The Darkest Rising

CHAPTER 2

Marcus stared down at me. His rounded blue eyes flooding with concern. That warm, friendly smile has helped me through so much over the years.

" Calm down. It's just me, " his tone was set to calm me. I couldn't help but shift uncomfortably in the cushioned arm chair, as the lose t-shirt i wore clung to my wet skin. Small beads of sweat had made their way down my back, lingering at the base of the spine.

I was struggling to settle my shaky hands, the fierce panic inside didn't want to subside. Not knowing where i was, i looked around. Still dazed and confused, trying to remember where i was. Half expecting to find that frightful scene surrounding me. I was helpless as everything ran rings around me, moving in slow motion. My breathing was shallow and fast. Pins and needles had crept their way deep into my fingers and toes. Inch by inch it moved further up into my limbs. The feeling in them was quickly disappearing. Turning numb and tingly.

He rushed over to the sink, taking a glass from the empty table. Putting the tap on full, he waited for the water to run cold enough for me to drink, instead of luke warm. I gratefully accepted and sipped the cool liquid. Taking care not to spill any on myself.

Tucking a fallen strand of hair back behind my ear, he stroked a finger across my wet cheek. Wiping away the tears that had now come to a stop at the corners of my nose. " You do remember where you are, don't you. "

" Sure, i do. Just took me a minute to make sense of things, that's all, " i nodded.

He placed both hand's on either side of my face. His soothing voice appeared to ease off my rapid pulse, calming my nerves. But the warm sweat was beginning to make my back itch. I tried twisting my arm up behind me, but i couldn't reach. I grunted in annoyance, grinding my teeth together. Marcus had watched what i was trying to do, and stepped behind the chair. His big hand's scratched the itch away within seconds.Sighing in pleasure, i relaxed back into the chair.

" Another one?, " he asked. It wasn't a question, but a statment of what he already knew. My body tensed at the reminder of this recent dream.

" There only dreams, remember that.I know it's hard but try not dwell on them too much," he reassured me.I knew he meant well, but nothing he said would make me forget what i dream every night.He just didn't know what it was like to have them rule your life, no-one did.

" No, this one was different.I cant explain it.But now my mum is in them.She was trying to tell me something.I got the impression it was important, but she disappeared before she got the chance, morphing into this hideous creature.There was this man too.His eye's, they seemed so familiar, " shaking my head in frustration, i rushed the words out, still short of breath.

" What about his eye's?, " he asked, all of a sudden curious.

" They were freaky.Two different colour's.Something about them gave me the shiver's, and he had this deep red scar running across his forehead, " i shown him, moving my finger across my own forehead.

He suddenly seemed spooked, the colour draining from his features." Are you ok ?.You don't look too good ," i was taken aback by his reaction.

" Sure.I'm fine.Probably just something i ate not agreeing with me that's all.I'll be alright ," he laughed it off, still looking quite pale but quickly changed the subject. " Your mum is looking perky today ".

" She is isn't she, " i agreed.Totally forgetting what i was about to ask him.Now standing, i lent over her and kissed her smooth forehead, whispering a soft goodbye into her ear.I didn't know if she heard me, but it made me feel better when i talked to her.Even if it always was a one way conversation.

The mixture of the florescent lights and the stress was beginning to cause me a migraine.My head pulsed and my eye's throbbed.I needed a dark room to go hide in, to get rid of this deep ache hiding behind them.Each step i took added more pressure to my head.Like sharp knifes sliced deeper, causing me to hold my temples in agony.I stopped and took the pain killers that Marcus held out in his palm, gulping them down heavily.He always carried a pack with him.You never know when you will need them.Well...that was his motto anyway.The bottled water that he had got from the vending machine blissfully quenched my first, re-hydrating my palate and turning my cracked lip's moist again.

It seemed to take an eternity before we made our way down the bending corridors.When we finally did reach the main entrance, i slowly closed my eye's and breathed in the fresh air.The darkness of the sky didn't seem to help as much as i first thought it would.But maybe once the tablets had time to kick in it would make all the difference." I couldn't go any further until this headache goes ," i firmly told myself, taking another long swig of the bottled water that i clutched between my fingers.

I hadn't seen Marcus wonder off in- front of me.I only heard him yell from across the road, and i was surprised to find that he had already searched out somewhere to sit.He waved me over to a " not so comfy looking black bench ", which he was already seated on.Making my way over, i plonked myself down next to him.Placing my elbows on my knees, i rubbed my bulging eye's, and massaged my temples.That dull throb had begun to ease off slightly, not much though.As i lent back and looked up into the starry sky, it dawned on me for the first time since we left the hospital that night had seemed to have fallen fast.Realising that i must have been asleep for much longer than i thought.

Now mostly pain free, i thought about other things, like.. my friends weird reaction to the man in my dream.It played out over and over in my mind.I wasn't coming to any simple conclusion, and in the end i had to tell myself i was thinking too much into it, and tried to push the thought to the back of my mind.It was no use obsessing over it, he would just tell me he was fine.

He walked next to me, never leaving my side.As if i was going to disappear into a puff of smoke at any moment.I mean..it's not like he could do anything to help even if that did happen.Which was highly unlikely anyway.He seemed uneasy about something.His shoulders looked tense the whole time.His constant worry was starting to annoy me.My mind felt like a construction site.I needed some space alone, some time to sort myself out. " I wish he would talk to me, " i told myself, staring straight ahead.

I know he cared a great deal for me, but he was much too clingy at times, and i never knew why.Maybe i just needed a good night's sleep.I hadn't had one of them in a long time.Away from the stress of everything, but i could never fully switch off.Not while my mother lay comatosed at the hospital.I wish i could have her back home with me, where i could take care of her myself.But the doctors stressed how important it was to keep her there where they could monitor her.They didn't know what her health was going to be like if, no, when she woke up.She would wake up.I wish that day would come soon.