The CoDas: Reboot [By Hex]

Chapter 20 : Family

I didn't know what had happened before I woke up but I was lying on the same soft bed in the cafe I went to last night. When I slowly opened up my eyes, the first thing I saw was Zack, who sat at the foot of the bed, looking out the window. I scanned the room then looked back at Zack, sighing as I covered my eyes with my left hand, processing what happened.

Zack turned his head towards me, realizing I was awake as he spoke with energy, "Yo! Morning, Nathan. How are ya feeling?"

I slowly sat up my bed, my hands still covering my eyes, my head felt slightly tired and numb. I sighed again, "Hey, Zack." I look up to him then turn to the direction he was looking, the window. The city was dark, but the sky was clear with no clouds in sight, a perfect starry sky. It looked like it was the middle of the night at the moment.

"How long was I asleep?" I asked curiously.

"You've been asleep for four thousand, eight hundred and sixty minutes." He panned at me, giving me a cocky smile then slight chuckling.

I snickered. "4 days and 3 hours..." I felt bewildered, "wait, how the heck did I calculate that?"

"Oh, you'll find out when we do our first training together," he teased.

I sighed, scanning the room then looking to my right. On a small table lied a picture and a chain bracelet. I leaned over to pick them both up to observe. Sitting back on the bed, I took a good look at the bracelet before my eyes widened. Flashes of imagery sparked in my mind, crows ripping off my skin, the intense pain of being eaten alive, the fear boiling inside my heart.

I flailed and threw the bracelet away from me, cowering under my arms.

Zack took notice as he leaned over and placed his hands on my shoulder. "Nathan? Nathan!?"

I panted as I held my head, remembering everything that happened in that dream: It was terrifying, the feeling of my soul being torn away from my body.

Zack held onto my hands as he then spoke again, "Nathan, it's alright. You're safe, I'm here for you."

My breathing slowly turned to normal upon hearing Zack, who healed my traumatic mind, I gripped his hand tightly as I tried to gather my thoughts.

Zack began to raise my hand and pull me out of the bed, speaking, "come on, Nathan. Let's go to the roof, I'm sure it'll help you get your mind off the 'Dream' that you had."

I simply grunted as I rested my arms around his neck, when I started standing up, I realized how strangely tired and dizzy I felt. Zack took the picture as he started carrying me and then walked towards the bracelet I threw against the wall. I walked like I was intoxicated, I figured that I had been in bed for so long that I lacked a sense of balance and the ability to walk correctly.

I was still wearing my clothes on that very day but they seemed to be brand new like they were bought from the store. I found that very strange but didn't bother to ask Zack about it.

Zack, while carrying me around his neck, knelt to pick up the bracelet. As we got up again, it felt like a small ball was bouncing all around my head. I shut my eyes, enduring the headache as we exited out of the room and into the hallway.

We started walking to the right side of the hallway till we reached the stairs on the left and the elevator on the right, Zack called for the elevator and waited while carrying me around his neck. A loud 'ding' from the elevator was heard as it opened. We entered inside as it begun ascending us to the roof. I didn't say anything during the elevator ride nor did Zack. I was only focusing on trying to gather my thoughts.

Once the elevator door opened, the quietness quickly shifted to overwhelming mumblings and small talks often heard in cafes or bars. I took a good look around the rooftop to see that there were many people up here. There were round tables and chairs spread across the roof. On the left was the counter where some bartenders and waitresses were handing out food and drinks to everyone.