Chapter 8: The Miracle
She leaned against his shoulder as they walked through the busy school's hallway. Students around were loud and rowdy, but to them, it seemed like they were the only one around. Paige looked at David with squinted eyes--her smile was over the moon. He smiled on one side and mouthed the words 'I love you.' 'How much?' Paige mouthed back. "Very much," he replied, his voice overpowering the people around them. He seemed different to her, and unfortunately strange. Even his voice was different--but it didn't mind her. Nothing could bother her, as long as David loved her back, she was happy. Even though she knew he wouldn't do so forever, she wanted to swallow every moment that he did.
Paige's eyes shot open as she gasped. Sitting up, she wiped the huge beads of sweat on her forehead with the back of her hand. Her other hand felt the ground, and almost immediately, she jolted up as soon as she realized she was somewhere she had never been to.
"What the hell, what the hell. . ." she mumbled under her breath, her eyes wandering around aimlessly. There wasn't much to be seen, except for naked trees and patches of brown grass here and there. She was sure that she was supposed to be headed back to the mall, but something struck her and she went unconscious. She rubbed her flat stomach as it growled for food. She worried how long she was out, maybe a few hours, or even days. With her heart pounding, she started to walk through repetitive trees with no sense of direction.
She thought about the others--were they trying to find her? She could only hope that they can. She was aware that she didn't do as much work as the others but she was sure that they didn't mind, as she was sure that they were worried for her. They had to be, especially Penny.
"Ramsey, for the last time, I'm going with you two!" Penny raised her voice, now annoyed that Ramsey denied her request to come with them in search for Paige.
Ramsey rubbed his temples and mumbled, "For heaven's sake, please, just stay here with the kids."
"You know what you sound like right now?" Penny snapped, putting her hands through the holes of her thick jacket, "Like a darn, typical husband who wouldn't let his wife work! No one would marry you if they knew you were like that, you sad, sad man."
Ramsey could only roll his eyes in response. He was about to talk back again, but Matteo spoke up, "Penny's right. The more people, the better. I'm sure Doug and Emelie aren't the kind of people who would harm children."
Ramsey growled and looked at the two, "I don't know about Doug."
Emelie, who was sitting on the floor with Doug, gave him a cold stare. Doug, on the other hand, couldn't care less.
Penny raised her hands up in frustration, "Ugh, just give it up! I am coming with and that's final!" She walked towards Ramsey, now inches away from him, she snapped, "We were supposed to look for her earlier but you guys just had to be so freaking slow coming back here! I bet your eyes were always on Doug, that's why it took you ages to come back." She zipped her jacket aggressively and walked towards Emelie and Doug.
"Geez, I didn't know she would still be missing!" Ramsey groaned from behind.
Emelie expected that Penny would drop bombs on them about the children, but instead, she gave a light smile towards them. "Please check up on Elaine later, Henry needs some rest too. If he doesn't want to leave her side, at least convince him to rest with her, okay?"
Emelie smiled back, appreciating Penny's kind tone, she replied, "Of course."
Penny turned her head towards Doug, wanting an answer from him too.
"I heard it," Doug replied.
"Great! We will be back before midnight. If you guys get hungry, there's always canned food on the counter." Penny beamed as she turned around to join the two men. She liked the feeling of leadership. Even though Ramsey was always the leader of their group, she always wanted to step up, and not always follow Ramsey's barking orders everyday.
The more trees Paige had walked passed by, the heavier her body felt. It was almost as if she was pulling a wagon behind her, while it took great effort for her to move a foot after the other. Just when it couldn't get worse, she felt something bump the roof of her foot. Being too tired, she let herself stumble down, planting face-first on the ground. The small rocks felt like needles piercing through her face, and she was sore all over. She moved her head to the side before rolling over to her back, looking at the sky. The sun was setting. The light could not serve her for too long. The harsh reality of the situation kicked in, and finally, she bursted into tears, and let out a cry of frustration. How badly she wanted to take a sip of water through her dry lips, and how badly she wanted to take a bath. No, she'll drink water while she takes a bath, she thought.
She closed her eyes and could only hope for a miracle.
"Get up," a faint voice said.
Thinking that someone above heard her cry of help, she flicked her eyes open and sat up.
"Hello?" she stood up and looked around for the voice. "Please. . . I need to get to the mall. That's where me and my friends live. I need to go back."
"Oh, don't worry. They're already in search of you," it whispered. The voice was airy, but deep. It felt like it was speaking near Paige's ears, but at the same time, far away.
Paige immediately knew that what she was speaking to wasn't human. "What are you?" her voice cracked, forcing words through her sore, dry throat.
"A cherno," it said. A black, unshaped entity appeared in front of Paige. It moved around like smoke, but it was solid. She couldn't see through it.
She stepped back and trembled, "Don't hurt me. . .please."
It laughed so much that Paige felt foolish, "Didn't they already tell you that we only take over a deceased human? You cannot possibly be dead. . . well, not yet. What a silly girl you are."
Paige removed the wet strands of hair stuck on her face, "Then what is it that you want then?"
"Maybe it is you who needs something."
"Like I said," Paige blurted out, not having enough energy to care anymore, "I need help."
"Come with me then. I know where your camp is." It floated towards her but she stood her ground.
Paige raised her thin brow, "Alright, what's the catch?"
"There is none of the sort."
It took a few seconds before Paige answered, "You're such a terrible liar."
"I cannot say if I am or if I am not--I'm only a floating entity with a fixated mind."
