“Phoenix get up,” a hushed voice urged.

My body felt as though it had 20 pounds attached to each limb. My eyelids were the only thing separating me from a dreary reality and the void slumber provided me. Facing the pain I’d inevitable have to allow settle into my soul was unappealing to put it lightly.

“Go away,” I muttered, licking my chapped lips.

The voice smacked their teeth and my stomach lurched as I was forced upright.

I bared my teeth as the headache I’d been making an effort to ignore raged to life, snatching my eyes open to meet the darkness the room seemed to be floating in. I swung at the shadowed figure’s cheek, riding the momentum from being pulled up since my dazed state didn’t have the strength on its own and rolled to other side of the bed. Based on the slight cracking sound my hand made, I succeeded in making contact.

I seemed to have cast my training aside in the wake of such a devastating evening. Any other day and I would’ve been awake the moment the shadow entered the door. I chanced a glance at the window and noticed that it had to be pretty late; the moon was at it’s peak in the sky and the stars shimmered calmly, granting the only light in the room.

“What the hell?” the voice seethed. My grip on the bed sheets tightened as I desperately tried to discern the voice. To my utter astonishment, the usually beige walls were swirled with a variety of a blue hues. It wasn’t till I made the observation did I notice just how badly I was shaking.
Steps drew closer to me and I tensed. Not only did I seem to not be able to think clearly, I couldn’t move nearly as easily as I should. Jabbing at the stranger and rolling away seemed to drain me and I wobbled when I attempted to slide into a familiar defensive stance.

“It’s me,” the figure whispered with a tinge of annoyance.

My brain still couldn’t distinguish who was trying to get to her.

"Zoe, it’s me Zoe,” the voice tried again. I caught the slight shadow of her moving towards me.

Zoe.

My foster sister.

My brain scrambled to recall more about her but a particularly strong pulse caused me to hiss and I quickly abandoned the idea.

Exhausted and relieved all at the same time, I allowed myself to fall on the bed. I never met the cloud-like comfort of it though since Zoe caught me by my arm and wrapped it behind her neck in one swift motion. She used her other arm to pull my waist closer to her hip with a huff of effort.

I felt my eyes droop and nearly close till I noticed the swirls on the walls dance faster.

“Why is the…the wall…”

I could feel Zoe turn to look at me confusedly before reaching for the closed door. A crash sounded beyond it and yelling followed the shatter.

Zoe muttered a curse and swung the door open and the yellow artificial light dispelled the darkness night had covered the room in and brightened as we moved towards the steps. My feet were dragging despite my desperate attempts at trying to carry more of my own weight. The walls of the hallway appeared to be breathing and the carpet of floor looked as though it were swallowing my feet, insisting I give in and stop attempting to walk. Panic seeped into my dulled sense. I glanced at Zoe’s stony profile and it seemed as though she wasn’t experiencing any of what I was seeing and feeling. Her jaw was set and her grip on my arm tightened determinedly as we neared the steps. The barriers that surrounded both sides of the stairs seemed to suck in and out, restricting space and then restoring it.

“The walls…” I whispered again.

The light seemed to brighten as we neared the noisy downstairs. More deep yells, the sheer bravado of it all seemed to echo in my ears and intensify this debilitating headache. My knees shook upon trying to go down one of the steps. The stairs wobbled and shook beneath me and I nearly yelped. Fear settled into me as the steps seemed to almost hiss at me, disappointed I hadn’t fallen.

“I-I can’t,” I chocked.

“We have to leave,” she nudged me, getting me to take three more steps.

How is she not seeing this? Why isn’t she as scared as I am? Why do we have to leave?

My control faltered and I lost my footing. Before I crashed down the remainder of the steps Zoe squeaked and forced me back up and strengthened her hold on me.

“Lean on me Phoenix, as much as you can alright?”

I gave her a shaky nod and followed her lead.

Distorted voices continued to go back & forth from down the steps. We clumsily made our way down the staircase and Zoe let out a breath when we finally reached the first floor.

“Alright now listen to me Phoenix,” Zoe whispered, turning to me.

She continued to speak but I was already too busy staring at everything happening around us. The house was shaking. The tiled floors were blinking into different earth tones every few seconds and the door appeared to be growing and shrinking angrily. The walls were swirling relentlessly; staring at them too long made her stomach lurch. The movement surrounding me coaxed me to dry heave violently.

Zoe gasped and the voices that were relentlessly attacking each other ceased.

“Phoenix?”

