Lovely Obsession

Safe

Sophie

"Sophie..."

The image kept reappearing. Grayness, just a dim grayness. 

"Sophie..."

My eyelids were still incredibly heavy. They kept fluttering. Even if they were open, they were just barely, and everything was still a haze. It kept blackening, too.

"Sophie..."

It felt like I was laying on my back, on something. A bed? It felt relatively comfortable. It also appeared a blanket was over me, just barely reaching my chin, and that was only the middle side.

"Sophie..."

I felt something nuzzling against my neck. When I fully acknowledged it, that and my name being repeated, my body went tense. Then the previous memories of the football game and the field shot right through me, like a bullet. My heart shot up to my throat, and when I looked to my side, I saw someone hunched over. Their fingers were intertwined with mine, which my hand was on the side of the bed I was laying on. The person was hunched over, nuzzling against my neck. I lost it. I just followed instinct, my impulse - I wasn't thinking.

I sat up like a rocket. I turned around slightly in hopes to push away the person, and I felt something around my wrist - I couldn't take them away from each other.

I guess this person followed immediate impulse, too.

Because the arms immediately wrapped around me, one clutching at my back, and the other in my hair. I tried to fight back, only to find something holding wrists close together. Handcuffs. I was handcuffed. Still, I tried to push away the person, who was leaning against me. But they were practically forcing my hands onto my chest - they were rubbing against me.

The fingers in my hair tightened, and practically pulled me back. I restrained to cry out in pain but rather in fear. Or both. "Sto-!" I choked out, trying my best to yell instead of squeak, "Stop it! Let me go!" I grit my teeth in pain as my hair was pulled back, forcing my head to crane upward. "STO-!" My jaw tightened. The person's hands were clutched harder around me. It felt like their nails were sinking into my side, that they were practically ripping my hair from my scalp, and that they were pushing be back onto the bed.

"Sophie!" Their voice and rough and muffled. For half a second, I considered to stop struggling since my name was said by this person. But, my hands - they were cuffed. Just how is that a good sign? "Sophie!"

The fingers remained tight and gripped in my hair, but it loosened enough so I was able to look forward. The person rose their head, letting me see their face. It made me stiffen, go into hysteria even more.

"Don't panic." Blake's look was full of concern and desperation, "Don't panic. You'll hurt yoursel-"

Again: impulse, I just let it control my body. I moved my cuffed hands higher to grab his collar and pulled him closer. I rose my knees and slammed them upward to his stomach. "Fu-!" He bent over, his grip on my hair tightening. He was out of my way - he was recoiling. 

I slid off the bed in one movement and as soon as my feet (which I had found bare) touched the cold ground, I felt Blake's fingers clasp around my ankle. I held my breath and tried to catch myself from the fall, but the handcuffs refused to help. The cold tile floor made harsh impact with my body.

"I told you." Blake's voice was harsh and ragged. He grabbed me by the shoulders and practically lifted me off the floor. "But you panicked and hurt yourself anyway." He pulled something out of his back pocket and snapped it against my handcuffs. My hand was dragged down to the bed's edges, and there was a click.

"Shi-!" I tried to move away, only for my face to fall upon realizing my connected my handcuffs to the bottom rail of the bed. "Bla-" I sputtered and looked up, my eyes narrowed and full of confusion and horror, "What...?"

Blake was leaning against a counter on the other small side of the narrow room. He was grabbing his stomach and looking down, panting.

I took quick glances at my surroundings.

A narrow room, a table in the side and the two beds surrounded by curtain racks. Sinks, a restroom door on the side of the hall. A doctor's office? No... Or yes. This place seemed... Incredibly familiar.

I looked back at Blake for question, "Blake... W-What's... Going on?"

Blake

My lower region was still aching like mad. And now my stomach were to, as well. Sophie had always had strong legs, she ran fast, kicked hard. I'd never imagine being kicked by her would hurt this much.

"Blake..." Her voice was quivering, "What's... Going on?"

What's going on? Oh, precious, you're safe now. No need to worry.

"... Bla-Blake!" She called, and I looked at her. She was in tears, "What's going on?"

"... It's okay." I smiled, my eyes distant and foggy. Sophie was right in front of me, right here, right now. She was looking at me, talking to me. "It's okay now, sweetie."

Her eyes went wide.

I stumbled over to her, my hand still clutching my side, "It's okay. It's okay." I knelt close to the bed, and she leaned back as far as the restraints could let her. I just stared at her, my eyes hazy. Then, a shaking smile found my lips, "Are you okay? You hit the floor pretty hard." When she kept staring at me, I reached over. She did not move away. I ran my fingers through her hair, gently this time, "You scared me."

Her body tensed up.

"... Can-" She seemed to be hesitating, "Can I... Ask you something?"

I smiled, "Of course," I kept running my fingers in her now tangled hair, "Say anything you'd like. Please, Sophie."

She kept tensing up, more and more each second. She bit her lip, eyes still wide and bugged out. She whispered at first, but her voice got louder with each syllable, "Where - why am I here?"

It stung, but I let it go. After thinking about it, I was ecstatic, "Look around," I gestured around me, "Does this place seem familiar to you? When you got hit by that softball and got a bloody nose, you came here. When you tripped and scratched your knee real bad, you came here. When you were starting to get a fever, you came here."

She was starting to shake now. My poor girl. She had always said she didn't like shaking, it made her body feel weak and her, herself.

"... Still don't know? I suppose it's alright, I did move everything around to make you a bit more comfortable." I glanced back to the room. When I looked back at Sophie, I blinked. Then I laughed, "Still don't get it? It's the elementary school. Ah," A smile still plastered to my face, I obtained the key from my back pocket, "Let me show you." Without looking at Sophie's face, I unlocked her handcuffs. Then I looked at her.

Her eyes went wide, though the rest of her features calmed. Her eyes were wide, but not as wide and as horrified as before. Her skin started to get it's color again.

Until I handcuffed the both of us together.

"Come on." I smiled, "I can show you around."