When The Air Runs Out (part 2)

"What does all of this mean?!" Carly was talking aloud, only to herself as she was frantically panicking over what just happened. She was so confused by what was going on that she lost her appetite, skipped lunch, and ran directly back to her dorm room to be by herself. "I mean, why did I see the same thing I saw in my dream, and why did I see it while I was WIDE AWAKE?" There were so many questions that Carly couldn't answer for herself and new she would have to find help. "Ok," she said to herself, "lets start researching first, there has to be something, somewhere about what this could all mean." Carly pulled out her laptop, choosing to start on the internet because, well, everything could be found on the internet, right?

After hours of searching, scrolling through articles and pages of search results, Carly's eyes were burning, and she didn't know anymore than when she had begun her search, except now she thought she might be having a mental breakdown; maybe all the drugs weren't such a good idea and lead her to go crazy. "Time to get some sleep, class starts early, then I can hit the library in the afternoon, maybe they will have something about what is happening, I can't be the only one it has ever happened to" she told herself as she closed her laptop and stood up from her desk to get ready for bed.

That night proved to be a sleepless one between Carly's mind racing, trying to figure out what was happening to her and whenever she closed her eyes, all she could see were those woods and the animals that were chasing her. What were they? Why did they look so strange? She laid there, staring at the ceiling, rubbing her locket between her thumb and index finger as she tried to lull her brain into silence; there were just to many questions for that to happen. "Ok brain, you win" she thought "lets go to the library now." Carly dragged herself up, threw on some sweats and a baggy t-shirt and headed out of her dorm to go search the stacks of the library for something, any thing, that would answer even one of her burning questions.

Shelf after shelf, book after book, Carly still wasn't any closer to getting answers and now it was time to head to class. Without eating and wearing her comfy clothes, realizing she didn't even have a bra on, she raced toward her class, thankful that she had thought to bring her laptop at least to take notes. Pushing herself to stay awake and failing horribly because of her lack of sleep, she was ready to go to her dorm and try to get some sleep. Finally, classes for the day came to an end and Carly could feel her stomach yelling at her; she hadn't eaten for two days at this point and she was feeling it. She headed to the cafeteria, hoping to get some nutrition in her before she went to go to sleep.

While she was scarfing down the food that she had gotten, she felt like someone was watching her. She finished swallowing what was in her mouth and started to look around to see if she could find anyone looking at her. She scanned the room but didn't see anyone and the feeling faded. She ate some more and the feeling came back. This time, she decided that she wasn't going to slowly look around, she was gong to turn quick to see if someone was behind her. She made it seem like she was eating normally, then whipped around in her chair, catching the glimpse of someone standing in the hall at the end of the cafeteria. She left her food, grabbed her bag with her laptop and started toward this person because, well, who worries about serial killers? When she started toward this person, they started to walk away at a quick pace. She ran a bit to catch up, wanting to know who it was. She turned the corner to no one in sight, then all of a sudden *wham* she was hit on the head and everything went black.

When Carly came to, she noticed she was tied to a chair, unable to move and had a splitting headache. Where was she? She didn't recognize where she was, but she knows she can't be far from the university because she it is still daylight out, and there is no way she had been knocked out for a full day, right? Suddenly, a man steps in the room carrying a clipboard and seemed to be taking notes. "Wha...what is going on? Where am I?" Carly muttered to the man. "Oh, Miss Jamison, good, you are awake. I was afraid I may have hit you a little too hard, but since you are awake, that means I didn't" the man said with a sigh of relief and a chuckle. That's when Carly saw his face, she knew that voice too. It was Professor Jackson. "Professor? Why did you bring me here? Where is here?" Carly could barely speak as every word made her head pound even more.

"There will be plenty of time for questions, Miss Jamison, but I will tell you, that I am not going to harm you. I brought you to this school because you are a very big part of stopping what is going to happen." Professor Jackson said as he started to untie her from the chair. Looking around, Carly noticed a bed, a small bathroom and various things that would be in a bedroom. "Miss Jamison, I told you I am not going to harm you, this will be your room that you will be locked in until we can trust you won't run, get some rest, there is medicine and water on the night stand for your headache. I AM sorry about that." And then he was gone, the door shutting and locking behind him.

Carly could barely understand that she was just kidnapped by one of her professors, but what she did know now, is that she had even more questions than before and none of them have been answered. He did say she was a big part in stopping what was going to happen, maybe that is why she has been seeing these animals, having what she now is calling visions, though she didn't believe in psychics. She stood slowly from the chair, not daring to move to fast with the way her head felt. Making her way over to the bed, she sat down, took the pills and laid down in the bed; she might as well get the sleep she was trying to get to before she got knocked out, and this bed was really comfortable. "Maybe this won't be as bad as I thought" she whispered to herself as she drifted off to sleep.

When she woke up, Professor Jackson walked in. "Sorry for the intrusion Miss Jamison, how did you sleep?" He asked, coming in and sitting at the desk chair that sat against the far wall. "This bed is the most comfortable thing I have ever felt! But, I still want answers" she spoke matter-of-factly, hoping that would get her what she wanted. "Ok, what do you want to know first?" Professor Jackson seemed almost too eager to answer her now, but she really didn't care, she needed these answers to prove that she wasn't going crazy, though the verdict was still out on that one. "Well, first, what did you mean when you said YOU brought me to this school?" That wasn't really the most pressing question on her mind, but she wanted to start slow.

"As I told you Carly, I hope its alright to call you by your first name..." he paused, waiting for a response so Carly nodded her head yes so he would continue. "...Well, as I told you, you are an important part in stopping what is going to happen, we needed to make sure you stay safe and the easiest way to do that was to make sure you were here, so when I saw your application, I made sure you got accepted and got a full scholarship which is actually sponsored by our organization." Good, that answered the question of how she got in, but now she had EVEN more questions. Her brain could not handle all of this stress! She didn't think she wanted to know anymore yet, but she was afraid she wouldn't get another chance to ask.

Shifting herself on the bed, she was getting ready to ask another question when another person walked through the door. This was a woman, one she had never seen before that she could tell. A little annoyed at the interruption, she sat there and watched the woman cross the room. "I am sorry to burst in like this, but I just heard she was finally here and..." The woman stopped mid sentence, staring at Carly like she had just seen a ghost. That is when Carly saw her face in the light, not sure if she was still asleep because this had to be a dream. She pinched her own arm, winced at the pain, then finally spoke but one word.

"...Mom?"