Underworld Chaos~Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Blazing sunlight crept through the papyrus blinds that shielded the glass doors to my balcony. Quietly the rays inched their way to my eyelids where they blinded my sleep with a bright red light. I opened my eyes only to quickly shut then tight once again. Unknown grunts and groans escaped my throat while I bleakly rolled literally off my bed, onto the sage green shag rug that accented the light bamboo flooring. I stood straight up in a hazy awareness, and thus fell back onto my bed. At this point my mother burst through the door demanding that I get ready for school. Unaware of my expression, I repelled her from my room, which in retrospect may not have been the best of ideas.

When she left my sight I fell backwards back onto my bed, bouncing rapidly, then slower. Finally I completely stood up. I lethargically gazed over to my clock that read 7:00am in red. After a good and well deserved stretch, I fumbled over to the bathroom conveniently attached to my room. After undressing, I stepped into my shower and turned the faucet. Ice water poured over my skin, washing away anything that accumulated on me as I slept. I stood there silently, my eyes closed, facing upwards.
***
Without warning one droplet burned my face. My eyes opened, and another searing drop stung my face. I tried to back away swiftly, but fell onto the porcelain floor. Soon hundreds, upon thousands of painful little orange droplets started to pelt away at my flesh. While screaming in agony, I reached for the faucet handle; my hand shook frantically around the handle not able to grab it. Finally I gave up and ripped down the curtain that hung from the shower's bar. I then pulled my naked body from the fiery invasion onto the cold tiles.
***
I opened my eyes, the glacial water still running over my fair face. I backed away to the tiles at the tub's end. Had I fallen asleep in the shower? Whether I had or not was not the case. Why is it that I had experienced the same terror as my dream last night? Normally my nightmares only haunted me every now and again, never simultaneously.

As I finished up with my shower, I stepped out covering myself with a towel, I walked from my bathroom to my dresser in my room and opened it. I stared at my immense amount of clothes, from which I picked a deep purple tank top and gray pair of skinny jeans. After finishing getting dressed I walked over to the glass doors, pulled up the blinds, and flung open the door; which is when I found it to be quite chilly outside. So, I walked to my closet and snatched a black leather jacket.

I finished getting ready by inserting silver hoops and amethyst stones into my pierced ears, wrapping a black choker around my neck, putting on my black converse and socks, applying eye liner and mascara, and finally brushing my perfectly straight, and wet dark auburn hair. At once, I stampeded down the staircase into the kitchen where I was met with a fairly unpleasant surprise. My mother and father were there to meet me for breakfast before dad went off to work. So far my dull Thursday was just that...dull.

"Oh...it was about time you got around to joining us for breakfast Blair." she said bitterly.

I swallowed my argument for the moment. "Good morning dad."

"Good morning kid, how'd you sleep?"

"Fine." I lied.

"Blair hurry up and eat something, school starts in an hour." my mother scolded.

"Whoop whoop." I mumbled.

"What was that?" she asked assertively.

"Whoop! Whoop!" I yelled in her face.

She then raised a hand to my face when I grabbed her wrist and pulled her arm back down to her side. Rage filled both pairs of eye, electric sparks met between our faces.

"Hey, hey! Stop it you two." my dad said, intervening. He pulled me from my mother's wrath and took me to living room to talk to me. I grabbed a single piece of buttered toast off my mother's plate and left the room.

"You know that temper of yours is getting worse. Did you take that medication the doctor prescribed you?" he asked me.

"Dad, I'm bipolar. Those pills aren't going to do anything for me."

"Blair, you know that you have to take them."

"But dad-"

"No buts, go and take them." he demanded.

"Well geez, why am I the one who has to take them? Mom's no better than I am." I asked frustrated.

"Because she's not special." he answered.

"Wait. How does this have anything to do with me going to Η Ακαδημία για την Ταλαντούχος Νεολαία?"

"It doesn't-"

"Then what did you mean by-"

"Blair!" I heard my mother yelling from the kitchen. "Go to school!"

