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T h e H o l l o w s I n 
O U R F R E E D O M
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A L E X I

It was the door closing that alerted me that I had company. I fixed the toilet roll onto the holder and shoved the rest into the cupboard bellow the sink, trying to close the cupboard doors as quietly as I could.

I looked up into the mirror, seeing teary eyes and a red nose.

Great.

A knock at the bathroom door was expected, though it still startled me slightly. "Lex?"

If not by the voice, I knew it by the nickname. It was Jace.

I turned the tap on before splashing my face once. "I'm just washing my hands." I called out to him, before going in to splash my face again. I dried my face with what looked like a clean towel on one of the shelves before sorting out my disheveled hair.

I took one last breath before opening the door, meeting Jace on the other side.

His eyes met my face instantly. "Are you okay?"

I rolled my eyes, huffing. "Why does everyone keep asking that?"

"Because you seem off. And I know you're upset about what happened to Sapphire."

I uselessly started to rifle through my bag, as if I was going to find something important. "Well of course I am, everyone is."

I found something in the side pocket, then I realised what it was. The necklace Jace had gotten me for my birthday. I didn't want to lose it or to damage it, but I did want to bring it with me on our mission, so I kept it in my bag.

I clutched onto it as Jace said. "You know you can tell me anything, right, Lex? You can be honest with me."

I had my back to him, but I think it was obvious when I started to break.

"It's just.." suddenly the air became thicker. None of us moved. I sighed, dropping the necklace back into the bag and turning. Jace's eyes immediately went to my eyes, which were starting to fill with tears. He frowned, eyes tight with worry.

"It keeps playing in my head. What happened." I averted his eyes, beginning to pace slightly. It wasn't as frantic as it usually was, but I wasn't frozen in my place.

"It's worse when people mention it, but it happens at any time." Jace's listened intently. "It starts with Jonah, then you, then sprinting, and then it's Sapphire. It's Sapphire." The sobs escaped.

"And I don't know what to do," I said, my voice raising. "This is new. I've been a Guardian for some time but loss is new. It's meant to be something that we just get used to as Guardians, that we normalise. But it isn't."

"You're grieving." Jace said.

I sighed, defeated. "It isn't just that." I said, turning around and sitting down on the edge of the bed. "It's guilt." I told him. "I can feel it. And..." I broke off, averting my eyes and staring into the distance. "And sometimes I see her."

There was a long stretch of silence as I stared out ahead of me.

"She's translucent, but beautiful. She's not happy, though." I felt my face crumple.

"Can you...see her now?" Jace asked hesitantly.

I felt the tears seep out of my eyes. "Yes."

I saw out of the corner of my eye as Jace knelt down in front of me, but my eyes were fixated on the girl in front of me.

"Lex." He said, before reaching out and grasping onto one of my hands. "Lex, look at me, I just need you to trust me and keep your eyes on me." Reluctantly, I turned my head, my glossy eyes meeting his compassion-filled ones.

I nodded slowly, my eyes drowning in his. I could still feel it—that sense of uneasiness as Sapphire stood to the left, behind Jace. But Jace made me feel comfortable.

"You–"

Jace was interrupted by a yell.

"Help!"

I shot up. Sapphire disappeared. Jace disappeared. It was just me and the threat.

I shot out of the room to see Sky running around, looking panicked.

"Sky," I said, placing my hands on her shoulders and stopping her in her place. By this time, many of us had left our rooms to see what was going on. "What is it?" I asked her.

Elle joined me, and we both watched as Sky started to blubber.

"It's Jameson," she said, pointing behind her to the room. "He–"

"–Jameson?" I heard someone yell, before realising it was Kathleen, who soon ran into the room Sky and Jameson had been sharing.

Realising something was very wrong, I ran past everyone and joined Kath in the room.
There she was, cradling her son, who had a quite obvious gash on his side.

I suddenly got flashbacks.

I was trying to lift the t-shirt.
Trying to get to the gash.
Then I was trying to stop the flow of blood.

People pushed past me, and that's when I realised I wasn't doing any of those things.

Elle was at Jameson's side, yelling something about medical equipment. I don't know who she was shouting at, but maybe it was me. Soon enough, someone came in with the medical equipment and Elle began to do all the things I couldn't with Sapphire.

They laid Jameson down in an attempt to make him comfortable as they worked. I hadn't done that with Sapphire.

