Don't Forget The Things You Left Behind I ran, I just ran as fast as I could. I didn't think, I reacted solely on instinct running from Lia and Sophie, trusting they'd do what I told them, to run in the opposite direction and to know I would come back for them. I left them with a look on their faces like I had three heads. Then half the school exploded. Then they just looked scared, as I ran straight into the flames. I ran through the heat, ignoring the flames and the char, ignoring the pounding in my heart. I knew I should've told Lia, Sophie, Amber, and Xander who they are... what they are. I would have to trust Zoey would follow the plan and tell them the truth. Sophie and Lia watched me as I transformed, wings ripping out of my back, my clothes changing into a nightly black, and a bow and arrow materializing onto my back. Yah that’s right, materialized, like out of thin air. They watched me as I ran through the flames and didn't feel the heat. Then they did what I knew they would. They ran, Lia looking at me one last time, our eyes meeting, and I knew I could trust her, even now. As I ran through the halls I heard a noise coming from one of the rooms. I paused, and almost kept going, thinking it was just a piece of something falling from the ceiling, but stopped when I heard the noise again. I knew I should've ran past the closed door. But I didn't. I couldn't. Not if it was a person... not if it was my friend. I ran to the door and smashed through it. I was glad I stopped. It was Carter, a boy in my grade; he was trapped under a beam of wood that had fallen from the roof. "Carter! Are you alright?” I yelled, hoping he was conscious. "Riley?" He asked his voice thick with pain. "It's going to be okay.” I said, with fake assurance. His foot bent at a weird angle and I was almost positive his ankle was broken. “Riley.” He asked, confusion in his eyes "Why do you have wings?” "I need to get you out of here Carter.” I said, avoiding the question for obvious reasons. I lifted the wooden beam off his leg, hoping I wouldn't hurt him. He tried to stand up, but cried out in pain. I was right about the ankle. "Here, Carter lean against me, I'll help you up." He nodded and I gently helped him stand. We slowly walked to the window and I helped him outside. I brought him a safe distance away from the school and started walking towards it again. "Where are you going?" He yelled to me "It's not safe in there! Come back! What is going on? Tell me the truth." When he said that, I spun around and I looked him straight in the eyes. "The truth. It seems like such a small, easy thing.” I said with a small humorless laugh. “No Carter I can't tell you the truth. But please, pretend you didn't see me at all. Pretend you dragged yourself outside, and when they ask you if someone helped you, because they will, tell them no." "Carter,” I said turning around. “Remember the names Lia, Sophie, Xander, Amber, and Zoey. They’re the only ones you can trust.” “See you in another #life.” I said with a half smile on my face, and turned around running into the burning building, never looking back. ​ ​I jumped back into the small window, hoping and praying that Carter would forget. I know what the truth does to people. I know what it did to me, back when I thought I was crazy. They started last year, the dreams, and the nightmares, all of a different place. They started out as dreams, then they almost seemed like memories, almost as if I had lived them. It took me a whole lot to realize I had. I ran through the now empty hallways, the alarm blasting my ears. I have to get out of here before the police and the fire department come. I jump over the flaming piles of rubble on the floor, running towards the one doorway I had memorized months before. The roof access. I run towards the door, and slam my body against it, smashing it open with all my strength. I run up the stairwell and jump off the roof, my arms spread wide, mimicking my wings as I glide over the smoke, over the char. I flew and hoped that my plan would work and that the created would follow me and give Zoey the time she needed. That explosion was the beginning of a war. I just hoped that Lia, Xander, Amber and Sophie would be ready.