Left Behind (Snowbaz fic)

Chapter: 16

SIMON
   "Simon, please, I'm begging you! Please, just rest for the night," Penelope's voice sounded distant, echoing all around me. I looked around to see where she had gone but I was surprised to see her right next to me. She stared at me with worry in her eyes.
   I looked to the trees that loomed in the distance. The setting sun hid behind them making the sky look like it was set on fire. Fire. I never want to hear that word again. The sight of the flames raging on behind me would be forever etched into my memory. Never will I be able to escape from the smell of smoke or even the smell of my own burning flesh. To be honest I was terrified of going to sleep at the risk of dreaming of flames eating away at my entire body.
   I lost myself in thought until Penny's hand touched my shoulder, bringing me back to reality.
   "Simon?"
   "Okay," I mumbled.
   Pain erupted through my scorched body as I lied down on my stomach. My tattered, burned wings flopped to the ground at my sides. I watched the horizon as the last few drops of light escaped from the world around us.
   I closed my eyes as Penny rummaged through her bag. As I felt myself beginning to drift off to sleep I felt Penelope's soft fingers gently lift my head and place a sweatshirt under it. I gave her a grumble of approval, burying my face in the soft fabric.
   "Simon?" Penny whispered.
   "Huh?" Was all I managed to grumble out.
   "I have a first-aid kit. I just want to clean your burns."
    "Okay,"
   Penny lifted my shirt, exposing my severely burned back. It was probably worse than I imagined because Penny let out a little gasp.
   "Oh, Simon," she whispered under her breath.
   About a minute passed of nothing and I forgot what was going on. My brain was so desperate for sleep that it was practically falling apart inside my own head. I didn't remember where I was or what I was doing lying on the cold forest floor.
   "Are you ready?" I heard someone ask. I lifted my head from the sweatshirt under my face and looked to the girl hunched over my back, holding a wet rag in her hand. I knew she was my friend but my mind didn't comprehend who it was.
   "What..." Was all I was able to get out before she pressed the wet rag to my back. An intense stinging sensation spread across my body.
   I howled in pain, burying my face back into the sweatshirt, and dug my hands into the earth around me. With each dab of the wet cloth against my skin I thought I was going to pass out from the excruciating pain coursing its way though my body.
   It felt like years had passed before it finally stopped. But I could still feel residual pain humming against my skin.
   "I'm so sorry, Simon," whispered the girl. I didn't have enough strength to mumble a response. I just lied there in silence and prayed for sleep to take me away from this world of pain and confusion.
   No matter how long I lied there, sleep refused to come. It taunted me by letting me get so close that I could feel myself begin to slip away. But the fire at the back of my mind would burn on, throwing me back into consciousness.
   This game of torture went on for hours until a voice broke through the incessant crackling and popping of the fire that wasn't even there. It was barely a whisper in the wind but I was certain I heard it. With every second the voice got stronger, so strong that I could feel the breath on the back of my neck.
   "I'm here, Simon," the voice said. I knew who it was instantly. It was Baz's voice piercing through the darkness. I wanted to open my eyes to see him kneeling over me but I wasn't strong enough. My eyes felt like they weighed a thousand pounds, no matter how hard I tried I couldn't gain enough control to see him.
   "I'm right here, Snow, I'll always be right here."
   It was like I was in the space between sleeping and awake. With one foot in each world, and not being able to delve completely into one over the other. I begged myself to open my eyes just so I could get a glimpse of him. I wanted to remember what his lips felt like against mine.
   "Just sleep, Simon, and when you wake up everything is going to be okay."
   I could feel his ghostly touch against my back and all the pain slowly drained away. I was finally able to slip into unconsciousness. It welcomed me with open arms, shielding me from the broken world I have found myself in.
                               ***
   When I woke up it was still pitch black all around me. It was like I haven't even opened my eyes at all. But as quickly as I awoke I realized even quicker that I wanted to retreat back to the world of sleep. The pain stretched across my back as intensely as ever before.
   "Penny?" I whispered into the blackness. There was no answer.
   "Penelope?" I hissed and yet nothing. I felt along the forest floor for any indication of her presence and still there was no trace of her. I got to my feet, my stomach lurched and the blackened woods spun all around me.
   The only thing that was clear to me was the silhouette of a person standing in the distance.
   "Penny? Is that you?" The moment the words left my lips the figure turned around and walked off into the forest. "Penny, wait!"
   I staggered after her. The glow of the moon duly lighting my path. Pain erupted through my body with every step.
   "...Simon..." I heard a voice, so small and distant that I wasn't positive that I actually heard it. I stopped in my tracks and listened for a moment. "Simon!" I heard again. The voice was coming from the opposite direction from where I could see the figure walking in the darkness. I was forced to make a choice between perusing what I could see over what I could hear. I stood there for a minute before making my choice.
   Trees and branches, nearly invisible in the darkness, scratched me as I trudged forward.
   "Simon... Simon... Simon..." The voice called, getting quieter as I moved away from it. There was a sense of urgency hidden deep within the whisper before it faded into nothing.
   I quickened my pace, beginning to close in on the figure before me. I was close enough to see the hooded cloak they were wearing gently flutter in the breeze.
   I reached my hand outward, expecting to grasp the hood of my target. My fingers barely grazed the fabric of the hood before the figure disappeared altogether. Leaving me standing alone in the darkness.
   The silence all around me was deafening. The only thing I could hear was my labored breathing. I tried to keep my breath steady. In... Out...  In... Out... In...
   Suddenly everything sprang to life all around me. Lights flashed, music played, and machines roared to life. My first instinct was to arm myself but there was nothing I could use as a weapon. I felt utterly helpless without my sword at my side.
   When I took in my surroundings I realized I was standing in the middle of a fair. The machines I heard were the many gleaming rides surrounding me. Each of them operating without anyone even in them. Empty bumper cars spun in lazily circles on the track. It was almost like this place was inhabited by ghosts. I could almost hear children laughing and playing and yet not not a soul was around me.
   The smell of popcorn filled the air, making me think back to when I was a boy. I remember sitting on the edge of the roof of one of the many orphanages I was placed in. At night you could faintly see the glow of the town fair in the distance. The smell of popcorn and the sound of happy music blew in on the wind, reaching my young, hopeful self. That little boy yearned for just a taste of that fair every night he saw the twinkling lights. He often dreamed of what it would be like to be able to go and be a part of it. But now that I'm standing here, I'm realizing that this is not what that little boy was expecting.
   Most fairs have actual people attending them. But not here. Here there was me, beaten and battered Simon Snow, who barely had enough strength to stay standing. It was then that I realized that I wasn't the only one standing in the middle of this empty fair. The cloaked figure was just a few feet away, leaning against a picnic table. Their face was hidden under the hood they were wearing.
   "I told you everything was going to be okay, Snow," he poke in a familiar voice.