Guardians 1: Ashes

Chapter 41: Betrayal

Cory's POV

I sat in my room alone. It was weird being back here, at Kalá. Especially with Rex, and Uni. They were suppose to be dead, but are alive... How things change. I heard a faint knock on my door. I didn't think much of it so I continued thinking.

"Cory." I heard whisper from the other side of the door.
That better be the tailor, I thought to myself and opened the door. It was Shelby.

"Hi." I said closing the door behind her.
"What do you want?"

"You don't have to be rude." She whined then stared at me akwardly. I realised I wasn't wearing my mask so I turned around and walked to my bed then jumped on it shoving my face into a pillow and laid there. I could here Shelby walking around, but had no idea where.

"Are you okay?" She asked.
"Yeah I'm fine." I said muffled.
"Get your head out of the pillow." She said.
"No I'm suffocating myself." I countered.
"Go away." I mumbled.
My eyes then became really heavy and I fell asleep.

In my dream, I was a kid again, with Rex and Uni, Nick still wasn't in the picture, but there was some other kid. He was yelling about seeing a bird. We were in a forest and then I turned around and saw the meadow of Golden Flowers.
A lady and a man were in the meadow with a little boy picking flowers, then they vanished into dust, leaving the boy alone. I turned around in panic and saw Uni, Rex, and the other kid now wearing masks except Uni. Rex and the other kid were covered in blood, Uni was alone on the side line sitting with his head between his knees.
Rex and the other kid began to walk up to me they had something in their hands... knives. And I ran to Uni, trying to get him to move, but he didn't and Rex grabbed him and dragged him away with a cackle.
I ran and ran and saw a lake, and jumped in it. I went threw the lake popping out in a new area, it was dark and damp. There was someone talking to 3 people. A girl with red hair, but it wasn't Shelby. Another with a blue hoody. And then that kid from earlier, the one who screamed about the birds. He was there too. I looked around and noticed we were in some kind of palace, or castle.
"Ashlie, go there now with Tommy. You should make it before nightfall tomorrow, hide out until it's time." The red head, and the other kid wearing the yellow smiley mask nodded.
"Jason." The man said, and the kid wearing the blue hoody stood straighter.
"You will go too, but leading a couple of troops. They need to know that just as them, the kingdom of Prodótis has Guardians as well." The man then looked straight at me, he had dark hair and a beard, he was wearing a silver crown and had piercing blue eyes.
"Looks like we have unwanted guest." He said in a chilling voice, "Tommy, send him else where." The dream then shifted to the Nero kingdom, they were all getting along fine and doing well, the battle was going well for them, Mitch and Ghetto were side by side fighting. The dream went in flashes, and Ghetto did something weird, he tapped the blade of his sword and charged at some guy, leaving Mitch open in the back. When Ghetto charged he didn't touch the person he charged at, instead threw his sword in front of him and the soldier picked it up and ran at Mitch. Mitch turned around fast, knocking the guy to his butt, but his attacker managed to graze Mitch with the sword on the leg. Mitch stabbed the man easily then looked at Ghetto, who looked like he was passed out on the ground. He dragged Ghetto away limping, and the picture faded out. I was back at our kingdom and a massive explosion went off, people screamed and yelled and I saw the red head Ashlie slaughtering the guards, but there was more than one of her, there was 10 clones of her going about, being a one girl army. The smiley mask kid was jumping around excitedly calling out jokes or calling people freaks. Then yelled,
"Welcome to my game of insanity." And from that point on everything looked odd, and things were just floating, and buildings were shifting. Nick was laying on the ground and Uni was shaking him yelling Nick. I was standing but my ears were still ringing from the explosion, I could hear the muffled yelling of,"Cory, Cory, CORY." Then my eyes flew open.

Shelby was leaning over me shaking my shoulders. "Cory are you okay!" She said worried.

"Yeah... I'm fine." I said.

"You had a bad dream didn't you?" She asked and I nodded.

"It felt real though..." I said. "Everyone was in a panic, everything was weird like as if you ate a bad mushroom."

Shelby giggled." A bad mushroom?"

"Yes!" I said annoyed.

Shelby hugged me and we sat there like that for a while, then I realised I still had no mask and sighed.

She stopped hugging me, but held my shoulders with her hands and stared at me.
"What did you dream about this time?"

"Death." I said, "No, just kidding it kept changing I don't know, it was just odd, and felt too real. There was a girl named Ashlie, and she had 10 clones of herself and was killing all the guards. And some kid with a yellow smiley mask named Tommy, he was causing the mushroom effect, there was another named Jason, he well... I don't know he was gonna lead some army to attack Kalá."

Shelby looked at me akwardly then I jumped out of bed,"Mitch needs our help!" And I ran for the door but Shelby grabbed my hand.

"What do you mean, Mitch needs our help?" She asked.

"He-he-he he is poisoned! Ghetto poisoned him!"

"What do you mean Ghetto poisoned him, Ghetto is on our side." Shelby said concerned.

"He isn't he is gonna kill him, they don't know, they don't, they know." I repeated.

Shelby brought me in tight for a hug.
"Hugs are not gonna fix this!" I yelled."We need to go back, Mitch is gonna die, you can heal him!" I yelled," You can save him!"

Shelby looked at me awkwardly. "Cory relax, it's okay we are okay." And she held my hand. I wanted to pull away, she could save Mitch, he was poisoned and I knew it, she could save him, but she wouldn't.

She kissed me gently on the forehead, and I just stared at her glumly."You can save him." I whispered.

"It was just a nightmare, a bad dream. It's okay." She said with a soft smile.

"It's real, I know it is." I whined.

"Go back to bed." She said then laid down on the huddle of blankets and pillows on the floor she had made while I slept. I walked to my bed, but I just stared at it. I noticed on the night stand, there was a vase with a single golden flower in it. I remembered the part of the dream where the lady and man had vanished in the meadow, I knew it was my parents... it had to have been, that is how I knew the dream was real, a memory of some sort, or the future. I grabbed the flower out of the vase and stared at it. Shelby looked at me. I could end it, I thought to myself. Then I dropped the flower out through the window. And stared out the window for a while.

"I miss them." I said and Shelby looked up at me.

"How can I miss someone that I don't remeber." I asked.

"You miss the feeling of being safe, like no one can hurt you, you miss being loved.You miss the feeling your parents gave to you." She said softly.

I sighed. "Does Uni and Rex miss them too?" I asked.
"Probably." Shelby said.
"Well then I shouldn't." I said.
"What is that suppose to mean." She asked.
"I shouldn't miss them, someone needs to not miss them, how can I miss some one I can't remember. Why would I miss a feeling. Uni, Uni watched over me." I said,
"So I shouldn't miss that."

"Uni was taken too, just like your parents though." Shelby said.

"I hate that you are right." I said.

She laughed at me. "You don't need a mask."

"It helps." I said.

"Helps what?" She said.

"Carry the burden." I said. "It helps being able to take lives with out feeling regret." I said.

"If you rely on it, you will become it." She said softly.

"Rex hasn't." I said." Ghetto has." I whispered. But Shelby didn't hear.

I went on my bed and fell asleep again, trying to get a better dream but not being able to.