Sky held on tightly to Jameson's hand, telling him about how it'll be alright. I hadn't done that with Sapphire.

It was clockwork, really, and it was only a matter of time before I saw her again.

Across from the bed, there she was. She never looked at anyone else but me, and I wondered if that was because I didn't save her.

Someone came into my line of vision suddenly.

"What are you looking at?" They asked. I frowned at them, and when I looked around them, Sapphire wasn't there anymore.

I glanced around me, watching the havoc start to cease. I didn't realise I was shaking until Elle turned around, noticed this, and frowned at me.

"Alexi, are you–"

Before she could say anything else, though, I darted out of the room. I cursed under my breath as I left, rushing away.

"Lex!" I already knew who the voice belonged to, but I didn't turn.

"Lexi." The person grabbed onto me suddenly, spinning me around so that I faced them.

Jace. He was frowning down at me with eyes full of concern.

"You're shaking." He noted. I could only nod. "Did you...did you see her?" He asked, lowering his voice as he spoke about it.

Embarrassed, I pulled away and shut myself inside our room. Jace soon entered, shutting the door behind him.

"Did you panic because of Jameson's wound?" He asked.

I sighed, running my shaking hand through my hair. "I just...I got these flashbacks, and I kind of felt cold." I turned to him, "I saw her, too."

I watched him watch me, before sighing and turning back around so that I was looking out of the window.

"When Jonah stepped in front of you, what happened then?" I heard him ask.

I shrugged, "she disappeared."

"Did the feeling leave too? The cold feeling?" He asked next.

I nodded. "Yes."

He suddenly appeared next to me. "I think next time you should directly confront...her. Don't speak to her, just–"

"–I'm going crazy," I said, interrupting him. I turned to face him. "I am, aren't I? And it'll just keep on spiralling. I'll keep on spiralling. It starts with this, and then it'll only get worse. Maybe now I'll be just as scared of the dark as I was back at the Academy, maybe this'll affect it. Does this mean I can't be a Guardian anymore? I'm not mentally sound and that's not safe for anyone let alone–"

And suddenly, Jace's lips were on mine.

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hi I literally edited this in 10 minutes because I need to get another chapter up at a suitable time 👍🏼

THIS IS TECHNICALLY THE ANNIVERSARY CHAPTER

I MISSED WEDNESDAY BC OF MY ENGLISH COURSEWORK THAT WAS LITERALLY THE BAIN OF MY
LIFE

nonetheless

I digress

and tallytime is due

The One Month Tally (before posting this):
#89 in Mission
228 Reads
21 Votes
31 Comments
10 Parts
(9 Chapters)

And now

The Two Month Tally (before posting this):
#89 in Freedom
543 Reads
36 Votes
65 Comments
29 Parts
(23 Chapters)

And now now

The Three Month Tally (before posting this):
#89 in Mission
648 Reads
52 Votes
88 Comments
37 Parts
(36 Chapters)

And now now now

The Four Month Tally (before posting this):
#164 in Camp
734 Reads
61 Votes
91 Comments
47 Parts
(45 Chapters)

And now now now now

The Five Month Tally (before posting this):
#17 in Cliff
782 Reads
71 Votes
104 Comments
53 Parts
(50 Chapters)

And now now now now now

The Six Month Tally (before posting this):
#30 in Cliff
792 Reads
72 Votes
104 Comments
54 Parts
(50 Chapters)

And now now now now now now

The Seven Month Tally (before posting this):

skipped :(((

And now now now now now now

The Eight Month Tally (before posting this):
#94 in third-book
1k Reads ;)))
76 Votes
104 Comments
62 Parts
(63 Chapters)

ta dah !!!!

I'm gonna go wash and then come back with today's actual chapter bc I'm on top of things ;))

-wash

FABULOUS SONGS

Songs that played when I was writing this chapter (in order):
Night Glo - Foxes
My Kind Of Love - Emeli Sandé
Bird - Billie Marten
Salvation - Gabrielle Aplin
Haunted - Grace Pitts
Apologize - OneRepublic
Fix You - Coldplay
Clocks - Coldplay
Impossible - James Arthur
Train Wreck - James Arthur
DNA - Lia Marie Johnson

END OF FABULOUS SONGS

Date written:
13/05/18
14/05/18

___________
Next update: hopefully within the hour
___________

CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE SPOILER:

Don't be so greedy.

;)))