The Girl From Above [Ground: Zero, Book 1]

19: Every Teen Comedy Needs a Makeover

Ryan screamed.

She shot up straight. All around her, she saw the beast. The pillars along the bed frame teeth, caging her in their grasp. The sun an eye, singeing her skin with the early morning light. The drapes like wings as they flapped in the breeze.

The wind let out a muffled howl from outside the window.

Ryan shut her eyes. Certainly her dreams couldn't really tell the future, could they? That nightmare was just that: a nightmare. Nothing more, nothing less. Liam told her about the celestials and then she had a nightmare because of it, that was the end of it.

Doubt hung heavy in her mind. She could easily brush off her dreams when she was in a regular setting, with regular humans who didn't believe in the supernatural, but she didn't have that luxury now. Now, she was stuck in a valley with the supernatural. Every second she spent in the valley made her question the validity of her dreams more and more.

A hand rested on her shoulder. She opened her eyes and found Dominic and Zack above her, their expressions unreadable.

Zack cracked a nervous smile. His touch brought a quick rush of relief to her, easing the tension in her shoulders.

Ryan rubbed the sleep from her eyes and spit her hair out of her face.

Dominic fluffed his wings and crossed his arms. He turned his gaze to the ceiling, rocking back and forth on his heels.

She blinked. Resting on his chest sat the familiar shine of a golden locket, it's silver scar caught the morning light.

Devany.

The image of dancing gold Dust flashed in her brain. Her thoughts came to a screeching halt.

Ryan grabbed onto the bed. She pushed the covers away and walked past Zack and Dominic, hardly acknowledging their presence.

She slumped and dragged her feet towards the back of the dorm to the bathroom. Her feet made heavy thuds with every step.

The bathroom door creaked in greeting. Ryan leaned against it and pushed with as much strength as she could muster and locked the door behind her.

Devany was dead and it was her fault. She brought yet another victim into the plague of her life.

The quiet murmurs of Zack and Dominic were muffled behind the door. Their voices wrestled with each other, biting back and quickly silencing like two snakes biting at each other.

Ryan shook her head. The bathroom spread out before her, like the rest of the school, purple stone walls stretched up endlessly to reach a ceiling that couldn't be seen by the naked eye. A simple white bath, shower, and sink lined the edges of the room, hugging the walls with dirt and grime.

She walked towards the sink, averting her reflection in the mirror. On the sink's counter sat the usual: toothpaste, soap, toothbrush, a comb, and a two-pronged fork that Devany said were called preeners.

Ryan's nails into the side of the sink. Her vision blurred with sleep. It was as if she was watching playing a video game, except it was her own life. She was a ghost hovering over her body, watching it move and stumble beyond her control.

A pair of ornate gold scissors on the counter caught her eye. Jewels ordained the center of the blades, and two smaller holes rested below the finger holes, giving the scissors the shape of a butterfly.

Ryan squinted and snatched up the scissors. It was as if they were talking to her, pulling her closer. She didn't recall them being there before, but she hadn't spent enough time in the dorm to notice, either.