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As the sun rose over the horizon the next morning, Darcy could only sigh through her nose and roll over in bed.
Over the past few days, she had been stabbed, died, and then brought back to life. The seams that held her pack together had been tugged and tugged at until they were barely holding everything together. Her memories of a terrible summer had been shoved out of witness protection and into the light, where every minute of her time spent with the Dread Doctors could be reflected on. The person she trusted most in the world had told her to stop fighting the bad guys for the people who couldn't themselves before it all could come crashing down and kill her again. Every time she closed her eyes and tried to sleep, she was plagued by gory nightmares and sleep-walking events that turned into life-threatening altercations. And, on top of all of that, she still had to go to school.
No part of Darcy had the urge to get up and start her day.
She couldn't summon the strength to get out of bed, much less go and trudge through the hall of Beacon Hills High School. But, when Alexa knocked on her door and told her she had thirty minutes before school started, Darcy told herself to just make it through the day before she finally pulled herself out of bed.
The next half hour was spent stumbling around, bleary-eyed, as she got ready. Her mind was a whirlwind of the previous night's events and she couldn't get it to settle, no matter how many times she said Derek's mantra. Eventually, she gave in and let the overwhelming thoughts play backseat driver in her mind.
They steered her into her aunt's car, let her stare out the window as they played a loose recreation of her nightmares, and then forced her out of the car with a weak wave. The noise didn't cease, not even when she entered the halls of the high school. They only stacked on top of each other, and the only moment of calm was when Darcy noticed how different the atmosphere of the school was.
Whatever gloom had fallen over everyone a few weeks ago had faded slightly. Students and faculty were more alive and the air of dread had lessened to a more manageable level. Darcy took this opportunity to cross her fingers the mood would stay that way. She didn't want to hope for no reason but she couldn't help it.
She made her way down the hall and turned a corner, only to immediately feel multiple pairs of eyes on her. She pivoted to her right to see the other had-been-dead chimeras staring at her. Theo, standing at the front of their group, had a smirk playing on his lips, making her own curl in disgust.
She took a sharp left to head toward her locker. Their stares burned into her back until she rounded another corner and disappeared from their sight.
Frowning at the metal door, she slung her backpack off her back and started to pull out books for her classes. She was so focused on her task that she didn't even notice someone standing behind her until they said, "You know, you were right."
