MY BIG DISCLAIMER SINCE I WILL FORGET TO DO THIS EVER AGAIN: I AM NOT MICHAEL GRANT. I AM ME.
PROLUGUE |
SAM JOLTED AWAKE, his heart thudding in his chest and the echo of screams ringing through his head. He gently extricated himself from Astrid, slipping off the bed silently and padding across the floor of the apartment they shared with Diana.
As he walked to his dresser he heard something. It started quietly, but as more time passed the noise became louder, until Sam could clearly pick out the voices. The voices of the people Gaia had killed with his light.
Suddenly, thinking about those times, Sam became very aware of the darkness around him. It seemed to be closing in around him, and he couldn't stop it when his breaths became quicker and more forced. He felt like the darkness was trying its hardest to crush him; it was the same feeling he had had that night in the FAYZ. The night of no light.
Once again, Sam's breaths sped up. Out of instinct, Sam pushed the palm of his hands in front of him, a gesture that normally would have caused some kind of light to form.
Sam wasn't expecting for it to actually come. In front of him formed a small glowing ball of green light. A Sammy Sun, he remembered it was called. It had been so long since he had seen one.
There was no way he was awake. Sam's powers, along with everyone else's, had disappeared when the FAYZ ended. He was dreaming. Yes, that was it; dreaming. There was no other way to explain how the light had come back. But there was only one way to be sure. Reaching out again, he willed the eerily glowing ball of light to heat up, but he wasn't sure if he could do that. Never had any reason to in the FAYZ, since the Sammy Suns had only been used as nightlights Also, he'd never had to test if his power was there or if he was dreaming. That hadn't come up.
Slowly, he put his hand though it.
It was probably the stupidest thing he could have done. Though it wasn't hot enough to be considered fire, it was very, very hot. He nearly screamed in pain as he quickly drew his hands back, but he managed to squelch it. However, he couldn't suppress the small squeak that managed to escape his mouth from the pain.
"Astrid?" he called out warily, trying to conceal his panic and keep it from his voice but failing miserably, "You might want to see this."