"John?"
I rubbed my eyes and sat up, scratching my head and looking at Alexander.
"C'mon. It's past ten. Herc fixed your phone."
The room seemed different when I stood up. The boxes I'd left there were folded and taped shut, the closet door open, the closet itself empty.
No.
"Who packed this up?"
"I did. Why?"
No. No. No.
"You weren't supposed to," I growled. The damned rock was back in my throat again. I didn't know what to say or why I felt way too hot all of a sudden or why I punched Alex as hard as I could or why I was on top of him and holding him down.
Whatever he said sounded like a dull buzz in my ears and I hit him again. A scream tore from my throat, but I couldn't control a thing I was doing.
Someone lifted me off of Alex, holding me tight against them, their arms too strong to struggle out of.
"John, easy... easy, calm down, it's okay. It's okay."
I still tried to break free anyway, but my entire body froze and then went limp, failing me altogether.
"You're okay," they repeated. "Take it easy, just like this. Just breathe. Stop holding your breath and relax."
I didn't notice that I had been holding my breath, and when I finally did take one, it burned my throat. It wasn't rage that made me cry, but pain that twisted my chest up and tightened my stomach and made my heart race.
"Shh... shh, it's okay..."
We were kneeling on the floor now, and I finally just tried to stop fighting them off. I wasn't going to win.
They ran their hands through my hair, keeping one arm around me, and sleep started to pull me under again.
That's really all I wanted to do, anyway.
YOU ARE READING
Nausea: Sequel to Warcrossed
FanfictionAfter the death of his boyfriend, brother, and a little girl, John seeks to find answers as to why they died from using something completely harmless to everyone else. With the help of a small group of people, he works through his grief and tries to...
