Totally Bubbly- Cheesecake's New Stories: The Second Series

Cheesecake's New Stories #7: Injected

Cherry P.O.V.

I woke up on the forest floor, panting endlessly and staring at the stars behind the leafs of the tall, dark trees. My throat was painfully sore, but I barely noticed it because of the throbbing in the rest of my body. I felt like I had been compressed and stretched out again, my limbs numbing as if they weren’t capable of moving. My stomach, a ball of abused knots, ached so badly that I had to bite my pulsing lip to keep myself from yelling. Everything hurt: my legs, my arms, my chest, my head, my face, my feet, my hands, my fingertips- you name it. My vision had black spots around the edges, and I had to take deep breathes to restrain myself from puking.

Slow your heart rate, I thought to myself. Think. 

What happened? I needed to remember, but it was so hard to concentrate when my mind could only process the burning in my bones. I was dreaming; I knew that. No, wait. I was having a nightmare...

Several nightmares.

Darkness...

Voices...

Cheesecake...

“Cheesecake!” I wheezed out loud, almost against my will. Coughing erratically, my throat started to burn as if I was swallowing fire. I started gagging, my chest rising with each cough, making my body jolt in a cry of protest.

“Cherry!” Someone screamed. It wasn’t Cheesecake, but I knew her voice well.

“Dessert, get your stupid butt of the ground right now!” Donut whimpered. “Please, you’re scaring me!” Her voice was shaky and muffled, and I realized she was crying.

“Miss,” I heard a man’s voice say, “nobody can get through. There’s nothing we can do.”

“No!” Donut shouted. “He’s awake! I heard him! I know he’s awake!”

“Miss-”

“Cherry! You need to come this way! Come out of the forest! Get up. Get up!”

Forgetting my pain, I attempted to sit up, but my head barely lifted itself from the ground before my vision started going crazy. I was seeing double; the trees looked like they each had a ghost, weaving wildly between each other. My head slammed back to the ground, making me groan in pain.

“See!” She laughed without humor. “He’s awake! We have to do something!”

“Nobody can get in!” The man shouted in frustration. “Five of us are down because we tried to pass through!”

“Well, that’s not my fault,” she chided. “I told you guys that you couldn’t, but they didn’t listen!”

“But if we can’t get through, then what do you expect us to do?”

“He’s moving!”

The man sighed, obviously agitated. “Not enough. He doesn’t even look conscious.”

“Cherry, please! Just come away from the forest. You won’t have to do anything after that.”

I moaned again, tilting my neck slightly so I could see where the voices were coming from. It was dark, but I could see a soft light behind the hills, so I could barely make out her purple outline kneeling just inches away from the first tree on the border of the forest. The man I heard before was standing next to her with his arms crossed, and behind him were three ambulances and a two cop cars. I’m only about two yards away from them.

I willed myself to speak, coughing and gagging but still forcing my words out.

“Holy Candy Cosmos, Donut,” I hacked. “You seriously called an ambulance?”