Author's Note: Now, I'm proud. This is the fastest I've updated in a while. Usually it takes me weeks to get around to writing. I'm really focusing on this story and one of my Harry Potter stories, By Any Other Name. So...expect a lot of chapters. Read and reveiw please. And LeMoNsOuR, it was great to hear from you.

MAD4magik

Disclaimer: I do not own Holes, that is owned by the awesome Louis Sachar, I only own what is not familiar to you.

Chapter Eight

Zigzags knees hit the ground after he'd hoisted himself from his finished hole. He was exhausted. Ever since the night when... when Elizabeth had...left, he'd lost sleep. Every night, the second he rested his head on his pillow, he was swallowed up by the night, and thrown into a deep, uneasy sleep. He always had the same nightmare as he had before when Elizab... she had still been here, except they'd changed.

Before his dreams had consisted of him, watching from above as Eliz... she ran through alley after alley, shouting his name. He watched her struggle, shouting all the while, "RICKY! RICKY!" but for some reason, he hadn't answered until he saw her begin to fade, like some kind of darkness was covering her. She had cowered to a corner, a large brick wall blocking her escape, and then suddenly and oddly, she stood, and began to walk toward the blackness. Zigzag had screamed, but she didn't hear him. Then, she started to hesitate, until abruptly she screamed, and Zigzag unknowingly pushed himself through the brick wall that kept them apart and pulled her through just before the darkness engulfed her. She was crying, the tears falling down her face like rain. He reached out his hand for her, and to his surprise, she took it, and wrapped her arms around him, sobbing from fear and relief. Then the picture in his head would begin to fade, and he would wake up, soaking in his own sweat.

But now, the dream had changed. Right after he would pull her away from the darkness, she would collapse onto the ground, muttering to herself as she cried, her arms wrapping herself in a hug. Then, before Zigzag could help her, before he could offer any comfort, another boy appeared. This boy looked strangely similar to Zigzag, but he was shorter and his hair was lighter. He walked right past Zigzag, and gently took her hand. The moment he did, Elizabeth screamed. Her wrist split and blood began to flow. Zigzag tried to get to her, but he ran and ran and just kept moving farther away. She was dying, and the boy wasn't doing anything about it. He was smiling. Zigzag cursed and screamed, but no matter how much he screamed, no one heard him. Finally, Elizabeth's body fell to the ground, and the boy simply walked away. This time, when Zigzag ran, did not move away. He ran straight to her, and fell to his knees as he cradled her bloody and lifeless body in his arms. His face was wet with tears and his clothes drenched with her blood. She was gone, and he didn't save her.

Zigzag shook his head, trying to eliminate her scream from his mind. The nightmare haunted him at night, and voices started to stalk his days. He ran, trying to leave the voice behind. He was parched, he was weak, but he ran fast, his hands forcing hard down on his ears, trying to block out the noise, but it was already in his head.

That very night, Zigzag lay awake, fighting the unconsciousness that threatened to take over him. He couldn't stand it, and he couldn't dream again. This nightmare was too much; he couldn't handle it any more. His eyes began to close, and almost immediately, his hand came up and smacked him in the face. His eyes widened from the slight shock of pain, but then started to close again. Zigzag sat straight up, and started to smack himself continuously. He heard movement around him as his tent mates awoke from the ruckus.

"Zigzag." Armpit said cautiously, "You alright dude?"

Zigzag didn't respond to him. Instead, he plopped back down on his cot, pretending to go to sleep, until his eyes really started to droop, and he abruptly shut up on his cot and smacked himself hard on his cheek. He winced from his own infliction of pain. His whole body seemed to be shutting down from drowsiness. First he back gave way and he fell back onto his cot, and then when he tried to push himself up, his arms went numb. Zigzag lay there helplessly as sleep over took him.

The room seemed to spin as Elizabeth lay, strapped down to a medical examination table. Her eyes focused on the ceiling fan, watching it spin around and around. A nurse who had been injecting a tranquilizer into her said the doctor should be in shortly. It didn't matter, Elizabeth could barely hear the nurse, she could barely hear anything. The pure noise of silence drowned her ears as the tranquilizer took affect, and she feel into unconsciousness.

In an instant, she found herself running through the desert. Ahead of her, she saw scorching sun and dry land, but what behind her scared her more. She took a quick glance over her shoulder to see a large black cloud, barely feet from engulfing her, spreading the length of the desert. It was gigantic, larger than she'd ever saw. From its very core, thunder roared. She ran with all her might, toward a destination unknown to her. She just ran.

The darkness lurched, missing her by merely inches. She tried to run faster, but fatigue and thirst began to plague her. She focused her eyes in the distance, for any sign of shelter, any sign of hope. The black cloud rumbled again, and just before it pounced, Elizabeth's eyes spot someone. She jumped toward them, wrapping her arms around him as the cloud took them over.

Blackness surrounded them, ripping, tearing at them. Elizabeth clung to him for dear life, and he held her strongly. Thunder shook them, wind whipped at them, and vision faded slowly. Elizabeth couldn't move, she couldn't cry, and she couldn't scream. Every roll of thunder broke her bones, every whiplash of wind scratched her face, and her eyes were covered in blood. The pain was too much. Her grip began to loosen from him. He tried to grasp at her, tried to save her, but with one surge of wind, she was blown away into oblivion.

Miles away from each other, Elizabeth and Zigzag woke suddenly, sweating, panting, and scared.

Author's Note: Like it? Hate it? Tell me. I know it was short, kind of like the last chapter, but I like suspense, and the plot is thickening. I already am planning the ending in my head, but I know what's going to happen. Pay attention to the dream sequences, they're really important. And I'd like to add one more thing, and only one person reading this will understand. MINE!

MAD4magik