VOXISTALE: Novel Edition

Chapter 65

Slowly, Gregory opened his eyes, aching all over. He felt terrible, and after a few moments, he remembered everything that had happened. With a jolt, he sat up quickly, regretting this immediately as pain shot up his side. It felt like one of his ribs had cracked or something, and he laid back down with a pained grunt.

"Hey, don't move so quickly," a voice ordered. Greg blinked, looking around the room he was in. He appeared to be in an infirmary, covered in bandages. A woman was standing a few feet away, wearing a bright blue hairnet and an equally blue mask, writing on a clipboard. "Gregory Favian. How do you feel?"

"Awful . . ."

"Do you know where you are?"

". . . Um . . . Messiah?"

"Can you see clearly?"

"Not without my glasses."

"Can you move without any pain?"

"Not really . . ."

"Hm . . . more anesthesia and SOUL-healing, then," the woman noted, not even looking at him. "Stay there while I retrieve Leader Krashna. You have a very busy day ahead of you." With that, she walked away, and Greg leaned back, feeling his gut twist painfully. He couldn't believe this was happening. Here he was in the base of the Messiah. Or maybe an outpost. He didn't know. He just wanted to leave. He wanted to go home. He wanted to see his friends again.

Almost everything that had happened last night felt like a bad dream. He'd been kidnapped, beaten, tortured until he could barely move . . . and then he'd agreed to help the Messiah. He couldn't believe they'd broken him. What kind of a friend was he, agreeing to go along with Krashna's horrible plans . . . ?

He laid there, wallowing in regret and self-pity before the woman returned, Krashna following close behind. How a kid who looked around Greg's age became a leader of the Messiah he had no idea. Perhaps it was better he didn't know. "You're awake. Good. Get up." Krashna ordered.

"Leader Krashna, he's not-"

"I'll let you know when I need your input, Nurse," the boy interrupted her, before snapping back to Gregory. "I said get up."

Greg didn't want to move, but he didn't want to get beaten or sliced up again either, so he slowly began to climb out of the comfortable infirmary bed. Once he was on his feet, the room began to spin. "Good. Now, follow me. I'm taking you to our cafeteria."

". . . Why?" Greg asked, trying to stay balanced.

"Because you look like you're ready to fall over and die. You can't be of any use to me like that. Besides, you already agreed to become one with the Messiah. Therefore, there's no reason why you have to suffer any longer," Krashna turned. "Follow me."

Greg hated to admit it, but his stomach was snarling, and it was hard to resist Krashna's offer. He regretted not finishing that burger at Grillby's yesterday.

'No longer have to suffer, my ass'. He thought to himself, before timidly falling into step behind Krashna, absolutely terrified at what might happen to him. What sort of things he'd see. He found himself continually longing to go home. Greg elected to remain silent as he followed Krashna out of the infirmary, coming upon a large circular tunnel that led to an intersection. Everything seemed to be made of dirty gray metal and concrete in a repetitive fashion.

The tunnel continued for a couple of minutes- normally, Greg wouldn't mind, but his whole body was in pain with each step. He could feel the anesthesia beginning to wear off, too . . . "We're here," Krashna stated, coming to a stop, eyes fixed on a large archway at the end of the tunnel. Inside was the Messiah's cafeteria. "Go eat something," Krashna demanded. "Don't dawdle."