Detention (Souls)

»---> ♥ ```Arx!!
--- Don't let it deceive. Don't let it control. Don't let it when. ---

As the room begins to fall silent, Souls lifts her head and lets go of Jack. Was it really over? She stood and looked around the room. It was completely destroyed. Desks were thrown everywhere; Books were strewn across the floor. Souls began to walk around the room. Glass crunched everytime she took a step. Everything look glimmery and shiny with all the rain water on it. It was almost beautiful. Almost.

She breathed in deeply through her nose but coughed when blood began to enter her lungs. And it reminded her how much her nose hurt. She touched it and pain shot up it to her face. She broke it. Great. She spat out what blood was left in her mouth onto the ground. The sticky red liquid made the room look like something drastically tragic had just happened. Death, mostly.

Souls suddenly felt bruised and battered all over. She was so exhausted. She needed to rest and needed a break from ... this.

She turned to a pounding at the door. It was Jack. Ms. Sutton was at the door. She came back? That made Souls feel a little less betrayed. But obviously something was wrong because Jack was pounding the door. She must have lost the keys. And then Souls lost hope once more. No more being saved and unlocked from this room. This death bed, basically.

Jack slid down the door, obviously upset. Then he whispers something.

"We're in the eye of the storm."

Souls only blinked. That meant this hell wasn't over and that they would either have to stay here or go outside. Souls wasn't staying in here to die. If she was going to die, it would be away from this school in a place less controlled by the government. No Capitol rules.

"Jack, I'm not staying in here." She only stated it. She had already decided she would leave through the window and find shelter outside somewhere. Even if Jack didn't go with her, she was gone.

But ...

She wanted him to agree ...

»---> ♥ ```Arx!!
--- Evil can only be conquered by the love in your heart. ---

Souls was just turning to leave when Jack grabbed her hand, stopping her in her tracks. He didn't want to go, which was too bad because she had already set her mind, and decided on, leaving. He took the bottom of his shirt and wiped the blood from her face, not that it would help much considering it was still bleeding a little. He apologized for pulling her to th the ground so quickly, but Souls wasn't in the mood for an apology. He was changing the subject.

She was leaving. But suddenly she found herself unable to move. She couldn't leave, not without Jack. Could she? He had saved her life. But was it worth it? Did she want to feel in debt to him for her life and then stay in here just to die later? No, no. She was getting out. But somehow she had to persuade Jack. But she didn't know what to say ...

No. No, she didn't need to persuade Jack. His stubbornness not to leave was going to get him killed. But what should she care? She didn't know him, she had only just talked to him today!! He shouldn't mean anything to her, but somehow he did mean something. He meant hope. Persuasion. He had to come with her.

She walked across to her knife picking it up from the glass. She then crossed the room to Jack who was looking at the window. Souls needed to find the words to say to make him follow, but none came to her. She didn't have anything inspiring or logical to say. It was a gamble going outside, but she was sure it was better than dying in here.

She looked out the window, seeing the 20 to 30 foot drop to the ground. She was suddenly glad she wasn't afraid of heights. She turned back to Jack. "Bye." she said. "See you again when our detention time is to be finished."

She managed a quick smile, before she hastily crawled onto the ledge of the window. She threw her knife to the ground below where she was sure she wouldn't fall on it. She dangled herself on the edge, holding the wall for only a moment before loosening her grip and letting go. Her feet met the ground safely but soon the rest of her weight came down on them and she flew to the ground, smacking her head. Hard.

Everything around her was white and clean. The trees and grass sparkled in the bright field she lay in. The sky was no longer blue but completely white, as if a cloud covered the whole sky evenly. Everything smelled of fresh cut grass and dew. The air was cool and their was a small breeze the tussled her hair even as she lay on the ground as she looked up at the blank sky.

