Why is it so quiet? How I hate the quiet. It's soothing, yet unnerving because you know something must be wrong.

Flashback on what happened:

It was just a normal day until I saw an older boy talking to Delar. He had a devilish smile on his face. Why did Delar talk to him? Didn't she see his face? She was quiet for the whole day after that, and she ignored me anytime I asked for help.
Hours later... disaster happened. A bomb had smashed through the outer wing. Where we were... It was like hell itself.

Avan's Point of View

I ran my hand through the rocks below my feet, as they rocked and buckled below my heavy weight. I stretched my arms out on either side of me to even out the weight between my arms, but I quickly pulled my left arm down, as pain struck me. My thoughts were in a daze as I slowly searched the room with quick eyes, until the low buzz of the phone brought me out of the dense haze.

Who calls someone who is at the verge of heaven, hell, and the real world?

My hands quickly fumbled towards my back pocket, and I stared down at the smooth black screen. It was mom. I bit down on my lip, and answered it. Sobs could be heard from the other end of the call, and I sighed.

Under the church, we say we shall not fear death, but the absence of us sends them into tears.

"Hello? Mom?" My voice hurt with despair, and it hurt to hear mamma cry. It certainly caused me to burst into tears as well, as I began to notice Delar was among the missing.

"Av-" The voice in my head suddenly caught between the words, and I could no longer hear her. Buzzing of that of a phone slowly sent the quiet room to an eerie pitch.

The quiet is finally gone for once... and I was happy, but... my memory... it's so fuzzy... why didn't I tell them?

My hand slowly pulled away from my face, and without a word or thought, my finger slid across the end button. Slowly, my feet dragged me to the ground, as my own head became too much weight for myself. My mind was blank, yet full.

And all of the world comes stumbling after you.

The gentle, yet slow hand, brought me into wakefulness. My mind quickly rushed to push the weariness from my eyes, but it was quickly visible amongst the group of kids, they had already seen it.

"D-Dela-" Eyes closed shut, I leaned against the girl closest to me, as her sweet honey like voice calmed me, but panic would not leave. "D-Delar! A-answer me please!"

The brunette tucked my hand between hers, staring me down with her wide, dark brown eyes. "She is ok." Her comforting hand was brought across my bruised head, and I let in a slow and shaky inhale.

Can I really stand a minute without Delar?

"Delar?" My voice squeaked, and I pushed myself up to a sitting position.

"I-I'm here."

The air slowly caught in my throat, as her honey like voice cracked in my ears. Chills went down my spine. "Are you ok?"

Quiet...

All that cake was the quiet scampering of pebbles against hand. Everything around me was shut away, and I cried in the arms of the one closest to me.

Shouting suddenly roused me from her arms, and I stumbled quickly to my feet. Cries below the large rocks could be heard.

Help us please! S-Someone is dying here!

The teacher?

Pushing myself forward, I headed towards the muffled sound, and sat on my knees a foot away from where the sound came from. Without thinking, my hands dug down, pushing and pulling rocks and debris from the hole. The teacher was leaning against the edge of the hole, cuddling someone in her arms. Crimson red blood dripped from the nostrils and the chest, and my hand covered my mouth in recognition.

Delar?

Who would notice? She was ragged and broken, but we all helped to pull her out. Tears ran down my cheeks, as I cuddled her in my arms, but her breathing stumbled and failed, then came back. My hand pressed against the center of her chest then the other.

Why is the world so cruel?