White Thorn | On Hold

Nightmares

Green eyes stared down at her, twinkling slightly in the pale moonlight. "Arya..." The woman smiled, dragging her up the tree trunk, laughing as the thorns bit into her skin. "I've missed you..."

Arya shot out of bed, her eyes wide as she scanned every inch of the dark hospital ward. "Just a dream..." She mumbled, panting heavily as she rubbed away the sleepy dust clouding her vision. "Please tell me I wasn't screaming..." She sighed, sinking back down into the damp sheets, brushing her limp hair back off her forehead.

Doors slammed open, lights flicked on, and then Rian was by her side. "Arya..." He whispered, staring down at the sheets.

That was when Arya noticed something. The sheets. The clean white sheets were now stained red with blood. Her blood. She blinked. "Huh?"

Rian ripped away the blanket covering her, his eyes narrowing on her bloody arms and legs. His eyes narrowed even more when he spotted no gaping wounds anywhere. There wasn't even a single small scratch on either her arms or legs. He pulled up her shirt, scanning for any injury of any kind, at least until the girl yanked her top back down.

"Whoa..." Flint mumbled, coming up behind him, staring at the blood. "That's one heck of a period..."

Arya slammed her foot into the blonde, sending him flying through the nearest set of doors.

Rian whistled. "Remind me never to annoy you..."

"I don't suppose there's a shower I can use, is there...?"

"This way." Rian said, walking towards another set of doors. "But after you're done, we're going to have a serious conversation about what the hell is going on here..."

"Sure." Arya smiled nervously.

That was why, when Rian came back in an hour, Arya was gone. She was, in fact, already in class, talking to Lexie Crow as she dried her hair off.

"I haven't seen you around at breakfast..." The redhead mumbled, eyeing her curiously.

"I didn't know you were looking for me." Arya said. "Otherwise I'd have told you I was in the hospital."

"Of course I'd be looking for you." Lexie said. "You're the only First Year I've met here who doesn't have their head stuck up their own-"

"Books out." Their teacher strode into the room, closely followed by someone who made Arya promptly hide under the desk.

"Arya..." Rian muttered, grabbing her by the ankles.

"What are you doing?!" She hissed, grabbing a hold of the table legs, scowling when the metal snapped in two.

"Sorry for the interruption." Rian said, throwing the girl over his shoulder as he walked out of the classroom.

"Put me down!" Arya growled, gently slamming her hands into his back.

"I'll do that when we get to my office." He sighed, tightening his grip on her as she squirmed. "Because I have the strangest feeling you'll run off if you're given half a chance."

"Whatever gave you that idea...?"

"Hmm." Rian tilted his head. "Let's see..."

"Rian...?" A very familiar voice echoed around the wide corridor.

Arya's head shot up. "Flynn..." She called. "Help me!"

"Why is Ari-bear over your shoulder, Ri?" The blonde asked, staring at the struggling black-haired girl curiously. "What did she do this time?"

"This time?!" Arya spluttered.

"There are some things that little Miss Cross and I need to discuss in my office." Rian sighed. "Don't worry, Flynn. She won't miss too much of her class... Well, so long as everything goes to plan..."

"At the rate things are going, I'm gonna have to find someone to tutor the girl, aren't I?" Flynn said, folding his arms. "She's already missed a good few days of school, and we're only in the second week..."

Rian nodded. "That'd probably be a good idea." He said, looking pointedly at the guy. "I know a certain Fifth Year who's already finished the entire syllabus... He normally has a lot of free time in the evenings, so he'd probably be an ideal candidate..."

"If you wanted me to do it, you should've just said." Flynn mumbled.

"Do I get a say in this?" Arya asked.

They replied in unison. "No."

"Brilliant..."

"Come by the White Division Headquarters after Defense." Flynn said. "We can see where things go from there."

"Aren't we in the same Defense Class...?"

Flynn snorted. "You wish." He grinned. "I was only in your first few classes to help your instructors teach you the basics... I doubt you could even keep up with me for five minutes, if that."

"You wanna bet?"

"I can tutor you on Defense too, if you want." Flynn smirked. "But that would involve getting up at five am, and I doubt you'd want to do that..."

"Hmm." Arya tilted her head. "That's an hour later than I used to when I was training with the..." She trailed off, just as Jacob's words echoed around her mind.

"The monk's alive."

"Training with who?" He asked curiously.

She shook her head. "Never mind." She said. "But count me in for the training... I could use a sparring partner."

"Very well." Flynn smiled slightly. "But if you change your mind then just let me know." He turned on his heel, walking away. "See you after Defence, Ari-bear."

"Let's go." Rian said, climbing up at set of stairs, navigating the maze of hallways with ease until he reached an ash grey door.

"Are you going to put me down?" She asked, watching as he walked over to his grey sofa, throwing her down gently onto the black cushions.

He took a seat in one of the armchairs opposite. "So... Arya Cross..." He sighed, staring into her green eyes with his startlingly grey ones. "Do you want to tell me what's going on?"

"Not particularly."

"Arya, let's be serious."

"I'd really rather not."

"Arya..."

"Rian."

"Enough." He sighed, standing up, walking over to her side, handing her an eye mask. "Put this on."

"Why?"

"Just do it." He said. "I might be able to help with your... problem... but only if you wear that. Trust me, Ari. Just put it on for five minutes, and keep it on no matter what."

"I've never been great with trust... not after..."

"Trust me, Ari-bear." Pale green eyes met hers. "Nothing will happen."

She shook her head, sighing as the memory vanished like smoke on the wind. "It doesn't matter." She sighed, meeting Rian's curious stare before she pulled the blindfold on. "Do with me what you will."

"Relax, Arya." He said, just as something wrapped around her legs, making her flinch.

"I'm really not sure about this..." She mumbled.

Her hands grabbed a hold of the doorframe, yanking her to a stop as the thorns tightened their grip on her legs. "No." She whispered, terror written across her face as she was pulled out of the room. "Not again!"

Something pricked her skin, pulling her out of the memory. It wasn't the prick of a needle, like she'd expected though. No. She knew this feeling very well. How could she not? It was the prick of a thorn, after all.