She sat up, looking around her. She noticed her skin was almost glowing. almost a sort of white metal. It was smoother than anything she had ever felt before and it smelled just as this world did. She wore a white tank-top; fuzzy, warm, and comfortable. She also wore shorts with ruffles and tufts and tears just like every designer in the Capitol discussed as the next hottest fashion The wear just as white as her tank-top. Her hair was curled and waved as if it had been wet and it was held back by a crystal headband. What was this place?

She felt the glittery grass tickle her toes and looked down at her bare-feet. Her knife. She reached for her treasure to discover that the blade had turned to a thinly cut crystal. It had never been so sharp, so sleek, so perfect. The handle fell into her hand smoothly, like a river rock, worn down and beaten by years of water running over it.

That's when she heard the river. The clean water she saw as she arrived was almost all sparkles, as if that was all the river actually was. It was so clear she could see the riverbed beneath it as if there were no water at all. She cupped her hands so she could take a drink. It felt just s nice as it looked. It was cool, pure, and clean. She brought her hands back to her lips where she expected to taste something delightful, like what she had already felt, seen, and smelled.

But instead she spat out the foul tasting, sticky, warm liquid onto the ground. It spattered onto the ground in front of her staining the grass red. She stepped back, confused; frightened. She leaned over the river's edge. Her reflection looked back. Her nose, crooked and broken, dripped blood down her lips and chin, her face had scratches everywhere; her forehead, her brows, her chin, her cheeks, her nose, her lips, her ears, her neck. She had a large dent on her forehead, just where her hairline was, that bled down the side of her face into her eyes.

She reached up to her face to wipe it away but no blood came off on her hand. She rubbed more vigorously but still no blood wiped away. No blood was there. She watched as her eyes turned to dark holes in her head, her teeth sharpened to points like a mutt, every part of her became like a nightmare. She tried to speak, but she couldn't. Something was missing. She slowly stuck her fingers into her mouth. There was no tongue. It was gone.

She rolled and kicked away from the river. She fell down into a heap and began to sob. What was this? But her tears, the didn't feel right rolling down her face. When one dripped to the white sparkling ground in-front of her she once again tried to make sound escape her throat, although none came.

It was blood.

Souls mumbled on the ground, completely unconscious from the fall and the hit to her head. She felt nothing but her dreams which were haunting her as she lay there, her 'death by storm' only getting closer with every moment she lie there on the ground. But what could she do? Only sick delusions consumed her her now, and soon, only a malicious storm would consume her later.

»---> ♥ ```Arx!!
--- Don't push or shove; Just kick and punch. ---

Souls lay in a daze. Where was she? She tried looking around but all she could make out at the moment was some grass and some sort of structure. She put her hand to her head but flinched away as pain shot through it. What happened? How did she hurt herself, again?

She was squinting her eyes in an effort to see what was going on. There was somone holding her. A guy. It must be her dad. He was probably upset she hadn't gotten the eggs yet. She had forgotten. "Sorry Dad, I forgot ..." But she only heard the words come in a whispered, murmered, slurred tone. Was she asleep?

She tried to get up, but her dad was holding her down. But she realized it wasn't her dad, but someone else. It was getting really windy and everything was blowing and swirling around her head. She wanted to get up but the entity was still holding her tightly. But for some reason she found herself secure to this person. She didn't move.

She closed her eyes again, tired. She wanted to sleep ...

Her eyes shot open and she squirmed and kicked to get out of Jack's hold. Yes! Yes, it was the boy, Jack, from detention. He had come to save her from ... what? She touched her head again and remembered jumping from the window. Dumb idea ...

But before she could remember exactly what they had run to the shed for she was caught by the wind in a frenzy of twigs, leaves, and rain. She fell onto her back, losng her breath. She still wanted to sleep, just sleep the major headache she had, but obviosly that would have to wait. She rolled over, still gasping for air, and crawled back ove to Jack. She wasn't sure what to grab or take hold of but him, so wrapped her arms around him and attempted to hang on.

Yeah, she officially hated storms ...

