Caleb's POV

“Hahaha. Yeah thanks guys!” I said, waving as the group I had been with walked off.
After Larimar’s little episode, I had gone off with Amber and Gareth, who were freaking awesome. Well at least Amber was. Gareth just kind of stood there and didn’t say much. Amber is super cool, and she laughs at ALL my jokes! She’s actually kind of pretty too…
But eventually I had gotten tired and decided to head back to my dorm. It was actually starting to get a bit late…  Of course about half way there I had another attack. Fuck my life. They had started to become less frequent, but still hurt like it did when my back was first cut open.
At first I managed to keep myself upright by holding onto the wall, but within a matter of seconds I was on the floor. I had figured out early on that moving only made the attack worse, so I curled up into a ball on the floor as my back felt like it was being ripped open from shoulder to hip. Wet hot tears streamed across my face as I tried to ignore the pain, which was so not working. I was at the worst portion, and was barely holding back a scream when a voice shrieked from down the corridor.
“CALEB?!?”
I knew that I knew that voice, but my brain really just wasn’t in the position to be doing any thinking at the moment. I cracked my eyes open a fraction, just enough to see a blonde running towards me. Which one of my classmates was blond? I’m pretty sure Amber had black hair, but at this point I really couldn’t say for sure. She was Asian wasn’t she?
The blond girl was now leaning over me, whipping her hair out of her face.
“Oh my god are you okay? Caleb talk to me!”
I tried to tell her I was fine, but all that came out was a pained squeak.
This did not seem to help her state of concern.
For a second I was under the impression that I had begun to hallucinate, but then realized that no, there really was a rat climbing up her arm. She seemed stunned for a moment, and then nodded cautiously, and the rat hopped off. That rat also seemed awfully familiar. Was that my rat? Did I have a rat? Fuck. I was starting to lose myself. This happened sometimes when the attacks were particularly bad. I tried to recite my information in my head, but found it harder and harder to do. My name was Caleb. I went to Skeleton Keys. I was a wood Elementalist. My name was Caleb. I went to….. I was a… wood Elementalist. My name was Caleb. Caleb.
My concentration was broken as I realized that I was being rolled over. The blond seemed to be talking to me, but I couldn’t really hear anything she was saying. But when I felt my shirt being tugged on I began to thrash. No one could see. No one could know about what was under there. That much I remembered.
A shot of pain reminded me of why I hadn’t done that earlier, and I instantly stilled. The person, was it a boy or a girl, I forgot, seemed to have taken the hint however, and stopped trying to get my shirt off. Instead I felt strong hands lay themselves against my back, and then to my horror, begin rubbing at the area causing me so much pain.
White light exploded behind my eyes as my back felt like it was being torn apart, ripping my spine to shreds. I don’t think I could have screamed at this point even if I had wanted too. What did this person think they were doing? And then everything just stopped. It felt like the whole world had taken a breath and was now holding it as my back shattered into a million pieces in slow motion. And then it stopped. The pain was gone, with only a dull throb reminding me of the previously contorted muscles.
I blinked once. Twice. The attacks had never subsided like that. They usually went on for at least 5 minutes, and up to half an hour.
I turned slowly, groaning, to lie on my back and look at whoever had come to my rescue. Blond hair, blue eyes. Definitely not Amber.
“Larimar?” I strained out, voice more cracked than I cared to admit.
“Are you okay?” she said, panic in her voice.
‘Yeah. I’m fine.” I instantly shot back to my normal self.
I tried to stand up, but came crashing back down as I realized my legs had practically turned to jelly.
“You are NOT fucking okay as we can both see. What happened? I had to use one of the old muscle calming techniques the elders taught me! What the hell was wrong with your back?” she was talking far to fast for my poor brain to take in. All I wanted was to just curl up and pass out.
“Nothing. Its not important.” I told her, and before she could spit out her reply I continued. “Look, I hate to ask favors, but I have two I need.”
Larimar seemed to contemplate this for a minute, then shut her mouth and nodded.
I could tell I was going to pass out any minute now, and I needed to make sure things didn’t happen that I didn’t want.
“You can’t tell anyone about what just happened. Ill be fine, really, but people cant know.”
She nodded, and I continued.
“And would you mind taking me to my dorm? I think I’m going to pass out, and I would rather not do it where everyone can see.”
Larimar nodded again, worry still clear on her face.
She stood up quickly, then carefully stooped down and scooped me into her arms. It was embarrassing that I was short enough for her to carry me around, and it was embarrassing that anyone had seen me like that, but as Larimar carried me to my room, all I could think of was the loud thud of her heart near my ear as I fell out of consciousness.