Cracking Zeenath

September 8th, 2015

A/N: Above is a picture of Clara.

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I awoke with a jolt, and sat up straight, sweating, and feeling the blood pounding in my ears.

 Evelyn.

I saw Evelyn again.

She appeared out of the darkness and said my name. Zeenath. That's all.

      Then she turned around and started walking away. I called after her and tried to put out my hand to stop her from leaving but my hands wouldn't move. I turned around to see heavy metal handcuffs around my wrists. I struggled to get my hands out before turning to look at her. She kept walking. I started to panic. I couldn't lose her a second time.

"Evelyn! No! Don't leave!" I pleaded.

      I tried to run but my legs gave way underneath me and I fell into the loose dirt on the ground. I started screaming as I watched her get smaller and smaller. "Evelyn!" She kept walking until she disappeared behind the clouds of mist, stopping only to give me a single wave before turning back around and melting into the darkness. I was left screaming after her until my throat hurt and the tears blinded me and I started to drown in my own sorrow. The water from my eyes collected into puddles around me that kept growing bigger, rising quickly.

I screamed for Evelyn and the water rose.

I kicked at the chains, cursing myself for not doing anything, and the water rose.

It flooded into my mouth and I started to choke, spluttering her name between coughs. My heart beat against my chest and my lungs burned. This wasn't supposed to end this way.

This wasn't supposed to end this way.

That's when I woke up.

      I looked around at the dark room, waiting for my eyes to adjust to the lack of light as I tried to calm my hammering heart, breathing deeply. I felt something run down my face and I put a hand to my cheek. It came away wet with tears. I'd been crying.

      There was something heavy and soft on my thighs and I looked down to see Clara's head in my lap. She was spread out across the couch with a blanket half-kicked off of her. I wiped my eyes and swallowed. I was in my dorm. Good. I scanned the room and found Luke and Madison asleep on the floor. Luke's head was thrown back against the wall and Madison rested against his side, her head on his shoulder as they both snored lightly. I breathed in deeply, trying to settle my heart. There were people here, I couldn't wake them up with my crying. I felt my lips stretch into a light smile and a pang went through my heart as I watched everyone sleep. The smile felt so weird on my face, like it didn't belong there.

      I gently lifted Clara's head off my lap and started to slide out from under it. I reached down and picked up the fallen pillow I had been using and softly placed it under her head. She shifted a little and the blanket fell to the floor. I picked it back up and covered her with it as best as I could before picking my way across the floor between arms and legs to go stand in the middle of the living room. This was a mess. I squinted at the clock on the wall.

3:55 a.m.

Four in the morning.

      I heard a soft click and looked up. Damian stood beside the front door and his eyes widened when he saw me. A thick silence settled over us as we stood there, staring at each other. He studied me and I stood, still frozen from the shock of finding someone awake in the room. I bit my lip as the silence turned strained and awkward.

Then I said the only thing I could think of at the moment.

"Coffee?"

He blinked, then nodded once. "Sure."