»---> ♥ ```Arx!!
--- Pain isn't anything to be afraid of. ---

Souls was just about to answer Jack's question when she heard a yelp across the lot. There was a small puppy out in the middle of the storm. She almost wondered if she was imagining it, hallucinating, because it was sure rare to see dogs anymore that hadn't been mutated and messed with by the Capitol. They pretty much made pets unavailable for District use with all there experiments on animals. It was sad really.

Souls blinked her eyes to make sure this puppy was actually there. She decided it was, as it not only stayed in her vision but Jack seemed to notice it too. It yelped again as if it were dying right there instantly, as if it was being flayed right there. Souls tried to block it out, but it still reached her ears. She wanted to cry. But she held it in for fear that the tears would be blood yet again ...

She opened her eyes again to see Jack rushing out from the little shelter we had found and heading straight for the puppy. Souls got up immediately, running after him. But she was blown to the ground and lost sight of him. She screamed for him, but knew as the wind grew stronger and stronger that her cries were being downed out by everything in the air. It was blowing so fast that it became hard for her to breath and she started gasping for air.

She began to crawl forward. Where had Jack gone? Where was the puppy? Souls stopped once again and listened as hard as she could. The wind howled in her ears and forced her eyes to shut out the twigs and debris in the air. But above it all, she could here Jack. She couldn't make out what he was saying, but she heard his voice and that was good enough for her. She began crawling towards his yells as quickly as she could. She felt so weak, realizing she was at the storms mercy.

She reached Jack and saw that he was stuck; his arm caught under a branch. She didn't know what to do. She almost lost her cool right then and there, seeing that the puppy was no where in sight. But she held it together, trying to think of what to do. She didn't think she could lift the branch, not unless she instantly got 100 lbs heavier and grew huge muscles under her skin. She looked down at Jack. What was there to do?

An idea popped in her head, but again, it was all at the mercy of the storm.

"Jack. Jack! You have to wait for a strong wind to move the branch!" She yelled above the wind. She wasn't even sure that he could hear her the wind was so loud and rain so strong.

She suddenly realized how desperate the idea seemed, but they didn't have much of a choice.

It was mostly hopeless at this point.

»---> ♥ ```Arx!!
--- Words can't always explain everything. ---

Souls tried to block out Jack's cries of pain. She was so glad that she hadn't cried out or shrieked. She may have ended up terrifying herself. Jack looked at her at the suggestion of the wind blowing it away, pointing to another nearby branch. Leverage. Great idea, but she wasn't sure she could execute it entirely. The branch was large. Very large. It had to be at least twice her weight.

She rolled over to the branch she would use as the lever and then pulled it back as quickly as she could. She stuck to near to where Jack's arm was stuck, most likely being shattered to bits with the trees every move. It dug underneath perfectly, but as she pushed down on it it barely moved. In fact, she wasn't even sure it moved at all. Was this hopeless?

She looked over to Jack, who by now was probably a bit loopy from all the pain in his arm, and saw that the puppy was licking his face. She couldn't help but smile a little bit. Nothing was hopeless.

She began to push down on the branch rhythmically. It began to rock slightly. It was probably hurting Jack, but this was the perfect time to try, as he did have a puppy lapping his face. As she got it high enough she put all her weight on the lever and pushed down as hard as she could, keeping it from dropping back on Jack's arm.

"Go, go!" she spoke through gritted teeth. She was beginning to think that the branch might snap in half, and really, really wanted him to hurry. She hoped he could move despite any pain he was feeling.

»---> ♥ ```Arx!!
--- When a storm rages on, a heart rages on. ---

Her eyes met his and it was pure bliss. Then that moment ended. Gone in less than an instant. While before then the school building collapses. Souls almost smiled to herself, as she had been right. She was the one who had gotten out of the building. But she held her need to be correct back as she remembered the situation. Jack's arm. The puppy. The need for shelter, like, now. She needed to help Jack stand, because she wasn't going to be able to carry him fast enough.

She pulled him up by his good arm. He tried to help himself up, but it was still hard on her and even harder on him.

"Where do we go?" she asked him, trying to hold herself up against the winds.