The Story of the Wild Ones

Chapter 15

Andy POV

I took Willow's hand and she led me back to our hut. I lied down on my mat, which was close by hers, and drifted rather quickly into a disturbing sleep.

I was standing in front of the FEAR building. I heard shouts from inside, and jumped back as people began flooding out. Their faces were a blur, and my eyes widened as I recognized my own face, as well as Ashley's, Jinxx's, CC's, Willow's and Jake's. I called out for them, but they didn't hear me, everyone just continued to race up the hill, towards the ruins.

I watched them leave, smiling to myself at what the Legion of the Black accomplished, when I saw a FEAR shadow warrior race out of the building, glaring at the retreating group. I watched in horror as someone stumbled and fell, and the shadow raced up to them. The Legion of the Black member flipped around, and I let out a scream of terror.

It was Ellie. I'm witnessing her death.

The shadow approached her, and she held up a pendant with the Legion of the Black star on it. The shadow knocked it out of her hand, and approached her slowly. She scrambled on all fours to get back, but she wasn't fast enough. I shut my eyes as I heard the gut wrenching sound of the staff piercing her small body, along with a soft gurgling. When I was certain the shadow had left, I opened my eyes to see my conclusion was wrong.

The shadow stared down at Ellie, watching her die before turning to me. I turned around to see if someone was behind me, but no one was. The shadow must be seeing ME.

I was confused when the shadow reached up and grabbed hold of it's mask. "You're stupid, Andy," it said in a raspy voice. I watched as the shadow pulled off it's mask, and I almost let out another scream of terror.

The FEAR shadow warrior was me.

"You could have stopped this, Andy. You could have prevented her death," the shadow- the other me- said. My own blue eyes stared intently into mine, and I took a step back, slightly overwhelmed. "It was you who killed her, Andy," the shadow repeated, over and over, taking small but sure steps towards me. I lashed out at it, but my hand went right through it. It chuckled. "You can't hurt yourself, Andy. But you can hurt one of the people that means the most to you," it taunted.

I crouched down, slapping my hands over my ears. "Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!!!" I screamed, shutting my eyes tightly.

I stayed in that position for what felt like forever, before I heard a soft voice call my name. I looked up and saw someone, I didn't know who, covered in face paint wearing a black robe. I stood up and put my hands down, interested in the new person. "Who are you?" I asked. The person smiled warmly at me. "That doesn't matter. But Andy, you need to wake up," she said softly. I looked at her, confused. "I don't-" I started, but she grabbed my shoulders and started shaking me. "Andy!! Wake up!! Wake up!!!" she yelled. I shut my eyes, trying to block her out.

I opened them again to see Willow shaking me awake. "Andy?" she asked, a look of concern in her eyes. "What?" I asked groggily. "Andy, you were screaming in your sleep. Are you okay?" she asked. "Yeah, I'm fine," I said. I felt her thumb across my cheek, and realized I was probably crying. I mentally cursed myself for this, I didn't want her, or anyone else, worrying about me and my mental stability.

"Andy...did you have a dream about her?" Willow asked gently. I didn't trust my voice enough to answer, so I bit my lip and nodded, hoping she'd be able to see it in the dark.

"Andy..." she cooed, wrapping her arms around me. Normally I would have pushed her off, or made some witty joke, but I was too tired and upset to do much else than hug her back. "Do you want to tell me about it?" she asked. I considered this for a minute, and before I knew it, words began spilling out of my mouth and I was in tears again by the end of it. Not once had she let me out of her comforting arms, and I was secretly grateful. "Andy, you know you couldn't have prevented her from coming," she said gently. "I just feel like there's more I could have done," I whispered. "You did all you could," she replied quietly. I nodded and sighed. "Just calm down and go back to sleep. It's been a long, stressful and emotional day. Your head will be clearer in the morning," she said, gently pushing me back down and pressing a soft kiss to my temple. I shut my eyes and drifted back into a dreamless sleep.

**Author's note**

Dammit I was just a few minutes too late in uploading for yesterday. Technically it's tomorrow already. I'm not making sense haha I'm sorry. But sorry for not uploading (I guess yesterday) but I was really  busy because spring break and plans and yeah. Because I'm that cool, ya know? No, because I'm really not. This isn't making any sense anymore, I just wanted to apologize for skipping days in uploading. Love you all :)