Awakened

XXV

"WAKE UP!" Tom screamed into my ear, shaking me awake.

"What's going on?" I asked groggily.

"Saron, you need to wake up NOW," he said yanking me up.

"Tom, what's- where the fuck are we?"

I looked over to see Crexus, sitting up against glass, looking more dismayed than ever.

"What's wrong with him," I asked Tom.

"I don't know and the others are gone."

I looked around, finding us stuck inside a room made of glass. Outside of the glass was water, an endless amount of water as if we had been dropped in the ocean.

"Is this a dream?"

"If it was a dream, I don't think you'd be here with me just as confused as I am. Plus I can feel you," he said pointing to my arm that had been clutching his.

"What happened?"

"I don't know. I remember passing out..." he said, clutching his head as if he was trying to force his brain to make sense of the situation.

"I remember that. You passed out, then Jeremy. The rest of us passed out after you. It must've been that blue fog. We thought it was harmless, but it wasn't. Now we're trapped here."

"Crexus, can you hear me?" I said, kneeling in front of him. He gave no indication that he knew I was in front of him, let alone where he was.

Crexus, wherever you are I need you to wake up.

I frowned, standing up before turning to Tom.

"Since he's not going to be any help, we need to figure out something," he said.

"We need to start by breaking out of here," I said, punching the glass as hard as I could. Tom joined in, running into the glass, punching it, kicking it. It was useless. It wouldn't budge.

Resigned, I walked over to Crexus, sliding down the glass to plop down beside him. Tom started pacing, not willing to give up so easily.

I rested a hand on Crexus, gasping as I saw a flash of unspeakable atrocities. Endless blood spilt, gruesome murder a murder, the horrors of war, crying babies and mangled bodies. I pulled away quickly, my heartbeat racing from what I had seen. If this was what Crexus had in his mind, no wonder he wasn't a talker.

"What happened?" Tom asked, rushing over to me in concern at my distraught face.

"I saw something, a- a glimpse of his mind," I said shakily.

"What was it?"

"Dark and bloody," I said, shivering involuntarily at the recollection of it.

"Is that why he won't wake up?"

"I don't know," I answered honestly, looking up at him in realization.

"What are you thinking?"

"If he's lost in his mind, it would explain why he's not here with us. It might also explain why we're trapped here, like he's trapped. Maybe if we help him to get out, we could get out too."

"What can we do?" He asked, his eyes lighting up with hope.

"The only thing I can think of is going in his mind and bringing him out," I said, ignoring the trepidation creeping into my voice as I thought of what horrors might be waiting for us in his mind.

"Let's go," Tom said decidedly.

I grabbed his hand tightly before using my other hand to grab Crexus's as I entered his mind.