Superior (A Star Trek: Into Darkness Fanfic)

Return

“Alexandra! Oh my goodness! Honey, are you alright?”

       Alexandra struggled to open her eyes and focus on the blurry face in front of her. “Mom?” she croaked uncertainly, “What’s wrong?”

       “What’s wrong?” her mother cried incredulously, “We thought you were dead!” she then continued frantically, “First we saw the news about the shooting and your father of course wanted to get to your school as soon as possible but the police wouldn’t let anyone in, then we heard that you were in the classroom where it happened, and then no one could find you, and we thought- we thought you were dead!” Her mother began to sob as she wrapped her arms around the girl.

       Alexandra felt memories crashing in about the shooting. The man in the doorway, her teacher being shot, her peers falling dead. But try as she might she couldn’t remember anything that happened after. “How did I get here?” she asked aloud.

       Her mother leaned back, wiping her eyes, “I should be asking you that.”

       Shaking her head Alexandra replied, “I don’t remember anything that happened after…”

       The woman stared at her daughter with concern then jumped up, “Your father, Steven! Steven come here! Alexandra’s here!” Steven was actually her stepfather, but she thought of him as her actual parent.

       The ground shook with the force of his running footsteps and his face lit up as he entered the doorway, “Alexandra!” The next instant the girl was enveloped in her parents’ arms soon to be joined by two pairs of smaller ones as her younger brother and sister, Russell and Courtney.

       It was several minutes later when they all separated. “So, uh,” Alexandra started, “What happens now? I mean,” but she couldn’t finish her thought, it was too difficult.

       “Your schooling will begin again next week,” her mother began, “After the funeral.”

       Nodding, Alexandra sunk back down into her covers.

       “We will leave you to get some rest.”

       She lay there, staring at the ceiling, to overwhelmed to feel anything. Something unknown seemed to loom over her like a dark shadow, and try as she might, Alexandra could not identify what it was.

                *        *        *

       When she finally left the comfort of her room, the first thing Alexandra did was make herself a bowl of cereal. Upon eating the first spoonful, she closed her eyes and savored the crunchy flakes and cold milk. Nothing had ever tasted so good.

       She was awoken from her snack by a knocking sound at the door. Grumpily, she stood up and went to answer it, bowl of cereal still in hand. The knocking persisted as she walked over.

       “I’m coming, I’m coming.” She mumbled. Throwing the door open, she was attacked with hugs.

       “Oh my gosh Alex!”

       “You’re okay!”

       “We were so scared!”

       “Hey guys,” she yelped from underneath their arms, trying to keep her food from spilling, “Watch the cereal.”

       They backed off, allowing Alexandra to rest the bowl on a table and take a deep breath. In front of her was a group of her closest friends and classmates. The girls had been the ones hugging her and were now starting to tear up; the boys were standing awkwardly in the doorway and seemed unsure why they were there.       “So,” Alexandra’s best friend, Aimee began stepping forward, “How have you been, um, feeling?”