ALL I WANT ; TMR

nine.

Blacked edged her vision as Colette's eyes squinted open, eyelids heavier than usual, just as all her limbs. A thick fog filled her brain and her throat, mind working a tenth it's usual pace. Her breaths were shallow, for with each one, her injured ribs would send out a jolting pain in protest. She tried to piece together the events she last remember, flashes of what happened returning to her one by one.

The ring. The noise. The pitch. The falling. The bludger.

As Colette recollected some of her thoughts, she took in her surroundings. Moonlight shone through the large windows, stars speckling the midnight sky outside. The strark white sheets upon the beds surrounding her and the faint aroma of medical potions informed her that she was at the hospital wing at Hogwarts.

The girl lay back again, trying to steady her breathing and frenzied thoughts as she tried to decipher her situation. She was injured because of a ring - a ring - one that was supposed to help her on her mission. And her mission, what was that supposed to be exactly? Was Hogwarts the wrong place to be? Did she need to do something extra in order to get things going, so she could go home? Colette started feeling the panic bubble up in her chest, a tell-tale sign of her looming anxiety, before a shift of movement sounded from her right.

Adjusting her head to investigate, she found that it was Abraxas. He lay fast asleep on the bed next to hers, arm wrapped in bandages and held up in a sling. His seemed to be at peace despite this, though, letting out little snores and whimpers. Colette wondered what could've happen to him before realizing the obvious truth.

"He was the one to save me. He must have been hit with the bludger as well," Colette muttered to herself, mind too numb to think at all.

A gentle noise evaded her ears; tiny taps from outside the hospital wing growing progressively louder. 'Footsteps,' she thought, praying for them to pass by. Her hopes proved to be in vain as the big oak doors swung open, slam resonating against the walls. Abraxas flinched, but Colette stayed deathly still as she looked at the doors in her peripheral. No one was to be seen.

She tried to ignore her panic as she sat up carefully. Her body objected at this action, however the curiosity outweighed the pain for Colette. Her eyes searched the hospital wing - nothing. There was nobody there.

Her hand itched.

The ring trembled.

She tried to ignore them both as her sheets twisted. They wrinkled in a way unnatural, and Colette stopped breathing altogether as she felt movement against her covered legs. It was firmer, more resolute than wind. The girl braced herself - for what, she didn't know - but with the way her heart lurched, she knew it was inevitable.

All at once, the covers were ripped off, sending Colette spiralling off of the bed. She hit the floor harshly, a pain shooting up her abdomen and knocking the air out of her lungs as she tried to scream. A force grabbed her hand, tugging at the finger on which the ring adorned. Adrenaline kicked in as the brunette thrashed against air, kicking and flailing in a vain attempt to set herself free. The grip only tightened, severing the circulation in her hand as it begun dragging her along the floor.

Colette tried to scream, but the air was still thin and scarce in her lungs. Her eyes watered as her chest slid across the rough floor, pressure swelling against her injuries as her bandages tore off. Colette pleaded, sobbing and wishing to whatever power fated this. She felt an odd mix of numbness and sweltering pain; opposite forces butting heads as she just tried to grasp on to something that could stabilize her. She continued to be pulled along the halls, destination unknown as her body systems begun shutting down.

It was too much, too overwhelming, that now even tears refused to escape her in fear of what kind of world they'd be brought into, what sight they'd have to behold.