Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain

It's all happening so fast

Hope's POV: I leaned against the wall, trying to calm Dr. Saltzman down before the door was thrown open, causing me to look up as Josie stormed off down the hall. Frowning, I looked back in the room to see Lizzie staring at the door tearfully. 

Walking into the room, I walked over to the blonde in concern as a silent tear ran down her face. "Lizzie", I whispered, waving a hand in front of her as her eyes refocused onto me. "What happened", I asked her softly as her heart monitors sped up. "Lizzie, calm down", I pleaded as she began hyperventilating. 

"I...I...I c-ca...", she gasped out tearfully as she clawed at her throat. My eyes widened fearfully as eyes rolled back into her skull, causing her to collapse onto the bed as her body shook violently. 

"I need help", I yelled frantically as the monitors flat-lined. "No. No. Don't do this. Not again", I begged tearfully as multiple doctors and nurses rushed into the room.

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Lizzie's POV: I gasped awake with a breathless cough as smoke quickly filled my lungs. "W-what's going on", I whispered to myself fearfully as I looked up into concerned eyes. "Mom", I frowned. The last thing I remember is walking to mom's office to ask her about the new student, and then...nothing. I must've blacked out. Sitting up, I looked around the front lawn at the group of students being evacuated nearby before my eyes caught the black smoke billowing out of the school's windows. 

Pushing myself up, I searched the group of students for any sign of Josie or dad, but couldn't find any. The ground shook underneath me, nearly causing me to stumble back to the ground as I watched the school cave in on itself. Covering my mouth in horror, I took off running toward the building before a pair of arms wrapped around my waist. "Let me go", I exclaimed, struggling against them. 

"Lizzie, stop", Jed pleaded, holding onto my waist firmly. 

"Jed, they're in there. Josie's in there", I told him tearfully.

"I know", he whispered sadly. 

"Caroline", I heard Ms. Tig scream, causing us to turn my head to see her struggling to help a kid stand.

The arms around me disappeared as more people were being dragged from the rumble, but none of them were Josie. Biting my lip anxiously, I surveyed the rumble before walking up where I knew the walls used to be, so I wouldn't squish anyone that might still be trapped underneath the debris. 

No one else noticed me as I started to climb where the dorms used to be. They were too busy searching the piles of debris for missing kids and attempting to put out the smaller fires that were still smoking. 

I wasn't exactly sure what I was going to do when I got to where our room once was. I couldn't exactly move very much of the concrete by myself, but I knew that I had to hurry, because there was no telling what kind of condition Josie was in and how long it would take someone to notice that I was snooping around and want to drag me out of danger kicking and screaming. If they did want to drag me away, it would definitely be kicking and screaming, because there's no way I was leaving without Josie. 

As I neared where our dorm rooms once was, I noticed that there was some of the building that wasn't completely destroyed. Part of one of the walls had fallen down, but the rest of it was still standing. Hearing sirens in the distance, I looked out at the growing group of students sitting on the front lawn. 

Tears sprang into my eyes as I spotted mom and Emma kneeling over a kid's body before it finally hit me how bad of a shape Josie could actually be in. She was under a couple hundred tons of a boarding school and even with magic...

I didn't want to think about it. I just wanted to find Josie. 

I tired to push down my emotions to focus on finding Josie, but as I turned around and saw mom's office in ruins, it got more difficult. This was always my sanctuary during school hours. If someone was being mean to me, a class was too hard, or if I just wanted to get away from the drama, this is where I came. Josie and I grew up here. This was our home. 

I continued walking toward the dorm rooms, only to find the hallway blocked by a large beam that's fallen out of the ceiling. Carefully maneuvering over it, I moved across the hallway to the door of our room. I pushed the door open, only for it to be blocked by something inside. I was able to get the door open enough to squeeze through, but I still had to suck in my stomach. "Josie", I carefully called out into the mess, only to be rewarded in silence.

Scanning our destroyed room, my heart sank as I spotted Josie's bed that was crushed under part of the ceiling. I felt my chest tighten as my heart raced. I wandered over to where the ceiling had fallen to find a way around it. I found a small hole in the debris that led into the other half of our dorm room before bending over to crawl through it. A sharp pain shot through my right forearm as I climbed out, causing me to hiss painfully. Looking down at my arm, I spotted a large gash before turning around look back into the hole to notice a sharp piece of metal sticking out on one side.

If I had learned anything from the movies, it's that whatever you're wearing makes a great bandage, but only if you tear it off the bottom of your shirt. Spotting a small tear in the top of my uniform, I ripped a few inches off the bottom so I could bandage my arm.

Tying it around my arm securely, I exhaled deeply as I scanned my half the room sadly. Part of the ceiling had fallen onto one half of the room, destroying Josie's bed and plants that she spent years nurturing. Looking around once more, I found our desk half under a pile of concrete. Josie's gotten into the habit of doing her homework in the evening, so if she had been using anything, it would've been the desk, but there still wasn't no sign of her on or around the desk.

I let out a sigh of relief, but knew that Josie could still be somewhere else in the building. I searched the rest of our dorm room before carefully climbing back through the hole in the middle of the room to get to the door, being mindful of the sharp piece of metal.

Walking out into the hallways once more, I looked down in one direction to see a solid wall of concrete with smoke coming out of the cracks. I looked in the other direction to see water pouring out of what used to be the showers and a flickering light barely hanging of what's left of the ceiling. I didn't exactly see a great option in either direction, but I was less afraid of water and electricity than the fire that was on the other side of the heap to my right, so I turned left and made my way down the hallway as best as I could. 

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Josie's POV: Hurrying down the newly renovated hallways of the Salvatore Boarding school, I blinked the tears from my eyes as a few slipped the side of my face. Wiping at my eyes, I gasped as someone grabbed me by the arm and turned me around to face them. "Are you okay", Mg asked me worriedly, causing me to inhaled deeply. 

"I'm fine", I lied, turning my face away from him as tears continued to stream down my face. 

"Josie", he frowned, looking me over in concern as I struggled to get my breathing under control.

"I just...she's awake, Mg", I admitted. "Lizzie's awake", I told him, watching the confusion spread across his face before recognizing the name. 

"Is this the girl that you go and see every day", he asked, causing me to nod silently, not knowing what else to say. "Well, isn't this good news? Why aren't you there now", he asked me in confusion.

"It's all happening so fast", I told him.

"Fast? I thought you've been waiting for this to happen for years", he asked me in bewilderment.

"I just...I just need some time", I struggled to get out, before pulling away from him and disappearing down the hall.