"Ok!" I yelled back. Under my breath, "Some bitch you married."

"Hey..." said my dad. He put his hands on my shoulders and brought his face closer to mine. "If it weren't for that bitch, you wouldn't be here."

I snickered. My dad handed me two pills from the bottle on the wooden end table. I closed my hand into a fist, grabbed my bag, and rushed out the door.

After my explosion on my mother just a few moments ago, I was wary of coming home at all that day. But I digress, I wanted to tell the truth, expel my thoughts and emotions in bursts of angry shouting. So far she has caused all the complications in my life without fail. There was a reason she hadn't met Eli; me having a boyfriend for eight months now, she'd go mad. I reached the bus stop at the end of the corner, threw my pills that had slightly melted in my fist into a pair of bushes, and waited. One minute, two, three, four, now five minutes. The bus never came.

"Damn!" I exclaimed. "I missed it." I turned to start my short thirty minute walk to school.

"Blair! Hey Blair!" I heard a very familiar voice behind me.

I turned around to see Damien running up to me. For some odd reason, I could not find my words. So I just stared at him and his newly jet black hair with bright blue hi-lights as he got closer and closer. His eyes were ice blue, like mine.

"Blair, are you ok?" he questioned as settled himself in front of me.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I tried to say.

"No you're not." he said. "Another fight with your mom?"

"Last night and this morning." I answered slightly ashamed.

Damien put his arm around and settled his head gently on my own. A single tear raced down my face as we started to walk. I lied to him about being fine, and he still embraced me to make every problem disappear.

"Everything's going to be fine. Don't worry, you can escape at school." he assured.

"Well it's not like I have to go straight home after school."

"Why not?" he asked.

I stopped walking and placed my hand on my face to hide the tears.

"Blair..." Damien placed his hands on my shoulders, I turned to place my face in his chest. "Blair, what's wrong? What happened?"

"Charlotte's in the hospital." I sobbed.

"What? What happ-"

"She and Aidan were out driving last night and were hit by a truck. She's in a coma!" I yelled into his black hoodie.

He tightened a hug around my body. "I'm so sorry, is she going to be ok?"

"I don't know." I looked up at him shaking my head furiously. "The doctor's don't even know." I detached myself from him and wiped the tears from my face. "I was wondering if you would go with me to the hospital after school."

"What about Eli?"

"He can't, he works all week after school."

"Well...yeah. I'll go with you."

"Thanks Damien."

"No problem, now come on."

Damien started to walk off without me, he was so protective and sincere; why didn't my mother like him. There was a reason he was my best friend, other than Charlotte. He stopped to turn towards me. I hadn't moved an inch; I just stared at my feet thinking. So deep in thought, I didn't even notice Damien walking back to me. Like a little joker, he tilted his head all way down to where up was down and down was up, left was right and right was left. Damien's topsy-turvy world made me smile. My smile made him smile.

"Damien, you're not normal." I laughed.

"Well neither are you. Now come on, I wanna get to school before the bell rings."

We made our way off to school and talked and laughed, like always. The neighborhood had been oddly quiet all morning, not one car or other being passed us on the street. Normally people were bustling to and fro, to markets and theaters, most were off to work or school. But not today.

We walked through the wrought iron gates of the academy onto the displaced cobblestone where the buses usually met. I soon saw Eli talking to Anderson, Ash, and Christian. They were probably talking about another top secret experiment they were up to, or one of the many honors courses we took at Η Ακαδημία για την Ταλαντούχος Νεολαία.

The moment Eli had seen me he rushed away from the group. He stared down at my face with his dark brown eyes, the similar colored hair hung slightly in view. Damien left my side slowly as Eli grabbed my waist and kissed me gently on the lips. The sensation of his soft lips tickled the nerves in my face, when my heart started to slowly beat faster, he pulled away and smiled.

"Good morning." he said beaming.

"Good morning." I said back.

