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Chapter 10: Alyx

I woke up and stood up. "Well, good morning."

Josh yawned and got up as well. "...Hi."

Xander seethed, sitting upright. "I forgot you were here, Al," he sneered.

"Geez, take it easy. This is a serious situation. No time to be arguing like grade-schoolers. Which we were only a few months ago, but that doesn't matter right now," I said calmly.

"Please don't fight," Jonathan pleaded as he walked out the door. "You guys are all test subjects. At least try to get along?"

"Leave me alone," Xander snapped angrily.

As Jonathan closed the door, I thought about my relationship with Xander.

Damn, Xander really hates me, even in this desperate situation. We could actually die soon and he still won't let it go...

I struggled to keep my composure as I turned to him, his face sternly scowling at me. "Geez bro, what's got you so mad?" I asked softly.

"Just shut your mouth!" He growled back.

"Come on man... calm down a little bit?"

"We're literally about to die here! Just turn around and SHUT UP!"

I backed up. "Alright, Alright," I sunk into the rolling chair in front of Jonathan's desk, feeling helpless. Xander was always on my case and this time it felt even worse. We were stuck in a dangerous situation and I thought that would make things better between us but...I guess not.

"Hey, It's alright." Josh's voice spoke softly beside me.

I glanced up and the sympathetic expression on his face caught my attention. "What?"

"You'll get along with him soon enough," He said with a small smile. "He cares. He has to care," he muttered.

My disappointment must have been clear on my face because Josh laughed and continued. "So, I think he'll open up soon enough!"

I gulped and tried to compose myself again before smiling at Josh in gratitude. "Thanks, I guess... Though I know that Xander would yell at me. He hates me."

Josh shook his head firmly. "What do you mean? Of course, he doesn't! You just need-"

But before he could complete his sentence, I had already cut him off with a smile and replied "Yep, thanks again."

He laughed nervously and waved his hand dismissively. "No worries."

We stayed in silence for a while, until I decided to ask him. "Hey, how did you get here?"

"Well..." then he told me the whole story.

In short words, Josh was an orphan, who was previously named Jaden. He was put into the lab at the young age of four, and has been trapped ever since. He met a bunch of new friends, but they all died, as experiments.

Josh told us about all his adventures. He first met a girl named Miya, but then she died. Josh then went to inform us about what happened to her. She most definitely did die, but then she was... Chopped up and put into many jars. It sounded terrifying. He lived with the person who cut Miya up for a while, actually. That was where... Rafael went? To be stuffed into containers, left to decay? I felt horrible.

I learned that Josh went through a lot to get where he was today. He had to watch his friends die, be dismembered, put into jars filled with acid, and more. He was also hit, slapped, whipped, and even worse.

Once he finished, we stayed in silence. To be honest, it almost made me cry. He had gone through so much. Even Xander, who listened for a hot minute, felt down. "Damn, Didn't know that you had it THAT bad. Here's my story."

He nodded. "I'd love to hear it," he said considerately.

I told him everything. Clara, Sylvia, The sleepover, The puke. All of it. How much it hurt. How surprised I was when I found Xander. How shitty I felt when Xander still acted like he hated me. He probably still hated me. But a majority of what I said was about Clara and Sylvia. Sure, they didn't stand out, but they were my best friends.

"You must miss your friends so much," Josh looked at me.

"Well, You don't have to pity me-" I stopped. Clara and Sylvia probably didn't realize how I missed them so much. They could be dying.

A tear spilled out from my eye, and before I knew it, I was crying a waterfall. I sobbed without fail, and Xander looked at me.

"..." he reached out, but then looked away once more. He didn't want to comfort me. I could tell.

Josh looked at me. "I get why you're crying. I've lost many of my friends. I could even count them as family. It devastated me. I still can't get over it. I've never been happy here. I've been longing for an escape all this time," he sighed. "But alas, I can't. Never got the chance."

I looked at him and nodded, sniffling. "I-I would honestly do almost anything to see Sylvia and Clara again. Even trick and betray Jonathan."

"What did Jonathan do? What do you mean, trick him?" Josh inquired a hint of curiosity in his voice.

"No, nothing like that... He's going through depression and suicidal thoughts, and I want to help him. That's all."

"Hm, I see. I thought you had made a deal with him."

"Eh, I wouldn't have the smarts for that," I laughed.

" "Ah, I see... But it sounds like you'd do anything to get out of this place. Wouldn't you?" Josh asked with a strange glint in his eye.

The conversation had taken an unexpected turn, and I felt my heart thudding in my chest. Was he hinting at something? "Yeah, I probably would."

"I would honestly betray you, and trick you into helping me," Josh laughed. "But I doubt anyone would help me with that."

"Aw," I chuckled, "I would do that too! But seriously, you're the only person I can talk to. Don't actually leave."

"Of course," he chuckled. "Yeah... Yeah."

We smiled at each other for a bit, and I hugged him. "Thanks."

He squirmed uncomfortably, then hugged me back slowly. "No... Worries."

Then we just talked to each other until night. We conversed about our dreams, who we wanted to be, what we wanted to do, etc. Josh wanted to become either a lawyer, or a teacher. I wanted to be an artist, or an author.

At night, Jonathan came back. "I'm back..."

"Oh, hi."

"How was work?" I asked.

"...Just worked on the experiment. Nothing much."

I raised my eyebrow at him. "Are you sure? You seem pretty sad."

He gritted his teeth. "Yeah, I'm sure. I just ran into an old friend. Nothing much,"

he waved the topic off like it wasn't important. It probably was.

"Who was it?"

"...No one."

Josh paused, then rubbed his shoulder. "No one, huh? It was him, wasn't it?"

I guessed that it was someone they both disliked. I was thinking it was Josh's former caretaker, or the one that Jonathan used to love. Maybe they were the same. I didn't press them further though. If they wanted to keep it secret, I guess that's what they wanted.

I fell asleep that night, next to Josh, feeling happy. I hadn't felt much joy in a while. I was guessing that he was happy as well.