Oblivion

01

HE COULDN'T BREATHE.

His throat was closing and his body writhed in the sheets, desperately searching for some kind of anchor, to bring him back. To bring them back. His chest rose and fell unsteadily while sweat beaded at the crown of his head. His body was constricting, his lungs failing.

I could have saved them, I could have saved them, please, I'll save them.

"Enzo." 

They're gone, I could've stopped it, they would've been here.

"Enzo!"

If i had only done it, if I weren't such a coward, they -

"Lorenzo, get up!"

He shot straight up, his eyes crazed and his hair disheveled. He looked around the room quickly and fearfully until a pale hand placed itself on his shoulder. His head snapped up to meet eyes with his dear sister sitting on the edge of his bed

"Skye," Lorenzo exhaled, rubbing his hands over his face, "you scared the hell out of me."

"Pretty sure I wasn't the thing that scared you." She responded, offering him a soft smile.

He looked down and let his hands run through his hair, still trying to comprehend that he was no longer stuck in the night terror.

"The boys are too scared to come wake you up, you know." Skye smiled at their stupidity. "Are you okay?"

"Fine," Lorenzo responded, keeping his gaze straight ahead, "I'm fine."

She nodded, not believing him a bit but she decided that it wasn't the best time to push him. Slowly, she got up and threw open his lavender curtains, allowing the sunlight to flood into the dark chamber that was his bedroom. 

"We've got a mission, you'd best get up." Skye said over her shoulder as she left him to his thoughts. 

Lorenzo sat there for a few moments, trying to stray his mind away from the night terror. Eventually, he tossed his legs over the side of the bed and sighed before standing up. He made his way over to the full body mirror in the corner of the room and scanned over his appearance. His bare chest shone in the sunlight, causing his few tattoos to stand out. 

He grabbed a t-shirt from the nearby dresser and slipped it on as he left the room and wandered sleepily into the hallway. He walked past the portraits on the walls before descending the grand marble staircase leading into the main room. A few men were sitting around the room and some raised their heads as he walked by, glaring at him. When he entered the kitchen to meet with the others, the smell of cinnamon overwhelmed his senses as he pulled out a chair, spun it around backwards and sat with his arms rested on the back of the chair.

"Look who decide to join us." Baxter remarked, scooping what looked to be his third cinnamon roll onto his plate.

Lorenzo ignored him and looked to Skye,"What's the mission?"

"Right," she straightened her posture, "the big man says that the healers are low on herbs, and members of the Institute have been spotted in the Astronomy Forest."

"So basically, we get to go grocery shopping and hunting all in the same trip." Ashton sarcastically added from beside Skye as he leaned back and placed his hands behind his head. 

"Yeah, because the boss thinks we're his blasted errand squad." Baxter smirked.

"Bax," Lorenzo began, "shut up." Baxter chuckled and put his hands up in faux surrender. A moment passed as Baxter wrapped up his giggle fit before Lorenzo slammed his palms on the table and abruptly stood up.