Revival

6. A Bloody Nightmare

~~A Bloody Nightmare~~

"Why isn't she waking up? She's slept through the entire night."

"Jesse said that she depleted all her energy when she tapped in. I think we should just be glad she's not dead."

"Are we sure she isn't going to? She looks like a total zombie."

"Well, no one looks their best after being attacked by a group of Stella-Descents, Alexandria. And Dad said she'll be fine. She'll probably have a wicked headache when she wakes up though."

"...You know, after a while, I stopped believing that she was one of us."

"I don't know, Jess seemed pretty convinced and he's usually right."

One of us, Stella thought. But as the thought came, it disappeared like ripples in a pond. Darkness sifted behind her eyelids taking shape and then deforming again like shadows, and as she tried to reach out for the shapes with her mind, she was tugged back into her subconscious by something like rope or tentacles. Her thoughts came to her slowly, in detached and distant fragments. Where am I? I have to wake up.

But her dreams kept her. Flames flickered behind her eyelids, glowing hands, and the flashing silver arc of a sword. She saw Jesse, dark and magnificent upon a hill alone looking up to the sky, she saw Dane with his back turned as she fell from the height of a burning building, she saw a city that rained with blood. And it trapped her.

She was a child again. And before her, was a huge expanse of greenery, spotted with pretty daisies that she'd pick to make her and Luke daisy chains. She knew that he would only toss it on the ground and stamp on it, insisting that he was a boy and that boys didn't make daisy chains, but she still liked making them for him.

Hills protruded from the flat land and on them, Stella could see that loads of different people came here. Some were sunbathing, others were picnicking with families, chubby toddlers waddled around laughing after magpies that hopped around in the shaded area of the park, and exhausted parents would hurry after them. Others were alone, sitting on a blanket and people-watching, like they were in a movie theatre, watching from the outside looking in.

Stella was practicing riding her bicycle. Her dad bought it for her the weekend before and she announced to her family that pink was officially her favorite color because of the bike. They spent the entire bank holiday with David teaching her how to ride it, and she was fairly decent now, although she struggled sometimes with balance.

She heard a loud cry tear through the peaceful scenery before her and she jerked her glittery handlebars to the right steering her right into a stone bench, and everything seemed to come to a halt, her vision shattered like glass—

"Apparently, she killed one of the Stella-Descents. Jesse said," she heard a male voice say.

"Really? So, I guess it's true, she really is one of us," a girl replied with a squeak in her voice that shot through Stella's ears like needles.

"That means Dad's got to go call on the Lieutenant. He'd probably be here tomorrow."

"I hate the Lieutenant. He's so cold and cruel and I think he hates us." 

"He still has to investigate," said the boy in a low, resigned voice, "And you shouldn't insult him. It doesn't bode well for any of us."

"Whatever. Has Jess come to see her? I thought he'd take some interest in her recovery since he was the one so determined to get this girl."