Prologue
"No!" his voice cried. Despite how much I wanted to come to him though, I could not move. Robin's masked face came into view, one of his hands cupping my cheek and the other patting feeling into my face. My weak fingers clutched at his shirt in desperation. I wanted to assure him that I was all right, that I was still there, but I could not move. Every nerve—every muscle—in my entire body screamed and twitched with discomfort.
"Star, please!" he begged, the hurt and fear in his voice tangible.
Each word hurt me just as much as this hurt him, and that meant a great deal to me.
There was just no easy way of getting back to the way things were.
Suddenly, there was immense pressure as he forced air into my lungs. The pressure and force startled me.
That's when I realized that something was seriously wrong.
Just as the dark laughter reached the air, I felt myself drifting away from consciousness. I lost feeling in my fingers, lost sight of everything I knew as the darkness beckoned me. With the little effort that remained, I attempted to memorize the faces of everyone close to me, namely the boy with the mask, the one who made everything simply glorious for me.
That was the last thing I remembered before giving in to unconsciousness.