The White Raven

Once In A Generation

I stand stock-still, something moving in the shadows around me.

"Who's there?" I ask the shadow.

I get no reply.

"Let me go and I wont hurt you!" I shout at the shadow, but they only laugh at me.

"Hurt me," They're voice is glitchy like it has gone through a bad voice changer.

I can see them coming closer, but I can't see their body, only their eyes, and their blood red eyes that are now locked on me, an animal like ownership in them.

"My dear, you should be afraid that I'll hurt you," I can see a hand coming through the darkness, a pale thin hand, "Or that I'll make you hurt someone you love."

The hand grabs my cheeks holding me in place and the red eyes stare into mine. I try to move my feet to get away but I can't lift them they feel as though they are stuck in mud. I look down and the hand lets me, it shrinking away into the darkness again not letting me see the owner. I see a pool of blood spreading out on the floor. I look down at my hand and see the dark red covering it. My breathing picks up and I feel like I'm choking. My body is shaking and I look to my right and then see a body. I can barely bring myself to look close enough at it, but when I do I wish that I hadn't. It's Eric and Izzy. They lay on the ground unmoving, blood matting their hair and their eyes glazed. In the middle of there chest is a bloody hole and when I look at my hand I realize that I'm holding a piece of them. A bloody piece of them. Their hearts. A scream rips out of my throat.

*

I sit up; sweat covering me in a sheet and I scream. Tears roll down my face and my breath catches in my throat and I start to feel like I'm choking. A hand comes to rest on my shoulder and then I see a curtain of blonde hair fall in front of me as Izzy looks into my eyes.

"Whoa there," She puts her hands on my shoulders and I look at her, taking her face in and then I fall into her chest relief washing over me.

"I... I thought you were... I thought I... oh god oh god."

I feel her hands hover above me and then she places them on my back holding me against her.

"Sshhh. Sshhh. You're ok. I'm ok. It was just a dream."

My hands curl up in her shirt as I cry there. I'm only every vulnerable with her and Eric, no one else can see me like this.

I stay there for what seems like hours, Izzy never moving me, just staying still and holding me as I regain my calm. I become more and more aware of my surroundings. I'm in my room on my bed. The curtains are closed but I can see light streaming out from underneath it. I slowly push myself up and shake my head trying to clear the fog. Izzy looks at me her blue eyes gleaming with worry but I just smile at her.

"I'm ok." I say.

I cautiously stand up but then collapse in pain, having forgotten about the aftermath of the test.

"Whoa." Izzy rushes to my side and catches me before I face plant into the ground. Pain spreads all over my body and when I look down at my body I see big red scabs covering every inch, I'm only dressed in my undergarments.

"I'm fine," I give a smile to her again but it's not a assuring as it was before.

I take a heavy breath knowing what I have to do but not wanting to. I sit back down on the bed and look down.

"Apertus," I murmur the word beneath my breath so that she can't hear and then there is a sliding noise as a box reveals itself on the wall. "Izzy can you-"