• tab Help came five minutes later, but for Felitia, it was like an eternity. Remsum and a few other members of staff came with a stretcher. Jared was taken swiftly to the hospital wing soon after and two teachers dragged the still raging Ganymede down to the dungeons to calm him down. But all this happened in a mere uninterpretable blur of worry and sudden flashbacks to Felitia. The cut on her cheek still felt like it was burning painfully, but it was nothing compared to the hurt she felt for Jared.
    tab Now she stood near the entrance to the hospital wing taking in the sight before her. The nurse was rushing around gathering various bandages, swabs and bottles of medicines of medicines and antiseptic. Another staff member cut Jared’s shirt and gently peeled it off his skin then washed the blood off his body. The nurse inspected his injuries. She dabbed antiseptic onto his forearm and washed the dried blood out of his jet black hair where he had hit the wall and the skin had broken. She wrapped bandages around his wounds and laid him in one of the many hospital beds. There was panic in the air; his injuries were serious and his condition was unstable.
    tab Felitia could hardly bare to watch. She slid down against the wall until she was sitting on the floor, drawing her knees close to her chest and burying her face in her arms.
    tab This is all my fault. I provoked Ganymede into attacking me. And I knew all along that Jared would try and protect me like he has always. And I should have acted sooner when Ganymede was strangling him and got help. Ganymede was after me, not him, yet all I escape with is a cut on my face. She touched the gash on her cheek. The blood had dried now and cracked every time she tensed any muscle in her face. I know I don’t deserve him and he keeps proving me right. He thinks I’m perfect, but I’m far from it. He’d do anything for me, and what does he get back from me? Nothing, but this. She looked up. The nurse was now writing down the diagnosis into a log, a very worried and sorrowful look on her old face. Please, please be alright. Felitia was so tired and distraught; her eyes closed and sleep overtook her. It wasn’t much but it was enough to drown Felitia in dreams.

    tab She dreamt Jared had black wings and that he was hiding away in the darkness like a dormant monster. She approached him and his head rose revealing a petrified face, his pupils dilated and his face contorted into a terrifying grimace. It was enough to make anyone scream, but all she could do was stand still, wishing to wake up.

    tab “Love? Lovie? You alright my dear?” a voice echoed through Felitia’s brain. She opened her eyes heavy from sleep. As her eyes focused she saw the nurse’s face. She was half expecting to wake up in her bed, then reality returned to her.
    tab “Jared?” she panicked.
    tab “I’m afraid the news isn’t good,” she sighed sorrowfully. “His arm should be okay in a few weeks; the bone is unharmed and the tissue is already starting to repair itself…”
    That doesn’t sound too drastic.
    tab “…But he’s lost so much blood that it is difficult to tell whether he will survive. And that blow to the head has fractured his skull and the effects of the concussion have sent him into a comatose, one which he may never wake up from.”
    tab Holy crap! This can’t be happening! You can’t die Jared. Not now. She curled into a tight ball like a terrified animal scared of everything surrounding it. She was terrified. A dam of tears burst inside her head and flooded down her face. She quaked with fear and anger towards herself. No! Everything is because of me. I killed him, I condemned him to die. She couldn’t live with herself, she hated her very existence. She would rather die than see Jared die because of her imperfection.
    tab The nurse laid a hand on her shoulder.
    tab “Oh, my dear girl. All is not lost; there is still a good chance that he will recover. Just keep your chin up and keep hoping for the best. Worrying about it will do no one any good. Now I can’t help noticing that Jared isn’t the only one injured in this incident. Let’s get that cut sorted out then love.”
    tab Felitia got up and the nurse led her over to a hospital bed near where Jared was laid. She could see him lying silently, bandaging on his head and arm. A sword of guilt pierced her heart once again. Remorse gnawed at her soul like a woodworm.
    tab The nurse cleaned the cut carefully with the biting antiseptic, but Felitia didn’t notice.
    tab “You can stay here tonight if you want to,” the nurse offered.
    tab “I will,” said Felitia. Even though the sorrow of failing her friend would be amplified by his presence, there was no way she could leave him. She would stay by his side for eternity if it meant she would be there if he ever recovered, so she could say sorry.
    tab So she stayed there all night at Jared’s side. She sat in an armchair near his bed and kept vigilance over his still, unconscious body, until after a few hours she drifted into sleep.

    tab She had the same dream as before. Jared’s crouched body lay twisted in the darkness and the wings on his back rose up above him. The demonic black creatures consumed his strength and tortured him beyond sanity. Felitia saw his body tensing, trying to fight the monstrous infection. She felt the urge to step towards him. As she drew closer his head rose to look at her, but this time his face was different. Tears stained his face and he bore the face of someone who had just lost all they held dear to their heart.
    tab “Help me, Felitia,” he rasped as she came nearer. She knelt down in front of him taking his head in her arms and holding it close to her. She stared at the black wings protruding from his back and saw they were stained and dripping with blood. Her eyes moved to the wings’ link with his body. His back was shrouded with crimson liquid from where the wings had supposedly pierced through his flesh to escape his body.
    tab “Jared, listen to me. I’m here now. You don’t have to worry anymore. The pain is over.”
    tab He raised his head to her.
    tab “I can’t live like this.”
    tab “You don’t have to; just stay with me and the pain will stay away.” She placed a hand on his cheek. He took it and held it tightly. Looking down sorrowfully he said quietly,
    tab “You must leave now. She is here.”
    tab A beautiful young woman with trailing raven hair like snakes stepped out of the veil of darkness and into their midst. A mystical green pendant hung around her neck.
    tab “Hello Jared, my sweet prince,” her voice resounded maliciously around them. She stretched out a hand toward Jared. A look of terror spread across his face. “Sweet dreams,” she smiled evilly. She clenched her fist and her eyes and the pendant glowed a radioactive green. Jared’s body began to quake violently and he let out a bloodcurdling cry of agony as his body crumpled under the enchantment.
    tab Felitia was drawn away from him as if she were trapped in a strong river current. The two figures started to disintegrate into the darkness.
    tab “No Jared! I won’t leave you!” she cried, but it was too late; she was alone in the endless inky void. Then a bright light engulfed her body as she started to depart the dream.

