ready to run

                The town had erupted into madness, his sister was safe that much he was thankful for. Making his way through the crowds of flurried folk on the street he couldn’t help but block out the sounds of chaos that erupted around them, screams of terror, cries for loved ones, broken glass and something that smelt like fire in the distance. The male was drawn to the flames and as much as he wanted to make his way over to the clock tower, something else caught his attention first. A person stood on the sidewalk, face blank and smeared with blood, they were clearly out of sorts and potentially injured. So ignoring his better judgement, he made a beeline for them, “Hey, you alright?” He queried, looking them over for any further sign of injury before he looked back at anarchy on the street behind them. “We need to get you some place safe.” He added, taking their arm in his own before he pushed past people, not waiting for their acknowledgment he led the way down the street.

This was hell. Zelda could attempt to come up with another way to describe it, but even her generally positive way of thinking wouldn’t come in handy here. The day only grew worse as the hours went by; she woke up this morning to the image of her fiance dying, and now here she stood, very real blood covering her face as the realization that her mind was playing tricks on her came to light. She thought her brother was in danger, and by some miracle she thought she was capable of saving him. Now it was as if she was in a daze, staring into the distance at nothing in particular, ignoring the fact that the world was seemingly crashing down around her. “My brother, I thought he needed my help.” She muttered breathlessly, not even sure who or what was talking to her -- or if they were real. “He’s -- okay. He’s not here. H-he’s safe.” Struggling to find her words, she babbled as the man took it upon himself to start guiding her down the street. She was too lost to resist.

✺ - // the day started normal. wake up, get dressed, grab a breakfast sandwich, drive to campus. for some reason, he had to take a detour. he craned his neck over the long line of cars but no luck. probably an accident, must’ve been serious due to the dozens of flashing lights and wailing sirens. upon arriving, apollo strolled into the academic wing, soon noticing its strange vacancy. he then saw the note taped to the door: classes are cancelled for today. great, an hour of traffic for nothing. hospital volunteer hours didn’t begin until the afternoon, but maybe they’d let him start early. fortunately the doctor wasn’t an asshole and let him assist her in the children’s unit. a girl had broken her leg playing soccer. as apollo bent down to get a look, he saw a violet-red streak running down her thigh. “hey michelle, you didn’t tell me she was bleeding.” he called out. no response. once more. “hey –” nothing. as his gaze averted upwards, the more surreal it all became. his mom clutching her swollen stomach, face twisted in pain. doctors darting to and fro with scalpels and needles and coverings. voices mumbling underneath surgical masks. it’s going to be a miscarriage. apollo scrambled to his feet. from all her time as a surrogate, she never once had a miscarriage. voices ricocheting off of sterile walls. she might die, she just might die. apollo ran out to the lobby for help, but that was far as he could get. his feet now encased in ice, arms pinned to the wall, chest heaving so hard that his heart could burst. tunnel vision, stretching back and back and back. someone kept shouting in the distance, monotone and repetitive like hitting a guy with a baseball bat over and over until they’re dead, dead, dead…

There was nothing normal about today. From the second Zelda opened her eyes there wasn’t a single part of her that wasn’t enduring some sort of pain, either mentally or emotionally, and suddenly things were turning physical. Rubbing aggressively at the back of her neck she rushed down the street, trying to get as far away as possible before the all too real sensation of her neck being snapped hit her again. “Stop it, stop it.” She yelled, knowing it wouldn’t work but hoping to at least drown out the voices filling the air around her -- her fiance begging for his life, her father screaming in agony, her brother sacrificing himself for her, they wouldn’t stop. She’d managed to get herself turned around somehow, lost in a small town she lived in for the majority of her life, because everything in her mind was too muddled to think. Then she ran into someone worse off than her. “It’s not real.” She said plainly, trying to reach for the blonde who was frozen in place, the gravity of what he was going through evident on his face. “Hey, look at me. It isn’t real.” She kept repeating, trying to shake him from the chains in his mind holding him hostage. “None of this is real. It’s all in your head. It’s not real.” She was saying it over and over again, her voice raising with each word, desperate to get him out of this. But then it turned on her, as if to envelop her into the same fate he was suffering from. She couldn’t move. Every muscle in her body felt constricted, like a rope was wrapped around her entire body, getting tighter and tighter with each passing moment. It wasn’t real, but it sure as hell felt like it.

for the darling dear @zcldac

The morning had started out chaotic, less than ideal; Vala was shaken to her core and was doing a mental head count of her friends when she realized she hadn’t heard back from Zelda all morning. It shouldn’t have mattered, not under normal circumstances but this? The air felt thick with something sinister, and she needed to find her friend before her mind ran wild with the worst possible outcomes.  

