Markus High

Chapter Nineteen

Markus's POV:

I snapped awake as a voice echoed through my skull. "Zyta?" I asked aloud uncertainly, hoping that it really had been my friend.

"The one and only," she replied. "What happened while I-"

Zyta, do you realize how long you were gone? I thought to her.

"Um, maybe six hours. I purposely slept less than normal so I wouldn't be gone for too long. I actually just woke up," she replied.

She'd been gone six hours? Zyta, you didn't talk to us in a day and a half, I insisted. It had scared me that she hadn't contacted any of us in so long. I'd worried that maybe she'd been controlled again and couldn't talk to us, or that maybe she had forgotten about us.

"W-wha?" she asked through a yawn. "I swear I slept for six hours. I went to bed at midnight, and it's just after 6 A.M. now," she insisted.

Well, it was about a day and a half here, I told her.

She sighed quietly. "Sorry if I made you guys worry," she whispered. I faintly heard her add "again" afterwards.

It's okay, I reassured her. You didn't mean to.

"Yeah," she agreed quietly. "Hey, what time is it there?" she asked suddenly.

I glanced at my clock. Midnight.

"I should let you sleep, then," she whispered.

I nodded to myself. Probably.

"I'll get breakfast and shower and everything and talk to you later. I'm not sure how long me leaving is okay for, so does an hour sound like an okay time?"

If my tired mental math is correct, then it should equal about 6 hours here, so that seems alright.

"Alright. Sleep well," she said.

"Have a good morning," I told her sleepily. She didn't reply, and the faint background noise disappeared, so she must have left.

I quickly fell back asleep, my face buried into my pillow.

*     *     *

"You awake?" Zyta asked, startling me awake.

Yeah, I replied groggily, opening my heavy eyelids and looking around my room. I noticed the faint light from outside, which let me know it was still early. A glance at my clock, which read 6:07, proved that.

"Oh, sorry," she said quickly. "I woke you up, didn't I?"

"Yeah, but it's okay. It's not too early, so I can deal with being a little tired," I said out loud.

"Alright," she replied uncertainly. I could tell she felt a bit bad about waking me up early again, though I felt that early was better than not talking to me in a day and a half like before.

"Really, it's okay," I insisted gently, not wanting her to be upset with herself. "I might as well get up now. I'm going to change, so could you..." I trailed off as I heard a shuffling noise.