Our Newfound Paradise

Shelter

Alastor woke with a start. His head darted back and forth as he tried to take in his surroundings. A sharp pain ran down his back when he tried to move his back. He noticed that there were bandages all around his arms and legs. 

Bright sunlight poured in from a window on the right side of him. A cloud of dust particles danced in the beams of light. He started to get up but there was a stinging pain whenever he tried to move. 

"Oh, yer awake," a voice exclaimed from the doorway on the left. A pretty girl with shoulder-length hair was standing in the door way. She was at least two or three years older than him by the looks of it. She was carrying a wooden bowl in her hands. 

Alastor tried to get up again and the girl gave him a concerned look. "Whoa now, don't wear yourself out when I just fixed you up," the girl ordered. 

"Where-where am I?" Alastor groaned. It was still hard to speak. The girl shrugged. "I don't rightly know," she said. "Somewhere up North, I guess? I was never one for maps."

"Am I still at the Institute?" the boy muttered. The girl gave him a confused look. "I have no idea what yer talkin' about," She said neutrally. She set the bowl in front of him and Alastor looked at it with suspicion. It was filled with some sort of brown goopy substance that he really didn't trust. "What is this?" Alastor asked. "Breakfast," the girl replied. "Don't ya want some?"

Alastor stared at the bowl with a mixed sense of disgust. He really want to eat it but he was so hungry he could hardly argue. He crinkled his nose and used the spoon to scoop some of it into his mouth. Honestly, it tasted pretty good. A bit bland but there was a flavor in it that was vaguely like cinnamon. Definitely better than anything he had ever gotten at the Institute. 

The girl let out a light laugh. "First ya looked like ya wouldn't even try it, now you look like ya can't get enough," she said. Alastor felt his face flush. She was right, of course, he had already finished the whole bowl. 

He sighed, putting the bowl on top of a nearby wooden drawer. "Who are you? Why did you help me?" Alastor asked, desperate to get answers. 

"My name's Mercy, by the way," the girl said, smiling. "What's yours?" 

"56..." he started to reply before he caught himself. Wait, that's not my name, that's my assignment number. I don't need that anymore. "My name is Alastor," he said. Mercy looked confused for a second but she said nothing. 

"Hey, is he finally-Oh," a voice said in the doorway. A girl with short white hair was standing at the doorway. She was wearing an brown outfit with a long skirt and long sleeves. There was something about her that was oddly familiar. 

"Have we met before?" Alastor asked. "P-possibly," the white-haired girl stuttered.

"Why don't ya introduce yerself?" Mercy told her. "This here is Alastor." 

Alastor waved nonchalantly. "Hey," he muttered. "Hi, I'm Grace," the white haired girl said. "It's nice to meet you." There was a brief silence where she just hung by the doorway. 

"Uh, I'm gonna go downstairs for a bit," Grace practically whispered. "C-call me if you need anything!" With that she walked out of the room, leaving the Alastor and Mercy alone once again. 

"She seemed in a hurry to get away from me," Alastor muttered grumpily. "She's just shy," Mercy grumbled. "I'm sure she'll warm up to you in no time."

Alastor started at her. "You say that like I'm gonna be here a long time," he stated. Mercy put a hand behind her head. "I was just assumin' that ya wanted to stay a while, least until yer all patched up," She told him. 

"I heal fast," Alastor said. "This is nothing." 

Mercy put her hand on her face. "Alright, kid, if you say so," she muttered. "Is there some place ya really need to get to or what?"

Alastor froze, starting to think about it once again. Where was he going to go? It wasn't like he could live in the woods. He wasn't about to go back to the Institute, not after he'd tried so hard just to get out of it. 

Where was he going to go?

"A-Am I allowed to stay?" Alastor asked. "Yer welcome to stay as long as ya want," Mercy said. Good, I can stay here until I get a good plan of where to go next, then I'll make my move, Alastor thought. 

"So, if yer gonna be staying here, there's a couple things ya ought to know," Mercy started to say. Alastor listened attentively. 

"This room can be yers for now, the door locks so privacy won't be an issue," Mercy said. "If ya decide to go into the forest, just don't go too far off the path, that's where it gets pretty dangerous." 

She started counting on her fingers to see if she was getting all the rules down. "Basement's off limits, don't go out after sundown unless I'm with ya..." she started to drone off. "Oh, and don't go snoopin' around in my room or Grace's."

"Why would I do that?" Alastor asked, genuinely unsure of why he would do that. "I'm sure ya could come up with a couple reasons," Mercy told him. 

"W-what is that supposed to mean?" Alastor said, his face getting red. "I'm just teasting kid," Mercy replied. She slowly got up and started to head for the door. "Call me if ya need anything." 

Alastor folded his arms and stared at the wall. 

Maybe I will go into your room, just to make you mad, Alastor thought bitterly.