The Broken Ones

Chapter 7

Felix:

Everything ached. My brain felt like it could explode any second. With a sharp breath, I opened my heavy eyes to a blinding light. I wanted to sink into darkness and escape the rays of golden sun beaming down on me through what seemed to be trees, but I knew that wasn't possible. Suddenly, memories came crashing in. I spun my head painfully around, a cold sweat breaking out through my body. Where was she? Without mental preparation, I jumped up and began pacing around. Leaves crunched underneath my shoes, and I realized then I was wearing only a pair of joggers and a un-zipped, navy-blue hoodie. I figured now was no time to worry about my exposed chest as I continued to frantically search around the roofed forest for a sign of life, and at best, a head of white locks. I hoped and prayed to God that she was okay. After all, considering what just happened, I didn't even know if I was. A terrifying thought popped in my head, making me stop dead in my tracks. What if I was actually in the hospital right now, and all of his was just happening in my brain? My breathing grew heavy and I could feel my fingers fumbling on the pockets of my joggers. "Dammit!" I yelled in anger.

"Felix!"

My eyes bulged open at the voice and I darted around, almost falling on the ground. "Kat!" I said through a breath, running over to her a pulling her into a tight hug. "Are you okay?"

She nodded and I noticed a few tears on her face. "It's Taylor," she said.

My heart dropped. Images raced through my head of what her tone could be hinting at, but they hurt too much, so I pushed them away and said with a shaky voice, "What about Taylor."

"I can't find her." Kat looked like she was about to burst into tears, her head shaking desperately. I embraced her once more in attempt to comfort her-or myself, I couldn't decide at the moment.

"We'll find her," I assured. "We have to."

"Where the hell are we even?"

I pulled away and glanced around at my surrounding, really taking them in, as I zipped up my hoodie, guarding my chest against the slight breeze. Trees littered the disheveled ground, layered with twigs, bushes, and leaves. Every now and then, you could hear a few animals chirping in the distance, and the sun gleamed through the small slivers of openings in the towering trees. I shook my head and reached for my phone in my pocket, pulling it out. The screen lit up with just two words. No signal. I cursed under my breath and shoved it back into my pocket, reaching into the other. My eyebrows furrowed when my fingers found nothing residing in the small fold.

"Felix?" Kat asked.

"Where are my cigarettes?"

"Did you have any?"

I thought back to my bedroom and groaned. Of course I didn't bring any cigarettes with me. My mind was already craving one, strengthening the twitch in my fingertips. "Hey," Kat edged closer to me with a comforting smile. "It's okay. We'll just find a gas station and get you more."

"We need to find Taylor," I insisted.

Kat nodded. "Yes, we'll do that. Just take deep breaths."

I did as she said, but found it extremely difficult, considering the particular situation we were in the middle of at the moment. I had to resist the temptation of punching something and yelling into nothingness. I knew I had to stay strong, if not for me then for Kat. "Okay, we should go."

Kat nodded and walked up beside me. I didn't quite know what to do, so I simply began walking with absent-minded steps. She followed in silence, which I was grateful for. I needed to think through everything, whatever everything even was.

Ten minutes later, I was beginning to lose hope. The realization hit me that we could quite possibly never find civilization ever again. However, my mind was on other things, or more specifically, Taylor. The worry felt like it could drown me, and I think Kat noticed as she set a hand on my shoulder. "Talk to me, Felix. You're tearing yourself up."

I looked over at her. "I don't know what to say."

"Okay," she said. "Then, how about this. I think I may be going insane because I swear that I was sucked into a portal, bringing me to God-knows-where, possibly another dimension, which is obviously not realistic. And to top it off, the love-of-my-life is missing in some creepy-ass forest." She ended her words with a gulp of a deep breath.

"And I don't have any cigarettes," I added sarcastically.

She chuckled. "That too."

"I don't know. I guess it's just the not knowing part that really gets to me, you know? Maybe she's fine, but there's always a chance that she could be severely-"

My words stopped in the back of my throat when my eyes landed on the body several feet in front of me. "Hurt," I finally finished. I stood in horror, staring down at the contrasting colors of red against white. Kat's whimper finally pulled me back.

We both sprinted over to Taylor, brushing her bloody hair out of her face. I felt numb. My brain was still going, but then again, it wasn't. "Taylor," Kat cried quietly, gingerly setting her hands under her head.

I blinked and wiped my sweaty palms on my joggers. My eyes wandered her limp body in sign of a wound and stopped at her stomach. My trembling fingers hesitantly pulled up her sweater slightly to reveal a large gash across her pale skin. It made me queasy, but I refused to look away as quickly pulled off my hoodie and ripped off the sleeves, tying them together in a long rope, then tucking it under her back and wrapping the cloth across her injury. I hoped that would help the bleeding. I pulled the remainder of the zip-up back over me and examined her head next. Still beautiful, I thought to myself. A few scrapes lined her forehead, but nothing fatal, to my relief. "Will she be okay?" Kat asked.

I tucked my arms under Taylor's body and picked her up bridal-style. Thankfully, she was light enough to where I wouldn't get fatigued quickly. "She'll be fine," I said hopefully. I stood up with Kat and peered around the scenery once more. My heart rate increased when I spotted what looked to be an old wagon wheel propped against a tree. "Come on. We'll just keep walking if we have to."

And so we did. It wasn't much longer until we came into a clearing with the light, comforting sound of a stream running not too far away. Kat gave me a questioning look as I arched an eyebrow. "Maybe?" she asked.

I shrugged. "We could try."

We began walking, slowly lingering away from the reseeding trees, and growing more hopeful with every step. However, the hope quickly died out when my eyes lied upon the sight below the hill. "What the hell," I mumbled. Confusion clouded my every sense, and judging by Kat's gaping mouth, she was feeling the exact same way.

Houses scattered the field, but these houses were different. The roofs were made of grass, the windows opened with shutters, chickens wandering the cobbled roads next to them. The people walked along the streets, paying no mind to the animals as they wheeled wooden carts filled with all kinds of fruits and vegetables. I had no clue what to think. Maybe we just woke up in some sort of festival type event with extreme accuracy. I didn't understand how anything else could be happening, but after what happened last night, who knows anymore. "What's happening?" Kat asked me slowly.

I shook my head slightly, speechless. "Probably just some carnival . . ."

I adjusted Taylor closer to me, bringing her head into the base of my shoulder. Her steady breathing tickled my neck in rhythm with her beating heart against my chest. It was enough to even barely raise my courage and allow my feet to carry me along to the strange village ahead of me, followed by a hesitant Kat.

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