==Hey guys. Sorry I haven't updated recently. I meant to this past weekend but I had a church youth thing that snuck up on me and my mom wouldn't let me bail out. I've had this chapter ready for a few days now, and I'm nervous about the quality because this P.O.V. is new to me. I don't think I do a good job writing about this person's character :( But let me know what you think, good or bad! This won't be the last time this P.O.V. is used==

Major Lazer - "Powerful" feat. Ellie Goulding & Tarrus Riley

...The stroke of your fingers. The scent of you lingers. My mind running wild with thoughts of your smile...

Haunted: Collapse into Caliginosity

Chapter 24:

Mind Running Wild

There wasn't a night where I didn't wake up because of that constant clinking of metal. Ever since Zane returned from being away all night, he's been quiet...unusually quiet. The most he will do is nod, shake his head, or sigh whenever someone bothered him. We could all tell his training was being affected, too. His mind was somewhere else all the time, even at night. It was those dog tags that he would play with while we were trying to sleep.

Nobody was allowed to touch them. Zane made sure they stayed under his pillow no matter what. He acted like they were some priceless jewel. Everyone just learned to stop mentioning them in front of him, because he gets anxious and annoying, all while keeping quiet.

Well, I was tired of not looking at them. They belonged to Macca Soxx, the bold and beautiful queen. I knew so much about her. She wasn't afraid to talk about personal stuff that got her emotional sometimes. I knew she grew up in foster care. I knew she dropped out of high school. I knew she gave up everything to follow her dreams. And I knew she wanted to someday settle down and have a family at some point in her life.

Although she's been through way more than I have, her music really spoke to me in my own times of inner sadness. When my father passed away, all I had was Nya, my younger sister. It was the roughest time of my life.

I had no idea a little box with antennae would help me. One afternoon, while I was crafting weapons and bending metal in my father's blacksmith shop, her voice

filled the air. The song was about a husband and wife losing their child to cancer and the emotional battle after it was all over. Each lyric struck me and helped me with my grieving. After some research, I found out it was a true story about Macca's foster parents losing a foster child after he was diagnosed with leukemia. According to her, it affected every person living in the house at the time. Since then, I've felt a connection to her. She seemed to have saved me.

The most I ever wanted to do was to go to one of her concerts, but now my brother has a piece of her! It was something she always wore because a close friend gave them to her. There's no way Zane just "found them." The only way he could've gotten his hands on them was if he actually met Macca and she gave them to him. We even saved her in Jamanakai Village when the Serpentine attacked…so it would only make sense that he went back after everything was over.

All I wanted was hold them. I'm sure I'm not the only fan who would want to do that.

Zane was cooking dinner and the others were off doing their own. I went into our room and found it to be as normal looking as ever. Four beds spread apart all over with enough room for our own personal stuff. I went over to the tidiest bed and lifted up the pillow to find the aluminum tags. When I picked them up, I thought about how ordinary they really were. The engravings were her name, her birthday, and her profession. There was even her favorite quote engraved on the front of the tags. The first one said: "If you can't fly, then run. If you can't run, then walk. If you can't walk, then crawl." Then the second finished with: "But whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward." And that was the whole reason why she was so strong. Maybe that was even why Zane was so quiet. He wants to see her again so badly but he has to continue living life.

"What are you doing?"

I jumped and slightly yelped at the voice. I haven't heard it in so long. When I looked, he stood in the doorway with a red sauce stain on his sleeve from cooking. "Z-Zane. I-I…uh…"

"Those are mine. I'd prefer if nobody touched them," he solemnly requested.

I dropped them on his bed. "I just wanted to look at them."

"You were holding them."

"So I could look at them."

"I'd prefer you not do it again."

"But why? Why do they mean so much to you if you just 'found' them?"

He stood there for a moment, not having the answer to my questions.

"You actually met her, didn't you?"

Slowly, he dropped his gaze and nodded. "I'll always cherish the time we spent together."

"What did you do with her?"

"…Nothing important."

I sighed and went over to my bed. I pulled out a poster from under it. "What did she look like?" I asked him.

"She was short in stature and had a round face. Her eyes were a beautiful shade of hazel. Her hair was thick with wild, brown curls. I could never forget such beauty."

I showed him the poster of Macca sitting in her famous golden throne. "Like this?"

He unblinkingly stared at the poster as if he was lost for words. I just brought it over and gave it to him.

"Keep it," I insisted. "I think you need it more than I do."

When he didn't reply or look at me, I walked past him and headed to the dining room to eat. I was jealous that he met Macca Soxx and I didn't, but knowing it was the only time he would ever be with her, I knew he was in pain. She must've taken him on an adventure or something like that, because it was obvious he was lovesick. She somehow violated his shell of being an introverted person, and he wanted her to do it again.

Things will be slow for a few more chapters, and I don't think I'll be able to really update until March. Sorry... :( And shoutout to Kairocksrainbow for reviewing :3 Every reader is an awesome person!