We turned around to our group of friends who had gone back to their normal conversation. He placed his arm around my waist and guided me over to our circle around a lone concrete bench in the front garden. The thirteen of us gathered onto the large stone slab, or on the moss soaked cobblestone. There were more concrete benches scattered throughout the vast garden area. At one there was Mae, Roxxi, and Jasmine from my Advanced Dance class, along with Luke; at another there was Clarisse arguing with Iris, it seemed that Clarisse was losing this controversy. Clarisse was just about the vainest person on the face of the planet; she craved attention and freaked out when she didn't receive any. Iris on the other hand was one my close friends and Christian's girlfriend, and has hated Clarisse from the first day we all registered...of course she wasn't alone.

In the midst of the argument a couple more of my friends, Hayden walked up to defuse the situation. They pulled Iris away from the situation and started walking over to the group. Upon meeting up with the rest of the group, Iris and Christian walked off together...Damien and Hayden did the same.

While the ten of us still sat there, I just stared off examining my fellow extraordinary peers and our surroundings; the sleeping botanical garden that grew from the iron gates to up the walls of the school. Aging trees shadowed the ground with their remaining leaves of orange and brown. The normally lush bushes retracted to protect themselves from the upcoming cold. Slightly overgrown grass grew at the red brick base of the school and sprouted green ivy up the sides, up three stories and the astronomy tower off the northwest wing.

"Blair!" someone said inside my subconscious. "Blair!" it said again.

I then realized it was Eli trying to grab hold of my attention.

"Blair!" he said once more.

"Oh, sorry...what?" I responded.

"Blair, the bell rung. It's time for school." he said.

"Oh, ok." I replied.

We walked together hand in hand through the enormous oak doors as the mystically pulled themselves open. Every student from the thirteen and fourteen year old newcomers to the seventeen and eighteen year old seniors. It was near the end of October and the new school year had been in for nearly two months. Today happened to be an Alpha-Day, I shared my first class with only a few friends; first period-Ancient Greek, taught by Professor Pierce. With me was Damien, Hayden, Mae, and of course Eli. I sat in the middle of the class with Eli to my front-right diagonal and with Damien directly to my right.

The classroom smelled of the elderly, of course Professor Pierce wasn't exactly young. His desk was made of aged mahogany and stood to my front-left diagonal. The walls were painted a dreary blood red, which contrasted well against the onyx black marble flooring. Photographs of the Grecian countryside, harbors, and of the beautiful Mount Olympus decorated the walls. Huge textbooks that translated the beloved English we all learned so well our primary years to Ancient Greek stood stacked one on top of another on shelves that matched the desk.

Of course not all of us needed to learn English in our primary years. Clarisse, Mae, and I are all from the United States. Anderson was from England and Iris was from Australia. Being from where we were from gave us the advantage to not having to learn English, because...well...we already knew it. Some of us weren't so lucky though. All of the students accumulated from around the world, from all different countries, from all different continents.

"Hey Blair, do you understand what we're doing today?" Hayden asked from the back of the class.

I gazed up to the chalkboard that was written completely in Greek. "Άσκηση ομάδας " dominated brilliantly in white chalk. 'Group Exercise'

"It says we're doing a group exercise Hayden." I paused for a brief moment. "Can you not read that?"

"You know I can't, damn...I think my dyslexia is getting worse. I can't even comprehend Greek." he responded sullenly.

"Have you talked to the Headmaster about it, maybe there's a class you can take to help you deal with it better." Mae added in. She sat next to Hayden.

"Oh yeah, cause that's going to make me seem so intelligent." he said to his desk. "It already doesn't help that I don't take Advanced or Honors courses."

"Well neither do I." Mae cheerfully said.

"You're in Advanced Dance with Blair though." Hayden replied.

"Yeah, but that's not an academic class." she stated. "Besides you're in Advanced Theatre with her."

"True-" Hayden began.

"Hayden, you also didn't focus on academics while you've been here." I said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, his voice splendidly cracked.

"Meaning you didn't direct your attention to advancing your academic knowledge." Damien inputted.

