Half Past

Chapter 4: Trust or Turn?

Inky blackness surrounds me, enveloping me in an immobile state, my mind blankly content. My eyes, however, take in all my surroundings. Pictures, almost like a never-ending image, flit past me, and I get glimpses. Nothing more than a slight flash.

The stranger, retreating to the shadows, his cowl returned to his head.

Helala, sitting next to a white bed, sunlight dappling her features as she stares out the window, thinking hard.

Jal and the other votros, sitting on woven mats in the center of the tent, arguing animatedly. Jal keeps on glancing back at the cloaked stranger, his brow constantly creasing.

And finally, me, a picture of myself as I was now- staring with a blank expression at an inky wall, moving pictures flying past it.

I jump- well, not jump, but am startled- as I watch myself. In the movie, I turn, staring straight into my eyes with a calm expression.

I gasped, letting out a shout as a sudden figure swoops over the image of me, dragging the imageself farther into the darkness with a loud shriek. Another figure leaps into view in the picture, the same cowled figure from before, and he waves his arms. A loud, high pitched buzzing fills my mind and I scream, feeling like my eardrums  are shattering as the blackness cracks, falling into the inky depths like pieces of broken glass, a greenish light replacing it as I am returned to my senses.

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A green light filters through my eyelids, burning a red as I gasp for breath, my eyes fluttering open as I gulp air mercilessly.

"Thea!"

Helala jumps, a smile on her face that is soon replaced by a worried expression.

"Are you okay?"

I nod, still drawing air into my lungs as I sit up, staring up at the ceiling, a shocked expression on my face as everything comes flooding back.

The dream.

The buzzing.

The strange cowled stranger.

My eyes momentarily widen and I stare at Helala, bolting upright.

"What happened?" I asked softly, and her face falls, her brow creasing as she twirls a strand of her dark brown hair around her finger with anxiety.

"Um... Thea, you just... Fainted. Passed out." She fidgets uncomfortably.

I flush red.

"I did?"

"Yeah. It was pretty freaky. You stumbled out of the tent and collapsed on the ground, out cold. Alexander and Matt carried you in here- the Med Cor- and the Healers checked you... and ya. You were fine."

I flush an even deeper red as Hel laughs, attracting the attention of a nearby nurse, who rushed over immediately.

"Miss Dorothea! You've awoken!" She says without a smile, and I frown slightly. The nurse turns to Helala, whispering for privacy, and Hela nods, stepping back and exiting my bed area as the nurse pulls a white curtain around my bed, than turns, studying me with a slight frown.

My eyes narrow with suspicion.

She approaches my bed, smiling evilly.

I let out a yell as she suddenly darts forward, seizing my chin and forcing me to look up at her.

"Yes, little Thea. You will be of use indeed." She snarls.