songs that were playing. Being in the car and unable to actually hear the radio, Coop was forced into his own thoughts to get him through the ride. The phone conversation he had just finished replayed through his mind and it was as if this time it broke down a wall that was keeping him from understanding what had truly transpired. ‘No, it can’t be! This can’t be happening! They don’t…they didn’t deserve this!’

Tears filled his eyes and began to fall in a steady stream down a path on his cheeks. Many times he had to slow down as he could barely see the road in front of him. Eventually, many delays later, he pulled into the parking lot beside the morgue. Shakily he reached out and turned off the ignition in his car before pulling his keys out. His movements were hesitant as he stepped out of the car and walked around to the morgue entrance. The walk down the hall was excruciating and a few times Coop thought he was just going to collapse, unable to continue. Somehow though he made it to the morgue attendant's desk, seeing a middle-aged woman with blonde hair pulled back out of her face sitting there, he leaned on it, trying to steady himself. “Mr. Quinlan, I presume?” she asked.

He nodded, able to tell by the voice that she was the one who had called him. She stood up and gestured for him to follow before leading him down the hallway to the crypt. Opening the door he saw two metallic tray tables in the middle of the room, both holding bodies covered by white sheets. ‘God, I don’t know,’ he thought. ‘I don’t think I can do this.’ The woman handed him a large paper bag, as if saying that she had seen this sort of thing a lot. Coop took it gratefully and held it clasped in one fist so tight his knuckles were white.

She walked up to the first table and grasped one end of the sheet. “Are you ready for this?” she asked him. Coop almost turned away right then, almost ran far away. It was as if running away was going to make it as if it hadn’t happened. Taking a deep breath he steadied himself and nodded. She pulled the sheet back and Coop gasped, looking down at the once radiant face of Tanya. She had been so lovely, so full of life. Now she was pale and her neck looked broken, as if she had died on impact. Coop’s eyes began to glaze over, filled with pain and seeing this, the morgue attendant replaced the sheet before walking over to the other table.

He watched her, knowing she didn’t have to do anything. Brian had to be under the sheet; he wouldn’t have left Tanya’s side otherwise. This time she didn’t ask him if he was ready but pulled the sheet back suddenly. Coop turned away, not wanting to see any more of it. He stumbled over to a chair alongside one wall and fell into it, his body wracked with sobs of sorrow and pain.

‘It’s my fault. This is all my fault. If I hadn’t suggested they go out or told Brian about the restaurant, they wouldn’t have been there. I shouldn’t have…’

The woman walked over to him and began to pat him on the back. “I’m sorry for your loss,” she said. “Do you…would you like me to call somebody to come pick you up?”

He looked up at her and tried to wipe away his tears with the bottom of his shirt. Slowly he shook his head. No, he needed to take himself back home. After a few more minutes he was finally able to force himself to stand up and slowly began to walk out of the crypt area and head down the hall, out of the morgue.

By the time he made it back to his dorm it was almost 5:30 in the morning. He sat down on his bed and stared at his phone for the longest time before slowly reaching out and picking it up. Even in total shock Coop’s fingers knew exactly what to press and he found himself staring at the phone as it rang. He moved it up to his ear just in time to hear Blake’s voice on the other end answer with a very groggy ‘hello.’

“Blake,” Coop said, voice weak and cracking slightly. “It…it’s Coop. I…I have some bad news…”