The light chatter continued to hum through the air when Professor Pierce walked through the door. He placed his brown leather satchel on a chair and set his gold-rimmed oval glasses on his nose. His balding head reflected some of the dim light shone through the chromatic lampshades. After placing various papers on his desktop, he turned to face the class. All fell silent.

"Καλή τάξη πρωί." he announced to the class. That means 'Good morning class' in Greek.

"Καλημέρα Καθηγητής Pierce" the class responded in unison. 'Good morning Professor Pierce'.

"Very good class." he answered.

We all sat quietly as he went around the classroom carrying the heavy textbooks, he placed one on each occupied desk and returned to the front.

"Today I want you all to split up into equal groups of three. We're going to do a quick exercise...when I say so, I want you to pull your desks into a circle and tell each other who your favorite Ancient Grecian is and why they're your favorite." he took a short pause, "In Greek of course. Go on."

Immediately I pointed to Damien and Eli to be in my group. The three of us turn to face each other and opened our textbooks to aid in our syntax and diction. I don't know why Damien even bothered with the textbook, he was born in Athens. Greek is the language he speaks at home with his mother, English is his second language.

"Well who are you guys' favorite Ancient Greeks?" I asked, breaking the silence.

"Blair you should know who." Damien responded, slightly demanding a right answer.

"Pythagoras...of course." I answered. Damien just nodded in approval. "What about you Eli?"

"I don't know." he said at first. "I guess Aristotle."

"What about you Blair?" Damien asked.

"Hippocrates, no doubt." I answered with a smile.

"Remember." Professor Pierce chimed in. "Answer in Greek."

The three of us blushed slightly, we all knew that one of the only things that actually got on Professor Pierce's nerves was not speaking in Greek. This class was, after all, Ancient Greek.

"Συγγνώμη Καθηγητής Pierce" I said. 'Sorry Professor Pierce.'

"Αρχαία Ελληνική αγαπημένο μου είναι ο Ιπποκράτης, επειδή θεωρείται ο "Πατέρας της Ιατρικής" και καθόρισε τις αρχές της σύγχρονης ιατρικής." I stated. 'My favorite Ancient Greek is Hippocrates, because he is considered the "Father of Medicine" and established the principles of modern medicine.'

"Πολύ καλό Blair." Professor Pierce appraised. 'Very good Blair.'

""Το αγαπημένο μου είναι σίγουρα ο Πυθαγόρας. Μιλάμε για μια εξαιρετική φιλόσοφος, ο οποίος ήταν επίσης ένας μαθηματικός μεγαλοφυία." Damien said, quite excited in fact. 'My favorite is definitely Pythagoras. You're talking about an outstanding philosopher, who was also a genius mathematician.'

"Καλά είπα ήδη ότι οι δυο σας το αγαπημένο μου είναι ο Αριστοτέλης." Eli declared. 'Well I already told you two that my favorite is Aristotle.'

"But why Elijah?" Professor Pierce asked from behind us.

Eli turned around, "Professor Pierce, you know I prefer to be called Eli...not Elijah" he said with a slight grimace.

"Sorry, now finish your exercise." Professor Pierce apologized and returned to help Hayden word his sentences.

"Ο Αριστοτέλης είναι το αγαπημένο μου, γιατί ενωθεί με τη 'δυτική θεωρία' έξυπνων λογικήτου. Επίσης, δίδαξε τον Μέγα Αλέξανδρο…η οποία είναι αρκετά δροσερό." Eli expressed. 'Aristotle is my favorite because he pieced together the 'western theory' through his ingenious logic. He also tutored Alexander the Great...which is pretty cool.'

Eventually everyone had finished the activity and sat in their groups talking about the upcoming weekend. Damien had left to go to the bathroom; Eli decided to take advantage of his absence by sliding his desk over next to mine with a deafening screech. A cringed a bit to the disturbance. My attention was brought to Eli's sun-kissed face when his fingers intertwined with my own. Ice pools were lost in chocolate drops for one brief moment; eye contact was lost for a fraction of a second when I looked down in a moment of redundant sadness.

"What's wrong?" Eli's arousing smirk faded quickly.

