Flying.

Not to my doom. Not to my tomb.

But into the arms of my saviour with a zoom.

I inhale, my body shaking with such force I think I'm going to tumble out of the arms wrapped so tightly around me. In and out. In and out. In and out.

Chanting to no avail, panic seeps through my pores, bleeding out in deep breaths of utter hysteria.

Fudge.

A large hand tugs their fingers through my hair, pulling my head closer to their chest, their lips smothering me all over.

Fudge!

My eyes pool, the world becoming a scary blur and I start to feel tiny droplets of water splatter my cheeks, streaming down my face to my hands that continue to tremble.

Fudg— fudge it— no fuck it! Fuck it! I'm sorry mama but fuck! Fuck!

Swiftly, my body twists, my feet joining the ground again — a very safe way away from the cliff — and I clutch onto my protector's arms, willing him to never let me go. In return his hands grip onto my face, his hands absorbing my tiny head, and locking his deathly, dark green eyes with mine. I feel the calluses of his hands rough against my skin, his thumb caressing my cheek softly in a soothing pattern.

It surprises me that somehow through the numbness my natural, human senses are still working, almost willing me to not shut down. But at the same time the world disappeared from my eyes the same time my stomach lurched into the deep depths of the cavern, this boy that I couldn't look away from in front of me, the only thing I'm in tune with. Only him.

And I only want him.

Now, I'm flying again, whipped away from my safety and a scream erupts from my mouth, someone else tucking me under their arms. But I don't want their arms. Only his.

Gurgles come out of my mouth, screaming and crying at the same time, creating a noise so desperate that even I'm surprised.

I try to speak but I can't. My mouth opens and closes but nothing happens. I want him!

Again, I'm hurdled, away from my thoughts, away from my sanity; back to reality.

I blink

I'm in Braden's arms. He stares at me. His eyelashes are wet.

Brooklynn. I see Brooklynn. She's shoving Colton. Tanner's trying to hold her back.

Colton.

He isn't moving. Only watching me. Just as oblivious as I am.

Thunder churns faraway, the rain pelting us in an echoing silence. Hair is slapped to our foreheads, frizzy and lifeless. Our uniforms soaked and now a second skin of agony.

Before I realise it, I'm shivering, whether from the cold or my adventure, it's all the same, I'm an icicle.

But bit by bit my senses become clearer and the silent movie in front of me unravels into a cinematic-three-dimensional experience.

"You psychopath! What the fuck is wrong with you?" Brooklyn kicks Colton despite Tanners attempted restraint.

He doesn't reply. Or move.

She turns around and hits Tanner, trying to wiggle out of his grasp. "Let me go! I said let me go! I swear to god Tanner if you don't let me go right now I'm going to dangle you over the edge of the cliff making you watch as I push Colton over into his demise. I will make you listen as I laugh with joy as that dick dies a painful, bloody death."

Huh, dark.

Tanner doesn't let go although he does pale considerably, yanking her back in the direction of the trail. They disappear though the green bushes into the forest, twigs crunching on the way, leaving us in the shadow of the moon that looms over us.

"You're a mind fuck but I have to say I didn't think you had it in you."

Those remaining turn to look at Peyton, her soft voice cutting through the air sharply. She also swore.

"Cat caught your fucking tongue again?"

Nothing.

She stands up. "You're a complex Moreno." She takes a step towards him. "And do you know what I think? I think your just a little boy whose mommy left him when he realised how much of a disappointment you were, especially when she found out about your little secret. Your brother ditching you with your disaster of a drunk also named daddy when he registered he couldn't save you from also becoming him."

Her feet glide over the rock-strewn plane, taking in Colton's ashen expression but not stopping to look at her audience — Braden, Ashlynn, Vivian, Natalia, Edna and I — who watch in awe, the new girl going from bookworm to badass before our eyes, exposing a boy who shrinks in size after each word.

"Let's play spot the difference: Daddy hit mommy. And you hit meek girls." A malicious grin curls over her lips. "These games just keep getting harder and harder these days, don't they? All I can spot is blood still dripping down Alexis' arm, guess you don't care to hide your trails like daddy?"

He freezes if it's even possible, already stiller than a statue, eyes glued to my arm that blood flees from. Oh. Oh! Ow!

