Felix. Why did I trust him? Why did I have to like him? No. Damn it!
As he insulted me, those were some things I kept repeating and repeating in my head as my sides began to really hurt.
"..Idiotic..." My eyes wandered around and he must have noticed since he let go of my sides and instead, wrapped one hand around my neck. It didn't choke me or cut off my breathing, but my heart and head began to pound and speed up. His smile wasn't there. Replaced was a serious look, making him creep me out.
"Follow me, and your friend, the black haired girl, doesn't get hurt. Same goes for Jack and yourself. Y'know, if you want to see him ever again." The air was whooshed out of my lungs like he had thrown me to the floor. Jack was here? And the girl I was before? With my reaction, he chuckled darkly.
In the most gentleman-like way, Felix dragged me around by holding onto my short hair, barely able to grasp it. "Quite smart, actually. It's hard to do this to people with short hair."
One quick heave, I was literally thrown at a brick wall with nearly super-human strength. The jagged brick wall punctured my back and I yelped from the pain. A surge of pain quickly spreaded throughout my back like a web, and grew more painful each time. Slam your hand against that kind of wall, and then picture your hand being your back. It stings and you just want to shake in pain and curse every colorful word you know. I fought back tears and fell on my side, slamming onto my left hip. Felix threw his hat at the shadow in the corner, which reached out and grabbed the hat with ease.
"Who is this attractive lady?" A male voice called out, I was unsure how old he sounded.
"Kori."
"Ah, Kori. Her eyelashes are incredibly long and thick! Her hair is odd!" My fear began to boil into anger.
"Yes it is, but remember... She isn't yours!"
A sigh of sadness came from the shadow. "I know."
Felix stood in front of me and grabbed my arm, forcing me to stand up. His height made him potective before, but now all I saw was darkness and anger when it came to how tall he was. He put his fore finger under my chin, lifting my head up as he stared into my eyes, making my heart flutter.
"Crap, her eyes are getting more and more amber. They're getting closer." With that, he ran out the door.
^#####^
He thought long and hard to remember his name. A brightness came to his face.
"It was Jack!"
Hours passed. We had started traveling the second we could.
"Can we take a break NOW?" I asked Jack, my feet already aching and my lungs feeling empty. Slowing the pace until stopping, he nodded.
We sat on a crate and shared stories until Jack noticed something.
"Whoa."
"What, Jack?"
"Y-your eyes! They're actually glowing brighter and aren't very faded as before."
"Rea-?"
Something whizzed in between us and hit the other piles of crates beside us. Twenty feet away was a tall guy holding a gun of some sorts. Jack grabbed the thing that stuck to the crates. Red and white, it was a dart. Once he yanked the dart off the boxes, liquid squirted droplets on us from the needle. His eyes widened like a cat staring at a huge bowl of catnip and catgrass.
"Tranquilizer darts.... WATCH OUT!" He answered. I grabbed my weapon and ran swiftly in zigzags sideways, towards and away from him, confusing him so he would target Jack instead. Lurking closer, I tossed the card and it sliced his cheek, sticky blood already dripped at his neck. My weapon/card came back with the left corner slightly bent and soaked with dark blood, already turning a sickly brown. By the time the card hit his cheek, the guy had already gotten pulled the trigger of his dart gun at Jack. A sharp cry ripped out of Jack's throat, almost instantly quieted. I reacted way too late. Sharp pain hit my upper thigh, spreading down my leg, feeling like bugs were climbing down to my ankles.
Game over.
^######^
"What the hell just happened?!" She cried out in frustration, her fingers pulling at her short black hair.
"Amber has ben kidnapped and Aquamarine just got shot-"
"I KNOW THAT!!" Raising her voice threateningly, heads turned towards her red face.
"You asked." He muttered under his breath.
"Can we help them at all?!"
Doors opened silently, not catching anyone's attention except for the groups in the back drinking coffee and playing Go Fish. When the doors slammed shut, that's when everyone tuned their heads towards the man with salt-and-pepper hair and brown glasses.
"Why not send them one last message?"
^######^
A filthy tasting rope covered my mouth, my hands tied in front of myself with matching rope, and my ankles were tied up as well. Somehow, I woke up on my knees, slouched beside a conscious Jack. He was tied up like me, but his legs were in front of him.
