Rebel: A Monstercat Fanfic

052 - Glimpse

Song of the Chapter: Build the Cities - Karma Fields ft. Kerli (Electronic)
The music video is weird ...

(Monstercat's POV)

After our activity, as it's getting dark, we all go our separate ways in the house and split. Together, as a group - with heavy influence from Stephen Walking - we decided that tomorrow morning, before the sun has even risen, we're going to make our way back to camp.

"Noisestorm, what are you doing?" I ask as I walk into the kitchen.

He pours a couple pills into his hand and swallows them with some water. "I have a headache," he says.

"But you already took some," I remind, wondering what the side effects of too many painkillers are.

"I'm taking some more."

"Noise - " Phantom sighs before he even finishes his sentence. "How many did you take?"

"Eight," he says matter-of-factly, but then sways and almost falls over.

"Eight?! Dude, you're going to knock yourself out!"

"Then my headache will go away."

"That's bad for you." Phantom takes his arm and leads him upstairs to the bedroom.

"I'm a little bit dizzy," his friend admits.

"Oh, really?"

By then, they're out of earshot - well, for a normal person, anyway. I try not to use my sensitive hearing unless I have to, on account of me hearing a wonderful conversation I did not want to hear last night.

It is getting late, and since we're getting up so early tomorrow, I figure I should try and get some sleep. I go down to the room shared by Aero, Tristam, and Braken, hoping they'll be some room on a bed. I open the door and laugh a little. There's no room in here. Aero's wings take up not only the entire bed, but about half of the room as well. He keeps trying to roll over and get comfortable, but he keeps whacking Tristam with his feathers. I laugh as I watch them, and Aero grumbles at me.

"Is there room on the floor in here?" I ask, closing the door behind me.

"Sure, if you don't mind getting hit every once in a while," Tristam answers.

I chuckle again and pull out some blankets to make myself a bed. "How's Braken doing?"

"Asleep," his friend replies. "Finally."

We settle down, and in an hour, we're all asleep. I don't even bother keeping my ears open. I curl up and let myself slip into the deep sleep I so desperately need.

The sound of someone moving quickly wakes me up a few hours later. I roll over and look up, wondering if it was just Aero's wings, but he hasn't moved, so I turn to the other side of the room and Braken almost scares me out of my mind.

He's sitting straight up, staring forward with blank and hollow eyes. He's not moving at all; he's barely even breathing. His hands are flat against the bed instead of up against his chest like usual, and he's as stiff as a board.

I climb out of my blankets and gently tap his shoulder. "Braken?" I whisper. "Are you awake?"

He doesn't respond. He doesn't look at me or even flinch at my touch. I follow his empty stare, but there's nothing to see. He must be asleep.

I climb around him and poke Tristam. "Wake up. Something's wrong with Braken."

"Huh?" Tristam mutters, barely opening his eyes.