GHOST - No Man's Land

/CHAPTER 19

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[Rebecca]

I remembered the mud slashing against my cheek. Smothering my breathing, heaving within my lungs as I struggled to catch my breath. Oxygen filtered scarcely through my blood, the world a blurry haze with each thump of my heart echoing in my head. 

Where was I?

The rhythmic rattle of gunfire. A shift in the mud beneath. Then, a hold, heaving me up from the floor, teetering in the balance between earth and sky. My head lulled against someone's chest. 

I'd been running. From what? Was I getting away again?

I tried opening my eyes to the flashes of light blazing against my eyelids. The even streaks, pushing past the canopy above. Then they morphed into the light of my bedroom, coming through the creases of the wardrobe I was hiding in. 

The heavy footsteps over my faded carpet. 

Curling in on myself as my smaller body fit into the crevice of the wardrobe, stacked behind the hanging clothes. 

He'd brought friends over again, and I'd learned what that meant. 

The footsteps grew louder. The light grew brighter. And soon, I didn't feel anything at all.

✧

Six years earlier

Maybe campus life simply didn't agree with me. The last summer sunrays filtered through a thin layer of clouds, the incoming autumn chill only noticeable in the chilly wind. Not that it mattered. I wore long sleeves regardless. 

The strap of my bag dug uncomfortably on a particularly sore spot on my shoulder, and I shifted it every few steps. I knew I'd loaded it up with too many books once again. 

But this was serious. This was it. 

The year I'd complete my master's thesis and finally work in the field I'd been preparing for all these years during my bachelor. 

Each step taken over the cracked stone. Each long sleepless night, with blood thinned by caffeine and my pulse thrumming in my temple. All of it amounted to this final stretch. 

I nearly jumped out of my skin when someone slung their arm around me. 

''Jesus, Aiden,''  I breathed, grabbing the hand dangling off my shoulder and squeezing it. My best friend returned the gesture with a lopsided grin. 

One look at him was enough to guess the state he was in. Dark hair disheveled, as though he'd ran a hand through it in the morning and left it at that. Eyes tired, but twinkling with his usual giddiness. 

''Morning to you too, sunshine,'' he smiled, pulling me closer against him while we walked towards the entrance of the university. 

''Same one as last week?'' I asked, purposefully eyeing his appearance with more flair than necessary. 

''Don't even start,'' he replied, retrieving his arm from my shoulder and hoisting his bag higher up his own. ''Don't know how I keep ending up in that guy's bed. It's easy, maybe? No strings attached, nothing difficult. Who knows.''