Chapter 23 - by Sugar Faerie

Madonna

I'm pulled off the brink of sleep as Charlotte stirs. "Meh... don't do that..." I say groggily, not opening my eyes.

"Sorry..." Charlotte murmurs, running her hand over my hair. I settle my head on her shoulder again, and try and think of what I last dreamt. I usually have nightmares, bad ones, but this one was different.

I dreamt we were back at the Heartbreak, like it had been before. There was Geo and Prince making alcohol from potatoes, Aretha singing one of the new songs in the archives, 'Dancing in the Streets' or something like that, we hadn't found more than the first verse and chorus. There was Oz, fast asleep on Brit's lap, him looking slightly annoyed at his lack of sensation in his legs, but still unwilling to move her in case she woke up. They were always so cute together.

"I had a dream," I say to Charlotte.

"Did you?" Her voice is concerned, she knows my usual dreams. How they make me scream in the night.

I nod. "It wasn't a bad one... I dreamt we were... we all were..." I trail off, suddenly unable to continue. We can never go back there. Never. My dream is no more than a memory that visited me in my sleep.

Charlotte hugs me, and once more I try to drift off. I want to see my dream again, the one that real life lost.

I'm woken up by Charlotte stirring again, this time abruptly. "Oz!" she shouts.

I open my eyes, and sure enough, Oz is standing there. They brought her out of solitary, after all this time.

She's much thinner than I remember her, but then again, we all are. She's covered in bruises and cuts, both old and new, and in some places she's still got dried blood smeared on her skin, brown and flaky.

"How are you?" Charlotte asks softly, her initial joy at seeing Oz again subsideing as she sees what a poor state she's in.

Oz shrugs. "Alive," she answers, her voice soft and crackely, like she hasn't used it for a while. I suppose she wouldn't have.

She slides down the wall and huddles in the corner, shivering at the low temperature. There's never any warmth down here.

I go to her and try and give her a hug, but she shrinks away from me. She doesn't want anyone touching her.

"Oz, are you alright?" Charlotte tries instead.

Oz shakes her head, more as if she needs to clear it, absentmindly trying to scrape the blood of her legs with her fingernails. "I'm alive... don't know why. I didn't want to be."

All the fight has left her. It's almost like she has died, in some way.

Oz, what did they do to you?