White Thorn | On Hold

Nightmares

Sleepy eyes cracked open, staring up at the quiet night sky – a sharp contrast to the room she was in. It was still the same rundown place she'd been in before she'd closed her eyes, only now it was missing the ceiling as well as one or two walls. Deep gouges could be seen in the remaining ones that were somehow still standing, proof that something had happened. Something bad.

Thankfully, the only blood in the room seemed to belong all to her, seeing as how it was all centred around the altar.

"Thank Vasilith..." She whispered, sinking to her knees. Sharp ears twitched as she knelt on the cold tile, catching the sound of footsteps and voices approaching.

"You're really that worried?" An unfamiliar voice rang out in the still air. "Just because someone nicked the information on the five power spots, you're dragging all of us out here?"

"A lot of noise was heard coming from this area..." Rian spoke, folding his arms as the small derelict church came into view. "So I'd rather check and have my mind at ease than be losing sleep over everything."

"Me neither."

The third voice made Arya scramble to her feet, only to faceplant the tile seconds later. Her legs and arms were utterly spent, her body seemingly not having an ounce of strength left after the events of that day. Which wasn't exactly great, seeing as how a certain blonde-haired Commander of the Disciplinary Committee was headed her way.

"Let's just get this over with." Another Commander from the Disciplinary Committee spoke, the sound of feet crunching against the dry foliage growing louder by the second. "I want to go back to sleep."

"It all sounds quiet." A fifth person spoke.

"Now, yes... but that doesn't mean-" Rian abruptly cut off, staring in through the archway, his eyes widening when he saw the state of the demolished church. Evidently, his eyesight was incredible, even in the darkness, seeing as how he soon spotted the girl splayed out on the ground. "Seems like my suspicions were correct."

"Wait, Ri!"

A torch clicked on, bathing the area in light, but it soon slipped out of the blonde's grasp as he spotted the tangle mess of black hair covering the features he knew so well. "Arya!" Flynn was at her side in seconds, panic written across his face when she didn't respond.

"She's got a pulse." Rian sighed, pulling a penlight out of his pocket, shining it over the girl, searching for any sort of wound. There was none, though, despite her bloodied torn up clothing, but the Head of Riverdale's Hospital wasn't surprised. It was already proven that Arya healed incredibly quickly, and it also seemed to apply to larger wounds as well as minor cuts and grazes. "Seems like she's just unconscious... but we probably ought to get her to the hospital."

Flynn snorted, relaxing ever so slightly. "We should probably just get her a room there, and move all her stuff in. She practically lives in the hospital, anyway." He smiled, staring down at her fondly, carefully lifting her into his arms. "Let's go."

***

"We'll need to question the girl when she wakes up." An unfamiliar voice rang out, cutting through the darkness of her mind, the view that slowly came into view oddly distant. "Tonight was only the beginning and you know it." The man continued, having spied the expression on Rian's face. "Unless we find the culprit, the situation will only become worse."

"It's not like you've already got someone in mind..." He scowled, glaring at the brunette standing opposite him.

"We can't just accost her without a good reason." Another unfamiliar voice sounded. "The Light Houses have already warned us that even the smallest incident could trigger her memories... and you know what could happen then..."

"Give the kid a bit of time after she wakes up." Rian sighed deeply. "She'll probably be a bit disoriented after what happened out there."

"Clearly nothing happened – otherwise she'd be injured."

"Arya Cross is a special case." He folded his arms, refusing to divulge any more information than that. "Now shut up. She's waking up."

"How can you even tell?"

"Her breathing." He said, watching as the girl's green eyes fluttered open.

Arya sat bolt upright, breathing heavily while her gaze searched the room, soon finding the three people in her hospital room. "Who-" Her voice cracked. "Who are you?" She turned to the two strangers.

"The name's Loxian, kiddo." The brunette nodded at her curtly.

Blondie tilted his head. "Alex."

"Now-"

"Let her catch her breath." Rian cut him off, wandering over to her side. "Are you in any pain anywhere? Any injuries I could've missed?"

"Nope, and nope." She said, stretching her arms out in front of her, wincing as images from her thorn-filled nightmare slipped back into her thoughts like nasty little snakes.

"Liar."

"Just a headache." She lied, waving off his concern. He didn't need to know about her bloody dreams full of her green thorns. Nobody did. She was gone, and never coming back.

"Well, I suppose we can begin then." Loxian grinned, taking a seat by her bedside, notepad in hand. "So, can you give me a full account of what happened yesterday after you lost our dear sweet Commander Flynn?"