Several pairs of feet raced towards me and hands gripped my shoulders to get me to sit up. I lazily smacked their hands away and stumbled back, losing my footing and crashing to the ground. My shaky fingers reached up to cover my mouth and I dry heaved again, feeling as though my stomach had been jumped on by a 400 pound man.

“Phoenix!” another voice called again. I was getting quite sick of my own name.

“What wrong with her?” someone asked with both anger and worry coating their tone.

“So now you’re concerned about how she feels?! After leaving regardless of her begging you not to—you’re worried now?!”

“I love her!” someone retorted indignantly. “Of course I care!”

My eyes were teary from nearly vomiting but I opened them just enough to see the people screaming at each other. My vision was passed the point of blurred but I could tell that one had a head of spiky black hair and the other two had longer hair though I couldn’t think of the name of the color. My heart raced from trying to associate the only characteristics I could make out with my failing vision and the familiar feeling of being decked in the stomach forced my eyes to clench shut and I hurriedly moved to rest on my hands and knees. This time my stomach forced up whatever was left. The sound of my gagging silenced the room till I had completely emptied myself and couldn’t stop the heavy, raspy breathing forcing itself through my parted lips.

“We’re going to ask one more time,” a deeper, darker voice started, “What’s wrong with Phoenix?”

“I don’t know!” Zoe snapped, crouching next to me and dragging me away from the mess that my stomach made. She wiped the cold sweat from my forehead with her sleeve and placed my head in her lap, stroking my back. My teeth were chattering and every part of me was shaking. Now that everything I had eaten the past two days was on the floor a few feet away, which wasn’t a lot to begin with, my body was even weaker and I gasped for air to slow my labored breathing.

A hazy form stepped towards me and another figure stopped him. I hadn’t noticed this particular stranger but he was taller than the boy he had intercepted. I allowed my eyes to close with the intention of ignoring the empty starving feeling I was currently experiencing.

“Move,” it growled. I felt heavy gazes rake my entire shaking figure and I attempted to force any energy I had into standing and leaving—I was so uncomfortable. Unfortunately, I could hardly even move my fingers, let alone stand and find the nearest bed. Resigned and in indescribable pain I ignore their obvious gazes and kept my eyes closed

“Don’t let her fall asleep!” Someone barked.

“And why not?” Zoe challenged, shifting beneath me.

“Something’s wrong with her, what if she doesn’t wake up?”

“That’s a risk we’re going to have to take. How do we explain this to the hospital? They’re just going to tell us to let her sleep. It’d be a waste,” another voice reasoned gruffly.

“Un fucking believable,” someone muttered. There was slight shuffle and then an abrupt stop, rubber soles squeaking against the hardwood floor.

“No, Vic,” someone deadpanned annoyed. My eyes opened groggily into slits. A green butterfly seemed to be dancing its way towards me; it was the only thing in the room that I could see vividly, sharp in resolution.

“Vic?” I whispered. Everything in the room seemed to stiffen. The insect landed on my finger, slowly quivering its wings as if to show off their beauty.

Vic rushed towards me but was once again stopped.

Maybe he’s trying to catch the butterfly again.

Its wings fluttered quicker then slowed down again. I regarded the bug with a small smile, noticing the way it moved in time with the swirls on the walls.

I don’t mind him catching the butterfly.

I went to voice my consent but found my throat to be too dry to utter anything more than one word. I dejectedly resumed my enamored gaze on the emerald creature.

“She needs me!” Vic bellowed, shoving at the person keeping him from me.

“Vic,” I called again meekly.

I think it’s going to fly away if he doesn’t hurry.

Watching the butterfly on my finger flutter as gently as it could was lulling me off to sleep and my eyes once again began to close. The feeling of my body shutting down was a slow but comforting process.

“Let her rest dammit!”

“She’s my girlfriend,” someone snarled. “I have the right to comfort her! At least let me take he—
“The Right?! Who the f--

“You can’t have anything to do with her till she’s awake and can decide what she allows you to do with or to her! Till then Jaime and I will decide where she stays.”

The conversation continued but I no longer had the drive to comprehend it all and allowed the words to blend together like the blues that had littered the walls, swirling into nothingness and allowing myself to fall asleep in Zoe’s protective grasp.

Notes

SO GUESS WHO GOT A NEW FUCKING COMPUTER?! Mhm, you're favorite fanfic writer, this girl right here~ SO, this chapter is drastically different from the draft. Things were going to be a little more violent but I decided against it. I highly recommend reading this chapter and listening to the weeknd's "initiation", it's freakin beautiful.

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QOTD: Thoughts on the scene? Any clue as to why she's so delirious? would you like a POV for this chapter? COMMENT.