"Wait.. so you said that Cilia and Spencer were siblings, right? Why do they have different last names?" Owen asked after a few minutes of silence between everyone as we ate.
"They're only half brother and sister. Their parents were never married when they had children, so the last names got all wonky. They're still related, though." I answered softly. Everyone nodded their heads and we fell silent once more until Selina spoke up, pointing at Juli and I,
"So, you two didn't know each other before any of this?" I shook my head,
"Nah. I only saw her in the halls at school. I didn't know her name or anything about her." I replied,
"Who were your friends, anyways?" Edward asked
"Well.. I didn't have many. But I did have Tris, Kevin, Jared and Hannah." I sighed, my thoughts travelling to them. I wonder how they were doing now that I was gone. I was basically the mom friend in our little group. I couldn't help but smile softly to myself and my head jerked up when I heard Juli say my name.
"What is it?" I asked, looking at her for a moment before looking behind myself as she was doing. My heart dropped and my smile disappeared as I saw Cilia and Spencer standing right behind me with fake grins plastered onto their faces. I scowled and turned so I was facing them, cringing slightly when I realised just how far into my personal space Cilia was.
"Well well well.. Long time no see, huh Tabitha? How's your little boy toy, Jared doing?" she cooed and I rolled my eyes,
"One, he's not my boy toy. We're only friends. Tw-" she quickly cut me off,
"Yeah, no. You guys aren't friends now. You stopped being friends as soon as you were thrown in your cell to wait for your execution." I swear I got so angry I could feel my blood begin to boil and I stood up, getting into her face, holding onto the collar of her shirt,
"You know nothing about our friendship, bitch," I hissed and her eyes widened before shoving me off. I clenched my fists and I took a deep breath, "Now... as I was saying.. Two, it's none of your business, and three, I was just about to ask about that little necklace you stole from my house in grade 8. It sure is nice, isn't it?" I could feel myself start to shake from my anger.
"She's actually wearing the necklace now," Spencer spoke up, pointing at the necklace sitting around her neck. It was a small simple golden necklace with an emerald pendant sitting in the middle. I saw her smirk and I rolled my eyes, my anger concentrating into my hands. I could easily throw a fireball at her. Or even scorch her skin off, leave a scar. Let her know I'm not the little girl she used to know who'd let her push me around.
I heard someone call out their names and Cilia giggled, curling some hair around her index finger, "Sorry doll. I have to go. See you around cupcake," she turned around, flipping her hair out to hit my face and strutted away.
I scowled at her as she walked away and fought the urge to run after her and beat her to a bloody pulp. Instead, I turned and sat down again, finishing my food.
Soon, everyone was done eating and we all got up. From the corner of my eye, I saw Raven standing by herself. I let out a soft sigh and walked over to her, "Hey Raven? I'm sorry about earlier," I spoke. She quickly looked up at me and smiled softly. She looked paler than usual and I frowned a bit, "You okay? You look pretty pale.." she chuckled softly and swayed a bit, grabbing onto the side of a table to hold herself up before lifting the side of her dark blue shirt to show a wound in her side, still leaking blood.
"Someone shot me with an arrow. I don't know whe-" the wall behind her exploded and I was thrown back, my back colliding with the edge of a table. I cried out in pain and fell to the ground before slowly getting up again, my ears ringing. I couldn't hear everyone as they ran about, nearly trampling over other hybrids that had fallen over. My gaze locked onto Raven's lifeless body and I let out a cry.
Another explosion happened, this one coming from the training room and I whipped around, trying to find my friends. "Juli! Owen! Edward! Zack! Selina!" I cried out, desperately trying to find them among the few hybrids still in the dining hall. I couldn't find them and was ushered out by a with hybrid, shoving a healing potion into my hands,
"Drink it and run!" he snapped into my ear and I opened it before chugging back the potion, and taking off into a sprint, still looking around for my missing friends.
