The feel of warm sheets and a soft pillow below my head was the first thing my mind registered when I woke up. I let out a satisfied sigh, and groaned when I realized I soon had to get up for school. Teenagers just can never catch a break, can they? I turned over to my side, keeping my eyes closed. Ruby will probably be up soon, and I've got that much time to catch a few more winks before she's flipping the blankets off me and dragging me off the bed. I was just about to drift back into sleep, to walk past the gates of dreamland and lock them behind me, when a cry of anguish jolted me back to reality and my eyes shot open.
Directly on the wall right in front of me was a poster of The Black Panthers band, with the members decked out in goth costumes and heavy eye liner posing with their middle fingers up. I grimaced in distaste. Did Ruby take a hit to her head or did her music sense really deteriorated this much while I was asleep?
Another cry and I was up from the bed in an instant.
"Ouch! Not so hard, dude! Are you trying to kill me!"
"Well sorry I'm not your voluptuous nurse…"
I turned to the sound of that ridiculous conversation, and my eyes widened at the sight of a bloody and messy Neil sitting cross-legged on the floor with a frustrated and equally messy minus the blood Marcus by his side, attempting in vain to bandage Neil's shoulder.
Neil? What? I don't even know this guy? Then, the memories flooded back to me like a torrential rain. Scenes of the black out, followed by Ruby's terrifying hacking coughs, then a heavily wounded Tamika, the little trip down to Narsha's room, and finally a monster Chuck below me, before the sudden lightheadedness clouded my brain and my face came down towards the floor. I guess that's the part where I passed out.
So all of that hadn't been a dream. Shucks.
"Hey guys," I started lamely.
Both guys' heads snapped up and turned to look at me. They watched me with wary eyes, and I shifted uncomfortably, feeling a little self-conscious.
"If you're waiting for another breakdown, it's not going to happen until I smash another head in," I laughed weakly. How am I even joking about this? It's really not funny. Really. Not. Funny.
Nevertheless, the stupid joke seemed to break up the tension and Marcus's eyes lit up with relief. He got up from the floor and strode over to me.
"You okay?"
"Yep," I lied.
"Great."
"Uh huh. So uh… how long was I gone?"
"Only about 3 minutes."
"What exactly happened?"
"Well… after you know, Chuck…"
"Yes I know, go on." I said quickly, not wanting to linger on that unpleasant memory.
"We brought you back to my room, and put you down on that bed… and Neil may or may not have slapped you a couple of times trying to wake you up…"
"Yeah, sorry about that…" Neil interjected from the corner where he sat.
"No problem," I shrugged my shoulders.
"So you like emo metal?" I turned back to Marcus. Somehow the image of a clean, tidy baby-faced smiley boy rocking out to loud blaring electric guitar and tunes singing about death and drugs and everything anti-society didn't fit in my mind.
"Yeah… What about it?" Marcus asked suspiciously, his face wore a questioning look.
I shrugged my shoulders again.
YOU ARE READING
Dead Advent: New World Order (Book 1)
Horror"...one by one the lights flickered off. The air-conditioner stopped functioning and the room was flooded with the humid warmth of mid-spring. From the bedroom, I heard the TV shut off as sounds of the football match abruptly cut off. A loud rumble...
