It was pitch black in the night, the kind where no matter how hard you tried to open your eyes wider to see something, anything, it was futile. You couldn't shake the feeling that something was already stalking up behind you and there was nothing you could do about it. Towering over you, about to sink in its teeth or claws- Kill you- and you wouldn't even know it.
But she knew it, so she ran and ran until her legs burned and she felt as if her lungs were going to give way. But that simply wasn't enough.
Everything she put into getting away- simply wasn't enough.
The creature saw her and it-
"Marlene! Wake up! Marls!" Musa's voice snapped through the full sense of dread which still aches in Marlene's chest and she sat up in bed, her breath rugged and uneven. She pulled her knees to her chest, cradling them to her body, making herself as small as possible.
Her eyes were wide as she scanned the dimly lit room- the suite- it was the suite. And stood around her bed where Terra, Stella, and Musa knelt beside her bedside, her hands still firm on her arm. A soft sense of relief washed over Marlene and she became less tense but her friends remained rigid.
"What happened?" She said softly, her dread subsiding, realizing she was safe that she wasn't there.
"I- I felt you Marls, I felt your fear," Musa said, moving to sit on the bed. "It hurt- I'm sorry but we had to wake you up."
"Oh Musa, I'm- I'm so sorry." She said, turning to face her friend.
"It's okay, it's okay Marlene. Don't worry about it, it was just a nightmare." Musa smiled softly at her and nodded. Musa stood and walked back to bed.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Terra asked and Marlene gave her a soft smile.
"I'm sure, thank you, Terra." She nodded and went back to bed as well. Stella moved around from the head of the bed and sat next to Marlene and put her arm around her shoulders. Marlene let herself sink into her friend's side as she felt warm tears slip down her face.
"It was the nightmare again wasn't it? The same one?" Stella asked as they sat down on the wall, they had gone down to the courtyard to talk to not disturb the others.
"It's getting worse, Stell, now I'm waking up Musa." Marlene thought out loud, she had been having the same nightmare for months and only Stella and Sky knew about it. "What happened?" She looked over her shoulder a little to look at Stella.
"Well Musa sort of screamed, groaned more like..." She began and Marlene winced, "Nothing too loud, Aisha and Bloom stayed asleep but Terra and I woke up and followed Musa to your bed when she woke you up." Stella explained and Marlene began to trace her hand down her neck to wear a thick silver line that sat roughly on her shoulder, trailing from the peak of her shoulder to just under her collar bone.
"It doesn't hurt anymore? Does it?" Stella asked gently and Marlene shook her head.
"No it just-" was a reminder, she wanted to say. "It's just hard to forget when it's written on your skin." Marlene mumbled but shook it off, "Nevermind, doesn't matter." Stella knew it did but didn't push anything. She knew, she and Sky both did, what Marlene had seen, what had happened to her. What she had done and what had been done to her.
Because they had been the ones to find her, a bloody corpse was left for dead. If they hadn't found her that night. If they hadn't done what they did, Marlene would be dead and all three of the teenagers knew it.
Musa, Bloom, and Marlene were sitting around the table eating lunch when a girl in a sparkly dress came sauntering down the stairs, Marlene didn't think anything of it. Her name was Beatrix and she had seen her in class, they often sat near each other because they were both air fairies.
It was only when Beatrix yelled, "Get off me you massive paedo!" Did everyone look up, she had yelled it at Callum, Miss Dowling's assistant? Marlene watched as Beatrix smiled as a figure from around the corner slung his arm around her shoulder. She recognized him as the boy who had followed her the other night, well she assumed he followed her. Normally the training area was deserted at night so he must have done.
He placed an apple in his mouth and Beatrix took a bite.
Marlene looked back down at her plate, zoning back into the conversation.
"Aisha's just tired." Bloom said, "Yeah. My parents think Alfea's in Switzerland, so..." she sighed, "they skype me at 9.00 am Switzerland time every morning–" she paused, Musa just nodded and Marlene couldn't help but smile.
"It's 2.00 am our time. Yes, we can all hear you." Musa told her and Bloom straightened in her chair.
"Might as well be through a speaker, sorry Bloom," Marlene added.
"Am I being loud? I'm trying to be quiet." She defended.
"Like an old lady unwrapping sweets in the cinema."
"Really?" Bloom was so taken aback.
"No- Musa's being nice- it's so much worse." Marlene laughed and Musa joined in, eventually, Bloom started to laugh too, putting her head in her hands in embarrassment.
----------------------
I love these girls, they honestly hold my heart <3
YOU ARE READING
S P A R K Y • riven
FanfictionBOOK ONE Running away was never the plan, but Marlene couldn't stay after what had happened. After what she had done. A year later, she is going into her second year at Alfea where she is just trying to get by as a normal teenager but she's not norm...