"Nothing." I lied.

"Then say it while looking in my eyes." he responded.

"I can't." I said.

"Why are you lying to me Blair? Don't you trust me?" he questioned.

"Of course I do!" my voice slightly cracked, which caught the attention of a few classmates. "It's just that I don't really want to talk about it." I added in a much softer tone.

"Blair." he tightened his grip around my hand. "You can tell me anything."

Tears began to flow freely, all bodily functions sped up dramatically. The thought of Charlotte by herself in a hospital bed, in the sterilized chill of the Thessaloniki Regional Hospital.

"What did you do?" a concerned voice said behind us.

I peeked up to see who had interrupted my increasing hyperventilation. Damien sneered down at Eli.

"Damien, it's ok...I was just about to tell him about Charlotte." I said.

"Your best friend?" Eli asked.

"Yes." I answered back.

"You wanna talk out in the corridor?" Eli asked me.

"Yeah..." I answered.

After asking Professor Pierce, Eli and I stepped out into the first floor corridor that circled around the entire octagonal base, Professor Pierce's class was located on the inside edge, beyond that was courtyard where Advanced Theatre performed. There were more classrooms on the other side of the corridor as well.

"What happened to Charlotte?" Eli asked in a whisper.

Choking through potential tears, "Last night she and her boyfriend, Aidan, were driving...and a truck hit his car on her side."

"Oh, my...well, how are they?" he asked.

"Not good." I responded, not able to hold up my own head. "They're both in the hospital...but Charlotte...she's in a-"

I slid down to the stone floor. My face, hidden from everything including Eli. Now was the time to cry, and I did, tears streamed down my face and began to form microscopic puddles on the ground. Silent sadness took over my entire body. My crying was held at a standstill when Eli's hands touched my shoulders.

"In a what?" he whispered gently next to my ear.

"A coma." I forced the words out.

Suddenly Eli embraced my tense body and held it, tightly. Slowly my being began to loosen and I returned the embrace. Unable to cry any longer, I just sat there enveloped in security. I closed my eyes.
***
When I reopened my eyes, Eli was gone...the halls were empty. I stood up to see if he had left me in the corridor alone, to see if he had returned to class. Professor Pierce's classroom was deserted though, no one could be seen. I started down the hall to my right, every room was barren. A little ways down the corridor there was a sheer glass door that opened into the courtyard. An enormous tree stood in the center with a bench similar to the ones out front stretched around it; it was sculpted in the shape of an octagon like the school. I let go of the glass door which let out an earsplitting creak, it had never done that before. I took two steps into the outside before losing all sense of equilibrium, I fell to the side and just sat there, I was too exhausted to get up. I didn't care anymore to fight back. For a long while I stared at the cobblestone.

"Blair..." a voice spoke.

The voice was too familiar. I slowly looked up at the tree, that had, in some way, bent itself somewhat to seem as if it were staring down at me. Puzzling confusion overtook me for a brief instant, and then left when the tree caught ablaze. An expression a pure terror came over me as I tried desperately to scoot away from the growing inferno. Smash! A window shattered at one end of the courtyard. Smash! Smash! Two more. Every window began to break, and with each earsplitting burst, that same screeching grew louder and louder.
***
"Blair..." a voice spoke.

I opened my eyes to Eli's eyes. Damien and Hayden stood over him.

"Class is over." he told me.

"Oh..." I could find no other words.

"I went and grabbed your bag for you." Damien said.

Eli stood up and held out his hand to help me stand as well. I grabbed his outstretched hand and pulled myself up. Damien handed me my backpack while Eli grabbed my other hand.

"I'm sorry Blair." he said as he pulled both hands to his mouth and kissed each gently.

"You have Honors Psychology next, right?"

"Yeah." I answered.

"Well then, we should get going." he responded.

He held my hand down the hall and up the stairwell while Damien and Hayden headed the other direction; we reached Professor Larson's room shortly after turning out from the stairwell. He gave me a quick peck on the cheek before disappearing into the huge crowd of students. Another vision...why?