"Hgack! Wshrere ahre wshe?!"
He lifted an eyebrow up in confusion. Oh right... My mouth was covered by rope. My bad.
The guy we fought opened a door I didn't see, and threw someone in the room with us. She landed in front of us on her side, her glowing amber eyes watered in pain. Her tears were illuminated a glorious, light brown-orange. The girl's hair had ends longer than the rest. Her unnaturally thick eyelashes fluttered rapidly as she choked down tears. Jack's eyes were squinted at her face like she was the blinding sunshine. I knew that familiar look. I got it from many, many strangers who had seen me on television. He knew her from somewhere.
"Jack!" Her tears left, both her eyes and mouth smiling. I knew that voice. It was the girl I had been before.
His eyebrows were close to his eyes like he was angry. Not at her, but at his thoughts. Or did he know her? She ignored me as she untied Jack so he could move and talk again. I muffled random words, desperately trying to get her to untie me as well. A soft aqua light covered her face as she untied me also.
"You! You're the girl I had been before all of this! What's your name?"
"A-Anne.. And may I ask your's?"
"Kori. I don't understand what is going on, do you?"
I opened my mouth to tell her I was as clueless as her, but she turned to Jack.
"..Do I know you?" Jack whispered to her, regret and sympathy poured into his voice. Kori's cheery smile was wiped away, replaced with a thin line.
"You don't remember me?"
"No, I don't even know you!" His voice began to fade at the end of his sentence.
Kori looked down and bit her bottom lip, her eyes beginning to sparkle and glimmer. Hiding her tears from us by closing her eyes, revealing that her eyelashes were even longer when she closed them, she walked to a dark corner.
"I-She seems familiar, but I don't know a thing about her!" I had pity for the two of them.
An awkward pause that lasted a few seconds seemed like minutes, only our soft breathing audible. It was like eating with a group of friends, saying nothing so that everyone sat in silence, forced to listen to each other chewing food.
"Why are your eyes glowing? Or are-"
Hello, everyone.
Kori turned away from the wall and stood up. She snarled at the ceiling, startling both of us. "You're back."
Yes.
"What's going on...?" Jack looked where Kori was glaring at.
We have one final thing to inform you about..Maybe two.
"We?" Kori and I asked in unison.
Yes, we. We cannot tell you about anymore than these few things. To get out of this replica of Earth, you must find one final person. He is in hiding, we will have to forcefully drive him out of that hiding spot before those young men start hunting him down too.
"Why drive him out of safety?!" Jack murmured half to himself and the voice.
They are planning to move around that area, but before moving there, they are going to check every perimeter around that area. They'll shoot down anything that blocks their path. Including animals.
"What's his name?"
Are you sure you would like to know, Anne?
"Yes." I had an idea of who it was. Half of me hoped it was him... half of me didn't want him here. The same thing may have happened. No, would have happened to him like Jack.
Shane.
I closed my own eyes, fighting the tears. Tears won. I didn't sob, I did not dare make a sound. Droplets trickled down my cheeks slowly, making me want to wipe the tears away with my hand. I clenched my jaw, and opened my eyes slowly. "Get me out of here now. Get us out of this hell-hole now! What did we ever do? One remembers their best friend, and their best friend has no idea who that person is, heck, they barely remember their name! I don't want to meet my best friend, only to find out he doesn't know me anymore! Kori doesn't deserve this to happen to her, neither do I or Jack! O-or Shane! Get us out!"
The eerie silence angered me even more. The long pause was the obvious answer.
We cannot do that. Calm down, Anne. It will get better than you think. Listen. If you two girls look at each other, you'll notice your eyes are so bright they seem to glow. Walk closer towards each other until you are about thee feet away.
Kori nodded and walked towards me. Copying her movements, I noticed something odd. Her eyes went brighter and brighter the closer we got. "What the.."
Your eyes will tell how far away you two are from each other, very helpful for when you lose each other. We'll explain that later. Make an escape plan. We believe in you.
I sat down where I originally was, and searched around for a certain white, chalk-like rock. Finding it, I drew a large square.
"You heard the thing. Let's make a plan."