• A strange wind woke me. I sniffed and opened my eyes. Warm hands held me as Ryder slept. The wind roared over head. I frowned. It sounded bad. I heard a weird noise in the distance. Was that a woman screaming? Then something dropped on my nose making me jump. I touched my nose and realized it was water. Water? I looked up. There was a leak. In the ceiling. I heard the woman’s scream again but it sounded strange. My heart pounded. I looked over at Ryder and shook his him.

    “Ryder! Ryder! Wake up!” I yelled. He jumped awake and looked around. The lights flickered and the walls shook. Ryder’s eyes were huge. “What’s going on?” I asked my voice shaking. Ryder shook his head.

    “I don’t know.” Then, more water came and hit me. Ryder and I both looked up just as we both heard something that sounded like an animal screaming in pain! Ryder’s hand caught mine. There was a loud crack and then, a crack started on the ceiling. It looked like a tree with branches. Spreading, everywhere. The walls trembled more. Pieces of plaster fell down and blinded me. Water poured down. I rubbed my eyes then heard the wind.

    “We need to get out of here!” Ryder said yanking me off the bed. I fell as I hit the floor not being able to see because of the plaster that fell in my eyes. “Trinity! Come on!” Ryder yelled bringing me to my feet. Terror swept through me as I heard the animal cry again. My bones shook as I got my footing and we started to run. With a final crack the ceiling started to fall. I screamed as a big plaster and cement fell in front of us into a shelf of movies. “This way!” Ryder said as we went around it. The lights flickered then went off. I looked up where the ceiling had fallen and saw the black sky with swirling clouds! I stumbled. “Oh god,” I said.

    Another big plaster piece fell nearly missing my ankles. I screamed. “Trinity! Hold on!” He yanked me forward. We could barely see but our eyes adjusted to the lighting. We were headed toward the back room with the shower in it. We weren’t there yet. More of the ceiling fell and I ran as fast as I could, holding onto his hand. Wind rushed in and pulled off the roof. I looked up. That was the worse thing I could have done. I didn’t see it happen. The cement caught my legs and brought me down. Red dots dotted my vision. The air had left me. “Trinity!” Ryder yelled. As he ran back I couldn’t tell him in time. A shelf blew and fell on him. I screamed but it hurt too much.

    Ryder managed to push it off him but he staggered as he got up. I had to get to him! I tried to push the plaster and cement off my legs. I cried out as I could feel it had broken something. I couldn’t yank them out. My legs were stuck under it! My stomach hurt from hitting the ground. My head hurt. Ryder ran over to me. He was bleeding! Oh gosh, he was bleeding. He was bleeding on his arm and his hands. Glass shattered and Ryder dunked and covered me. I looked up and saw we were only a couple feet away from the back room. We had to get there!

    Another crack sounded loud and plaster fell from the sky and landed on us both. Ryder collapsed his head knocking mine. Everything went dark. It made a cave and I could hear my ragged breath. We were stuck. I pushed up on the plaster but I couldn’t push it over. “Ryder!” I screamed. I couldn’t move my body. If I tried it hurt everywhere! Ryder groaned. I felt around but even that hurt. I could hear shelves falling on top of the plaster but it didn’t cave in. Not yet.

    “Trinity,” Ryder groaned. I felt around and found his hand. It felt sticky. I wrapped my fingers around his and he did the same. The sounds of a subway train filled my ears till I thought they were bleeding! Something more caved in around my stomach and I felt it crush me. I cried out again. Pain washed over to me so bad I thought it had crushed my heart. Was there something leaking from my middle? It felt sticky. Is it red? I couldn’t see. “Ryder,” a strangled voice said. Oh, that was me. That doesn’t sound like me. He squeezed my hands.

    “I’m right here.” I heard scraping across the floor and then felt Ryder beside me. He groaned again and laid his head beside mine. The red dots started to get bigger, taking my vision away. I was really sleepy all a sudden. Why couldn’t I stay awake? The pain is to much!

    “Hold on Trinity, please,” he whispered. Was he crying? Was I? “I love you,” He whispered. He just said he loved me.

    My eyes started to close and I was crying. The pain was too much, I could barely move my lips to say it back. I cried out as more pain pierced me from my middle. I could smell the plaster and taste salt in my mouth. I could hear the train howling. The woman screaming with terror. The air around me started to leave. I felt my eyes start to close. Ryder was quiet. I couldn’t hear. Oh god, was be breathing? Was I? My mind started to drift as the pain ebbed and ebbed at me. Finally, I gave up.