Clinging to my sanity

Chapter four

Chapter four

It's been 2 weeks since that day, two whole weeks of paranoia, two whole weeks of confusion.
The operator symbol still burns a bright red hue on my pale skin.
I still have no idea what that means.
What that makes me.

Scarlett is too scared to ask anything about it, afraid she'll upset me or something. But in all honesty I wouldn't know how to respond to any questions; when I don't know anything for sure myself.  She's been completely avoiding the topic, in fact, she's been completely avoiding talking about anything that has happened to us.

The lunch bell rang and the students raced out the door, taking little to no consideration of the smaller students trying to get through the door.
I waited for everyone to leave, like I always do. And then entered the claustrophobic hallways.

I went to lunch and sat by myself once again.
I looked over to where Scarlett sits, and she wasn't there. I looked around scanning the room to find no sign of her.
Where could she be?
I got up and put my tray next to the garbage and ran out the door.
The hallways were empty, which was unusual as they are always filled with students and or teachers. I walked further down the narrow hallway and the further I walked the more uneasy I felt.
Something is not right.

"S-Sam!" I heard a voice call from behind me, I turned around to see Toby standing there.
I rushed up to him and gave him a hug, he didn't respond at first but he later hugged back.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him unsure of why he was here as Lyra is away on a school trip for the next few days.

"I-i came to w-warn you." Toby stuttered, a look of worry painted on his face.

"Warn me about what Toby?" I questioned,

"H-he's coming, Sam" Toby whispered scanning our surroundings.

"Who's coming, Toby?" I asked, the uneasy feeling intensifying

"The operator" Toby's words sent my already uneasy feeling over the top. He's coming for me.
My wrist started burning again, at first it was a slight tingle and within seconds it was an agonizing pain. I grabbed my wrist and tried to ease the pain by applying pressure.
Soon the pain became too much to handle and my eyes filled with tears. I began crying and my number one priority at this point was to hold back my screams.

"W-what's wrong S-Sam?" Toby asked moving closer to my shaking body.

He looked down and noticed me grasping my wrist tightly.

He gently grabbed my hand and made an effort to move it, but his hand twitched.

He moved his hands back and held my wrist. I moved my hand and let his hands apply the pressure.
Tears streamed down my face, the pain was getting stronger and stronger.

He slowly lifted up my sweater sleeve and saw it.

"Y-you." He mumbled, "I-it's you."

My vision blurred and I was beginning to lose consciousness.
The pain was too much to handle.
I fell to my knees and let the remaining tears fall to the ground.

"S-Sam" Toby said falling to my side, holding me up.
My vision blackened and everything around me went silent.

*Toby's POV*

Sam fell to her knees and winced in pain, I felt hopeless because I can't do anything to stop her from hurting.

I fell to the ground and held her body up so she wouldn't fall to the ground completely.

"S-Sam" I said, watching her face intently.

She's the proxy.
It's her.

Her eyes rolled back and her body went limp into my arms.