    tab When she awoke, it was early morning. Dawn was yet to be broken and a fresh grey light glimmered through the windows. She turned to where she hoped to see Jared awake and completely alive, but saw his injured frame lying under a feather duvet. The nurse was in her small office, sleeping on a fold away bed, Felitia knew. So like the evening before, it was once again just Felitia who had the duty of watching over the unconscious boy.
    She knelt by the side of his bed and took a hold of his cold hand and closed her eyes. Sudden flashbacks of the grotesque dream she had only just escaped came to haunt her. The horrifying wings rose up in front of her eyes and the echoes of that horrendous scream when the unknown woman let loose the torment upon Jared’s body reverberated in her mind. She couldn’t stand to witness anymore of this suffering. The longer she stayed with Jared the worse the visions became. The last hope in her that he would recover almost shattered as she opened her eyes and gazed upon his brutally injured frame in its death-like state. Tears cascaded down her face. She squinted hard to try and make them stop but the torrents kept on flowing. She felt like she was screaming from some cold, eternal pit of nothingness, inaudible to any soul.
    tab Don’t leave me like this. How could you? How could you let me be so lonely? How could you abandon me? The thoughts came into her head faster than she could realise. No, no! How can I think such things?! I was the one who abandoned him. It’s my fault he’s in this condition; my fault I’m so alone. All my fault! All she could do was wish the days could be rewound and that she could have another chance to keep Jared from dying.
    tab But what’s the point of wishing? Wishes are for little girls, who believe in fairytales. A crazy thought then popped into her head.
    tab Fairytales; in the story, ‘The Slumbering Maiden, the courageous young knight awoke the beautiful girl with a kiss. But, no that’s preposterous! It’s just fiction; the knight would’ve had to be a Warlock if it were true, and there’s no way stories with Warlocks in would’ve allowed to told after the Reform, one part of her mind told her.
    tab But I don’t even love him! Another part said.
    tab But what if by some minute, unexplainable chance it works? If there was the smallest chance, he would do it for you.
    tab Oh, don’t give me that! I feel bad enough about that already. Besides, if he had the chance to kiss me he would take it.
    And the last part of her mind that held any sanity said,
    tab No! This can’t be happening. Split personality; I’m going mad! (no offense Lucy XD; and Hidan)
    tab What? Like Mum?
    tab No, no!
    tab How could your own mother ‘mad’. Don’t tell me you’re starting to believe the lies that everyone else believes.
    tab Shut up, shut up! She yelled in her head. She could stand it no longer.
    tab Help me Jared! She leant forward and kissed his cold lips. The voices stopped.
    tab Nothing. Not a single movement. Jared laid there, ever the same, unmoving. It had failed epically. She couldn’t bear to gaze upon his lifeless body a second longer. She ran away onto the nearby balcony.
    tab The dawn chorus sounded joyfully around her. It was sickening. Felitia covered her ears, the tips jutting out through her fingers.
    tab “I don’t know what the hell you all think you’re rejoicing about!” she screamed out of frustration. She was so angry that not even nature could escape her wrath. Probably, if it hadn’t been for the sheer ten metre drop from the balcony, she would have gone rampaging through the woods, killing any creature or burning any bush that came within a mile locus of her path.
    tab The passing anger soon died away and even though she thought she could weep no more, the tears came back again. She fell to her knees, letting the sweet morning air consume her.
    tab “Please, please Jared, come back. I need you. I’ve never realised how lonely I am without you. You’re the only one that keeps me going,” she whispered into the air.
    tab “If someone can hear me, I need him back. Please, I’ll do anything. I’ve learnt my lesson now, just please give him back to me,” she said a little louder. She wasn’t sure why she said it. It sounded a bit ridiculous at the time but she refused to give up hope that there was some way that Jared would get better. She stood up and looked out at the forest beyond her. The sweet scents of the towering conifers swirled around her and a warm breeze flowed though her hair. A single sycamore seed twirled through the wind and landed gently on the stone banister. Felitia picked it up and smiled. It was as if the world around her was saying ‘yes’.
    tab Of course he’ll be alright. He’ll wake up soon and in due course he’ll be healed. Everything will be just fine, just wait, She convinced herself.
    tab Then the sun rose over the horizon, its glorious rays piercing through the trees. Felitia’s face illuminated and her soul felt even more so. Inside, polygons of coloured light danced on the floor and on Jared’s face. For a moment, the tiniest moment, one could see his head shift, just slightly, to the left; and the sound of a long, deep breath could be heard, as if a lost soul had just been reborn from the grave.