Hell Upside Down

Chapter 15

Point of view Alena

Weeks went by. I learned the basics of fighting. I was no longer passing out, I learned how to move quickly to move away from punches or kicks. Ms. Rose hated me for some reason, and made me run, every day before classes and after everyone had left. My other classes didn't teach me much. Since I found Blaze, the school had added a special class to my schedule which thought me everything I needed to know about these creatures who were loyal to life.

I also had normal classes such as math, history, and English. My favorite was about the history of our kind with Mr. Trigger. I often stayed after class for additional questions. He loved talking about the Shadow Cast.

The weeks went by quickly and Ms. Rose was preparing me for the Maze. Only Shadow Cast had to go throw it. The Nature Cast had to do a nature project around Hellia and the Star Cast students had to make predictions or share some sort of knowledge. The very few who failed their assignments were asked to leave.

It was the last class of the day when I was running across the woods as ordered by Ms. Rose. Blaze ran with me. He was now in age to keep up with me and was growing quickly. In the woods, I liked to think about Ash. He had avoided me ever since that night at the party. Everyone started to ignore me besides Noah, Sierra, and Nero. The rest despised me. Dysnomia made my life a living hell by waking me up at strange hours of the night to ask me to do a task. She was allowed to do so. She was trying to punish me for Ash. However, there wasn't anything to it anymore. I felt rejected and lonely. Even Thomas refused to talk to me for more than a minute.

I was close to finishing up my loop. Ms. Rose was waiting for me outside the forest, standing against the oak tree. She looked at her watch with a disappointed look on her face. She then looked at Blaze who sat by my side.

- "I've never seen such a loyal partner." She commented while Blaze laid down by my side.

I didn't know how to respond and started walking towards my dorm.

- "I need to talk to you about the Maze." She explains with a more serious look on his face.

I tilted my head. Confused with her seriousness. It was the first time I didn't feel like I had done something bad with Ms. Rose. She played with short curly hair before speaking again: "I want you to make it." She explains.

"You have to stick with Noah and Thomas. You won't make it out alone." She said.

The faculty were close with their students. She probably knew that I and Thomas didn't speak that well which made things difficult. Noah was Thomas' twin and shared a bond that no one understood. "I'd suggest taking Blaze with you."

Blaze stood up. I shook my head. "Blaze isn't coming, he's too young." I retorqued. I looked down at the little ball of fur. Many things were kept secret on how to complete this last test to gain full admittance in Hellia and the Shadow Cast. Once completed, I will finally be able to gain my symbol of Hellia. However, even though it was anticipated this moment, I couldn't risk hurting him.

- "If you die, he dies too." She announces.

I looked down at him while he was licking his lips. With his eyes, he always tried to communicate with me. Blaze was tricky like that, he always got what he wanted. I knew he wanted to come.

- "If you take him, I'll promise I'll be easier on you in class."

She started walking away while I couldn't believe she had finally admitted that she treated me differently in class. She turned around one last time before saying: "Shoot the heart to kill the creatures." She said. "And run, never stop running once you see the water." She finally says.

Her words kept turning inside my head while I walked back towards the dorm, Blaze following closely behind me. Before we got to the dorm, Blaze stopped and howled.

- "What's wrong Blaze?" I ask while waving to him to continue moving. He wasn't going to move.

I ran a thousand possibilities that Blaze could be acting up but I couldn't figure it out. I finally realized what he turned towards where he had come from that he wanted reassurance that he wanted to come. "I won't take you. You're too young."

Blaze seemed hurt and growled at me before heading towards the woods, leaving me, alone. I could feel his frustration and hurt. I wish he could feel that I was only doing this to protect me.

***

I was awoken in the middle of the night with a hand on my mouth. Sierra was deep asleep. Ashton was standing above me, with a worried look on his face.

- "Don't go." He murmured while getting closer to me. I could see in his eyes that he was suffering. 

I shook my head confused. "You don't have the powers to survive in there and you can barely fight." He continued. "Blaze is nowhere to be found, you can't survive without him."

He was wrong. Even though, Blaze had left, I knew he would come back. And even if he didn't, I would make it without him. 

As he kept talking, my anger grew. Ash knew how to get under my skin. He took away my necklace at the party and I haven't felt the same since. I had the desire to be loved and touched all the time by him. It got harder to hide my moon mark as it grew faster around my body.

My anger grew as he treated me like everyone else in this damn cast. I knew I haven't found my power or my side which showed that I deserved to belong to the Shadow Cast, but I worked hard. I stayed in the fighting room long after everyone had gone. When I wasn't sleeping, I was running. I was prepared for this. I wanted to finally belong to this place.

I bit Ash's hand. "Get out," I whispered with severity. Ash was taken back. I could feel my eyes burn, and a tingly feeling.

- "I can take you somewhere safe." He begged one last time.

I could feel that he was scared. Scared to lose his soulmate the same way Nero did.

- "I will beat the Maze or I will belong to the ones that disappeared in the Maze." I repeated to him as I did to myself in the last few days. I was afraid too, but I tried not to let it show.

Ash looked down at his hands before biting himself. Blood came dripping out of his palm and he brought it to my lips where some of his blood dropped into my mouth. As the blood got into my system, I could feel the mixture of his power to mine. Chaos to Harmony.

- "I'll make you fall in love with me when you come back." He whispered by kissing my cheek and disappearing in the dark