Conquer

Chapter 21:

When I exited the shower, I listened to the water running from other showers. There were no mirrors in the bathroom, which, didn't surprise me.

Walking out of the bathroom, four girls lied asleep in bed already. I assumed that they showered already, or were waiting until further in the morning.

I made my way back to my bed, where my shoes still lied at the end. I placed the shoes on the ground. Then, I lied down. A sudden relief to be comfortable washed over me. I was comfortable.

I slid my legs underneath the thin, blue blanket that rested on the top. My head lied in the middle of the pillow.

Although I was in jeans and a t-shirt, I found myself to be extremely comfortable. I rolled to my side, closing my eyes. And, at last, I allowed sleep to take over. Then, I dreamed.

Max, Jed and Faye were all sitting in front of me, their knees on the floor. A bright light shown on me, making them look like shadows. But I knew it was them. Each one of them had tape on their mouths and tears in their eyes. And then I noticed that I had the same.

They looked beaten and bruised. Blood came from Jed's nose. Faye's eye was swollen shut. And Max had a gash in the side of his head, allowing blood to cover him.

Suddenly, out of pure darkness, Dr. Hugo appeared behind them. She slowy walked to Jed, grabbing him by his dark hair. She pulled out a gun, placing it to the backside of his head. She began speaking the horrific words that I had forgotten about.

"Remember, if you look in the face of evil, evil's going to look right back at you."

I echoed... No, it repeated.

Within the seconds, she shot Jed. I tried to scream, to reach out for him. But I couldn't.

Dr. Hugo then walked to Faye. I knew what she was going to do before she had the chance to do it.

"Remember, if you look in the face of evil, evil's going to look right back at you."

And then Faye was dead on the floor, flooding the floor with blood. I struggled to move towards her, but it was as if someone held me back. I tried screaming, but nothing came out. I felt like gagging, throwing up at the sight of the dead bodies.

Then she walked to Max. He had fear and tears covering his entire face. He was screaming horrificly through the tape. I tried to make out his words but they were too muffled. I tried to scream again, no results.

"Remember, if you look-"

With all of my strength, I finally let out a piercing scream.

"NO!" I yelled. My scream pierced the air and repeated. Dr. Hugo looked at me with fear. However, that didn't stop her. Before I knew it, Max lied dead on the floor.

I woke up screaming. It was hard to tell what it was that I was screaming, but I knew I was. I was sweating and shaking incredibly. I had kicked the blanket of the bed and the pillow was at my feet. I looked around to see someone standing over me, concern filling their eyes.

Max.

"Jordyn, are you all right?" he asked after a moment. "I heard you yelling. Damn, I thought something happened to you!" he half whispered, half shouted.

I look around me, the girls in the room were gathered around. The guys stood behind them. I felt embarrassed. I sat up, kicking my legs over the side of the bed. I placed my hands to my tired eyes and rubbed them.

"Yeah... Um, bad dream... I'm sorry guys," was the only thing I could manage. I let out a short cough.

Everyone lessened the tension in their bodies. Slowly they scattered, lying back in their beds or returning to them. However, Max stayed next to me. He looked different... He looked clean. Which only made his features stand out even more. Max's features were bold and even... attractive.

"Wish we weren't separated..." Max said in a whisper. I could only nod in agreement. I slowly looked at my watch, it was 6:23 in the morning. I let out an exhausted sigh.

"Go back to sleep, try to rest. Don't strain yourself, okay? Goodnight," Max said.

Before I could return his goodnight, he kissed my forehead. He then turned to leave and walked away. I stunned, in awe and I wasn't even sure why. Something in me wanted to call out for him, ask him to stay. But I was too shocked. Something unfamiliar radiated from the spot on my forehead where he'd kissed me.

I could only manage to lie back down. I hadn't noticed it before, but the lights remained on; someone must have never turned them off or they never turned off. I rolled onto my right side, facing my back to the female Conquerors.

Impossibly, I drifted back to sleep, with the thought of Max radiating in my mind.