Heart of Crystals

5 • The Awakening

•Blaine•

My head felt like it was drowned in a thick and heavy fog. It was as if my brain was poisoned by the mist, leaving me thoughtless.

I heard footsteps near me but found I was relatively unconcerned. It was probably my mother, or maybe I'd fallen asleep somewhere and it was Max or Philip. The thought of my friends seemed to brush some of the fog away. I felt wariness begin to creep along my chest.

Something seemed to be pulling at me- it was an unsettled feeling that wouldn't relent.

I felt a chilling cold against my back that spread to my arms and legs. The sensation served to clear my head more. Where was I? I couldn't recall where I'd fallen asleep. The heaviness of the sleep in my body was weighing me down.

I pushed against the mental block that seemed to be constricting me. I worked to move my fingers- to open my eyes and exit my mind.

With great effort, I felt myself break through. My eyes fluttered open- my head slightly spinning.

Once I could keep my eyes open, I glanced over my surroundings feeling slight panic at the unfamiliarity of it all.

At first all I saw was black, and then I realized it was just incredibly dark. The clouds above me blocked the moon and the stars, providing no natural light either. I was leaning against what seemed to be a small ledge, and there were a couple of vents and solar panels on the square-ish area I was occupying.

I realized with a jolt that I was on a rooftop.

Chills erupted up my arms as a harsh wind brushed over me. It was freezing up here. While I was still wearing my jersey, my pads were gone as was my helmet. I spotted them next to the door to the rooftop, looking as if they were carelessly thrown against the wall. Why was my jersey...

The game.

I was playing a game! It all came back to me like a slap to the face. I remembered getting ready to throw the ball to Philip, and I remembered the lights going out...and then nothing.

How did I get up here?

I made to stand up, but was promptly yanked back down to my previous spot.

I looked down to see my arms were restrained by...red crystals. The crimson gems were sprouted around both my arms, holding them firmly in place against the wall ledge.

My eyes locked onto the crystals. I'd been seeing blue ones all day- ever since that one above Hazel- but red. I hadn't seen red since that night I was attacked or thought I was...

...did that mean I would see-

"Good. You're awake."

My whole body tensed as my heart rate began to quicken.

I turned slowly toward the right, where the source of the voice had come from. She was hard to make out, but I could see the obscure shadow of her figure a few feet away.

She wasn't facing me. Her arms were clasped behind her back as she looked out from the rooftop.

I felt my stomach swoop as I took in the very real person standing just to the right of me. I wasn't on zero sleep and after seeing the blue crystals all day, I knew the girl in front of me wasn't a hallucination at all.

At that moment the girl turned her head toward me. I was pierced by two amber eyes, that seemed to almost glow amongst the darkness that surrounded them.

She turned her whole body to face me, unclasping her hands as she stepped out of the shadows.

Her expression was neutral for the most part, except for her amber orbs that held a calculated coldness.