"No, you're a cherno."
"With no body, yes."
Paige crossed her arms over her chest. "You're different."
Its responses were almost automatic, almost as if it knew what Paige's replies were. "Maybe because I'm the only cherno you've ever talked to."
"Maybe," she huffed. "Fine, lead the way, I don't care."
"I know you do. You're the liar here," it replied, before floating towards a direction. She followed behind anxiously.
Emelie turned her head towards the door when she heard it creak open.
"They alright?"
"What do you think?" Emelie said to Doug, before looking back at the two sleeping children on a single bed. Penny was right, Henry didn't want to leave Elaine's side, as he kept blaming himself that he couldn't protect her from the chernos.
Doug shrugged and sat on the floor with Emelie.
"Listen, I want to ask you something," he said.
"Go ahead," Emelie replied, tying her hair in a careless bun as she suddenly felt heat creeping up to her face once again.
Doug blinked a few times, and asked without looking at her, "Do you like it here?"
She looked at the side of his face, and his eyes gazed at her without turning his head. "I guess. I know that Ramsey isn't really fond of us, but it'll be alright. The others seem to take a liking to us anyway, that's all that matters."
"No," Doug disagreed, "Ramsey isn't fond of me, not you."
"It doesn't matter, Doug," she put a hand on his lap, "I'm sure he won't hurt you."
"Fortunately, you're correct. He can only hold his chin high and point a gun carelessly to others but he can never pull a trigger, not even to me."
Her eyes widened as she gasped, "He pointed his gun towards you again?"
He smirked, "Well, yes. But you have nothing to worry about."
Emelie's tense shoulders softened as she sighed, "I don't understand why he still doesn't like you after saving Elaine."
"I do. He needs to be like that to protect the group. He. . .knows I'm not human, and I believe it's only natural for anyone to be fearful. . . of something like me."
"Why aren't you fearful of us then?"
Doug finally looked at her and fixed his tie. "Because I have nothing to lose, unlike you," he replied, staring intently at Emelie without blinking.
"I. . ." Emelie couldn't find the right words to say, but she inhaled and said, "I understand."
"You didn't need to but I'm glad you do," he gave a small smile before removing Emelie's hand on his lap. He stood up and looked up at the ceiling. "We must go downstairs. Paige is near."
Emelie immediately rose up to her feet, "You can sense her?"
Doug nodded.
"You should've told Ramsey! Why didn't you?" She opened the door and walked downstairs. Doug followed behind.
"I figured he still wouldn't let me go with them."
"Fair enough."
Just when they reached the first floor, a panting, weary girl stood between the tall frames of the previously glass door of the mall. She was leaning against it, and her hair was over her face as her back was arched downwards.
"Paige?" Emelie called out.
Paige looked up at her and managed to chuckle, "Emelie! Thank goodness I made it! I walked for hours and hours, and oh, God Almighty, how dreadful it was!"
Emelie ran towards her and pulled a chair for Paige to sit on. "What happened to you? Looks like you've been attacked by a bear!"
"Oh, no, no that doesn't matter now," She wiped sweat off her forehead again, "Quick! A glass of water! Anything to drink, damn it!"
Emelie turned around and was about to sprint to the kitchen, but Doug already had a glass of water in his hand.
"Thanks," Paige muttered, and slowly wrapped her fingers around the cup. She finished the cup with just two big gulps. She panted heavily as she almost dropped the cup if Emelie didn't get it from her. "Alright," she panted, "Now where are the others?"
"They went out, in search of you," Emelie replied, looking at Paige's arms and knees, which were scratched up and slightly bleeding. "Uhm, is it appropriate to ask what happened to you?"
"I remember so little before it. I was unconscious for a while--I don't know how long, but I swear, someone or something took me there. I was miles away from here!" Paige was talking like she was drunk and crazy. Emelie had a worried look on her face.
"How did you find your way here?" Doug asked.
"Please, enough with the questions. . ."
"How?" Doug leaned towards her, studying her face.
Paige blinked and leaned back on the chair, "I just did, okay? Now leave me be."
"You seem different," he added.
Emelie pulled back Doug's arm, "Doug, she's scratched up. We should let her rest."
It took about an hour before the trio went back. Penny immediately hugged Paige the first second she saw her, even though Paige told her not to. She disinfected Paige's wounds while Ramsey grew even more annoyed that they went out for nothing as he headed upstairs to his room. Matteo, on the other hand, started to prepare for dinner. Emelie helped Matteo in the process, even though she didn't know how to prepare for meals. Doug was the only one outside, staring into the night sky blankly.
He had almost forgotten his goal, but now that he was aware, he wouldn't stray away from it anymore.
After Penny had given Elaine dinner on bed, she walked downstairs, and with a loud sigh, "Apparently, Ramsey 'couldn't be bothered' to eat dinner, so it'll just be us then."
"That's honestly fine," Emelie chuckled, sitting next to Doug, "What about Paige?"
"She's more tired than hungry," Penny replied, as she sat next to Henry, who was already eating quietly without his friend.
Matteo still had food in his mouth when he said, "Nothing surprising there."
Emelie put a spoonful of beans in her mouth and savoured the taste. "You should try the beans, Doug."
Doug didn't answer her, nor did he touch his food. He stared into space, and it seemed like he didn't hear Emelie.
"Doug?" Emelie leaned in to look at him, "What's the matter?"
It took a moment before he could answer, and when he did, everyone's mouths opened.
"I'm leaving."