After End

"Hello?" A voice said.

"Hello!" It said again, only louder.

I was starting to regain consciousness. The ground was cold and wet, but the sun that shined down on me felt unnecessarily warm. My legs were uncomfortable due to the heat, and I opened my eyes to unfamiliar surroundings. I was cradled in the fallen wet leaves, surrounded by dense wood, and a girl leaning over me.

She looked down at me with curiosity, her dark hair framing a side of her face. She smiled when she saw that I awoke and sat back so that I had room to sit up.

"Finally," She exclaimed with false impatience. "I thought you would never wake up. You looked practically dead lying there, your skin was even super pale! What's your story?"

I blinked at her. She looked odd to me. She wore a dress from a time period that I couldn't place, and when her blue eyes looked into mine, it felt like she was staring directly into me, I didn't know how to explain it.

She saw I wasn't going to give a reply, so she sighed and gave me a look of exasperation. "Okay," She said, changing topic. "Can you at least tell me your name? Mine's Beatrice."

I shook my head. I wasn't sure of my name. I wasn't sure of a lot of things.

Beatrice frowned. "Alright," She said. "I'll just call you Perdita. Is that good?" I sighed, then nodded. Perdita it is.

"Now, Perdita, can you speak?"

"Yeah."

She grinned. "Your voice is so beautiful, like a lovely robin." She stood up and held out her hand to me.

I furrowed my brow. Like a robin? Was that a compliment? I took Beatrice's hand and went up. We still held hands, like it was an impromptu handshake. I let go first to wipe off the wet leaves that still clung to parts of my body.

"So, Perdy," Beatrice began as she started to walk away. I followed close behind her. "Can you remember anything? Like why you're wearing that ridiculous outfit?" She shot me a quizzical look.

I looked down at my outfit. It was all mostly black. My shirt was more like a loose sweater with an abstract red design near my stomach, and was paired with stone grey pants. The boots were a dark brown. Not completely black but close, and there were a few useless buckles that rested on the sides near the zippers.

"I don't really remember anything..." I replied sadly. "I have a feeling that I wore this outfit for something, though." Beatrice looked me up and down with her mouth quirked at an angle.

"Well, at least it's something. We can work with this." She said with hope and a smile. I sighed. We walked in silence. I continued to follow the dark haired girl, still not sure as to where she was leading me. I finally got my courage up to ask her.

"Hey, so-"

"I have a proposition for you!" She interrupted. I frowned. "How about I help you? With your memories."

I gave her a doubtful look. "You can try," I told her. "But I'm not sure if it will work." She let out a sound of excitement.

She stopped suddenly, and the only reason I didn't run into her was because she jumped up on a stump. She looked down at me and pointed her finger in my face with a toothy grin.

"Excellent!" She shouted. "I accept this challenge! The great Bea will succeed." As she was getting off the stump, she must've tripped on her dress. Her eyes widened as she began her descent to the ground.

I tried to catch her, but she was falling toward me. Before I knew it, I was on my back on the ground, and Beatrice lay on top of me. Our faces were close and our eyes were looking directly into each others. A stick was poking me in my back.