Fire In Our Bones (NovaHD)

Chapter 13

At first, Aleks wasn't sure he was awake. The things he felt and heard didn't seem real. For one thing, he felt warm and he was laying on something soft. Most noticeably, there wasn't a giant spring digging into his back. But what confused him the most was that he thought he could hear people. People talking, laughing, walking around. He still kept his eyes closed, afraid. Was he having a dream? Had everything before been a dream?

No. He could feel his head and ankle throbbing.

"Hey, I know you're awake," someone said.

Aleks eyes flew open.

"Ha, I knew it."

It was a girl standing beside him. She looked about sixteen and Aleks noticed that she had a slight accent, but he couldn't place it. She somehow looked familiar too. Aleks looked around and seeing the canvass walls, decided he was in a tent.

"What...where am I?" he croaked.

"You'll see," she said, waving his question away. "What I want to know is, who are you?"

"I'm Aleks," he mumbled, struggling to sit up.

"I don't think you should be getting up yet," she put a hand on his shoulder, coaxing him down. Aleks winced and huffed in agreement.

She stood there for a few seconds, looking at him and chewing her lip. Aleks was about to say something rude when she startled suddenly.

"Oh! Kyle wanted me to tell him when you woke up. I'll be back!" She ducked out of the tent quickly, then no more than two seconds later she poked her head back in. "I'm Charlotte by the way. Nice to meet you, Aleks."

And Aleks was alone.

He looked around the tent, curious. It was huge, but it was roomy. The cot he was laying on had blankets and compared to what he was used to sleeping on, it felt like heaven, but there wasn't much else in the tent that he could see. Carefully, he rolled on to one side to try to sit up again. As he propped himself on the side of the bed, he almost kicked over a plastic cup of water sitting on the floor. Grateful, he picked it up and took a sip.

As Aleks drank, he wondered if he should try to leave before this Kyle person came. He still had no idea where he was or how he got here and he wasn't sure if he should be alarmed or not. The last thing he remembered was falling and hitting his head. God, his head.

He put a hand up to his temple and felt rough cloth. Great, another bandage. James would kill him. If he was there.

Aleks sighed and put his head in his hands. James hated him now; there was no doubt about that.

"What have I done," he groaned through his fingers.

"I don't know, but you've messed yourself up pretty good," a man's voice said, startling Aleks. He looked up, embarrassed.

A tall blond man was standing in front of him, looking at him sympathetically. "And why so eager to get up? Charlotte said you were still resting."

"I just..." Aleks paused. He didn't know how to explain himself to this person. Kyle, he assumed. "First of all, where the fuck am I?"

Kyle's blue eyes twinkled at him, amused.

"Charlotte told me your name is Aleks, right?"

Aleks nodded tightly.

"Aleks," Kyle rolled the name around on his tongue. "Hm. I like it. I'm Kyle," he stepped forward and began to pace a little. As much as he could in a tent. "You're at our camp. About five miles north of where we found you in the woods."