Not so Safe Haven

[Xiochtle Lief Morta]

Xiochtle woke up with beady sweat and shaky hands. Her breathing labored. She realized it was another panic attack. 'Stupid Nightmare' She tried to calm herself down and tried to look for something distracting or comforting. Unfortunately she failed to find this kind thing. Her anxiousness grew more when she noticed that her breaths were shorter this time. Without thinking much, she dashed outside her hoping that this will end soon.

As she was running like a chased criminal, bits of memories flashed through her mind. "Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head." she chanted like a crazy girl. This time she felt something wet on her cheeks. She's crying. Tears flowed from her eyes that blurred her vision. she even stumbled but quickly picked herself up not caring whether she's hurt or not. All she know that she needs to find a place. Now. Fast.

Xio was turning, climbing up stairs with a blank mind. Finally, she found herself in a room. It looks worn out, dark and forgotten but this is the best she's got right now. Exhausted, Lief's knees gave in and she crashed into the nearest corner. She then hugged her knees and sobbed.

 

[Professor James Cade]

James had taken to exploring the castle at night in an attempt to see as much of the castle as possible during his first year. He didn't want to come back for his second year to find that he was still finding his way around, or merlin forbid still getting lost. That beibg said sometimes getting lost had led to more fun. The Gryffindor remembered a time after dropping Amy off at her common room he had ended up going down rather than up towards his own house and had ended up at the kitchens which turned out to be his greatest discovery ever though he would later learn it was the schools worst kept secret.

James' new late night excursions had brought him all the way down to the second floor. No a floor he spent a great deal of time on so well overdue for a nosey around. He hadn't been looking around long when he heard what sounded like footsteps, fast and loud footsteps heading his way. James ducked out of the way and hid as a girl he recognised as being a fellow first year ran into an empty classroom. Realising the girl was upset he decided to break cover and follow her into the classroom. He could her sobbing over the creak of the door as he stepped in and closed it. "Hey there, this might souns like a dumb question but are you ok?" He asked rather unsure how this was going to go.

 

[Xiochtle Lief Morta]

Xiochtle continued to sob, realizing that she hadn't cried like this for years. She tried to calm herself down and control her breathing trying to prove to herself that she can manage herself though it hasn't been successful. Inhaling and Exhaling slowly to regulate her breathing, failing again and again. Frustration grew over Xio, but right now there's nothing she could do but cry. She seemed so helpless and she hates it.

Xio was startled when she heard the door closed. 'Great. Maybe I disturbed some ghost taking their beauty sleep.' She grabbed the hem of her shirt to minimized her hands shaking. "Hey there, this might sounds like a dumb question but are you ok?" someone asked. Xiochtle didn't look at where the voice came from and stayed her head buried in her knees. She just assumed that this voice came from a ghost, a stupid ghost. She chose to ignore the voice, instead she tapped her bare feet on the floor, maybe this will shoo the spirit.

Okay, actually Xiochtle is terrified at the ghost. It may not show on her present state but she is. She only read about these things on book but now, she's actually hearing it talk to her, Nut's right? But this is no time to joke. Lief noticed that her breathing became more ragged and her consciousness starting to falter. "Sh..ut up." she managed to say, hoping that talking with a ghost might help her calm down.

 

[Professor James Cade]

The first thing James noticed about the girl is that she didn't even looked up at him when he walked into the classroom but she knew he was there. Or did she, the girl told him to shut up but it felt more like she was talking through him and just talking to the room, or even to herself. "Errm, you make quite a racket on your way in here, did something happen? Did you have a bad dream? Did someone do something? You gotta help me out I'm not a mind reader," James didn't really know what to do in this situation. Now that he had walked into the room that was it, he had to see the situation out and he couldn't leave until she told him what was wrong and he had made some attempts to make her feel better, that was just how he was and it was these kind of situations where it tended to get him in trouble. There was no way of knowing where this was going to go, "I'm James, we actually met before when we were sneaking into the kitchens,"

 

[Xiochtle Lief Morta]

'Okay he is not a ghost.' The boy is too talkative to be one but actually this guy is annoying her in a good way that her breathing improved just a little bit. She listened as the boy asked a lot of questions. He seemed clueless about what's happening and Xio didn't blame him for that. Xiochtle being an introvert doesn't even know whether the guy's concerned or simply a chatterbox. "I'm James, we actually met before when we were sneaking into the kitchens," the boy introduced. "Oh, biscuits." she suddenly said. It was a Gryffindork for Merlin's sake. She debated if she would like a Gryffindork to help her or keep her pride and ask him to leave. 'Now is not the time to be picky Xio and besides he doesn't know your name. Just avoid him if ever you see him again.' she convinced herself.

"It's...a Panic...attack."

 

[Professor James Cade]

James could tell there was something wrong with the girl, he'd have to be pretty dense not to, but when she told him she was having a panic attack he felt like he might have one hinself. It was rather an off situation, the girl had been very unhappy to see him when he tagged along in her kitchen raid and was probably less happy to see him now. But the Gryffindor couldn't leave her to her panic attack alone, even if he was a few notches left of useless in this moment, he had to be better than no one right? Yes he told himself as he took a seat beside. "I can't lie I've never done anything like this before so I apologise in advance for being ineffective, I never did catch your name during our raid? James was hoping that by distracting the girl she would calm down.