" Sophie! SOPHIE!" Dex screamed as he ran through Foxfire, no one walked the empty silent halls. He ran and ran down the seemingly endless expanse.
Did it end?
Did it ever end?
As he ran, he heard the screams of his friends. They were in trouble. And he had no idea where they were.
" Dex! Help us!" Biana's voice screamed through the halls. Dex tore his hands through his strawberry blonde hair.
" Biana? Where are you?!" He pleaded as he ran through the halls once more, dashing by doors and turns, his cape flying behind him.
" DEX! HELP!" Sophie screamed. But no matter how much Dex turned corners and ran, he couldn't find them. Tears streamed down the boys face as he screamed for his friends.
It was no use.
He couldn't get to them in time.
" Looking for them?" Fintan cackled as Dex quickly turned around to see his worst nightmare.
Biana, Sophie, Keefe, and the rest of his friends strapped down to machines. Fintan and Lady Gisela walked up to them, opening a box.
The box was hauntingly familiar.
He hoped and prayed that it wasn't what he thought it was.
Dex's eyes widened in horror as Fintan pulled out a crown size jeweled circlet.
No.
It couldn't be.
Dex threw it into the fire. Everblaze burned it. It wasn't possible.
" Mr. Dizznee, I thank you for putting these Ability Restrictors together for me on such short notice." Fintan said as he pulled out more. All suited specifically for his friends. Dex's legs wobbled Sophie Style when he realized what Fintan said.
" I- i didn't make those! I vowed i never would ever make one of those again! I would NEVER hurt my friends!" Dex screamed as he stumbled back from the nightmarish scene that was happening before him. He was restrained by black cloaked figures as he watched in horror when Fintan put a circlet on each of his friends as they screamed their pleas. He cried out as he watched his dear friends sob as they writhed in pain.
" You were too weak to help Dex." Fintan said as he came up to him with a cloth in his hand. Dex sobbed as Fintan raised his cloth to his face.
" Now sleep."
" NO! PLEASE! NOT AGAIN!" Dex screamed as Fintan pressed the cloth over his nose.
*************************************************************************************************************
Dex gasped for air as he woke up.
It was a dream.
A horrible, horrible, dream. Dex let a few tears fall as he caught his breath.
" Hey- everything ok in here? I heard you gasp pretty loud." Lovise said as she popped her head in the room. Dex quickly wiped away his tears and forced a smile.
" Yeah! Just thought I slept in for a moment there." Lovise nodded and went downstairs to help Juline gather the triplets for breakfast. Dex reluctantly trudged out of bed.
He had been having these nightmares ever since he and Sophie got kidnapped.
Every.
Single.
Night.
At first he let his parents and bodyguard know. They tried, they really did. But- it wasn't enough. Eventually Dex just lied and said that the nightmares were gone.
But they weren't.
They were there every night when he closed his eyes. Dex wished he could say that the nightmare he'd just had was the worst one. But it wasn't.
The nightmare he'd just had was one of the more mellower ones.
The strawberry blonde haired boy looked at himself in the mirror. His hair was a wreck. His eyes had noticeable dark circles under them.
He didn't need his friends worrying about him.
So it was a good thing he had a routine for this. A small vial of Fade Facade helped his dark circles, and a hairbrush did wonders. And he made sure that not a single piece of clothing was wrinkled when he put it on. He needed to look like normal. Like the funny, nerdy, sweet, handsome guy he was.
Not like the haunted, anxious, scared boy he really was underneath.
Sometimes Dex wondered if his friends would care if he disappeared.
After all, he was weak.
He couldn't stop Sophie's kidnapping.
She almost faded away because of him.
He tried to help the council, thinking he was helping Sophie.
But he just hurt her instead.
Then he almost lost her again to Brant.
All.
Because.
Of him.
Dex stared at his reflection. A tear escaped as it slid down his freckled cheeks. He quickly wiped it off. It was time to start the day. Be the happy quirky boy everyone thought he was. He slipped on his Foxfire cape.
" I've learned to slam on the brake.
Before I even turn the key.
Before I make the mistake...
Before I lead with the worst of me."
His mind flashed to his nightmares and he gasped. Facing his reflection in his mirror again.
" Give them no reason to stare." He breathed.
" No slipping up if you slip away-
So I got nothing to share.
No, I got nothing to say~" He blinked as he stepped away from the mirror, looking out of his window. Lovise chased the triplets around the front lawn.
" Step out, step out of the sun-
If you keep getting burned.
Step out, step out of the sun-
Because you've learned, because you've learned~
On the outside, always looking in-
Will I ever be more than I've always been?
'Cause I'm tap, tap, tapping on the glass..
I'm waving through a window...
I try to speak, but nobody can hear-
So I wait around for an answer to appear-
While I'm watch, watch, watching people pass..
I'm waving through a window, oh.
Can anybody see, is anybody waving back at me?"
He sang as he waved at his family, but they didn't seem to notice. He saw his reflection once again in his window. He furrowed his brows and set his jaw as he walked away from the light that shined through the windows.
" We start with stars in our eyes.
We start believing that we belong.
But every sun doesn't rise!~
And no one tells you where you went wrong..
Step out, step out of the sun-
If you keep getting burned.
Step out, step out of the sun-
Because you've learned, because you've learned!~
On the outside, always looking in-
Will I ever be more than I've always been?
'Cause I'm tap, tap, tapping on the glass..
Waving through a window!
I try to speak, but nobody can hear-
So I wait around for an answer to appear!
While I'm watch, watch, watching people pass~
Waving through a window, oh...
Can anybody see, is anybody waving?-.."
Dex sang as he picked up one of his gadgets that he hadn't finished.
" When you're falling in a forest and there's nobody around-
Do you ever really crash, or even make a sound?
When you're falling in a forest and there's nobody around!-
Do you ever really crash, or even make a sound?
When you're falling in a forest and there's nobody around-
Do you ever really crash, or even make a sound?
When you're falling in a forest and there's nobody around-
Do you ever really crash, or even make a sound?
Did I even make a sound?
Did I even make a sound?
It's like I never made a sound-
Will I ever make a sound?"
Dex asked himself as he hugged himself. He gritted his teeth in frustration as he threw open his balcony doors, the wind blowing his curtains back as he let the light flood in his room. He sang on the balcony.
" On the outside, always looking in-
Will I ever be more than I've always been?
'Cause I'm tap, tap, tapping on the glass~
Waving through a window!
I try to speak, but nobody can hear-
So I wait around for an answer to appear!-
While I'm watch, watch, watching people pass~
Waving through a window, oh..."
He turned back to his balcony doors, seeing his reflection again.
" Can anybody see, is anybody waving back at me? (oh)...
Is anybody waving?!
Waving, waving, whoa-oh, whoa-oh!~"
He vocalized as he slammed his hands on the balcony stone railing. His eyes leaked with tears as he looked at the sun.
He looked down at his family, heading inside for breakfast.
Dex took a deep breath as he left the balcony. It was just another day.