The Nevers

Chap. Eight - The Nevers

Hi! We're back to present time, in Alice's point of view.

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I have lost.

I have fallen.

And I don't think there is any way I will ever get back up.

Water. I wake up to the drops of a leak to my forehead. I blink, but my vision is a blur of colors, unrecognizable. I only see the outline of a figure in front of me.

"Morning, sunshine!" I think the figure said. His voice sounds familiar, like I'd heard him speak from somewhere.

I blink a few more times, the blurriness clearing up each time until I see the true figure in front of me.

A guy.

He looks young, no older than twenty, and he has short, shaggy blond hair that perfectly outlines his clear skin. He smiles. He would look perfect if it weren't for his peasant-like, torn shirt that hung loose from his body and his dirty, torn jeans which were beyond faded. I cringe.

"Hi," I say, my voice low. My heartbeat pounds in my ears. I sit up, my body stiff as my mom on report card day. I take a good look around the room, where there is just the two of us. It is mildly drafty in here as the afternoon breeze flows in through the weak, open holes of rotten wood. I cringe again. This place was dirty, the floors as dusty as Marcus Shaw's legs. At the side of the bed is a table with an ice pack and water on it. I look back at the guy, my eyes wide. I can't remember much about what happened, but I sure as hell know I have not been in this room. "Where exactly am I?"

"You're in the infirmary," he says. I squint. "Or the hospital, as some might call it." A smile tugs at the corner of his lips. "But what the hell's the difference to me, right?"

I give him a confused look. "Right," I agree. But I don't understand a thing. My head really hurts and the right side of my face stings. I try not to acknowledge it. "So what happened? To me, I mean."

His smile fades. "Uh... well, I don't know where that starts, but I know that you fell down, like, two hundred fifty feet down and uh, I found you, and well, I guess we saved you."

"We?" I ask.

Just as I ask the question, a girl who's about my age pops into the room. "Yes," she says, looking down at me. She has blood-red hair and surprisingly clear skin. She has blue eyes, ones that stare cool as ice, and she wears a bright green tunic and black pants. "Us." Her eyes narrow and I can tell she doesn't like me very much.

The guy glances at the girl and rolls his eyes and smiles. "See, told you we could save her." I look from the two of them and wonder what their relationship is: boyfriend and girlfriend? Siblings? Friends? I don't know.

The girl scoffs. "Whatever Josh. I still think it was a bad idea."

Ouch, I think.

Josh gives her a look of mock hurt. "Come on, Ash," he says. "Be nice."

Ash grumbles. "I'll be nice as long as I get to punch you in the face afterwards."

I guess I can cross out the dating idea, I think again.

Josh rolls his eyes again. "Well, nice talking to you Ash, still throwing shade, as usual."

"Yeah, and you'd better shut up before I throw something at you that's not shade, you arrogant bastard." And with that, Ash walks away, leaving me in alone with Josh again.