The Swords of Memory: Second Chances

Chapter 26

Zara woke up with a throbbing in her chest. It quickly faded. She caught her breath and tried to go back to sleep. It wouldn't come. Her friends were at the mercy of Aaron and she was trapped in her world. She thought that she might just be too wired to sleep and took her phone from the bedside table. She called Warren. "Hey, I need your help. Can you come to my window?" He said of course and ended the call, probably throwing on some cloths and running to his truck to drive to her house. Zara went and got a glass of water and when she came back Veronica was sitting on her bed. "Zara, are you alright? You are never up this early." Zara looked at the time and saw that it was five thirty in the morning.

"No, just leave me alone Veronica. I need to get back to sleep." Zara said. She knew she wouldn't be able to fall back to sleep but she didn't want to deal with her sister right now. Zara could tell that Veronica was preparing for a long and emotional sister bonding conversation and she just didn't have time for something like that. Warren was on his way over and hopefully he would be able to get Zara to sleep again. She was hoping to avoid using drugs to fall asleep but If it came to it she would. Her friends were in a life and death situation. Zara had hoped that if Aaron ever caught them again he would keep Eli alive because he needed a boy with a power to access the sword of knowledge but Aaron had a power of his own. Eli was useless to him.

"I'm not going to let you shut me out Zara." Veronica said quietly. "Not again." Zara suddenly realized that she had been the closest with Veronica after the accident than she had since they were little. That was not a good thing considering how little they had actually talked since the accident. Zara promised herself that they would talk.

"I'm not trying to shut you out, Veronica. I just need to be alone. We can talk, for hours if you want, just not now."

"Don't you realize that there will never be a good time? I am your sister and I'm exerting my rights. We will talk. We will eat ice cream and chocolate. And you will like it."

"Veronica I don't think this is the best time..."

"I'll go get the ice cream and chocolate. You have until I get back to get ready to talk." Veronica got off Zara's bed and left the room, closing the door behind her. Zara put her face into her hands. Eli and Daphne were in trouble in the portal game and now Veronica was dead set on sisterly bonding. There was just too much. Zara was even more stressed out than when she had disappeared and left Eli with the villagers. Then she had been reasonably sure that he would be alive when she came back. Now there was a good chance that he would be dead. She looked at herself in the mirror on her closet door and saw her blond hair and bloodshot eyes looking back at her. She was starting to regret the hair color change. Blond screamed too happy to her and in all reality, she had very little to be happy about. She was about ready to take scissors to her hair when there was a knock at her window. It was Warren. She quickly opened it and let him in.

"Warren..." She said, on the verge of tears. Without another word he knew what she needed more than anything else. He pulled her into a deep hug and held her. His arms pulled tight and Zara instantly felt safe. Warren had always been able to make her feel safe. If anyone could help her sleep it would be him. At the thought of sleep she suddenly felt on nerve again. She needed to sleep to help Eli. Zara was about to tell Warren what had happened when the door opened and Veronica took a step into the room. Zara pulled away from Warren and they faced Veronica.

"Oh. That's why now wasn't a good time." Veronica said. It was clear she saw the open window and Warren was standing out in the open, impossible to miss. Zara had been on the verge of tears but the sudden distraction composed her.

"Veronica, it's not what it looks like. Warren is just here..."

"You don't have to explain to me, Zara. Not now anyway. I'll just go put these away and we can talk in the morning."