Meant to be

Chapter 3

Sophie's Pov

I hadn't noticed the pain on my wrist until after I got back from school. Somehow the distractions of work, stress, friends, and more work seemed to keep my mind off of the burning needles stabbing into my skin. After Keefe brought me to the Healing Center he disappeared for the rest of the day. Fitz was very worried once he saw the white cloth around my arm. I couldn't help my fluttering heart whenever he looked at me with such worry. I kept telling him that I was fine, but no matter how many times I protested he always ended up carrying my books to class.

I've had a crush on Fitz ever since I met him. His father Alden helped me find my adoptive parents Grady and Edaline. I stayed with them for a while after my parents and sister died, they were good family friends. Not to mention the Vacker's are one of the most important families in this town. Their ancestors practically created Foxfire high, they had some help, but they still put the most money into creating this prestigious school.

"Sophie! Are you ready for this weekend?" Biana squeals into my ear startling me.

I jump and gasp, "Bee! I told you not to do that! You know that if you do that too often my panic attacks could come back."

"Sorry," she giggles not so guilty. "So are you excited for Saturday? I can't believe you are going to get your soulmate mark!"

I grab her hands absorbing some of her excitement, "Of course I just hope it's not something stupid like; a skull, or a skateboard, or something like that."

Biana scrunches up her nose in disgust, "Oh gosh, I didn't even think about that. I'm sure it will be fine though."

Marella comes running up to us dragging Linh behind her. The pixie-like girl has plain fear plastered on her face.

"Oh my god! Marella are you ok? Who died?!" I question feeling my panic rising.

"It's Dex, come on guys. I found him unconscious in his dorm." she cries.

My breathing starts speeding up, becoming shallow and short. Linh notices my state remembering the crucial panic attacks and flashbacks I would have when I first moved here. Linh rushes over to me as my vision starts to get fuzzy and yellow. I hear voices and focus on the touch of the sweet girl's hands wrapped around my own telling me to breathe slowly. My heart slows back to a steady pace as my vision clears and breath becomes less rapped. I stand up ignoring the protests by my friends and sprint in the direction of my best friend's dorm room. The hallways and students blur past me as I make my way up the stairs. I fumble with my key chain trying to pick out the spare key Dex had given me, my shaky hands shove the key into the lock and turn it throwing the door wide open to see an unconscious red-headed boy laying on the floor.

"Dex. Dex? Come on wake up please wake up!" I beg and place my finger underneath his nose to feel a soft breath. "Oh, thank god!"

"Sophie! We need to get him to Elwin!" Linh shouts from down the hall.

"I can't lift him! Can one of you go get him?" I yell back I turn back to my best friend watching as his face pales and his chest rises slower and slower. "Come on Dex! Stay with me I can't do this without you."

After a few minutes, a panicked looking Elwin rushes into the room with a bag of supplies.

"It doesn't look like he was hurt in any way other than falling, so no one could have knocked him out which is good news," Elwin explains.

"But then what happened?" Biana asks.

Elwin shrugs, "I'm not sure we will have to ask him when he wakes up. Until then Marella will you get some ice cold water and a washcloth, Biana will you grab a glass of water for when he wakes up? Oh and one for Sophie too! Linh, I need you to help me with my check-up. And Sophie? You need to get back to your dorm and rest. I can tell you had a panic attack. You need to be more careful."

I nod my head and take a seat. Biana walks over to me with a tall glass of water. I drink it slowly letting the cold liquid cool me down. My best friend sits next to me wrapping her arm around me and rubs my back. I know that I shouldn't be the one being comforted and we should all be focusing on Dex, but I'm too tired to push her away. I stare at my cousin/best friend laying on the floor, pale, yet still strong as ever. Dex has never had any health problems or any dizzy spells ever, I don't understand how he could have just passed out in the middle of his dorm room, without any provocative or fear. As soon as he wakes up no matter what state the red-head is in I am going to question him until he breaks. We have been a bit distant lately, maybe if I had focused more on him I could've prevented this. I'm pulled out of my thoughts when I hear a moan come out from Dex and see his eyes flutter open.

"Elwin!" I shout rushing over to Dex.

"Sophie? What happened? Why are you and Elwin here?" Dex asks still trying to clear the fogginess from his brain.

Elwin nudges Sophie out of the way, "Nope, no info until I do another check-up. You can discuss what happened after I make sure that you don't have any severe damage to your head."

The boy nods wincing at the simple motion. Elwin pulls out a flashlight from his medical bag and tells Dex to follow the light with his eyes. After a few more tests Elwin tells us that we can talk although he has to run some sort of brain wave tests on him to test some neurological memory thing.

"So," I start. "Do you remember anything? What made you pass out?"

"I um, I was working on a new gadget that is supposed to help with the connection in the dorm when I heard a crash out here in the living room. I called for Tam because he said that he would be back around this time. When no one answered I came out here to see who it was, I mean you all have the key to here so I wasn't sure if it was maybe you or Marella."

I nod urging him to continue his story.

He takes a deep breath, "There was this person in the corner of the room staring at the wall, they turned to me and ran. I had no idea who it was so I was just about to go find you two when something just flipped. It felt like I was being controlled, my body just shut down. Now here we are."

"Did you get a good look at who the person was?" I ask.

Dex shakes his head, "They were wearing this black trench coat with a hood over their head, covering their eyes."

"What do you mean you just shut down?" I pry.

"I'm not really sure how to explain it. All I know is that whoever was here did something to me."

Wow! Lots of stuff going on in this chapter. I would love feedback if you have any, whether its positive, or things that I could work on! Thank you so much for reading! Stay happy healthy and safe! Please vote, comment, and share!

-S0k33fe (Lacy)