A coma is a state of prolonged unconsciousness that can be caused by a variety of problems: traumatic head injury, stroke, brain tumor, drug or alcohol intoxication, or even an underlying illness, such as diabetes or an infection.
I stood there for what felt like a long time, studying Will's condition. The steady rise and fall of his chest was calming to watch. I decided to try and get more information out of Avalon.
"So who exactly is this guy?" I asked, not taking my eyes off of the unconscious brunette. "What's his deal?"
"We're not entirely sure yet. We had sent Will in to figure that out... didn't quite work out," she responded distractedly. I looked at her. She was dusting the windowsills, somehow making this impossibly clean room even cleaner. She cleared her throat, putting the duster down. "All we know is that he wants you for something. What that something is, we don't know. That's our next step we need to figure out. Callie had been sending people to spy on him, but then everything went wrong with Will, and some of them still haven't come back, so she stopped, and she's trying to find new ways to get information." I glanced at Will.
"What happened to the others?" I questioned. She gave me a grim look.
"We don't know. No word from them. No sight of them. Nothing. They're just gone." Avalon was about to go on when someone called her name.
"Avalon! Dinner!" It sounded like Sophia.
"We'd better go," she said, starting to walk out. I followed suit.
"Oh, good! You heard me," Sophia said as Avalon and I came into view. "Have you seen- oh. She's with you. Well, that's one worry gone." Sophia led us back to what I assumed was the dining room. A long table sat in the center with a chandelier hanging over it. The table, I counted, sat twelve people, and it was covered in a wine red table cloth with several black candles in the middle. Snow white china was placed at each chair, along with a neatly folded napkin and shining silverware. "Choose any seat you'd like," Sophia said to me. I made my way to a chair in the center of the table.
People filed in, some in pairs, some alone. Peter and Amber were the first to enter, carrying a large bowl of salad and a plate of garlic bread and chatting away. Next was a girl with shoulder length, semi-curly, strawberry blonde hair that I hadn't met yet. She seemed to be about Avalon's height, but maybe a little taller. She looked at me, smiling. Her eyes were blue with gold rings around the pupils. She was carrying a pitcher of water in one hand and a pitcher of lemonade in the other. Finally, Callie entered the scene, carrying a pan of what seemed to be lasagna and some sort of file under her arm.
"Hope you're Italian or something," Callie said sarcastically, setting the pan down.
"Oh, come on, I thought you liked lasagna," the strawberry blonde said.
"I'm vegetarian!" Callie exclaimed.
"Right," the girl paused. "Why, exactly?"
"We're not having this conversation again," Callie said, giving her a stern look.
"Fine. Just eat the bread and salad then," Avalon chimed in. Everyone took their seats and started to pass the food around. The salad bowl was passed to me, and I dished some onto my plate, looking around.
"Where's Piper?" I asked.
"She was resting," Amber answered. "Bad headache. She'll probably come out in a few minutes."
"Well, speak of the Devil," Peter said. We all looked up to see Piper walking in.
"You were talking about me?" Piper asked, rubbing her eyes. She seemed tired. Her hair was ruffled up in places and she was wearing pajamas that seemed wrinkled.
"We were talking about who you have a crush on," the mystery-girl joked. Piper gave her some sort of glare, but it quickly turned into a smirk as she took the seat next to me.
"Well, Pepper, what about you? How's your boyfriend doing? You two are really cute together." Piper rested her head on her hands, still grinning mischievously. So her name was Pepper. Pepper started blushing and went to say something, only to be cut off by Peter.
"We're not-"
"Are you two in loooove?" He said tauntingly. Pepper looked like a tomato at this point. She put her head down and made a sort of groaning noise. Callie cleared her throat.
"Peter! Piper! Stop picking on Pepper!" I nearly spat out a bit of my salad. Callie went sort of wide-eyed and stared at nothing for a second. "That is not a sentence I ever expected to say." I thought Pepper might have been ticked off, but she started laughing along with the rest of us. She lifted her head, smiling and looking at me.
"I don't think I've gotten to introduce myself yet. I'm Pepper Evans," she told me.
"Kylie Wilson. Nice you meet you."
"Likewise." We all went on, eating and chatting with the people around us. Sophia and Pepper engaged each other in conversation while Amber, Avalon, and Peter had their own small meeting on the other side of the table. Piper and I sat quiet and still. I hadn't eaten much; I had mostly just pushed my food around on the plate, not having the ability to stomach anything right now. Piper cleared her throat.
"So... How are you liking the base?" Her sudden conversation starter caught me off guard, and my throat went dry. I grabbed my glass of water and took a drink.
"I, uh... it's- it's nice. Very, um... Very elegant," I responded.
"You alright?"
"Yeah, I'm... It's fine. I'm fine. She's fine. What?"
"You don't seem very fine," Piper laughed. "Look, there's nothing to be worried about. I know all of this is new to you, and you've been exposed to a lot today, but you'll get used to it." She put her hand on my shoulder in a trying-to-be-comforting kind of way. My heart fluttered.
"Callie, aren't you going to eat something?" Amber piped up. Everyone turned their head to look at Callie, whose plate was empty. She was thumbing through the files I saw her carrying in earlier. She seemed a bit panicked.
"These just came in today," she said in a wily tone.
"What are they?" Avalon questioned.
"I think they're-" she stopped dead in the middle of her sentence. Everyone was quiet. All conversation had stopped. The only sound in the room was the sound of Boe's nails clacking on the marble floor as he snooped around, searching for any piece of food someone may have dropped. "They're ransom notes."
"What?" Sophia said. "From...?"
"Yes, from him. He's saying he'll release all of the spies we sent."
"Well, what are we waiting for?! What's his price?" Peter asked hurriedly. Callie took a deep breath and spoke softly.
"Kylie."
