The Realm Protectors

Chapter 16 - Ciana

I groan when I wake up again, looking at the little digital clock on the nightstand. 11:54 pm.

"Why is it so impossible to sleep here?" I mumble as I sit up and fluff the pillow again. There were too many to count when I first got into bed, so I threw some over into the little lounge area in the corner. The first time I woke up, I put all my clothes in my closet. The second time I unpacked my school supplies and arranged them on my desk. This is the third time I've woken up since I tried to go to sleep at nine.

I huff and slide out of bed, my sweatpants and t-shirt protecting me from the slight chill. I creep across the room and grab the doorknob. The door lights up again, the engraved suns and bursts of light glowing softly as I peek out into the hallway. I peer down the hallway to see Nik and Avani looking out of their rooms.

"Can't sleep?" I whisper. They shake their heads. "Me neither." We all emerge into the hallway.

"Should we bunker up in someone's room?" Avani asks. Two more doors open behind us to reveal Lyra and Carter. Faris peeks his head out next.

"Okay, good, I'm not the only one." Faris murmurs. Enya and Nile both open their doors and walk out too.

"I figured this would happen," Enya sighs. "Everyone into the living room. We'll sleep out there and watch a movie or something."

We all grab pillows and blankets and spread out on the floor in front of the TV. Nile and Enya snuggle up together on the couch and fall asleep right after Enya presses play. Some movie starts playing, and I close my eyes.

I'm laying in a meadow of wildflowers, surrounded by all my friends. I hear a scream and turn around to find Lex with a hole in her chest, gushing blood. She keels over and I hear another scream. It's Andrew behind me, a blackened knife in his chest.

"What's going on?" I cry out. A chorus of screams erupts behind me and I see my seven new friends being attacked by their elements. Avani's being strangled to death by her own vines, Faris's breath is being torn from his body. Nikolina sinks into a pool of shadow, her veins turned black. Enya screams as her flesh melts off her body, Nile's voice bubbling up from a bottomless pit of water. Lyra flakes apart into stars, and Carter turns old in seconds before my eyes. Lights flash across my vision and I scream as I go blind, hearing nothing but the terrorized screams of my friends. Endless screaming–

I sit up and gasp, heart racing. I kick myself out from where I'm tangled in the blanket, hair plastered to my forehead with sweat. I stumble over to the balcony and open the doors, falling down beside the railing. In, out, in, out I command myself as I lean against the railing, taking in deep breaths of the cold night air.

"Ciana?" Someone asks. My eyes shoot open to see a very shirtless Faris standing at the balcony doors. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," My voice wavers and my throat stings like I'm going to cry. "Just a nightmare." Faris walks over, adjusting his sweatpants as he sits down next to me. His skin is warm against my arm.

"I get them all the time." He admits softly. "Mostly right after I come back here after breaks. I worry about my family back home."

I turn and face him more fully. "You're from Ear– the Otherworld, right?"

He smiles. "Yes. My mom is an elemental. She handles things with the Otherworld side of gateways. I think you might have met her when you came here." I think back to the day I left home.

"Was she the woman with the pale blonde hair?" I ask. It makes sense, since Faris has the same pale skin and white-blond hair. His face falls though.

"No. She has dark hair like yours."