Chapter two: The voices

Where are you? We are coming to find you! Stay where you are. We are coming to find you. I couldn’t see anything, but I heard them. They were as clear as day, haunting me in my sleep. We are coming to find you. Stay where you are. We’ll come and find you. It scared me because they said “We”. That means there is more than one of whatever it is. I awake screaming in agony. Racing, my heart beat pounded out of my chest. Paranoid I frantically observed my surroundings and I noticed I was in a different room than before. The room before was lined with hospital beds and now it’s just my bed isolated in a small room. But I failed to notice that the girl who held the knife to my throat was sitting right in front of me.

Her demeanor appeared calm as she looked at me with a gentle warm smile. Her short dirty blonde hair lay softly framing her face around the edges. She was quite skinny and standing up, she could easily be 5’7’’ but her thin figure gave the impression she was even taller. She looked quite young, like she was about 15 or 16 years old. But none of her innocent features kept me from jumping out of my bed to put my hands around her throat. From across the room I yelled, “You! You’re the one that tried to kill me.” I was about a foot away from her before a rope yanked me away. The rope went several times around my waist and the trail followed behind me and it became knotted around a metal hook tightly nailed into the wall. As I struggled the ropes she began to explain, “I’m so sorry! It was an accident. You startled me and my reflexes kicked in.” Once again, she thinks she can attempt to murder a person and expect them to forgive her. “Apology unaccepted. Now, untie me.”

“Sorry! I can’t do that.”

“Fine, give me your knife. I’ll untie myself” It’s obvious that around here I have to do everything myself.

“No, I mean that you’re infected.”

I had to put my fight against the ropes on pause to catch what she said. What did she call me, was it infected? What does that mean? Confused I asked, “Infected?”

This time she seemed very hesitant; pausing here and there. “It means that-you got scratched by one of them-and now you’re considered highly dangerous.”

 Everything she said was hard to swallow. How can I possibly be dangerous? I understand my reaction to her attacking me contradicts that, but I never intended it to end that way. “I’m not infected and I’m not dangerous.”

Frustrated as I was she quietly said, “I know”

“You do?”

Nodding, she said. “I can see it in your eyes. Usually when you’re infected you’re eyes seem hazed and disconnected. Like all life is dead and gone. Your eyes are the same shade of sea green as before.”  

“But what does that mean? I’m so confused.” Sitting down, I shoved the palms of my hands into my face in frustration. All this new information became heavy as I tried to take it all in. What is she trying to say? Am I dead? Am I alive? Am I somewhere in between?

Walking over to me, she sat beside me and said. “It means that you’re special. When most people become infected they give up because they simply have nothing holding them back, but you fought harder than anyone else ever could and now you’re here.” She spoke softly like a whisper, ever so gently she hugged me and I was tempted to hug back but I restrained myself. She seems like a nice kid and I don’t want to hurt her or anyone else for that matter. People think I’m dangerous and a killer and I believe them. But, one thing stood out me when she was speaking.

“Speaking of “here”, where am I?”

 “Don’t worry.” She said “You’re safe.” I didn’t further question the matter because right now that’s all that I need to know. I was deep in thought when my stomach lets out the most ferrous growl, I don’t remember the last time I had eaten.

“Wow! I never thought that you might be hungry. I’ll go get you something to eat.” She quickly rushed out of the room but I caught her as she was sprinting out the door.

“Wait!”

“Yah?”

“I don’t believe I ever got your name.”

“My name is Ace.”

“It’s nice to meet you Ace.”

Nodding, she quietly left the room with a hurt look on her face. I wonder what’s wrong.

She came back 5 minutes later with a metal tray of root beers, sprites, and chicken pot pie.

“I’m back!”

For some reason I felt like this food gave me comfort. And by the enticing aroma of warm chicken and baked bread it made my hunger grown even more. “And with my favorites, how did you know?”

“Lucky guess.” Ace told me and the hurt in her face came back again. She simply stared at the floor trying to hide the sadness in her eyes. I know I shouldn’t be pushing her after she has shown me kindness, but my curiosity swelled too much and I had to ask.

“You sure about that? Because it seems like you know everything there is to know about me.”

She was still reluctant to tell me, but I wanted to know how she knew so much about me after meeting just a couple minutes ago. Instead of forcing it out of her, I decided to take the more comforting approach. “It’s okay, you can tell me.”

“Well, to be completely honest it’s because I do. I know your favorite food is chicken pot pie, your favorite book is The Secret Garden, and your favorite color is blue. You’ve told me everything.” She began to let lose a tear at the depressing thought of me and her no longer being best friends. I want to provide her with answers and comfort, but I don’t even know what to do. I’m just as lost as she is. Hoping to get her mind off of things, I asked.       

“How long have we known each other?”

“We’ve known each other for 8 years.”

“Wow! That’s a long time.”

“Ya.”

“Does anyone else at camp know me?” I asked.

“Oh yah, everyone knows you here. But no one knows you as well as Echo and I do.”

I was worried about this, with hesitation in my voice I said, “Is she the one who threw me off you?”

“Yah, about that, I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine, but I’m sorry I don’t remember.”

Shaking it off, she said, “It’s okay. Your memory loss has actually cleared a lot of questions I’ve had for a while.”

“Like what?” I questioned

“Like, Are the infected guilty of what they’ve done? Or do they even know what’s going on?”

A surge of pain rushed into my head and I clutched it in agony. The pain pounding like they were too many heads jammed into one skull. It was about to break under all the pressure.

This display obviously freaked Ace out. “Tess! Tess! Are you okay? What’s going on?”

It was the voices again that haunted me in my sleep, it was multiple voices screaming, “We regret nothing. You will pay for what you have done. We regret nothing.”

Snapping back into reality, I realized I was sweating and out of breath. Gasping for air, I tried to control the fear.

“Tess! What just happened?” Ace asked with concern and terror mixed written on her face.

“It’s nothing. Trust me, I’m fine. I just got a massive headache all the sudden.” I can’t tell anyone what’s going on. They wouldn’t understand and I’m not sure what the voices want. I can’t cause the horror of what just happened to Ace to happen to anyone else. It would make me even more lethal than I already am.

She quietly accepted the answer, obviously not wanting to further question the matter, she informed me, “Well, um I’ll let you finish your meal. If you need a change of clothes just ask for me. It’s about time for my shift change.”

“Shift change?” I asked.

“Yes, well let’s just say most people here don’t believe you’re so safe to be around. But don’t worry I’ll be back in a couple hours for my next shift.”

She was half way through the door before I caught her attention. “Wait---Ace?”

“Yah?”

“Thank you so much, for all you’ve done.”

“No problem.”

Reviews

[C. Lee Battaglia]

Great job! It has me waiting for the next chapter! I loved it...
Awesome job!

[beautiful dreamer]

whoa this is intriguing. id love to read more. i dont do read requests right now but if you think of it shoot me a email when you put up a new chapter. i like this story alot!

[C. Lee Battaglia]

Would you read my story called the Blonde Girl... I think you would like it a lot...

[C. Lee Battaglia]

Its about my best friend