The Reaper - Simon Riley

III - Havoc

A/N: YAAAA. Sorry. I know. It's been kinda long. I moved and everything and then hit a bit of a block. Thanks for coming back. :)

TWs at the end of the chapter.

--

I sat across from Danny in the mess hall on our base, we were giggling about stupid jokes and how bad I failed at my first EOD test.

"I totally meant to set it off!" I laughed loudly, batting my hand at him.

"Oh, sureeee! You just got nervous because Matt was the person watching over the test." He chuckled, giving me a knowing look.

I felt a blush creep up to my cheeks, before I could respond - I noticed Danny's look. He looked dull and lifeless, his once vibrant eyes were no longer there. I tried to ask him what was wrong but the words caught in my throat like glass.

Suddenly the room went dark, Danny fell forward; blood spilling out onto the table in front of me. It was coming from his eyes... from his mouth... his nose... I felt sick. He was now motionless and pale.

I watched him take his last breath.

"Danny! Danny! Wake up!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

I sat up in bed quickly. I was blinking back the nightmare, pushing it far into my brain - my brain switched off. Everything slowly went back into its place. I fought to keep separate boxes.

The image of his lifeless body on the ground, Danny laying in his own blood, the smell of the metallic blood - it all threatened to flood my senses.

I quickly shoved the image into a mental box, locked it tight, and swallowed the fucking key.

I closed my eyes tightly, trying to steady my breath.

Steady snoring came from the bed, my eyes flickered over to land on Matt. I was jealous that he was able to sleep so peacefully throughout the night, my heart twinged with hatred.

The clock read 4:48 AM. I decided to get up for the day.

I took a shower. I let the hot water wash away the invisible blood I was covered in. My gaze was fixed on the shower tiles in front of me, yet I wasn't really seeing them. I had been taken somewhere entirely different, my thoughts swarming my head like a murder of crows.

The next thing I know, I was out of the shower drying off - losing myself in the reflection of the mirror.

--

I went to training today. It was the first step of getting better... right?

The first thing we typically did was run. It was something I used to hate but in this moment it felt exhilarating.

I pushed myself. Adrenaline surging through my body, sharpening my senses and dulling the thoughts inside my head for a few moments. Even after everyone stopped running and went onto the next exercise - I kept running.

Each stride was starting to feel like a leap of faith, a desperate lunge from the last, the lanes blurred as I sprinted. My muscles burned, pain still secondary to the thoughts coursing through my mind.