Reanimated

Chapter 4: Odd

The sun was beginning to set, and everyone was at the dining table talking and playing cards. I hadn’t gotten the chance to ask Dain anything—in fact, I’d completely forgotten about that. I was just enjoying spending time with everyone.

Just then, the front door flew open, and Alon stumbled in—almost tripping over a rock that was just outside the door. He was holding a small plastic bag. Dain got up, took the bag, and helped him inside.
Dain placed the bag on the table and looked inside, taking out TV-Dinners and other items one at a time. Once the bag was empty, He frowned and turned to Alon, “There’s only five dinners in here—There’s six of us.”
Alon gave a weak smile, “I’m not hungry.” He shrugged, “Besides, Tori said that we didn’t have much money left. So, why should I get one if I’m not going to eat it? It’s a waste-”
“It’s not a waste!” Dain protested, “You need to eat.”
“I’m not hungry.” Alon persisted, grabbing the meals. “I’ll make these, you guys just relax.”
As Alon went to cook the meals, Dain sat down and muttered something along the lines of “What am I going to do with this kid?”

Tori patted his back, “Don’t worry, Darling. He just wants to help.” She whispered.
“I get that,” He sighed, “But he hasn’t eaten in almost three days.”
Liz, Ace, and I looked at each other. By their faces, they seemed just as concerned and confused as I was.
After a while, Alon came over and placed the meals on the table. He then went over next to a worn down window, sat down and leaned against the wall—probably taking a nap. All without saying a word.

We all reluctantly began eating, except for Dain and Tori. Tori seemed like she was zoning out, while Dain kept glancing at Alon.
Finally, Dain got up, took his meal, and went over to Alon, crouching beside him. “Hey, buddy,” Dain spoke in a soft tone, getting Alon’s attention.
“Yeah?”
“I feel a little sick and I don’t think I’m going to be able to eat this,” Dain smiled and showed Alon the untouched meal. “Could you do me a favor and take it?”
“But it’s yours! I told you I’m not hungry.” Alon pushed the dinner back towards Dain.
Dain just smiled softly, “If you don’t eat it I’m going to throw it out. You said it yourself, what's not eaten is a waste!”
Alon stared at the food for a while, before glancing up at Dain. “Fine. But you have to promise you’ll rest!”
Dain beamed and put a hand to his heart, “I swear.” He gave the dish to Alon, before joining us at the table.

We all glanced at Alon, who took a small bite of the food, before slowly eating faster and faster. It was clear he had, in fact, been starving.
“You’re good.” Tori smiled at Dain.
Liz turned and whispered to me, “They’re totally flirting.”
I giggled a little—she wasn’t really wrong. Tori overheard us and just rolled her eyes with a smile.

After an hour or two, everyone was just about ready for bed when I remembered what I’d been waiting to ask.
I ran up to Dain, and asked him about everything. From the creepy dream lady, to the face markings. Dain froze, but just sighed and rubbed his eyes. He turned to me with a pained expression, like he was dreading these questions, but knew they were inevitable.
He ruffled my hair, which I wasn’t used to at all.
“I don’t know how you’re going to take this-”
“I promise I won't get mad!” I insisted, “Or scared!”
That seemed amusing to Dain, as if he has been told that before but it was always a lie. “Ugh, fine. I’ll tell you tomorrow-”
“No! I want to know! I need to know!” I was sure he was going to get mad at me for yelling so much and talking back. He raised his hand, and I flinched. But he just patted my shoulder and said, “Go to sleep.”
Then, he just walked away.

I just decided to give up on asking.
I walked over to a bunch of mattresses on the floor. Surprisingly, they seemed pretty clean. There were four single mattresses and one double. Each one had a blanket, pillow, and some personal objects. There was only one mattress with practically nothing on it—which I assumed they put out for me. I also noticed that each mattress had a color theme; black, pink, green, and one was purple and red. The one that had been put out for me had blue blankets. (which I didn’t know how they knew that would be my color—maybe they just had a pile of colored blankets.)

I layed down and slipped under the covers.
Then, I remembered something.
I took off my mask and stared at it. It was oddly mesmerizing. I placed it next to my pillow and quickly fell asleep.