A Field Of Flowers

Zak

When I came to my senses I felt groggy, black spots dancing in my cloudy vision. Blinking them away, and looked around. There was a deafening poung in my skull going the beat of a drum and I couldn't look at anything without my vision warping in and out. A concussion was my probable diagnose. I didn't dare touch my head, afraid that I was going to find blood.

It took me a long time to stand up but when I did I saw Alice, shivering in a ball and crying into the scraped skin of her knees. "Alice!" I exclaimed, almost pathetically weak, as I trained placing one foot in front of the other until I was right in front of her. She jumped up, embracing me tightly. It was more like her temporarily holding me up but she didn't seem to mind.

"Z-Zak I was so scared..I didn't know if you were ever going to wake up." She sobbed in my arms, wetting my dirty clothes.

"Well, I'm awake.." I said, wincing but a small smile making its way onto my face.

"Obviously." Alice sniffled, giggling softly with a playful roll of her eyes. "Oh, Zak, I'm worried about the others and your head.. Your head!" She gasped, letting me go.
"Are you okay to be moving around? You should sit." I shook my head, slowly because it was still immensely dizzying. "No, no.. let's go find the others. I'm fine, no need to worry." When I took a good look at my surroundings I saw that the tree I had been resting against was the same one in our spot. The book Alice had been reading earlier was in the same spot, untouched. Taking a few steps ahead of me, I could see the playing cards that we had been playing only what felt like a short while ago.

""Zak come play some cards with us. Please," Sophie begged, her bunny ears twitching in some sort of silent plea that I would play go fish.

"Fine, I'll play but if Kayla wins again-" Kayla grinned at me, Fox tail swishing back and forth mischievously.

"Yay! Thank you Zak!" I got up from my spot in the hot summers sun and made my way over to the small group that consisted of Kayla, Jesse, Libby, Sophie and now myself to play.

"No problem," I mumbled, cheeks turning a dusty pink color that went unnoticed by some.

Kyla snickered, nudging Jesse in the side who sent me a look. God, was I that obvious?

"What do you mean?" Sophie asked, passing the cards out.

"Nothing." I replied, sending her a smile smile. "Nothing at all."

I hadn't realized I was crying until Alice pointed it out to me and at that point, I didn't even try to hide it.  I don't usually cry. What the hell is wrong with me, what happened?

"Zak?" Alice asked, voice wavering. I rubbed my face with my jacket, coughing awkwardly. Not bothering to say anything, I crouched down, picking up the cards and placing them back in their box. Alice stood behind me, watching me.

"Come on, let's get out of here." Pocketing the cards, I stood up and turned to her. She was staring downcast at the ground, eyes a void of emotion. I started walking away from the spot. 'Our spot' I thought, my heart heavy. What I hadn't realized was that I was slowing down. My head began to pound and I felt tired, sluggish. It was a struggle to keep walking. That's when I fell.

Alice repeatedly called my name but I couldn't answer her. My ears rung painfully and I wanted to claw at my face. My breaths were labored and my vision was beginning to darken. Once again, she screamed my name but it was background noise to the static in my head.

When I woke up, I was in a small metal box. A crate, it seemed. My mind screamed at me to move but I couldn't even if I wanted to. I panted, whimpering softly. I was alone here. Nobody could help me.

The next thing I knew, the crate was filled with light and I hissed, closing my eyes tightly. "Hey, get up. We don't have all day, Zak." I was pulled out of the dreaded metal box, not fighting back. Not moving. I was like a poseable doll. When my eyes opened, I wasn't alone anymore. A familiar girl with long white hair and ears like a bunny was lying on her side, she wasn't moving. I recognized that red and blue kimono anywhere. It was Sophie!

"Sophie!" I cried out before I could stop it, scrambling up to be by her side. When I reached out to touch her arm, she was cold. Almost as if she was ice. I felt my throat tighten and I choked, tears freely falling from my eyes.

Sophie was dead.

Sophie.. Im so sorry. I'm sorry I didn't tell you how much I loved you and I'm sorry I did do appreciate the time I spent with you. I shook with tears, the droplets of hysteria falling on her own cheek and wetting her clothes, sobbing so hard I felt as if I would puke. I don't know how long I stayed like that but it wasn't long enough. "I love you Sophie and I'll never stop," I whispered, curling up in a ball besides her.

What was this?
This was hell. Absolute hell.