Awakened

II

Star POV

I walked slowly, trailing behind the boys as my mind wandered. Tears pricked my eyes, threatening to fall as my thoughts raced back to Saron. Could she really be dead? I shuddered remembering her still body, cold to the touch.

"Hey, she'll be okay." Joel wrapped his arm over my shoulder comfortingly as he smiled down at me.

"You don't know that," Tom said, staring blankly ahead.

"If she dies, so will Edward," Zion stated, fire in his eyes.

"You know Saron wouldn't want that. She sacrificed her life for him," I said softly, careful not to anger him.

He stared at me silently, fists clenched. He knew I was right.

"I'm going back to my Wing," Zion said, flitting away before we could respond.

"Do you really think he'd kill him?" Jeremy asked, eyes wide.

"No doubt," I said, remembering Zion's cold gaze, full of fury.

"Tom, she'll be alright." Joel assured, placing an arm on Tom's shoulder. I noticed Tom had distanced himself from the rest of us, his eyes mirroring Zion, full of rage. It didn't surprise me, after all he was closer to Saron than the rest of us were. He seemed to understand her more, when the rest of us couldn't figure her out.

As we walked past the Cafeteria, my stomach growled, reminding me of my hunger.

"Let's eat before we head back," Tom offered walking towards the entrance. We trailed him, quickly getting food before heading to an empty table.

"So what's the plan?" Jeremy asked, stuffing his face with food.

"If she's stuck inside her head, we need to find some way to get her out."

I cocked my head at Tom before asking, "But how? It's not like we can go inside her head-"

I gasped, realizing we could. Why didn't I think of this before?

Smiling, Joel lit up. "That's it! We need to go inside her head and tell her to wake up."

"It can't be that easy," Tom doubted.

"It's still worth a shot," Jeremy offered.

"I've never done it before. One of you should try to jump into her head," I admitted, embarrassed.

"I'll try," Tom said, crossing his arms on the table before closing his eyes. We watched him silently, waiting for him to return to us. He didn't budge a muscle as his eyebrows narrowed in confusion. Minutes passed of complete silence as we watched and waited. With a gasp, his eyes flew open, bouncing between each of us as he struggled to form words.

"What? What did you see? Did you find her?" I asked.

Shaking his head, worry lines began to crease his forehead.

"What did you see Tom?" Jeremy demanded, concerned.

"I couldn't find her. It was....nothing. Just empty darkness, like she didn't even exist. I've never seen anything like it."

"Joel, you have to try," I persisted, refusing to give up.

Joel eyed Tom fearfully before reluctantly closing his eyes. His eyes shot open in under a minute, his face pale, like he had seen a ghost. My heart sank, losing my last sliver of hope. I blinked back tears as I tried to make sense of what had happened. Why couldn't they find her? Was she really gone?

"You saw it didn't you?" Tom said, still visibly shaken from what he had seen.

"I don't know where she is but something is wrong," Joel whispered.