I'll Bring A War

When I wake up I am cold. The space either side of me is empty and the door has carelessly been left open. The simple thump thump in my chest immediately turns into percussion as the quiet squeal of a violin accompanies the end of each of my shallow breaths as a lump forms in my throat. It takes me a while to get my breathing back into a somewhat normal rhythm. I bring myself back to the ground, the horrific images of ‘worst case scenario’ dispersing slightly as I familiarise myself with my surroundings. The burnt out candles in the corner of the room, the musty smell of the years old room, the two boxes of belongings against the far wall, notebooks and books piled against the wall to the right of me and the swish of scratchy straw underneath me as I move. My jaw falls open as I find two mystery objects to my left; a cup and a piece of paper.

My surprised expression transforms into a grin and a sigh escaped my body as I light a candle and read the note:
I couldn’t bring myself to wake you to tell you where I was going, you’re so beautiful when you’re asleep, but please don’t worry. I’m with Andy, wanted to get an early start (we can’t all sleep in ‘til daylight like you).
I love you Kiera,
Sleep well x
A smile overtakes my face as I read the note and a hearty laugh accompanies as I anticipate teasing him later about his false prediction of my late awakening. I gulp down the water, throw on my clothes and the room plunges into darkness as I blow out the candle and close the door on my way out. I decide to follow the smell of food , the opposite direction of the meeting room where presumably Ashley and Andy were; they needed to talk this out between themselves. “Mornin’,” a voice startles me as CC joins my side, “You’re up early.”
“Why does everyone think that, Ash is with Andy and even he left me a note and said about not everyone being able to sleep until daytime like me,” we laugh at my joking exasperation, “You’ll tell him I was up won’t you. We’ll show him he’s wrong.”
He chuckles, “Are you kidding? A chance to tease Ash, I’m in,” and he hits my arm playfully. “What are you two up to?” Jinxx grins as he sees us enter the kitchen.
“Ashley’s wrong, you’ll see,” I smirk and CC’s eyes glint with mischief. We cheerfully take the bowls of oaty milk that Jinxx hands us and head into the next room.

“What happened last night?” Jinxx asks when we’ve all finished and have fallen into a gratified silence. “He told me about Sky.” My voice comes out smaller and more solemn than I expect as I look up at them both. “Poor guy,” CC sighs sadly.
“She was a lovely girl,” Jinxx attempts to bring a positive light to the situation, but the heavy silence that follows his statement speaks for itself. “Thankyou,” I break the silence sharply and my thanks is met with confusion. “You two helped him. If you hadn’t stopped him from running back…” I shudder and quickly continue, “He’d have driven himself mad if all of you hadn’t been there for him.”
“He did… For a while,” CC’s reply shocks me.
Jinxx nods in agreement, “Night terrors. Vomiting. He couldn’t eat anything. At his worst… Hallucinations.” I force myself to move before the image of Ashley skinny, pale and ill manifests itself too heavily in my mind. Now, sitting in front of them both, I take each of their rough, experienced hands into my own and we sit together for a while.

Someone flips the light on and only then do I realise that CC and Jinxx have the same red rimmed eyes as I undoubtedly do. “Are you guys okay?” It’s Andy’s smooth, deep voice that pierces our solemn silence. Involuntarily I barrel towards Andy and throw my arms around his tall frame. “Thankyou for looking after Ash,” I whisper into his ear. When we pull apart his bright blue eyes meet my emerald ones and he smiles a sad smile; he knows exactly what I’m thanking him for. Ashley appears around the corner and smiles and Andy and I in our comforting embrace.

Once Ashley’s joined us with Jake, Andy clears his throat. Ash’s clammy hand clasps around my own. “Kiera, we leave in 5 days.”

Notes

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ASHLEY! I feel absolutely privileged to have such an inspirational and passionate idol to look up to. Ash you've helped me in so many ways, I can only hope to thank you in person one day. Have a great day!!


So this chapter seemed longer than it is I'm sorry. It went in a completely different direction to what I was expecting and it came to me really smoothly, so hopefully it's as much of a joy to read as it was to write.

Thankyou for all of your support!