Chapter 37

                                    

                                          
Ivy's POV
My eyes fluttered open, and the ceiling above me was unfamiliar. Blurred figures hovered around, their voices distant, echoing like whispers trapped inside a tunnel. A strange emptiness settled in my chest as I blinked, trying to clear the fog from my mind.
Where am I?
The room was too clean, too sterile—a hospital? I tried to sit up, but my muscles felt stiff, as if they hadn't been used in ages. Panic flared through my body, but before I could voice my fear, a familiar voice reached me.
"You're awake."
I turned my head slowly, my vision sharpening to focus on Dan sitting in the chair next to my bed. He looked... different. More worn. His usual cocky smirk was absent, replaced by a grim, tired expression. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.
"Dan?" My voice came out raspy, barely more than a whisper.
"Yeah, it's me," he said, his eyes meeting mine. Relief flickered there, but it was laced with something else—sadness. Regret.
"How long...?" I started to ask, but Dan's answer cut me off.
"A year, Ivy. You've been out for a year."
The words hit me like a punch to the gut. A year? I blinked, memories flooding back—the water, the sensation of drowning, flashes of Max, and then... nothing.
"What happened? What's going on?" I asked, my voice cracking with urgency.
Dan hesitated, rubbing the back of his neck. "Things... they changed after you went under." He paused, his eyes darkening. "The world changed."
My heart pounded, anxiety twisting in my stomach. "Changed? What do you mean?"
Dan took a deep breath. "After the spirits showed up, everything went downhill. People started going into hiding. The government couldn't contain it. Hazen tried to fight them off, but it wasn't enough." He looked away, his voice trembling. "We lost people, Ivy. Avery didn't make it. A spirit got to her."
I froze. Avery's dead? I wasn't sure how to process that. We weren't friends—far from it—but... dead?
"And Clay," Dan continued, his voice barely above a whisper. "He... he couldn't handle it. After Avery died, he blamed himself. He didn't know how to deal with it, and..." His voice broke, and he swallowed hard. "He took his own life."
The words shattered through me like glass. Clay was gone. The one person who had stood by me, even after discovering I was a wizard, was... gone.
"No," I muttered, shaking my head. "No, that can't be right."
Dan ran a hand through his hair, his voice thick with emotion. "I'm sorry, Ivy. We all tried to hold it together, but things just kept getting worse. Hazen... he joined the police force, thinking he could make a difference. But even he couldn't stop what was happening."
My vision blurred with tears. I hadn't realized I was holding back. Everything... everyone...
A numbness settled over me, crushing my thoughts into a quiet void. I had been asleep while everything fell apart. And now, waking up to a world I didn't recognize, I was left with nothing but the weight of those I had lost.
Dan's voice pulled me back. "Ivy, I don't know what to say. But I'm here. We'll figure this out together."
I didn't know how to respond. I couldn't. The pain was too heavy, and for the first time in my life, I didn't know how to fight back.
Dan's words hung in the air, but they barely registered in my mind. A strange heaviness settled over me, not just in my body but in my soul. I couldn't move, couldn't speak. The world I had once known—my friends, my enemies, the battles, the classes—was gone, washed away by the tide of time I had slept through. It felt like a nightmare.
Clay's gone... Avery's dead... Hazen...
My thoughts spiraled, and all I could feel was an aching emptiness gnawing at me.
Dan stood up, pacing the room as if he couldn't handle the stillness any longer. "I'm sorry, Ivy. I didn't want to hit you with all this at once, but you needed to know." His voice softened. "You were our leader, you know? We thought you'd wake up and fix everything."
"Fix everything?" I repeated, my voice hollow. I could barely manage a bitter laugh. "How? I'm no hero, Dan. I'm not... I'm not even whole." I held up my hand, feeling the loss of my magic pulsing like an empty void in my chest. "Half of me is gone."
Dan stopped pacing and faced me, his expression hardening. "That's not true. You're still Ivy Hilton, the wizard who took on Max and fought spirits. Do you think we survived this long without believing in you? We need you now more than ever."
I glanced up at him, but I didn't have the strength to argue. I wasn't sure if I even believed in myself anymore. All I wanted was to disappear, to fade away from the wreckage of a world that had fallen apart while I was gone.
Dan sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Look, I know you're dealing with a lot. But you're the only one who can stop this. I don't know how, but I believe in you."
I wanted to tell him to stop, to leave me alone with the crushing guilt that threatened to consume me. But all I could do was sit there, staring blankly at the wall.
After a long silence, Dan finally spoke again. "Ivy... Hazen's been asking about you. He's still fighting, you know. Maybe you can help him."
The mention of Hazen sparked something faint but real in the emptiness inside me. Hazen—stubborn, determined Hazen—was still out there, still fighting. But what could I do now? I wasn't even sure how much magic I had left, let alone whether I could stand up against the forces that had taken everything from me.
I exhaled a long, slow breath. "Where is he?"
Dan's face softened with a glimmer of hope. "He's been working undercover in the city. There's a resistance movement, people trying to push back against the spirits. They're struggling, but they're holding on."
I nodded slightly, though my thoughts still felt distant. "I'll think about it."
Dan hesitated, then walked over and placed a hand on my shoulder. "Take your time. But don't give up, Ivy. We need you."
Without another word, he left the room, closing the door softly behind him.
I stared at the door for a long time, my mind racing with everything Dan had said. But the weight of loss and guilt kept me pinned in place. For a long while, I simply sat there in silence, feeling more lost than ever.
Later That Night
The hospital room was dark, the moon casting faint silver light across the walls. I lay in bed, my thoughts circling endlessly. A year... I've been out for a year. The reality of it felt surreal, a cruel joke my mind refused to accept.
Clay's face flashed in my mind—his easygoing smile, the way he cracked jokes even in the middle of danger. Gone. I hadn't been there for him when he needed me the most.
And Avery, despite everything, had been fighting her own battles. Now she was gone too, a victim of the chaos. Maybe if I had woken up sooner... The thought was a weight I couldn't bear.
Then there was Hazen. He was still out there, fighting, risking his life while I had been lost in a year-long sleep. Guilt gnawed at me, but beneath that, a flicker of determination sparked to life.
If Hazen was still fighting, maybe there was still hope. Maybe I wasn't as powerless as I felt.
I sat up slowly, swinging my legs over the side of the bed. My body ached, weak from months of inactivity, but I wasn't going to let that stop me. I had to find Hazen. I had to know what he was doing, and more importantly, I had to help him.
With a deep breath, I stood. My legs were shaky, but they held steady beneath me. I grabbed the thin blanket from the bed and wrapped it around my shoulders like a makeshift cloak. I had no idea what tomorrow would bring, but for the first time in a long while, I felt something close to purpose.
I wasn't sure if I could fix everything, but I wouldn't let the world fall apart without trying.