ONE |
ASTRID NEARLY FELL off the bed, startled at the alarm and panic in Sam's voice. It may have been five months since the FAYZ had come to an end, but Astrid still had all the habits she'd acquired. Being an incredibly light sleeper who could be alert no matter how she'd been woken up was one of the better ones.
She was up and out of bed within an instant, seeing Sam standing at his dresser, illuminated almost eerily in a white-green light. She came up beside him, wondering what had him so scared. As she placed her hand on his shoulder, the orb of light came into view.
Sam's light.
For a moment, all she could manage to do is stand there and stare, frozen in horror.
"No," she whispered finally, without even meaning to. Sam was more rigid than when he had been as she approached him; Astrid thought that he'd tried to convince himself that he'd been dreaming, and now that she saw it too he couldn't deny the fact that it was real.
But it couldn't be. The FAYZ was over. Their lives had just started, fractionally, to lose some of the taint the FAYZ had left on them. The gawking of random people in the street, as if they were movie star villains, had just started to die down.
And now this.
She wrenched her eyes away from the light, realizing that her hand was just hovering in midair above Sam's shoulder. She hesitated, then lifted her other hand up too and placed it on his other shoulder. She stepped behind Sam and his orb, using her hands on his shoulders to rotate him 180 degrees until he was facing her with his back to the light.
He seemed to snap out of his reverie at last. "Astrid," he said, the terror in his voice causing fear to course through her. "What if this is the beginning of it again? It could be just like last time."
It took a moment for her to process his words in her shock. "Wait…. you mean you think there'll be another FAYZ?" She dropped her hands to her sides and stepped back, shaking her head in disbelief and horror, unwiling to admit that any of this could be real.
Sam hesitated. It was obvious that he didn't want to freak her out any farther, but Astrid knew that was exactly what he thought.
"No," she said, shaking her head violently. "No, no, no. This can't be happening."
"Astrid," Sam began, reaching out to her.
She drew in a shaky breath, calming herself. "Do it again," she ordered him.
Sam frowned. "Do what?" he asked. Realization dawned on his face. "Oh," he said. He drew in a steadying breath, bracing himself.
He summoned an orb, identical to the one Astrid could see just over his shoulder. They drew in a sharp breath in unison.
"Diana?" Astrid called through the gloom of their apartment, the gloom that had caused Sam to panic and create the light. Just like before.
A/N
Ok I don't think I explained this in the last chapter but my friend (you know who you are) and I were thinking about this idea a while back and we started writing Confusion. I finallyconvinced her to let me post this last night. This is our first fanfiction so suggestions are welcome. We'll be posting a couple chapters today so expect another soon after this. The chapters will normally be about this long or more. CYA!
-Kari