A Beautiful Reflection From Firework Eyes

Nightmares No Longer Wait For Sleep

Holy frickkkkk Obey by Bring Me The Horizon with YUNGBLUD is really good. Also, the music video has me dying lmfao it's amazing. I didn't know I needed giant gay robots in my life until now. 

---

I don't hear anything from Jack or Alex all day long. What's worse is that I don't hear anything from the guards either. Everything seems completely normal. Neither Mr. Styles nor the guards mention anything about last night. I scan the hallways when I'm taken to and from the Study room, hoping to catch a glimpse of either Alex or Jack, but there's no one.

I stand in the center of my room, running a hand through my hair. What to do now? Kellin's not back yet. I hope he's okay. If I could somehow sneak out of my room, I'd go see if Alex and Jack are okay, but I can't.

"Crap," I mutter. What do I do now? If Jack—no, they wouldn't kill him for this. Probably just lock him in the Dark Room, right? But if he was in there, I would be able to hear it from my room.

I hear a creak and spin around to see Alex sliding out from under my bed.

"What the hell?" I hiss, forgetting for a moment about the microphones. "What are you doing here A—"

Alex waves his hand frantically at me, and I catch myself. "Kellin, you scared me," I cover quickly. "What's going on?" I mouth at Alex. He hands me a piece of paper, and I unfold it.

Jack's really injured, and I think he's going to die. I really need your and Kellin's help. I can unlatch the door for you guys to sneak out. I understand if you can't, but please. I'm so scared he's going to die.

Alex looks at me pleadingly. I pat down my pockets, fishing out a pen I swiped from the Study room before scribbling my answer.

I'll try. I'll talk to Kellin. Jack's gonna be fine.

Alex looks relieved. "Thank you," he mouths at me.

"Be careful." The words slip out before I can stop them. I've seen too many people I care about get injured because of me. If Jack—no. Kellin can save him. But that's only if he agrees to help. I push the thoughts away. Jack is gonna be okay, I tell myself. He's going to be fine.

Alex nods at me before he slips out of the room. I hold my breath, waiting to hear a guard yelling, but there's nothing but silence.

---

I scour my entire room for microphones. I run my hands along the frame of the beds, searching in the cracks and crevices of the walls. There's nothing. Not for the first time, I wish Jaime was here. He would be able to sense where they were. At last, I give up, leaning against the wall as I wait for Kellin to come back. Jack's life could be slipping away slowly

After what seems like forever, the door opens again and Kellin comes in. I don't wait for him to speak before I grab him, pulling him with me. The guard gives me a confused look as I push past him, but I beckon to the towels in my hands, and he seems to understand. Usually, I'd be terrified about lying, but at this point, I really don't care.

"What's going on?" Kellin asks after the door to the bathroom slams shut behind him. I don't respond, just let go of his arm and drop the towels on the bench. He moves toward the other stall, but I grab his hand, pulling him with me toward the first stall.

"What—" Kellin starts to say as I go to the next stall turning on the water at full blast. Cold water spurts out of the faucet, drenching me as I go back to the first one, yanking the curtain shut. I turn on the water here too, hearing Kellin gasp in surprise as the cold water hits him. I try not to focus on the way his wet shirt clings to his body, my face going red. I push the thoughts away, focusing on the task at hand.

"Vic, what's going on?" Kellin asks.

I brush my wet hair out of my face. "It's hard to explain, but our room is bugged."

"Bugged?"

"We're being recorded. No cameras, though," I add quickly.

"Why?" he asks.

I shrug. "I don't know." Kellin's eyes narrow, and I wonder if he can tell I'm lying, so I push on. "Kellin, I need your help."

"With what?" Kellin asks.

"There's a lot I need to tell you, but you know the others that are here? I've been meeting with them. One of them is really injured and he really needs your help."

Kellin nods, processing the information.

"Can you try to heal him?" I plead. "It's my fault he got injured. He came to warn me that the room is bugged. He was punished for it and I wasn't." Kellin's eyes widen, confusion in his gaze.

"I know it's risky and we could get caught," I continue. "And really, I understand if you don't want to do this."

"I will," Kellin says.

"Really?" I breathe out a sigh of relief. "Thank you."

"But Vic," Kellin mutters. "What aren't you telling me? " I flinch at his words. A lot. That's the truth. There's so much I haven't told him, I realize. So much I've been keeping hidden from him.

"Their names are Jack and Alex," I explain. "I first met them when you were injured. They were helping me try to help you with your powers." It's a partial truth, but I can't quite bring myself to tell him the actual one.

"Did you not want me to meet them?" Kellin asks. "I understand if that's true. I was just wondering why." He's shaking slightly, and I want to reach out to him, but I don't think he'd want me to. A small part of me screams inside my mind. Why am I not telling him? It's stupid, isn't it? Trying to protect him in case we fail? So he has deniability if something like this happened and everything went sideways? The whole reason I agreed to help was because of Kellin. It makes no sense that I'm keeping it from him.

"We were planning an escape," I say quietly.

The pain that flashes across Kellin's face is like a stab wound to my chest, and trust me, I know what it feels like. He nods, avoiding my gaze as if he's realized something.

"Wow," he says softly. "I shouldn't have assumed you were different." It honestly would have stung less if he had slapped me instead.

"Kellin—" I start.

"I'll heal him," Kellin interrupts me. "But I don't know if I can trust you anymore."