Good Meets Bad

Chapter Twenty-Five

Insane
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.
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Jellal dragged a hand down his face, absentmindedly flipping the pages of a Record Notebook. Everyone in the room was staring at him in concern. He didn't notice that he had already flipped through all of the pages along with the blank ones and was just staring at it. He didn't know that the bell already rung and that they were trying to snap him out of his daze. He didn't know that people started leaving the Student Council Room for class.

He couldn't recall what time it was but he was certain that he couldn't just barge in class halfway. For the first time in his life, he didn't mind skipping class. Perhaps it was because he didn't really need to study. Maybe it was because he was learning and it was unfair while she was just in the hospital, half-dead and half-alive. Or it was probably because he couldn't even think straight.

Before he knew it, he was climbing the gates and was out of the school boundaries, walking aimlessly. Where was he heading to, exactly? Why couldn't he think properly? Was he finally going crazy while waiting for Lucy to wake up for eight days? No, he couldn't even comprehend how he was still sane. He was perfectly sane-or so he told himself. No sane person would glare at an inanimate object. No sensible person would even think of climbing the gates when they could just push it open.

Perchance he was finally losing his mind.

Why?

His eyes drooped down when Lucy stood in front of him, smirking with a hand lifted up in a wave. The bluenette could only sigh as he passed right through her, the blonde vanishing in an instant-that was it. He was seeing hallucinations of Lucy that he didn't even know if he should be happy about it or not. He seldom wondered when he would get her back but no one ever answered him.

He heaved another pitiful sigh and he arrived at home. He was greeted with silence, face stoic when he noticed that his sister wasn't in the house. He lowered his head and like a zombie, dragged his feet up the stairs and entering his room mutely. His lips were sealed and his eyes inflamed. He could feel his chest squeezing and his throat aching. Was he going to cry again? Why was his head pounding? What's happening? Why is he falling to the ground?

And the next thing he knew, his head banged against the floor and he lost consciousness.

Where... Where am I?

"Jellal."

My head shot up and I found myself in the middle of a black room. I looked around and saw no one. But then I heard her voice again. She was whispering my name, repeating it like she was a broken record. I tried to look for her but I couldn't see anything in this darkness. Where am I, exactly?

"Jellal."

I felt my throat compress and I fell to my knees, clutching my neck, trying to breathe for air. I gasped and panted heavily, trying to remain awake as white dots clouded my vision. There was a screeching sound in my ears and I yelled, withering on the ground and arching my back while I clawed at my throat, desperate for air. She was saying my name again, mumbling it over and over. It was my only support to stay alive. I wouldn't allow myself to disappear while she's sleeping.

A pang went through my heart and I sat up in pain, bending forward now. I couldn't tolerate with the pain and I released another earsplitting scream. I choked and coughed out blood. When I looked down and saw the plasma boiling, my eyes widened in fear and I crawled away. I pressed my knees against my chest and clutched my head, eyes darting everywhere though I couldn't really see anything.