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Pain

Lexi
"You need to save the fallen. Save us. Save us. Save us. Save us..."
It becomes a chant. It echoes across the barren land I'm standing in. And suddenly I'm running.
It's more like flying really. The barren grey rocks rush past under me. Then they fade into purple and I'm in a forest.
"Save us. Save us. Save us."
The trees stretch up and up. I can't see the tops of them. They reach up into the cloud.
"Save us. Save us. Save us."
And the trees are shaking. Vibrating. Their narrow trunks are rocking around. Which can only mean that something is climbing down towards me. I fly on through the endless forest with the shaking trees.
"Save us, save us, on the day we fell, we forgot, we forgot. Come now. Long have we waited. Save us now. Save us! Save us!" the voices are screaming now.
I get a glimpse of a black shape coming through the clouds on the trees. I'm screaming now. The ground becomes one purple and blue blur.
"Save us! Save us! Save us! Save us!"
And I'm flying above lakes and rivers and waterfalls. Waterfalls. They mean cliffs- and I'm there falling over cliffs taller than I've ever seen, the shapeless blacks are coming after me, I'm screaming, falling, and I look up across the horizon is a black castle and everything everything freezes.
Smoke is still floating up from the once silver fortress into the purple sky. It's where the voices are coming from.
"Save us. Save us. Save us," they whisper hopelessly. "Save. Us."
Then Jax yells and 'save us' repeats millions of time as I'm suspended in the sky. But I'm falling and just before I hit the deep green and purple ground, and the black shadows consume me, there is a sudden silence in which one word is spoken,"Esperer."
........
A drag myself out of that nightmare to find that there is no relief in waking. My head throbs, my lip is bleeding and I can't see straight. I have such a strong sense of urgency to get up- move! Do something! Then I remember what Jax just did to me, and the importance of that dream and it's urgent fades, quickly.
That went way worse than I thought it would. I mean, everyone has heard rumours about Jax's temper but I didn't think it was that bad.
I have a black eye.
I can also feel that it is late. It's dead silent. There aren't even far off voices echoing around. No shoe squeaks or slamming lockers. Nothing. All I can hear is my own breathing. Am I dead?
No. That's stupid. If I was dead, I wouldn't be in pain. I think. I am not dead! It's probably just evening now.
With a grunt I roll over. All is good. Next I try to sit up. This is where everything goes wrong. My head thunders and the world tilts rapidly. I lay back breathing shallowly. Oh gosh. What did Jax do to me when he hit me?
And why the heck would he choose to beat on me without first figuring out the reason why!
The tears come out of no where. Finally, in the silence of the empty hallway, I do what I've wanted to for weeks- ever since I changed into Jax.
I scream. I yell. I swear. And above all, I sob.
When I finally stop. My headache has dulled. I'm also now sitting up, slumped against the wall. That is possibly where some of the yelling came from.
I sit in silence.
Eventually I pull out my phone. It's 6:35. Jax's parents wouldn't be home until 10:45 tonight, because it's Thursday. So, I'm good for a while.
Far off, from the maze of hallways, so quiet I can hardly hear it, comes a drawn out squeal. And a cough. A rugged hacking cough.
Suddenly, the motion sensor lights flick off above me. I scream and leap up. My head pounds. The lights come on. I begin to run.
I'm racing towards the front door when the same squeal comes from an intersecting hallway. I turn, heart thundering, and race back the way I've come.
A softer squeal comes from my right. As I flash past that hallway, I glimpse someone dragging a large object across the ground.
What is happening to my school?
I run, propelled by my fear of dying. Wait. What if I am already dead?
I can't be! I've barely started my life. Jax couldn't- wouldn't- kill me. Would he?
No! He wouldn't! I keep running.
Finally I get to the hallway leading to the back door and begin running down it. I keeping running. And running. Why aren't I getting closer to it?
I blink and the door is a foot away. Literally, it is impossible for a human being to go from a sprint to a stand-still in one foot. So I crash into the door. At full speed.
Why I don't get knocked cold I don't know. I certainly wish I would slip into the arms of blackness that pull me downwards. But I can't. Fear won't let me.
I hear running footsteps approaching fast accompanied by a long, drawn out squeal. It goes on and on and on until it's all I know and I'm screaming, screaming with it. I don't know. I don't know. I'm gonna die die die. My head hurts. There's blood in my eyes. The squeal. Continues. There is shouting. Shouting. Never have I been happier. Wait. Happy? No. More angry. No. Not. Angry. Sadder? Pain. The door opens and hits my side. Yelling. My eye. Purple. Swelling shut. Pain. The squeal. Someone picks me up. Sirens. Pain. So much pain. Not just my head- which feels like it's gonna explode- but in my heart too. Pain.