She made it to her home quickly, peering through the windows she could see someone shuffling inside; Vala sighed, a small amount of relief as she pushed the front door open letting herself inside. “Z!?” She called out for her padding her way through the entryway into the kitchen where she found Zelda. She appeared physically okay, but there was something off, a tick, a beat of her heart that thumped too quickly, something gripped her and Vala couldn’t shake the feeling that something was horrendously wrong. “Z? babe?” She called out with a tentative tone as she closed the space between them to rest a firm hand against her shoulder.

Zelda was going absolutely nuts, a slave to the demons in her mind, unable to shake the thoughts and feelings rushing over her throughout the course of the day. The pain was unimaginable, a sick brand of psychological torture that could only be born from living in East End. She locked herself away in her apartment, as if pad locked doors would save her from the voices in her head -- they didn’t, but at least she wouldn’t have to bring anyone else into her drama. Her heart dropped when she heard Vala’s voice, terrified it was another mind game and she’d be forced to watch one of her oldest friends perish in some way. She didn’t answer at first, but Vala was persistent, and made her way inside to find her. Concern was apparent in her voice almost immediately, Vala being able to pick up on the subtle shift in Zelda better than most, both due to their friendship and Vala’s abilities as a wolf. “Hey, hi.” She said softly, shaking her head. “Sorry, I uh -- wasn’t sure if it was really you. Something’s happening V, I can’t think. I keep seeing things, feeling them. Something’s wrong.”

“Pardon me, I don’t mean to interrupt, but…” Beau fell into step before the person, head cocked to the side as he looked over them a moment. A smile was etched on his lips, somewhere between amused and warm, as he took in the many objects within their arms. “You look like you could use some help. May I assist you?”

“I got it, I got it.” She lied, struggling to keep hold of the array of different items she was carrying towards the check out counter. Why didn’t she never cave and get a basket? She was about two seconds away from dropping most of it when he offered to help, but she had a stubborn streak. “I do this all the time.”

She had always been the understanding sort, there to offer a kind smile or a helping hand when people were going through a crisis though more often than now, that mainly tended to be the people closest to her whom she’d endlessly tried to teach breathing techniques to even though they never completely understood it. 

Clearly today was no different, and luckily for the person involved she was in a booze kind of mood. Holding out a glass to them, she offered a soft smile one that spoke lengths for her understanding. “Here, you seem troubled about something. So I suggest you have a drink, If you want to talk i’m here and if not that’s okay too…I get it.”

Zelda had a bad habit of getting lost in thought as of late, a side effect to losing the man she planned to grow old with. She didn’t even notice it anymore, staring blankly into space as idle hands fiddled with the diamond ring she refused to take off. If the other blonde hadn’t interrupted her, who knows how long she would’ve sat there. “Is it that obvious?” She asked, reaching a hand out for the glass. “I don’t -- I don’t think I want to talk, but thank you. For the drink. And the offer. Not everyone’s willing to listen.”

“No, wait. Wait.” She’s stopped abruptly, suddenly entirely aware that she no longer held the take away cup she’d had with her only moments ago. “Stop, stop, stop. I gotta’ go back.” Unbeknownst to most, coffee had never been all that high on her list of necessities, her sudden affinity for it stemmed purely from a way to cover up the blood that sat well within the confines of it instead of the hot bitter liquid. “My coffee.. you do not want to see me without it. Trust me.” There was no doubt that she was doing better – a better mindset, a better sense of control, but her trust in that wavered more than she liked to admit. 

“I didn’t realize you were this attached to pink lemonade.” Zelda managed to get a few paces ahead of Cait before she noticed she stopped, only turning back when she heard borderline shrieking coming from the other girl. It was a bit of an overreaction in her opinion, but the blonde wasn’t one to judge. “There’s a convenient store on every corner, you know. We can get you another one anywhere. It’s probably in a trash can by now anyway.”