The Orbist

Chapter 29

    "Cayson, Jesus, man." Elian leaned down on his seat. "We thought you were dead."

    "Yeah!" Bryan said. "Plus, I can't believe you still have your hospital clothes on."

 If I was able to speak at the moment, I would have informed him I was wearing different clothes, and that I just arrived into a new hospital. Then again, he probably knew that, and was just being stupid.

     "But then we saw your face in the ad-"

 I remembered what the doctor said - "We put small ads out on the media. See if we can locate if you have any friends."

    "Move over!" Levi yelled at Barry.

 We were all kind of squished, and moving at a high speed.

    "How are you still alive?"

    "Did you discover your power?"

    "What happened to Charles and Brock?"

 Charles and Brock? Then I remembered, they were the two grunts I was left with while the group escaped.

    "They both died." I blurted out. "One from bleeding out and one from a shot to the head. They-they-neither of them survived. It was.. god, it was awful."

 The cab was extremely silent. The cab driver had headphones, so thankfully he didn't hear it too.

    "I killed him." Elian mumbled. "I killed Charles."

    "They killed themselves trying to kill us." Ralph argued. "Their death was their fault, and well deserved."

    "No one deserves to die." I croaked. "Except, maybe...Kael. I don't know."

 It was silent again. Then I spilled everything out. From beginning to end. My story. I spoke about Kael, Teo, my power, me getting lost in the forest, and Mr. Garty. They all listened carefully, and when I spoke about Teo's death, they patted me on the back, and Barry cried a bit too. I wanted them to know. That I went through a lot.

    "We were lucky to get here before the Ecators." Ralph spoke up. "I'm so sorry for all you have been through, man."

 I looked out the window, only to see it was beginning to rain. I looked back at everyone. No one changed a bit. Only me.

    "What do we do now?" I asked.

    "We'll stay at a hotel." Bryan smiled. "With warm, cozy beds. It will be great, so great. There will be three people per bed though, since there's only two beds per room."

    "I mean what do we do now? Keep running forever, always looking behind our backs?"

    "We'll figure it out." Ralph said, but he seemed unsure.

 The cab finally stopped next to a large, white, typical hotel. We walked inside, and Ralph walked over to the hotel clerk to get our access cards. The whole place was really dusty, but it felt a bit like home, with pretty red couches. Then again, I didn't know what home was. I looked at the floor, and inhaled deeply. Suddenly, all feeling in my chest bulged. I fell on my knees and winced at the abrupt pain. Levi gasped and rushed over to me.

    "Tile." I gasped.

    "What?"

    "Tile."

    "This is laminate flooring, what tile?" She asked, concerned.

    "Not here...not..."

    "Are you done yet, Ralph?" She yelled. "We need to get him in bed!"