Riddle Middle Two

Chapter 26: The Shelter

Phil (1st person)

54321 woke me up. It startled me, since he didn't have his suit. I could also recognize his voice. I was in the office bedroom I'd been in before. I remembered that the demon girl stabbed me in the chest with her tail. I didn't feel anything now. "How's your chest?" 54321 asked. "I feel fine," I said. He sighed. "Good," he said. "Where are my friends?" I asked. "I managed to get most of them out," he said. "Can I see them?" I asked. "Sure," he said, pulling me up. We went to a room with the door cracked open. He opened the door. Inside was a room with a bed, a table, and some weird posters on the wall. I looked to the bed and saw a lump under the covers.

"Who's that?" I asked. "Uh... I don't know her name. The yellow one," he said. "Smiley... Is she alive?" I asked. "Yeah, she's alive. Why wouldn't she be?" I asked. "Phred said she was dead," I said. I heard snoring from under the blankets. Loud snoring. I went to the bed and gently pulled the covers down off of what I assumed was Smiley. Sure enough, Smiley was curled up under the covers. She made a weird noise and stretched. "Smiley!" I said. She yawned. "Oh, hello, Phil..." she said, sounding a bit confused. "...Where am I?" She asked. "In 54321's house," I said. "Oh, that's nice..." she said. She yawned again. "...Where am I?..." she asked again.

"You're in 54321's house..." I said. "Okay," she said. She yawned again. She looked around. "Erm... Where are we?" Smiley asked. I turned to 54321. "Oh, uh... Something I did might've affected her brain... she'll be fine, I'm sure," he said. "Okay..." I said. I looked back to Smiley, who squinted at me. "You look familiar. Did we go to school together? Where am I?" she asked. I sighed. "Um... We can go see someone else, if you'd like," he said. "...Yeah..." I said. I didn't want to leave Smiley lost and confused, but there wasn't much I could do. I guess it didn't matter much, since it looked like she was about to fall back asleep at any second.

We left the room and went to another room. He opened the door. Phred was on the floor, eating what looked like a steak. 5 was asleep in a bed, with an IV in his arm. Phred said something, but I had no idea what, since his mouth was full of steak. "Phred, I can't understand you," I said. He swallowed. "Smiley isn't dead," he said.

"I know. Why did you lie to me?" I asked. "I knew the demon thing was still in the room, and she thought Smiley was dead, and I didn't want her to do anything else to make sure she was," he said. "Oh, I see. What are you eating?" I asked. "I don't know. It looks like steak. It tastes good, though," he said. "Is 5 okay?" I asked. He shrugged. I looked around and realized that 54321 had left. "Okay, I'll leave now," I said. "Okay, see you," he said, continuing to eat his 'steak'. I went upstairs and to another door. I knocked on the door. I didn't hear a response, so I went in.

Zack. Zack had a black, smooth cast from his hand to his forearm. "Hey Zack," I said. "Hey," he said. "Did you break your arm?" I asked. "Yeah. That demon thing threw me across the room when I was in a cell, and I broke my arm," he said. "Oh. At least it's just a dream," I said. "Yeah," he said. There wasn't much more to do, so I said bye and left.

I decided to go see Smiley again. I went downstairs and to her room. I tried to open it, but the door was locked. I knocked. A-A-A opened it. "Oh, it's you," she said. "My name's Phil. Where's Smiley?" I asked. "She's asleep. In my bed," she said, sounding annoyed. I guess I'd be annoyed too, if she came to our world and slept in my bed, though it was hard to imagine. I heard more comedically timed snoring from the bed. "Can you get out of the way?" she asked. "Oh, uh, sure..." I said. I moved, and she pushed me further anyway. I went back into the room and to the bed. I gently shook Smiley awake. "Oh, hey, Phil," she said. "Hello. How are you feeling?" I asked. "I'm a little hungry, but I'm okay," she said. "Do you remember what happened?" I asked. "Kind of. I remember being brought here," she said. "Okay," I said. She wasn't repeatedly asking 'Where am I?', and she knew who I was, so that was a good sign.

"I don't think there's anything to eat here that won't poison us," I said. "Yeah, except for that stuff we're fed in the cells," she said. "...Yeah..." I said. "Phred was eating a steak or something," she said. "Yeah, but 12300 said Phred got a fever after he ate it," I said. "Oh," she said. "Shouldn't we be awake by now?" Smiley asked. "I guess," I said. Smiley looked like she wanted to ask me something. "Are you okay, Smiley?" I asked. "Yeah... Did 5 do something to you?" She asked. "I... Yes... But it wasn't all him, Joy was a part of it too," I said. "What did he do?" Smiley asked. "He beat me up in the locker alley," I said. "Oh... But you're okay now, right?" She asked. "Yep, I'm fine," I said.