Pain. Pain lours my vision, so aggrieved I nearly miss Colton sprinting from the scene, Braden rushing after him, sending me an empathetic look. Because he too had just taken a trip over the edge, sliced his arm up on a rock and was bleeding buckets.

Tears prick my skin and I taste salt but I still don't speak. I don't ask for help. I stand in torture waiting for someone to end it. Hoping and praying for it to happen soon.

Help.

An hour later after a nurse has stitched up my arm — the needle piercing in and out of the flesh like a carver, the girls re-join me.

"Lexi! Oh, Lexi!" Ashlynn cries, running to my side. "I am so so sorry!"

I frown. It's not her fault but no words escape when I try to tell her so. I'm still a mute then. Hooray.

"It's not your fault, it's that fucking delirious psycho's fault," Brooklynn grumbles, crossing her arms and leaning against the white walls. Thankyou.

"We don't technically know that he's a psychopath, sounds like he's just got mommy issues," Vivian states.

"Or daddy," Natalia pipes up.

"Doesn't matter, it's no reason to be a dick."

I cringe. Brooklyn's mouth runs more than a fat dog on a treadmill with biscuit in front of it.

"I think it's sad. Everyone has family problems but to have it aired out like dirty laundry for everyone to see? That's got to suck," Ashlynn whispers, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"Treat people the way you expect to be treated."

"You don't feel for him?"

"No, I don't Viv." Natalia shakes her head, Brooklynn too.

"But Nat it's human psychology to feel even just a little bit of empathy for others."

She just shakes her head again, acknowledging but dismissing Vivian's statement.

"He nearly slaughtered you Lexi."

I turn to Peyton, eyes a gape.

"Don't look at me like that, you very nearly became a pile of mush."

But he didn't mean to. Did he?

"He did mean to." Wait, how did she know I was thinking that? "I can read you like book, you're my best friend."

  Her blue eyes hold determination, steeling herself for an unknown fight. She stands straight, her hair swirling in a cascade around her shoulders. Grime flecks cover her body (they cover us all), bags show under her eyes but nevertheless, guilt is nowhere to be seen.

"Alexis, was it a mistake when he tripped you up two days ago? Was it a mistake when he knocked your lunch tray out of your hands last week? Was it a mistake when he nearly drowned you three years ago in the lake — yes I heard about that."

Yes?

"No, it wasn't Alexis, and it certainly wasn't a mistake when he made the conscience decision to walk you off the ledge. Sure, he caught you, but what's to say the next time he won't? You've got to stand up for yourself! We've barely been at camp and I already know that he's manipulates you mentally and physically. You can't let him control you anymore."

Oh.

Peyton is about to start speaking again and fill the silent room but Gianna runs in. "Do any of you know where Colton is? It's urgent!"

All of us exchange a bewildered glance before Ashlynn speaks up, "No, we haven't. Is everything okay?"

Gianna's face contorts. "No, its not. We need to find Colton... before it's too late."

"What do you mea—"

A beep sounds in the room before a broken voice speaks through a walkie-talkie attached to Gianna's belt. "The boy's think they know where he is. We need to go to Cliff Cotibus, now." 

Before Gianna can even tell us to stay put, we're racing out the room down the familiar corridors to the exit. We run through the woods, retracing the path we took to the infirmary earlier. Stones crumble under our feet and we dodge trees, leap over logs and trudge through mud on the way. Somehow, we know the situation is dire and as we travel through the looming trunks, the greenery black in the darkness, we run blindly to the cliff, our torches left behind.

Almost immediately we lose Gianna, our younger legs taking us much further than hers and her shouts fade in the storm till only thunder claps are heard and strikes light up the sky. No one pauses for a breath, not even Edna who picks up the slack, until somehow, we're there.

Colton sits at the edge, his legs dangling over the edge. More of his body lies mid-air than it does on solid ground. He glances at us forlornly, the sound of our galloping not going unnoticed, but only for a second so short, if our eyes weren't trained on him we would've missed it, and then he returns his gaze back to the hell hole.

His body shifts.

I close my eyes.

so another update but i'll save the a/n till friday. im starting to think i could do a wed update most weeks too at the rate i'm going at-what do you think?

xox,

jessie.