Phantom Thunder

Chapter 30

Spark shook me awake before sunrise. I moaned, rolled over and sat up, and for a moment the only blissful pain I felt was that of an early morning.

"Why are you in the girl's dorm?" I asked. Then I blinked and added on second thought "why are you in a girls dorm full of unconscious girls?"

He shrugged.

"Cedar sleeps in we underwear!"

Spark glanced over at Cedar's bed. "Really?"

"No." I scowled and hit him in the head with my pillow. "Perv" I retorted.

"Whatever. It's almost sunrise."

Sunrise. When I'd have to get out of my world of down cushions and face the world. Face my peers who were relying on me to lead them to their death. Face the world I had one chance to save. Face a reality of death and sorrow. And face the demons that ran wild inside me.

How was I supposed to defeat the Thunder if I couldn't even conquer the enemy inside my own mind?

Spark hit me in the face with the pillow I'd threw at him. "Get up Commander, we've got an ass to kick."

I pawed the hair from my face. I glanced over at Lilian's empty bed. The sight of clean sheets and folded blankets hit me hard in the chest. She was off fighting her own battle of survival, one I couldn't help her with. She was gone, and I was alone.

Spark rolled me out of bed. "Come on" he half whined, half pleaded, which pulled me out of my hurtful daze.

I stumbled to the washroom where I splashed my face with cold water, got changed, then brushed my hair back into a high ponytail. I stared at my deep green eyes in the mirror. They were shattered, pain filled, yet full of strong determination. I glared at myself viciously. It was strengthening to see that usual ferocity, even if the pain was killing me.

When I came out of the washroom Spark was lounging on my bed. I pulled on my boots and tied the laces tight.

"Should we wake then up?" I asked.

"It's not sunrise yet."

"What?!" I demanded. Jessica rolled over, groaned, then passed out again. "You woke me up like a fricken hour early why?!"

"Calm down calm down" he said. "I was bored and couldn't get back to sleep."

"So the logical conclusion is to go wake Ghost up and make her suffer with you?"

"Jeeze women I had an idea."

"You woke me up because you had an idea?" I raised my eyebrows.

He gentle reached out and took my hand. His gesture startled me so much I forgot that I was supposed to be annoyed. His stood up and began guiding me towards the door. His fingers slipped from mine but I still followed him down the rows of beds to the door.

"Does Cedar really sleep in her underwear?" He asked as we left the dorm. I wished I still had the pillow I hit him with.

-

As we walked down the hall burning emotions coiled inside me. There was that strange feeling I got when Spark was around intertwined with the fierce determination that kept me focused on the battle ahead. And then there was the cool sorrow in it's ever present pit, sucking the life out of me. And my confused brain couldn't seem to figure out which emotions to feel, so it simultaneous decided to accept them all which made my chest ache, my eyes want to leak tears, my lips want to break into a foolish grin and my muscles itching to snap into action.

"So what was this brilliant idea of yours?" I asked.

We began to ascend the stairs. "Real weapons aren't going to help us again the Thunder" I reminded him, but he didn't say anything, he just gave me a knowing half smile.