Messages From a Friend (Poofless)

42

~*M'ayris*~

As I sit in a foreign bed, I stare blankly at the wall before me. There was a poster of some important looking man with a caption of some kind written beneath it in a language I cannot read —Minecraftian most likely, but I'm not in the mood to look that closely. I fall backward onto the bed and hit the back of my head against the wooden headboard, worsening my already annoying headache from my previous encounter with the back end of a gun. It's doubtful this pain is anything near the pain my brother experienced while he witnessed the more lethal side of the gun —or the pain my parents experienced while being cooked alive within the fire Wojcik "accidentally" lit. Tears should've built up and blurred my vision at the thought —they didn't. I let out a small laugh. Maybe I've run out of tears to cry after I've lost everyone I care about. Mom, Dad, Mi'kai, Meifertag, Benja. My heart aches more than the pounding headache ravaging through my skull. With a small grunt, I move and lay my head down on the surprisingly soft pillow before rolling onto my right side and hugging my knees to my chest —it felt like the right thing to do.

"Why can't I just have a normal life?" I whisper to myself. "Why did I have to be born so small? Why did my parents have to be of two different nationalities? Why couldn't I have just listened to Mom and stayed on the island?" I punch the bed in a fit of self rage. "Why do I feel I have to prove myself?" Tears were finally starting to form again. You've already proved yourself enough as it is. I think to myself, blinking the tears away. Images of loved ones I've proved myself worthy to flash through my mind in a seemingly endless loop. My parents, Mi'kai, Benja, and Frags. Woofless and Vikke made very brief appearances within the cycle; their presence in my mind reopening the wounds of their betrayal.

I want to be angry at them. I want to blame them for the death of my brother and Frags' and I's exhale. I want to hate them —but I can't.

A soft knock at the door to the room I'm in causes me to flinch. "M'ayris?" Frags' muffled voice sounded cautious through the wooden door, as if he was worried to find me dead on the floor. I would be worried about that too if I were him.

"Yes, Frags?" I ask, my voice surprisingly steady for everything going through my mind.

"Simon made food for us. I'll leave it by the door if you want to eat." I hear the sound of something being set down on the ground and his footsteps beginning to leave.

"Wait," I call after him, sitting up in the bed and staring at the door. His footsteps pause before coming closer.

"Is something wrong?" He questions, his voice growing concerned.

"No." I pause for a moment. "Can you come and sit with me?" A sudden wave of embarrassment washes over me after asking that stupid question. Why would he agree to sit with me when he could be busy talking about what we should be doing in the rocket? I hit myself in the head and momentarily make my headache worse.

Frags doesn't respond to my question. Instead, I see the door open slowly before the orange-eyed teen sneaks into the room with a bowl in his hand. His worried eyes search the room until he spots me, and he closes the door behind him before carefully sitting on the edge of the bed and holding the bowl out toward me. I look at the bowl hesitantly before looking back at him. There's no way of knowing what's actually in the food. After being through all the events of these last few days, I wouldn't be surprised if some of Anaihee's poison found its way inside of that bowl.

Frags, seeming to read my thoughts, flashes me a reassuring smile. "It's chicken soup," he says softly. "There's no poison. I tested it myself before bringing it up here." My eyes widen with surprise, and tears fill my eyes for the third time tonight. He's done so much to protect me, and all I've done is push him and the rest of the world away in my fit of anguish. I don't deserve friends like him. With that thought in mind, I squeeze my eyes shut and shake my head to keep from crying. "Is everything alright?" Frags asks quickly, concern growing in his voice. I look back to see he had moved closer to me and had his free hand reaching in my direction.