kent

green lantern

Carly is scared shitless. As much as she would like to claim some sort of independence and control she can not bring herself to construct a lie of that magnitude- and she is very good at lying. Her breathing is ragged and her vision rather blurry. She's glad that the upper stories of New York aren't frequented by other fliers, because she is sure that flying in her distracted state of mind is at least equivalent to drunk driving.

The irregular rectangle of paper is slightly damp in her palm, and her teeth chatter as the unwelcoming cold air mixes violently with the sheen of nervous sweat building on her skin. She can feel the words of the paper in her palm. She has read the note enough times to have the message seared across the back of her eyelids when she blinks, and she sees the note written in the constellations. The horoscopes are cruel tonight.

Carly is dizzy and confused. She looks down and feels her stomach crawl up into her throat- but this time, the feeling is not because of vertigo, it is because of everything else. She feels like she might die before she is even able to find them. The events are just too stressful, so broken and disjointed in her mind that she can hardly comprehend what is going on.

Her other hand holds her phone, and she can just barely hear Daniel over the roaring of her bloodstream. She hates to drag him into the thick of it all, but if there is anyone who can make sense out of the chaos raging in her mind, it is him.

"Calm down," she can hear him saying, but the meaning doesn't register in her mind. The order is like telling time to stop. It seems impossible, and so she tries to get her hyperventilation under control, but the effect is hardly noticeable. It is like gravity's effect on light- always there, but not quite enough.

"Would you remind repeating what you said? I'm having trouble understanding," Daniel says, patiently.

"Someone has my friends. 3 blocks ESB. Empire State Building," Carly chokes out, she doesn't have time for patient, but even in her disorganized state she is somehow conscious of the fact that it would be suicide to burst into some undetermined building without back-up.

"Shit, okay," Daniel says, agitation working into his voice as well. "This is all going down tonight?" He doesn't wait for an answer; they both already know. "Did it say which direction?"

"No." Carly's mind is miles away. The apocalypse is centered around her. She is the eye of the storm. Somehow, someone must have seen her flying around New York- someone just like her and Daniel, but darker and more twisted. Somebody had followed her home, had stalked his or her way to Carly's school, spied on her every move.

Carly's fingernails are stinging into her palms. She tries to loosen her grip before she draws blood, but it is as if she has no control over her entire body. Every inch of her feels numb yet simultaneously on fire. If these three were taken as some sort of bait- Taylor isn't exactly the person Carly would have chosen. Had this person done a bad job reading her actions toward Taylor? It's not as if Taylor is avoidable, given a rather similar schedule and several mutual friends, but Carly thinks that the strained relationship is pretty evident. So, why Taylor?

The question is heavy at her temples, pressing into every corner of her brain. It is magnified by thoughts of: why now? Why me? What the hell am I supposed to be doing? It is too much.