Oddities

Chapter 10

The silence spoke volumes as we made our way back to the dorms, Rena stared at the ground, and honestly, it was weird seeing her so upset and so silent, but no one was surprised,
we were surprised by something else, however. 

I spotted him before anyone else, a part of me was wondering why he wasn't in his dorm, and another part of me was ready to distract him, just in case he thought it was a good idea to tease Rena, 
but instead of teasing her, he walked over and hugged her. 
Everyone stared in shock,  not only was Ryder willingly hugging her but she hugged back so tightly. I honestly thought she would crush him with how tight she was hugging him. 
"I'm so sorry, Rena." He whispered, just loud enough for me to barely hear, "She doesn't deserve this, you don't deserve this." 
I felt weird standing here watching, but I couldn't move; I was stuck in place, staring at the two who seemingly hated each other. 
I heard Rena sniffle 
She was crying again, but I wasn't surprised; I wanted to wake up
I wanted this all to be a dream. 
I cannot imagine what's going through her mind right now. 

Someone grabbed my arm and started to slowly drag me away, and I let them; I wasn't going to move by myself. 

"That... Did he really do that on his own?" Pandora asked, I just nodded in response, I couldn't quite comprehend it either. 
"What... the hell is happening?!" Maxie suddenly said, "You killed someone in the challenge today!" Maxie said to me, she then turned to the others, "Lizzie might die, and Ryder is nice to Rena?!. What is happening?! Why is this happening to us?!" 
"I did not kill anyone." I argued, "she did that to herself." 
"You killed her." Another person said. 
I turned to the source of the voice, aka Thorne, "I did not."
He was swiftly approaching us, "Yes, you did. You killed her." As soon as he got over to me he grabbed the collar of my shirt, his death stare fixed on my face, "You killed my girlfriend. and now you're going to pay." He growled out and punched me in the gut as hard as he could, the impact made me ready to throw up, but for some reason... I wasn't fighting back. I didn't feel like I could or should fight back.
"Let her go." Pandora grabbed onto Thorne's arm and tried to tug him back, but he wasn't budging.
"Not until she understands what she's done." He punches me in the face this time, I felt blood starting to trickle out of my nose and my head started to go fuzzy. I was beginning to wonder if my flight or fight response was working because I felt no need to fight nor run.
"Thorne. She's just in denial, stop it." Pandora tugged at his arm again, but instead of being pulled back, he shoves me to the ground before being dragged back by Pandora.
Guess he wanted to get one more hit it before he was stopped.
"Fighting her won't change anything, Thorne." She put her arms on his shoulders, forcing him to stare at her, "I know you're hurt, but beating her up won't bring her back."
"She deserves it! It's karma!" Thorne looked to me again, his glare still glued onto my face, I could tell he was ready to pounce on me again once he got the chance.
Pandora opened her mouth to talk, but I cut her off, "I'm sorry, ok!? I didn't... she was going to kill me! One of us was going to die, and I-... I'm sorry"
Admitting what I did out loud made it all too real.

I killed someone
I killed someone with my own magic.
The magic I could barely control before coming here.
She didn't do that to herself
I did that to her.

My ears started to ring with the realization, and I felt weak. I tried to force myself to stand up, but my legs were like jello.
"El? Hey- it's ok, breathe-" Pandora let go of Thorne and came over to me, gently holding me as the world spun.

The ringing got louder as I lost consciousness.

~~~~~~~~~~

I slowly came to, the soft couch under my back, and a cold feeling on my forehead. I reached up and felt an icepack sitting on my forehead. 
"What happened....?" I groggily asked. 
"You passed out." Viv said as they gently took my hand, "Thorne attacked us, and after you apologized for.. what happened, you passed out." 
"I... oh..." I slowly closed my eyes again, the light causing a headache now, "what happened while I was out?" 
"Well, we calmed Thorne down and had him and Ryder carry you back here." I felt the couch move as Pandora sat down. 
"He carried me back?" 
"begrudgingly, but yeah. We kinda forced him to..." Pandora said, putting her hand on my ankle.
"Is he still here?" 
"No, he left pretty fast after he set you down." 
I opened my eyes again, and this time I sat up slowly, "What about Ryder?" 
"he's still here. I think he and Rena are in the kitchen." 
I nodded a little, "ok.." 
"Are you ok?" Viv asked, squeezing my hand slightly.
"Yeah. I'm ok." I took the ice pack off and slowly got up, my legs wobbling slightly. 
"Please be careful." Pandora stood up too, ready to catch me. 
"ok ok, I am." I slowly made my way to the kitchen, a small smile forming on my face when I saw Rena was slightly smiling as she talked to Ryder, but as soon as she saw me, it was wiped away.
"You're awake." 
"Yeah. uhm... I see you two are getting along?" 
"We are," Ryder said before Rena could answer, she lightly slapped his arm, which made him laugh. 
"that's good..." I set the ice pack in the freezer.
"Are you ok?" Rena asked, now suddenly behind me.
 I spun around towards her, "yeah. Are you?" 
"I'm fine." 
"I... ok... if you say so." I glanced between her and Ryder, I could tell they were both eager for me to leave so they could continue talking, "I uh... I'll leave you two alone now-" 
"Alright-" Ryder said at the same time Rena said, "Elana are-" 
I cut her off, "I'm fine." I quickly rushed out of the room, "I'm going on a walk." 
"Elana it's too late for that." Pandora stared at me, concern etched on her face. 
"I don't care. I need fresh air." 
"Elana-" 
"I'll see you later. Make sure Rena is ok." I left without waiting for an answer. 
I needed air, I needed space 
So much has happened in so little time, it's overwhelming.