Hell Upside Down

Chapter 20

Chapter 20 - Heartbroken

Point of view Ashton Rex 

I waited three days in total—three days where I was ill. I skipped class, didn't sleep. Three days since the camera was down. Three days where I was waiting, waiting, waiting to hear something. Lilith refused to talk or meet with me. She didn't understand my frustration.

The only thing I knew was that she was alive. For the last few weeks, our bond grew more assertive. I started to feel her emotions. They only came in slight waves, but they came. I knew they weren't mine as her feelings were much more profound. She cared so much about people, Blaze, and her classes. She haunted my mind. I wanted to see her again, to touch her, to smell her.

I was waiting in my room before they announced it on the microphones placed around campus. The Shadow Newbies were finally coming back. The class was canceled for the rest of the day, and people were invited to join the Shadow Dorm to celebrate.

The Shadow Dorm celebration was enormous. The lights turned off replaced with party lights. It would be a whole night of celebration, drinking, and symbol marking.

I was waiting in the dorm, where we waited for everyone to come back. I was standing in the front row, next to seniors and other important people in our dorm that I didn't care about. This was a time of joy but sometimes of screams. It has arrived that people don't come back. This was when we would know who made it and who didn't.

Sierra was also by my side. She was holding Nero's hand. She was scared and needed help to stand. She was breathing a bit faster as memories from last year came back. I could feel the panic. Part of my powers felt the fears of others; it survived on it.

Sierra had escaped the Maze with Dysnomia and me. We were one of the first. Willow and another guy we left behind. They weren't far, but we had lost them inside the Maze. We thought they would come back. When the guy came back, without Willow, when Lilith told us that the Maze was closing until next year, Sierra broke down. Nero broke down too. They were both broken while I stood there, feeling nothing. I didn't care for Willow; she was too shy to be part of the Shadow Cast.

Sierra was never the same after that day. She was happy to receive her symbol, but it wasn't the same. She started closing and grieved with Nero.

The whole dorm was gathered, and I heard whispers. The entire crowd was talking about something that I couldn't see. I saw Noah and Thomas first. I was glad they had made it out. I held my breath until I saw two little heads behind the two tall brothers.

I was shocked. Alena was alive and was holding on to a ghost. Willow. Sierra was by my side. Her whole face went livid. Nero dropped her arm as his mouth grew wide open. Tears started rolling her cheeks as she understood that her relationship had just ended.

She turned towards him, screaming over the music that was playing to welcome the new Shadow Cast members: "You knew this whole time! You knew she was alive. How dare you." She pushed his chest before running away.

Nero stood there the whole time. He didn't say a thing, but I know he was hurting too.

Sierra was not wrong, though. Nero knew this whole time. He never spoke up about it but mourned her in silence. While he knew she was alive. I knew that because I could feel it in my heart that Alena was active. Soulmates learned this information.

- "I didn't think I would ever see her again." He whispered as it was too late, and Sierra was long gone.

Students were already partying in the dorm. There were rows of shots tables around the kitchen. The music was loud. The dorm was a different place. Noah and Thomas immediately made their way to the two chairs with our two artists that branded us. Ray and Harry immediately started their work.

I tried to get to Alena, but the crowd and the noise were a bit too much for me. I was relieved that she was alive, but I didn't feel well in the group. The whole feeling of not sleeping or eating for the past three days came down on me. I couldn't stay; I didn't feel like partying. Hellia only allowed this because our lives were put at stake.

I climbed up the stairs before walking in front of Alena's room. I had walked in front of it so many times this week. I could smell her when I walked by. It brought me comfort when I couldn't stand her being in the Maze.

I heard cries coming from the room. I walked in without knocking. Sierra was sobbing in her bed. I wanted to punch Nero. He wasn't honest with her; he hurt her.

I climbed on the bed and took her in my arms while she cried on my chest. I know about my reputation for creating chaos, but I have two little sisters at home. Sierra reminded me in a lot of ways of them.

" The worst part is that I love him." She said while whipping her mascara and her tears away. Her eyes swelled up as if she was crying for a while. 

I had always felt uncomfortable around people crying but somehow, I felt Sierra's pain. I was started to understand love and how it made people act without thinking. I started understanding how things started to matter. How when you were away from the person you loved, you started to feel dizzy and nauseous. 

I stayed with her as she cried for hours. She was unconcealable. There was nothing I could do or say that could fix this situation. Nothing would bring Nero back; that's why it hurt so much.

Nero and Willow had a bunch of problems. They weren't good at communicating or matching each other's energy, but their souls were connected. They were drawn to each. Nero felt things with Willow that could never happen in a relationship with Sierra.

Sierra knew this. She had never met her soulmate; she wouldn't understand completely. It was unheard of someone to leave their soulmate for someone who wasn't. It wouldn't make sense.

It was scary to have found someone that I would die with. No matter what happened, no other girl would be as attractive to me as Alena. Even if our connection was a secret, Dysnomia had a right to know.

Heartbreaks are the worst type of pain. I had never experienced one, but they terrified me. Love terrified me. I cared for someone who took away my appetite and my desire to sleep, work out, and enjoy life. I couldn't imagine loving someone. I didn't want anything to do with love.

I had to complete this prophecy; then, I would leave. Love and chaos don't go well together.