STEEL (The Aurum Trilogy Book 1)

Chapter 22

TWENTY TWO

Lauren

In my dream, the world was ending again and people were fighting. Blood was everywhere. It flooded the streets and kept oozing on walls. The sky was grim and dark, filled with storm clouds. Thunder roared in the sky and joined the sound of the ricocheting bullets and the smack of fists connecting with human skin and bone. Rain began to patter against the blood-streaked pavement and against my bare, hot skin fizzing it down and making it sizzle. I gazed at my surroundings, doing a full 360 and I see tall buildings and luxurious pieces of architecture. There was better infrastructure and more facilities. I realized I wasn't in one of the poorer divisions I grew up in, I was in a richer one. In front of me were two large thrones, elevated by shining immaculately white marble steps. One throne was gold and the other was silver. On the golden throne was a familiar face I recognize. He was probably in his fifties but his body was still fit for his age. His hair was dark brown with streaks of gray amidst the dark color. It was combed back and revealed his face which wore a hardened and strict expression. From where I was standing, I could see his eyes, the color of the sky above me. He was dressed regally, in a what seemed to be an expensive coat and tie and one of his hands cupped his chin as he watched, with boredom, what was occurring in front of him. He was in charge of all this fighting. He was responsible for all this war and I had to stop him. I launched myself towards the throne, shoving masses of people with knives and guns in their hands. A gun fired and a bullet whirred in front of my face, almost grazing my nose. I skidded to a halt and felt my heart banging against my chest. I was that close to death. I kept on running, crouching when I needed to. I dodged an arm that was about to slash me with a knife's serrated edge and ran faster, adrenaline rising, towards the marble steps. The man sitting on the grand and golden throne looked down on me with his eyes of metal, grinding me and piercing holes deep in my skin. He smiled as if to say, 'Look at what they're doing!' and I recognized him. He was no other than President Knoxx.

My mouth gaped open and my eyes widened with amazement. I had just walked straight into a trap. His fist connected with my jaw which sent me staggering backwards and tumbling over the marble steps. My head hit the floor and my vision dimmed and blurred. I was on the end of the steps and propped myself up with a hand just in time for the President to actually be able to kick my stomach and punch me on the nose, sending me down again, my head hitting the asphalt and bloody road. I felt my blood ooze from my skin and join the blood of those who had shed theirs before me. He took me by my collar and hurled me upwards, my feet barely touching the ground. His hands clasped my neck and he squeezed it, draining the air out of me. I was choking and everything was narrowing down to nothingness. My lungs struggled so hard to get more oxygen and I wriggled my feet, reaching down to the blood-soaked ground but his grip was so tight and I couldn't manage to move or even fight back. Everything was fading into colors of black and gray. I shut my eyes. I was going to die now. He was going to kill me. I was going to die in the hands of President Knoxx.

All of a sudden, just as I was about to take my last breath, I shifted from one dream to another.

This time, I was standing in front of the mirror and I was in a small room with lighlg blue hell. A barely audible melody was being created by a piano. It was coming from beneath the walls of the room but I could still make out a couple of chords. This placed seemed so serene, isolated and very… peaceful. But it looked like this place was disturbing and there was definitely something wrong with it. It was so quiet that the silence was making you crazy and it tortured you even more by placing a mirror right in front of you. That didn’t help at all. In all the ticking seconds, minutes, hours and days that you were kept in this room, the only companion you’ve got is yourself and it wasn’t even tangible or able to speak or reply to your statements.