Roomscapes I - survive

Chapter 33 ~ Dead and alive

I never really thought being dead while being alive was possible, since it's obviously not scientifically accurate except for some near death experiences-- which is something completely different. But as I stood there, watching her perfect face, that's pretty much exactly how I felt. All color had drained from my sweaty palms and I felt my heart start to beat a little way too fast as I tried to bring my breathing back to normal. 

The way she looked at Cameron was enough to tempt my closed fists. Of course, her poisonous eagle-like eyes noticed my sudden uneasiness, and she simply smiled. The smile was more than evil, and I doubted any words could describe the feeling it gave me. 

"Hello." the word left her lips smoothly, and I couldn't help but remember how those lips-- the ones that I hated so much-- had been locked with Cameron's. I felt like a jealous wreck. Her eyes were digging into mine, and I felt a burn as her gaze stayed put and didn't move an inch.

That's when I realized it.

It wasn't worth it. 

All this. It wasn't worth my time, my attention, my feelings. It just wasn't worth it. 

"Fuck off." I simply said with the coldest tone I managed to produce. She seemed taken aback by my response, but didn't struggle to keep it hidden. Her smile faded and her eyes darkened, sending chills down my spine.

"I would keep my mouth shut if I were you," she said harshly, "I don't think you'd want to die so soon into the game now will you?" her ratchet, fake smile once again appeared on her face and she turned her eyes to Cameron, who stood there like nothing was happening. I was too shocked by her answer to react to anything happening here, and Angel seemed to be worried about my frozen self, judging by the look he gave me. 

"Make me, you conceited bitch." The words slipped out of my mouth before I knew what I was doing, and I instantly regretted talking. She was on me in less than two seconds, hands wrapped around my neck as she forcefully slammed me against a wall. 

"You're going to listen you useless piece of shit, I'm stronger than you and the only reason why I'm not snapping your damn neck in half is because Cameron needs to see that I'm not the bad one here, you are." her words were a bare whisper but still stung worse than a million bees. "But once I make him realize it..." she stopped and smiled, the grip around my neck tightening; me begging for air, sucking in every little amount of it available, "You're as good as dead." she suddenly let go of me, causing me to connect brutally with the floor. I hesitated to go unconscious, allowing a titanic amount of air into my lungs as my eyes darted from place to place in search of Angel. I could barely differentiate walls from shadows as my eyes involuntarily got heavy enough to finally close, leading me into a world of nightmares that were candy lands compared to reality. My head was pounding, and the sour taste of my own blood was the last thing I felt before drifting off to another world.

 ** PARKER'S POV **

"Ladies first," I mocked, stretching out my hand, motioning for Karimah to go in. She raised an eyebrow at me and started laughing, her head falling back as she wrapped her arms around her stomach. I could even swear I saw tears of laughter escape her eyes as she just shut her eyes closed, enjoying the moment. I gave her a putrid look which caused her to crack up even more, rubbing her eyes violently in attempts to stop the crying.

"I don't get it." I said after what seemed like forever, my innocent tone making her laugh even more.

A loud noise interrupted me, and we both made eye contact before nodding, walking slowly towards the origin of the sound.

All the laughs seemed to fade away as we realized the seriousness of this whole thing, a seriousness we were willing to escape through laughter, a seriousness we were willing to escape in any way possible-- at this point.

No other word was said as we walked towards either our certain deaths, or something else... something better... or something worse...

** KARIMAH'S POV **

"Valentina!" Parker's voice echoed through the room as he ran up to a girl our age, laying down on the floor, her face bloody as hell and her arms covered in the red liquid a's well.

"Oh my god." I put a hand over my mouth to hold in a scream, realizing this wasn't anywhere near good.

For a second he didn't do anything, he just stared down at her with a panicked look on his face, then he bent down, shaking her as if attempting to wake her up. How the heck had she been able to lose so much blood? I felt sweat trickle down my neck as I spotted another boy leaning down against a wall,  his face covered in purple bruises and his busted lips let out blood. I looked at him with a shocked expression before walking slowly over to him, squinting to see who it was. No one I had ever seen-- that's for sure. "Hello?" I whispered, softly placing one of my hands on his right cheek, "You alright?" I could tell he was awake, something told me. "Val?" he asked, his eyes small and his lips thick in blood, "It's not Val, but don't worry, we won't hurt you..." I looked over at Parker, who simply sat down besides Val and shook his head, examining her bruises.

"I'm sorry to break it to you Parker, but that's not going to help her." I hadn't gotten my hand off his face, and when I looked back at him I saw a light hint of fear in his green eyes, "Calm down..." I said, thinking of an idea.

"I know." Parker answered, still looking down at her bloody face, "I know."

 ** CAITLYNN'S POV **

"What now?" I asked, looking down at Kelly, who was finishing her apple, "I think we should go look for Valentina, maybe try and help her?" she said, concern clear in her beautiful brown eyes.

"That's not going to work. As much as I'd like to deny this,  your friend might by now be as good as dead, so I'd rather we work together in killing other people to get out of this shit hole, what do you say?" A smooth voice filled my ears and I instantly turned around, ready to fight. I frowned when I saw a beautiful girl in front of me, her brown hair was neatly pulled up into a pony tail and her brown eyes sparkled when she offered a smile, "I understand if you don't trust me, we did just meet anyway... but maybe this present will help you trust me a bit more, Caitlynn?" she asked and moved to one side, revealing the face I dreaded to see for so long, the lips that drew me in like magnets, and the eyes that just added that spark into my life. 

"Matthew." I said softly, my eyes automatically lighting up. "I-- I thought-- you--" I struggled to keep my voice steady, and he just smiled and ran over to me, bringing his lips to mine without any warning, my hands wrapping around his neck, bringing him closer to me. We broke away to see Kelly's disgusted yet playful look and I giggled, too satisfied to pay attention to the fact that she knew who I was and she knew that I knew Matthew. "I know." he simply whispered, our foreheads touching, "You thought I was dead. But I'm not, I'm here. I'm here with you and I'll do anything to protect you. Anything Caitlynn. I love you." the words left his full lips to naturally I almost fainted, the words I had been longing to hear from the person in front of me had just been said, and I couldn't feel happier. This feeling was just better than words.

"Sorry to interrupt your re-encounter....but I just wanted to introduce myself. First, I'm kinda new here so I suck at fighting...." The smile that had once formed on her pretty lips had never left, only turned a bit awkward and it amused me how someone could be so sweet at a moment like this, in a place like this. She was incredibly awesome and I had already grown to like her a lot. 

My stupidness had taken over me, never letting my logical side speak up, asking me if this was too good to be true, asking me why she knew my name, asking me how the hell he  was alive. I didn't care at the moment-- I just didn't.

"Go ahead," I returned the sweet smile as Matthew pulled me against his chest, my back to him completely, "I'm-- my name is Less." I smiled but my eyes automatically traveled over to Kelly, who seemed to be confused and not brought down by her friendly appearance. She didn't smile, she simply looked her her, a slight frown visible on her face, "So... Less..." she said, and I noticed her right hand sneaking to her belt to grab a knife as she kept talking, "You're new here, right?" she asked, raising an eyebrow, and Less nodded, smiling wider to Kelly, "Oh. Then bother to explain how you know this?" And in less than a second, Kelly had thrown the knife across the room, her perfect aim never failing her as the knife reached its destiny. Less.