Learn To Love Again {COMPLETED}

Chapter 8

Steven's P.O.V

Where sleep comes, dreams follow, and sometimes, those dreams can lead to one of my least favorite things. Nightmares. The kind of stuff that Pitch Black used in that movie Rise of the Guardians. It's no fun for me and due to my past ones about Lapis, I didn't think I could handle any more bad omens. I guess my mind had a different agenda though.

I find myself in a black void with only shadows and darkness to call friends. I turn this way and that, but I find nobody I know. That gives me a temporary sense of relief, giving me hope that this is maybe better than those nightmares. But no, I then hear crying echoing off in the distance, its sound drawing me in like a magnet.

I'm pulled toward this sound, my body as stiff as a board and unable to move. It's scaring me and it's only bound to get worse from here on out. As the sound gets louder and louder, some darkness melts away in front of me to reveal my beloved girlfriend on the ground, sobbing her eyes out. I'm pulled even closer and when I finally stop just a few feet before her, I see what she's crying over.

It's a picture of us, her in my arms smiling while I'm kissing her cheek. I don't recognize the photo though because I don't think it's been taken yet. Spinel then picks it up and mumbles something incoherently. I then lean forward, somehow being able to do that now, and get a better listen.

"H-He's gone....m-m-my love is dead" Spinel cries, holding the unknown photo close to her. This whole thing is scaring me and I can even hear my heartbeat echoing throughout the void. A loud and terrifying roar then replaces it, a scraping sound torturing my ears so much that I want to cover them. I can't though and it gets to the point where I can feel it in my ribcage.

Then it stops.

I feel a presence right in front of me and I'm pretty scared to look up. Still, I do it anyway, and come face to face with a gigantic black-eyed centipede with pink diamonds for pupils. It just stares at me, giving me shivers all down my body. What could it be? It has my eyes, but that can't be me right? Right?!

The monster then growls and looks down at the mourning Spinel, its intent clear. I try and open my mouth to shout a warning, but my lips are frozen shut, increasing the feeling of helplessness inside me. The monster then screeches and slams its mouth down, gobbling up Spinel in one bite. I then hear something that makes my heart skip a beat.

Cracking.

The more that monster chews, the more he cracks Spinel. Then, with one final bite, he shatters her, spitting her remains out onto the ground in front of me. I can't move again but still, a tear finds its way to work down my cheek. My love's shards lay in a messy pile, but upon closer looking, I find that it's not just her shards, but the shards of Peridot, Bismuth, Lapis, Amethyst, Pearl, Ruby, and Sapphire are there too.

I can't imagine a worse feeling than what I'm experiencing right at this moment. I'm allowed to drop to my knees, to take in the failure of how I couldn't save them from this abomination. I then hear a growl and look up with tear-stained cheeks to see the face of the monster right in front of me.

It then rears back, opens it's mouth, and goes to swallow me....

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I shoot up in bed, my jacket soaked with my sweat. I'm breathing and panting so hard someone might assume that I just got done running a marathon. I frantically look down and let out a sigh of relief that my precious Spinel is safe and that no monster with my eyes is here to kill her.

Speaking of my eyes, it had pink diamonds, it's facial features close to mine just altered. No, this can't be! I'm half gem and human, how could I possibly become corrupted? I'm taken from my thoughts, hearing commotion downstairs. I gently sit up, careful not to wake Spinel and sneakily step down the stairs of my room. My feet hit the second to last staircase leading to the living room when I stop.