Guardians 1: Ashes

Chapter 63: Promise

Cory's POV

I was in a dark room. Pitch black, but I could see red eyes of people. Each having the same evil grin. They laughed and taunted me. Then their image revealed an actual face slowly melting away. My breathing got heavy and I tried to tear through the image.

My eyes flew open with a shout and I grabbed at my necklace.
I calmed my breathing as I heard footsteps outside, then my door swung open.

"Cory are you okay?" Shelby asked.

"Never better." I smiled.

"Another nightmare?"

"No... this is just anxiety now." I said calmly.

"Cory, what happened at the camp?" She asked concerened.

"Nothing good, I can assure you."

"Your nightmares aren't gonna get better."

"They aren't getting better anyways. What do you care anyways?" I said annoyed.

She looked at me as if she was thinking.
"I don't know." She said and sat on my bed.
She slumped over and rested her head in her hands.

"I'm sorry about... ya know... leaving I guess."

"You did it to help Nick, I would have done the same for Ross." She said trying to understand.

"Except you can heal Ross, all I do is seem to take..."

"That's not true!" Shelby exclaimed and tried to reach for my hand but I pulled away.

"I'm just... I don't know... tired?" I questioned my self.

"Jin thinks he found a way for you to control the entity." Shelby said.

My eyes lit up and I held my necklace's crystal, "R-really, how?"

"Jin says you just need to accept death..." Shelby said, her eyes loosing the light.
"Your parents' death."

"How would Jin know! He wasn't even there. He can't tell me how I feel about them! He has no right to even talk about them, he didn't know them!" I yelled and I could feel the darkness growing, the necklace snuffing out the light one more time.

I clenched my fist in a ball, and held my breath.

Shelby just looked at me.

"Cory you can't stop death, you can only accept it! So you need to accept it, that is the only way you are gonna be able to control that thing!" Shelby said raising her voice and stormed out my room.

"What the..." Uni said as Shelby bumped into him while he was walking in the hall way.
"Cory what did... Nevermind. What is wrong?"

"Jin thinks he can tell me how I feel about my parents' death. That wand twirling spell caster didn't even know them. Nor was he there when they died!" I yelled angrily.

"I get you're upset, but what he is saying does kinda make sense, and you can't yell at me cause I helped you through their death."

"Oh I'll find a way to yell at you." I said with a smug look.

"First thing is, take off your mask." Uni ordered.

"No. Why?"

"You don't need it, we need the emotional Cory not the killer." Uni said and I cautiously took off my mask.

"Good, now... tell me what happened. And I mean it, what happened at the kingdom?"

I swallowed hard but remembered how Rex told me Uni believes it's his fault, so I gave in and decided to tell him.