Alive

Again and Again

"I know we put this behind us, but we have figure out why he is still building the robot!" I say, speaking to both Ross and Nakya on my communicator.

"I mean, did he even question you as to why Carlos captured us in the first place?" Nakya asks after a short silence, seemingly suspicious.

"No." I respond, agreeing with her suspicion. "In fact, he hasn't seemed worried about me since the whole thing went down; the only time he really seemed to care was when the police were watching." I realize, only just as I'm saying it, that these words are true.

Which makes every wrong piece of the puzzle come together in what seems to be a right picture, but is actually... well, wrong.

"Okay then. We'll come over tomorrow." Ross says, finally agreeing. He was more skeptical before, but now I think he believes us.

"No," I say. "Now."

I expect protests and disagreeing parents, but they both just say "Okay".

"Goshi! My friends are coming over in a little bit!" I yell to him through my door and I just get an "Okay" in response.

I notice that everyone is always saying "Okay", but I don't know why; I'm far from being okay, and it annoys me that people think the word "okay" is a good response.

"Okay" is a word meaning good or pretty good; it shouldn't be a response to a question. It has a totally different meaning, and everyone always seems to overlook the true definition of the word, because no one ever asks if the three of us are okay.

No one ever wants to help us by consolation; they never want to make sure we're okay, and that's not okay.

I silently vow to never use "Okay" as a response to anything, unless it has something to do with how I'm feeling. I will not use it like that, not when others are certainly not okay.

My brain-rant is interrupted when I realize that the doorbell has been rung multiple times. I don't want Goshi to answer it, so, ignoring the fact that he probably already has, I sprint down the stairs to get to the door first.

I'm surprised to see that I actually am first.

And even more surprised to see who's at the door.

I run back to my room, closing the door behind me, hoping he didn't see me. Why would Goshi still be working with him!? What is Goshi planning?

I am going to be raised by an evil man?

Because Goshi is apparently still in contact with Carlos.

I can hear when Goshi finally opens the door, and they start talking. The exact same voices as the first day when everything started to spiral downward. The same intellectual dialect and the same accented drawl. It scares me more than I thought I could ever be.

I quickly pick up my communicator to tell Ross and Nakya to stay where they are.

DO NOT COME TO MY HOUSE!!! I would scream at them, but I can't. I pray that, since neither would take the call, the text is enough.

I pray that they will stay away.

So I stop worrying about them for a moment, imagining them each taking out their own communicator and seeing the text and not being curious and just heading home. 

Instead of worrying about them, I start to dial the same number that, not two months ago, I dialed in a panicked frenzy.

9-

I hear them coming towards my room, and I know I have to hurry. But they're hurrying, too.

1-

I know I should type faster, but I can't. It shouldn't be this hard for me to type but I can't think. They're so close; right outside the door, opening it as I try to type the last number.

I nearly get my last finger to fall onto the key, to press the last one, but suddenly, I'm jerked backward. Strong arms are pulling me by my waist away from safety. I kick and scream and bite, but Goshi and Carlos just laugh at my struggle.

I know I'm panicking too much; I could be thinking logically and using my Kempo abilities to at least attempt to get the upper hand. But suddenly, there is no time to think. There is no time to process.

My head throbs with the pain of a hard, blunt object hitting it with much force. My vision goes blurry, and my head swims. I can't think. I can't think of anything other than how nice it would be to go to sleep right now.

I try to fight it; I try to keep doing my best to get rid of Goshi and Carlos.

For a moment, I think I can feel my head clearing. I can think again, just for a second, but then the object strikes me again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

When it pulls away for the last time, I see blood, my blood, on an indistinguishable object. My body goes limp. I fight the pain and dizziness and try to make sense of everything, but my body won't move.

Whoever was dragging me lets go and I drop to the floor hitting t head-first and seeing dark, sticky, red liquid pooling around me. My body still won't respond to my last racing thoughts, and I just lay there, not able to defend myself as the two men kick me until I'm coughing blood. 

I can't stop anything.

Not the pain.

Not the blood.

Not the tiredness.

I try to fight it; I try not to close my eyes and let the torture of the world sink away. I try to survive.

But in the end, as it usually does, sleep wins.