Lost

School

*Ari P.O.V.*

I was choking, gasping for air. It felt as though I was drowning, but there was no water in sight. A man, around the age of 50 or 60 stood across from me staring. Ignoring my pleas and cries for help. His grey hair looked unkempt, sticking every which way, but he still looked handsome. His face was like a sculpture, void of emotion.

"Where is it?" He hissed. I groaned.

"I don't know, please stop," I begged, honestly not knowing what he was talking about. He growled at me and the pain increased. Instead of drowning I felt as though I was on fire. My lungs felt like smoke was burning deep inside them. I wanted to cry out, but I couldn't find my voice. My hands were raised to my throat like that could somehow help. I knew these were my last minutes and I was more than likely not going to make it another ten minutes of this torture. I closed my eyes and willed the darkness to come forward, it gladly obliged. But it didn't last long. Hands, and not mine, encircled around my neck, strangling me back into reality. He's not going to let me die peacefully, he's going to torture me until he gets the information that I don't have. I briefly wondered if I should just tell him something random, but I decided against it. He would know if I was lying, and then he would just hurt me worse.

"TELL ME WHERE IT IS!!!" He screamed. Tears were streaking down my face. The pain came full force as he dug his nails into the hollow of my throat. "TELL ME!!!!"

...

I woke up gasping, my throat still stinging, like I had literally been choked to death. I rubbed my hands over my face and massaged my temples. It's not like bad dreams were new to me, they were the new norm. Which is probably why I am always exhausted and I avoid scary movies at all cost. I glanced at my alarm clock. It read 7: 29 a.m. I sat in bed and waited that minute for it to start beeping loudly. I angrily slammed my palm down on the snooze button and hopped out of bed.

I'm going to be starting at Brooke-Stone high today. Great. I finished up my hygiene, went into my new room and stared at the unfamiliar scenery. Surprisingly, I wasn't homesick. I was used to being away from home most of the time, the road was basically my home, so it really didn't matter. I decided against making up my sloppy bed, simply because I didn't feel like it, and went to go find something to put on.

I settled with a plain long sleeve black V neck shirt and some skinny jeans, topped off with a pair of all black Jordan's. I straightened my hair, went downstairs, grabbed a banana and headed out of the door. The first thing I saw was Nick standing on his porch, talking to Edward. It was almost painful to look at. God, they were hot. Before I could look away, Nick caught me staring and winked. I scoffed, though I was embarrassed, and headed to my grandma's car, which was a small Audi. Damn, granny's doing it.

*At School*

The whole reason my Uncle sent me to live with my grandma, was for me not to be the center of attention, to get out of the public eye. Not because it was going to my head, but because it was stressing me out. The nightmares started coming, every night, my head felt like someone was beating it with a hammer most of the time, and I was always sleepy, but because of my creepy dreams, I avoided sleep at all cost.

Walking down the hallway, I started to wonder, not for the first time, if enrolling me in public school was such a bright idea. Everyone was staring at me, whispering. I stopped attempting to make out what they were saying once I heard the name Jai escape from someone's lip. Jesus, I'd heard enough Jai talk to last me a lifetime.

Sighing, I headed to my locker to see none other than Nick Cullen. I glared peevishly at my lock as I attempted to open it, and failed. Nick gently scooted me out of the way and popped my lock.