Cure

32

Going unconscious seemed to be becoming a part-time job of mine. Unfortunately, I wasn't getting paid for any of my shifts.

This time, when I came to, I knew I wasn't dead because I was too busy freezing my limbs off.

"Are you sure being up here is the best option?" A girl muttered. Her voice sounded distant almost as if it was being swallowed up by wind.

"Well, we don't exactly have oxygen tanks, do we?" A boy responded. "Up here is the only part of the city with some fresh air."

"I still think we should've taken them to the hospital."

"You know we can't do that. They're supposedly dead to Ashley. And if anyone sees them, they'll turn them in. We can't allow that." 

My teeth began to chatter, making me slowly open my eyes.

It was dark.

But not pitch black.

Instead, I found myself staring up at a sky filled with stars. It was breathtaking. It had been weeks since I'd last looked up and admired the world above.

"Cher!" 

My eyes snapped to the source, only to find Stacy grinning down at me.

I pushed myself up to a seated position, quicker than I should've. My head spun as my blood rushed away from it.

"Where's Dallas?" I croaked out, my throat was sore. It felt like I'd been screaming for hours.

"He's still out," Stacy nodded to the other end of, what I assumed was, the top of a building.

I craned my neck to find two of my friends all knocked out across the roof. Ellie and Dallas. Ace was sat beside Ellie's unconscious body, toying with strands of her hair. He offered me a small nod and smile before looking back down at her.

"We were poisoned, weren't we?" I stated.

"That you were," A voice responded, making me yelp in surprise as I clutched my chest.

"Oh, relax, I don't look that horrible," Blake scoffed from my other side.

"What are you guys doing here?" I questioned, looking at our two new companions.

Stacy pushed aside my hair from my face. "We were sent with Griffin and Kyle to watch the club and find you. Ashley doesn't know that we know you, at least I don't think she does. We just so happened to be selected to come here."

The wind whipped my hair back into my face. "I'm so glad you two were here, if you weren't," I swallowed, trying to tame my hair. "If you weren't, we'd have died."

"I don't think that much of the gas entered your systems, thankfully, otherwise you'd still be out. It's only been a half-hour since you passed out," Blake explained.

"Where's Caleb?" I asked realizing he was missing.

"He's back at the manor still," Blake responded. "He's safe, don't worry."

I nodded in relief.

"Cher, we've got a whole group of supporters now. They want nothing more than for Ashley to be behind bars," Stacy exclaimed excitedly.

"That's great, it really is. But what are we supposed to do now?" I sighed, wrapping my arms around myself to conserve what remained of my body heat. "Every time we think that we've gotten a couple of steps ahead of her, it turns out that Ashley is a whole flight of stairs above."

Before Stacy or Blake could respond, Ellie began coughing.

I tried to rush up to get to her, but Stacy pushed me down, assuring me that Ace, Blake, and she would handle it.