The Swords of Memory: Second Chances

Chapter 36

Zara woke up. She tried to get out from under the covers but they were soaked and they stuck to her, making it difficult to get them off of her. Her panic over Eli's safety wasn't helping either. She was worried about what was happening to him. If Hayden was right the entire portal game was falling apart and that meant that Eli could fall into an endless abys. Not to mention he had disappeared like Zara had for the first time, even if it was only a second. Did that mean that he was waking up? She had to get to the hospital and find out.

She finally managed to get free and climbed out of bed. That's when she heard Veronica and Warren outside her door. "No mom. You can't go in. Zara woke up earlier and told me that she didn't want any pizza. She stayed up late watching Netflix and is just catching up on some sleep."

"Then what are you doing here Warren? I don't think that Zara would appreciate you being here. Last I heard she was mad at you." Zara heard her mom say.

"We made up. It was just a misunderstanding." Warren said.

"Fine. I really don't mind that you're here, Warren, but I haven't seen Zara all day. And it isn't healthy to sleep the day away. She won't sleep a wink tonight if she doesn't get up soon. I'm going in to see her." Zara took a moment to look down and realized what had made her sheets so wet and sticky. It was blood. And she was covered in it. She franticly felt her chest for the wound but thankfully it was gone. Realizing that she would never be able to explain the blood, she rushed to hide it. She locked the door and then rushed to hide the sheets. She ripped them off the bed and shoved them under it. The comforter had been thrown off at some point while she had been sleeping and had escaped being covered in blood. She used it to cover the bed and had just finished when she heard the door handle jiggle.

"Why is the door locked Veronica?" Zara's mom demanded.

"Mom? Is that you out there?" Zara called out, hoping to buy herself some precious seconds to get rid of her bloody cloths. She grabbed her bath robe from the back of the door and covered herself with it. The bloody clothes were covered but she still had blood on her body and she would need to clean it off before she changed, and she wouldn't be able to just stay in the robe.

"Zara, you're awake. Why is the door locked?" There was a moment of silence and then Zara opened the door. She was in her robe.

"I was just getting ready to shower and I didn't want Warren to come in by accident." Zara's mom visibly relaxed. It was obvious that she had thought something was wrong. Now her fears were alleviated.

"There's pizza downstairs when you're done. Veronica said you wanted cheese."

"Veronica actually promised to take me and Warren to a movie tonight." Zara said. "I was just going to shower real quick and then we were going to head out." Veronica and Warren were visibly confused but luckily her mom was busy looking at her and not them. Zara went into the bathroom and turned on the shower. She cleaned up as quickly as she could and then put the robe back on. While she was cleaning, she found a small glowing pebble and a shard of iron stuck in her chest. If she had had any doubt that the portal game was real, it was gone then. She rushed back to her room to change. Veronica and Warren were waiting there for her.

"Warren, get out." He left and Zara got changed.

"What's this about a movie Zara? Why did you lie to mom?" Veronica opened the door and let Warren back in. Zara was dressed in her favorite pair of shorts and a black t-shirt with a yellow smiley face on it.

"I need you to take me to the hospital."

"Zara its late. Visiting hours are almost over." Veronica said. Zara turned to Warren.