Descending Darkness(35)

“One down, two more to go. You good?” he asks me. I nod and point to the one on the left. We repeat the same process until both of the tree trunks are resting against the house.

I turn to find Colton when the world starts spinning. The colors around me blur together. I stand still for a couple of seconds waiting for the vertigo to stop. Blinking rapidly, everything calms and I feel perfectly fine again. I glance around me to make sure that no one is watching me. No one seems to notice anything wrong with me, so I get to work on picking up the remaining branches without magic. Soon after that, everyone else joins in.

“How are you feeling?” Colton asks me while bending down to grab a large branch.

“I’m good,” I say. He gives me a look that says I don’t believe you. “Ok, I’m a little lightheaded and dizzy, but I don’t understand why. I’ve used more magic than that before and not felt like this,” I admit while I keep picking up the twigs that litter the yard.

“Maybe you should go sit down for a little bit,” Colton suggests.

“No, I’m fine. I’m sure the feeling will go away soon.” I throw the twigs I’d collected into the pile against the house and walk back to pick more up.

"Ryanne," Colton says, but I shake my head at him. I'm not going to go inside and sit down while everyone stays out here. This was my idea to begin with.

Soon we are done with the backyard and walk over toward the beach. I can feel Colton’s eyes on me the whole time. The debris on the beach is smaller than that in the backyard. It doesn’t need any magic to move. The guys get to work, while Emma, Natalie, and I stand back and only pick up the really small stuff. While crouching down in the sand, another dizzy spell comes, and I have to place my hands on the ground to steady myself. Shaking my head, I slowly stand up and the feeling passes.

I look around. Good, no one saw that. Colton is talking to Liam. Both of them keep glancing over at me, but neither come over. Colton knows something is wrong and is probably trying to see if Liam feels anything off. I don’t think Liam would feel anything though. He seems to only feel the physical injuries I get.

“Ryanne?” I turn in their general direction of the voice but can’t see anyone. I see lights. Bright fluorescent lights. Everything around me starts to blur. I slam my eyes shut, trying to stop the spinning. Someone is yelling, but I can’t tell who. It sounds like I am underwater—everything is muffled and running together. I feel myself start to fall as I am plunged into darkness.



Colton

“You sure you don’t feel anything? She’s been acting off. She told me earlier that she felt dizzy but that it would go away.” I glance over to Ryanne and watch as she drops some sticks into the pile. She walks back over to Emma and Natalie who are just standing off to the side, pretending like they are working.

“I don’t feel anything, but she does look like she’s not feeling well,” Liam replies.

“She doesn’t like feeling weak, so I know she won’t tell me anything unless it gets really bad,” I say. Liam is watching the girls. I glance over there again and meet a pair of beautiful hazel eyes. When she catches me looking, she looks away. Something is definitely up.

“What’s going on?” Liam stands up and starts to walk toward the girls.

Emma is standing in front of Ryanne, waving her hand in front of her face, but Ryanne isn’t responding. She closes her eyes and starts to sway. I stand up and run over to her. Emma reaches forward and grabs Ryanne but can’t support her sudden weight, and both girls fall to the ground. I make it over to them and pull Ryanne off of Emma. Her eyes are closed, and she isn’t moving. I reach down and pick her up, brushing the sand off of her. “What happened?” I ask Emma. David makes his way over to us and helps Emma stand up.

“I don’t know. I asked her a question, and she didn’t answer. She turned her head in my direction, but she didn’t look at me. All of the sudden, she started swaying and then fell. I’m pretty sure she’s not in a vision though. This was different. It wasn't as sudden as her visions have been recently,” she says. “I don’t know what happened, but something was off. It was as if something was pulling her away from here.”

The rest of the guys make their way over to us. We’ve already finished cleaning up, so I carry Ryanne inside. Laying her down gently on the couch, I push her hair back and turn toward Liam. She still hasn’t moved. “I knew something was up. She told me she felt dizzy but that it wasn’t from using her magic. She’d used more magic before and didn’t act like that. I should have known.” What’s happening to her? Is she unconscious? Is she seeing a vision?