She Prefers Me Asleep | ONC2026

Chapter 1: My Life Runs On Pills and Rulls

                   “Alice’s POV”

The worst thing a sick person could encounter from my point of view is waking up in bed and not remembering what you did the previous day or the day before that. I know because I'm a victim to such an encounter.

My name is Alice Newton. I've lost track of the years behind when I got food poisoning that started my liver issues. This morning I woke up and noticed blood smeared all over my bed. I must have lost blood in my sleep again, just like most mornings, I suppose.

It has been years and nothing has changed for me. I can't remember what having friends is like, I can't even remember what noise is anymore, how to smile, laugh, cry, rejoice, for years now. All I've ever learned is silence every single day and also that my life would be cut short without my medications and pills I have to take. Living on drugs is the worst thing anyone could possibly imagine. It's like your own body is your biggest burden.

I can't dress myself, cook for myself, or do anything by myself, and the worst part is that there's no one around to help me because my father abandoned me years ago because he couldn't keep up finances to having seven children and one with liver issues. What a stupid cover story. It's actually because he wanted his shitty enterprise to be ruled by boys and not a girl for a first born. I never knew my father could be so sexist to disown his first born.

Luckily for me, my angel keeps me alive till this day, by angel I mean the doctor that's been taking care of me since then, if not for her I'm sure I would have been dead multiple times now, there's no doubt in my mind. Her name is Ida Phelix, meeting her is one of the things I can't remember, but it has been a blessing. She told me it's been two years and still my father hasn't even bothered to reach me. At least I still chat with my mom through messages on my keypad phone.

I was still in bed, my feet were sore and my head was loaded with a weight I prayed would off-load, my heart was steady but I'm sure it was racing just last night. I was a bit drowsy from my fall, but I'll pull through.

“Ida. Ida, are you there.” I called her softly.

“Alice, you're awake.” She came in faster than I called her name, she's always there whenever I need something to get through the day, that's why I trust her. She placed her palm on my head. “I can see your temperature’s reduced, it's a good sign you'll live to see another day.”

I chuckled. “I guess so. Ida, what happened to me this time. Was it another episode or was it the blood loss.”

She sucked her teeth. “Let's just say you fell due to stress. You must have worn yourself out somehow.”

“Really.”

“Mmhm.”

“I should take it now shouldn't I.” I'm talking about my pills, my medications, those are kind of like my lifeline now so if I don't take it as much as I need to, I might actually die. I swallowed a few tablets and drank a glass of water. “Ida. When will we leave this place? I'm getting tired of it. I mean, this house has been left alone for nearly two years now. Can't we…leave here.”

Ida sighed as she knelt near me. “Look, I told you why you can't leave here. You see those people. These people you see walking outside there, outside the house, you may think they're minding their own business, but they're dangerous. No one out there is a saint, they all have one bad side or another.”

She tells me that every single time, but my mind is telling me something else entirely, it's something from yesterday I can't recall, I can't point my finger into it but I'm sure there's more to what she's telling me.

“But…how would we know they are evil if we've never met them. Y’know, I've been reading novels a lot, and I realised you shouldn't judge people before you get to know them.”

Ida looked like she was trying to find her words. She spoke eventually. “Those books you read…are fictional, they don't apply to us. Those are fantasies and this is real life. Period.” She paused for a brief second. “Now, I'm gonna head out, what do you do once I head out.”

There's still some questions I want to ask her, my mind is a bit fuggy from last night and the day before but I still need answers, so I ignored her questions. “Wait a minute. I…i think my mind's kicking in. I'm seeing things…in my head. I remember…a child…a basket…cookies…a…a blonde lady.”

“That's enough.” She spoke softly and her tone was alarming but it wasn't enough to stop me.

“There's…there's a…what was it?” My eyes caught a faint mark on my arm, it looked like a healed up cut that was once infected. I remember a boy…named Alex something. Immediately I remembered him, my memories came rushing in like a floodgate. “Wait…isn't that….” I whispered to myself.

SNAP.

Before I could recall anything else, I heard someone's finger snap twice. Like making two clicks with the middle finger and the thumb. My mind went instantly numb, I could only hear Ida whispering something to me, but my hearing was distorted and I couldn't speak even a single word, my head just swung back and forth, my ears were ringing and my vision was blurry, what…what was happening to me.

SNAP.

“Wait, what.”

“Is something wrong?” Ida asked in concern.

“Uh, Ida. What…what was I saying before.” I can't remember anymore, I'm sure my memory was slowly coming back to me but now I can't remember it anymore. What happened? “Did you ask me something?”

Ida smiled, she looked somewhat relaxed to be honest. “I was asking you what you're gonna do once I step out.”

“Oh right.” Ida has some set rules for me once she steps out to go to God knows where. “Keep the lights off. Don't open the windows. Don't…answer the door if someone knocks. Remember the appropriate time to take my pills. Am I correct.”

She asked. “You're forgetting one last one Alice.”

One last rule, which one was it again, was it. “Oh, I remember. It's that I should not go…into the basement for any reason…right.”

“Attagirl. Let's call it our…let's not be stupid rules. Okay.”

I nodded. “Okay.”

She grabbed her bag and wore the only jacket I've always seen her leave with for the last two years, and that one bag that she always takes with her every single time.
“I'll be back in the morning. Try and get some sleep. You should be up in four hours.”

“Seven o clock. Got it.”

She bent down and kissed my cheek, then she opened the door and left. I've never asked where she goes or who she visits whenever she steps out even though it's so late at night. I checked the wall clock, it was two o'clock in the morning. The sun should rise in a few hours from now.

“I should…I should go to bed already.” I walked to my room, I wiped the blood off the bed sheet, I laid down on my bed, smothering my teddy bear and then I slept off.