My classmate is a demon...

7. Hallucination *part 2*

Olivia P.O.V.

When I wake up, I'm in my bed. I'm feeling much better. I sit up and lean on my headboard connecting to my bed. My throat feels a lot better too. My mom comes into my room. "You're awake?! Finally. I have waited all night. Whoever brought you home is the savior of your life." She smiles a heartwarming smile at me.

"Wait you saw him?" I'm confused that Mateo brought me all the way home. For all, I know he could just have thrown me into a ditch somewhere. "I don't know who he was, I just saw someone crawl out your window. To be honest all I thought about was that you were finally home again." She sits on my bed and hugs me tightly.

"You know, you don't have to go to school today. You just got home again."

I think about it for a second, but I need to talk to Mateo. Even when the thought of even seeing him again scares me. I need to know everything. I need an explanation of what the hell happened to me. I also need to ask about the serum too. I don't know what that was and even though the doctor said it didn't work. That doesn't mean it won't work, and if it may kill me now or something. I have no intention of figuring it out. I am still afraid that this is all a dream.

As if on cue I feel someone shake me and I feel someone slap my cheek with their hand, hard.

"Hello? Wake up." I open my eyes. Feeling worse than ever. I meet the eyes of that scary disgusting man. I push myself towards the wall. How did I get back here? I thought I was free, I just had to say I was scared it was all a dream. How do I know this isn't a dream too?

"You haven't realized it yet? It was all a dream, a simple illusion all created by yourself. You fell asleep don't you remember that?" He sounds proud. Like to make me in pain like this. My life slowly dripping out. In his crazy mind, this is something to brag about. I feel sorry for him. He will never experience real trust, friends, or love. Not with that personality of his. I shake the feeling; I shouldn't feel sorry for a man who is incapable of feelings like remorse or regretting what he has done. To me and probably a lot more people.

"Human minds are so easy." He comes closer and I turn my head away and close my eyes. I don't want to see anything else. I don't want to go into another illusion of hope. Hope that I'll ever get out of here alive. I can already feel my body giving up on me. I don't know how much longer I will be able to fight it.

I can hear the creepy man's footsteps as he walks away. I open my eyes and look around for Mateo, but he isn't there. I let out a sight. "Mateo? Please, just let me go home. I'm begging you, I can't handle this anymore. I can barely breathe, and it feels like my lungs are on fire. My head is hurting and It's killing me. I don't know how much longer I..." I start to cough again, and tears run down my cheeks. I'm at my breaking point and I'm just about to break down. Is this how I'm going to die? At least it ends soon.

"I can't." I look around to find Mateo by the door. "Why not?" I'm relieved that my voice held that little sentence. I look at him, desperate to find some humanity left so that he can get me out of here. "Because you know too much. I would get killed if I told you. One of us is going to die at this point anyway."

His voice is calm. Scary calm. He stops talking. I'm scared to die. I wonder how my sister got through this. Or maybe she didn't, she dies so I guess not. She probably had it worse than me.

I try to make eye contact, but he just avoids my eyes. Looking everywhere but in my eyes. When he finally meets my eyes, I can tell that this is something he doesn't want to do. This is not who he is. But something about what he said is stuck in my mind. "What do you mean with that one of us is going to die anyway?" Now he got my attention and I fight the urge to break down and cough my lungs up. I'm getting curious. I need to know as much as I can. If I were to die, I would like to at least know why I'm dying. I figured he at least owns me that.

"The air down here is too heavy for humans to breathe in over time. If I'm not mistaken you will die within a day or so at this rate. But you feel it already, don't you? The urge to take a deep breath. Do you feel like you can't breathe properly? Your headache getting worse but the minute, the urge for your body to just fall asleep? I've already told you what's going to happen, but memory loss seems to be another thing affecting you."

"Yes, I feel like even if I take a deep breath, I can't get enough air and my throat is killing me. My lungs seem to catch on fire at any second, my head feels like..." I stop to let cough a little and breathe.

"My head feels like exploding and I don't know what's real anymore." I try to swallow so that my throat won't be so dry, but it's not working. If anything, it only makes my throat hurt even more. I look at him. What am I going to do? I don't want to leave my mom with dying. She will be devastated if I die too. "Mateo?" he turns his focus back on me. "What?" he seems annoyed, but I don't have time to worry about that right now. I'm dying.

"Tell me, how much of that dream or illusion I had was real?" he looks down as he answers. I can tell that this is not who he wants to be, and he doesn't want to be here anymore than I do.

"Everything to the point where I let you go. That never happened. To me, it all looked like you never woke up after I shared my memories." His voice is low and groggy. Like how you would've imagined it to be after someone has been crying. "Could you tell me why they won't let me free? Why am I even here?" I ask him again. I need to know. I need to get the hell out of here before I die. I can't leave my mom and dad like this. I cough some more before he opens his mouth to speak.

"He will kill me if I let you go."

"Why?! I need answers, not excuses!" I stand up and face him. Looking down to cough occasionally. It's like I've gotten a bad cold my body hurting all over. He may be taller and stronger than me, but I'm going to die if I don't stand up for myself soon. I can either accept that I'm dying or try to do something about it. I want to know very badly if this is where I'm going to die, or if I'm ever getting out of here alive and I'll be able to see my family again.

"You're not like everyone else. You're not normal. He wants to use you to make or evolve a new kind of demon. You are special Olivia. I think it's in your DNA." He still won't look me in the eyes. That's how I know that he speaks the truth. He is ashamed of himself, of what he has become and done. I just wonder where this remorse came from, he has changed for the time that I've been here.

"What's so special..." I couch mid-sentence and I can see his clenched jaw. "About my DNA that he had to kidnap me and possibly kill me?" I have calmed down now, mostly because I'm getting tired, and because I've realized that getting angry and yelling won't get me anywhere.

"You are the key to the next generation of demons. If I'm not completely wrong here." He stops himself thinking before he continues.

"He has always been looking out for people like you. People with a special type of DNA that makes all this possible. The DNA is only in the humans that have developed or inherited a resistance towards this type of air and the demons." His voice has grown cold again, but I can tell that he cares. If he didn't, he wouldn't go through all this trouble of explaining it all to me. I may be afraid of him, but I must face my fears to get out of here, and if that means that I must talk to Mateo then so be it.

"But there is something about you that makes it impossible for me to just stand here and watch you being tortured and killed like this. I have seen it several times before, but somehow I can't just watch as it is going to happen to you." He comes over to me. I don't have the strength to even move away anymore. He loosens the rope around my hands and feet. He lifts me, bridal style. When I meet his eyes, I feel my consciousness fade away as my eyelids grow heavier by the second. "Where are we going?" I try to get one last answer before losing consciousness, but he doesn't answer me. He just keeps looking forward as a soldier walk into a warzone.