"Pretty girls like you get lost in these woods all the time, Alexa."
On the night of Sebastián's annual Beginning of Summer Bash, amiable and adventurous Melody Tryniski went missing. What might have appeared as a juvenile escapade - a casual incide...
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AS I FLUTTER MY eyes open, a piercing orange light obstructs my vision. On instinct, I cover my face with my hands and my world turns dark once again. Everything around me palpates, while my head booms and pounds to the rhythm of my pain. Regaining consciousness has never been so difficult. It's always the same: I wake up and realize that I'm not dead yet, so I go about my boring day.
Well, not today. Today it hurts to breathe, to think, to feel.
A soft grunt leaves my chapped lips as I bury my body deeper into the soft material that envelopes it. The soft material smells of lavender combined with a sweet kiwi fragrance, giving me a sense of home. A smile forms on my lips, but then falters when I recognize the smell.
I sit upright, my back straight against a hard surface, hair flying around me in a mess of curls. With narrowed eyes, I look around the enclosed place, but my vision is faded. I blink and rub my eyes, and although everything seems like a blur, I notice the wallpaper that adorns the walls ---a pattern of vertical lines that go from soft pink to white.
The orange light casts shadows on the walls and is bright in my faded vision, so I snap my head to the front and see where the light's coming from --- a French window. Soft, pink curtains dangle from its top. They wiggle and dance to the rhythm of the wind that comes from outside.
I shake my head and rub my eyes again in an attempt to decipher where I'm in. My gaze shifts to my lap, where a dark pink comforter is covering it. The material is soft against the tips of my fingers. Below my head, a comfortable pillow lies. A sigh escapes my lips, weak and inaudible, and I notice that I'm wearing the same clothes from yesterday. My eyes try to focus on the blurry image below me, the black crop-top and shorts, but they seem alien to me somehow. What is going on?
"Alexa?"
I wince, my heart hammering against my chest. The voice sounds so far away, combining with the blurs that form my vision. A figure sits to my right, dark and looming and unknown. I blink until my eyes adjust to my father's face.
"Yeah?" I mutter, my voice raspy.
"How do you feel?" my father mumbles, scooting closer to me.
I blink some more and ponder over the question. How do I feel?
Birds pass by the French window, their melodic chirping reminding me of Melody's funeral. A groan escapes my lips, long and aggressive. Not because I don't like to think about Melody. I do. It's just hard for me to think of a Melody I already don't know, so soon after her death.
"What happened?" I say, squinting my eyes as I look around my room.
"Don't you remember, honey?" he says, grabbing my hand. I look at him, my eyebrows furrowed and chapped lips slightly parted. "You fainted while being interrogated."
