They Came With Secrets

26|A good friend

My eyes flutter open. Where am I?

I attempt to sit up but a sharp pain courses through my body. "Ouch, ouch ouch," I groan, gently lowering my upper body down to the bed. This isn't my room. It's painted white all over, adorned with a few band posters.

I turn my head to the side, ignoring the searing pain in my neck. There's an open window. I watch as the curtain gently billows in the wind. This is Gaia's room.

The door creaks open and she walks in with a bowl, a lollipop stick twirling around her lips. "Hm?" she slightly leans her body out the open door. "Yo, she's awake!" she yells.

She faces me and comes to sit on the edge of the bed. "Hey, I'm Gaia Paignton. Nice to meet ya."

"Huh? I- I know it's you." I scrunch up my nose from the scent coming off whatever is in the bowl she's holding.

"Oh that makes things easier," she says and gets up from the bed, approaching a small cage set on a stool in the corner of the room. She dumps the contents of the bowl into the cage. I can't see without my glasses but I can guess a rat's in there. "What's that?" I ask.

"Oh you mean Artavio?" she asks. "Remember when I told you I needed to tame a rat running around in my roof? Well, this is him," she explains. "We've become allies now."

"Oh," I reply, not fazed at all that she befriended a rat.

"I heard your screams last night," she begins. "Yeah, you startled the entire neighborhood. Even Grandma Evelyn who I thought was dead came out of her house to see what the commotion was."

What happened last night? The memories come flooding back, overwhelming me with a mixture of pain and sadness. "Right... last night... so I was that loud," I mutter.

"Yeah, you were. So Margo brought you over here and my sister gave you some treatment... since she's a nurse and all."

"Thank you," I breathe out.

"I'm still mad at you though," she grumbles. "Don't think looking helpless over there will make me forgive you."

I nod halfheartedly. "I know. I'm sorry I didn't try to explain what was going on."

Margo walks in, gasping when she sees me. "Cas you're alive," she chimes and runs over to me. "I would have hugged you but it might hurt."

"Yeah... thanks for considering that," I reply.

"How are you? How are you feeling?"

"It's not like I've tried getting up... so I don't know."

"Do you want me to help you up?" she asks.

"Okay," I sigh.

"Alright c'mere." She gently holds the side of my waist, slithering her other arm behind my back and slowly pushing me up. I release a groan as waves of soreness wash over my battered body, every movement an agonizing ordeal.

I can't pinpoint where the pain is coming from because my entire body is throbbing. "Your back wasn't looking too good, so Mae applied some lotion on it and bandaged it up. Your right arm was already in a brace for some reason so we just used that. Then she helped with some minor injuries. That was the most she could do. Luckily there was no internal bleeding or anything."

I nod as I sit up straight, baring my teeth at the pain. "So where's my mum?" I ask.

"She left the house and hasn't returned."

"Good," I mutter. "I know you might think this is harsh but I never want to see her again."

"No, not at all. That is what I would've said if she hadn't done this to you. She's crazy Cas. I'm sorry I neglected everything you said when she got here. Maybe if I had taken more precautions... then things would've turned out differently," she says. "But where did you go? That morning I got back home, she was going crazy. Talking to herself, parading the house. And when I asked what the problem was, she said you eloped with Levi. And the next day she bought a plane ticket and told me she was going to Chicago to get you. Was that true or does she need a psychiatrist?"