Debris was falling all around me and I brought my hands up to shield my face, my heart racing as adrenaline rushed through my body. Terror surged through me and I could feel myself starting to hyperventilate. A body collided into my side and I let out a scream, nearly falling to the side until I saw the terrified bloodied face of Juli clinging onto my arm. I pulled her forward and squeezed my eyes shut for a moment before opening them again and shouting to Juli in a panicked voice,
"Where are the others!?"
"I don't know, I lost sight of them after everyone started screaming and running," she gasped out as she ran with me. I bit down hard onto my lip, hoping they were okay.
"Tally!!" a small terrified voice cried out and I gasped, quickly stopping as I looked for the source of the voice. "Tally!" I turned to see Hollie huddled underneath some rubble, blood streaking down her arm and her right pant leg torn, blood leaking down her leg as bone that glistened with blood poked out from her leg and I shoved Juli forward,
"Run, and get the fuck out of here!"
She took off without another word to me.
Without a moment's hesitation, I turned and ran toward where Hollie was and, as gently and quickly as I could, pulled her out from beneath the rubble. She clung onto me as she sobbed into my shoulder and I held her flush against my body, "Hollie, honey. I'm gonna need you to be strong for me, okay?" I mumbled into her ear as calmly as I could, "I need you to try and wrap your legs around me and hold on tight. I'm gonna start running again and I can't have you fall and get even more hurt." I felt her nod against my shoulder and I started running again, this time, not as fast as I was before.
Dust was floating up from the concrete, books, wood, and even sand falling all around me and I coughed, bringing up one hand to cover my mouth as I ran. A large piece of concrete collided with my shoulder and I let out a cry of pain, stumbling to the side as I placed a hand on a crumbling wall to steady myself before pushing off, making the wall collapse to the floor. I grit my teeth and rolled my shoulder to try and dull the pain, taking in deep and ragged breaths. I could feel Hollie tighten her grip on me and I straightened myself. More screams sounded around me and I cringed, maneuvering my way around all the fallen bodies and debris littering the floor.
Fires crackled around me and I coughed, shaking my head as my vision started becoming fuzzy. I need to get us out of here. I can't let Hollie die in here. She's already lost a lot of blood, so I need to get her out of here fast and bandaged up by a doctor soon or she will die. I can't have that happen.
Stones and rocks continued to fall around us, blocking any clear paths. My head was throbbing and my breathing was steadily becoming more ragged as I desperately looked for a way out of this crumbling castle.
From the corner of my eye, I saw a hand quickly shooting out to grab me and I jumped back, letting out a scream as I whipped around to look at who it was. Edward's face stared back at me with wild eyes and he quickly shot out his other hand to grab my shoulder, digging his fingers in before pulling me to the side as a large piece of concrete fell right where I had been standing. My heart was pounding in my chest and I gave him a curt nod, which he quickly returned before grabbing both of my shoulders and turning me to face him,
"Listen," he started, "I'm going to teleport us out of here, but I can't have you panic midway, okay?" I nodded and held on tighter to Hollie as she clung onto my torso.
In an instant, I was nothing. I felt like every particle of my being was just.. Gone. Scattered over the world.
Not a moment later, I was whole again.
Torches were lit all around me and pine trees rose high above us, keeping the moonlight and stars hidden. I took in the faces surrounding me and felt relief wash over me when I saw my little group of friends huddled together, tending to each other's wounds. A Witch hybrid quickly ran over to me and I gently pulled Hollie off of me,
"Let them patch you up, okay Hollie?" she nodded her head and I laid her down on the wet grass beneath us.
Another Witch hybrid walked up to me and ordered me to sit down, which I gladly did. My legs were killing me and I felt exhausted.
Bandages were wrapped around my right arm and right leg, which I just noticed were slick with blood. I looked over to where Hollie was being treated and smiled softly when she looked my way and grinned.
A potion was placed into my hands and I smiled gratefully at the Witch hybrid before tilting it back and pouring it into my mouth. It... surprisingly tasted like butter and I was tempted to ask if they literally just gave me melted butter to drink, but I soon felt all the pain draining away from my body and my eyes begin to droop shut. The empty bottle slipped from my fingertips and I felt myself falling backwards before my back hit the wet grass, all sound, smells, and vision disappearing.
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Word Count: 1787
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