The Broken Ones

Chapter 8

Taylor:

"Tay? You awake?"

I could hear. That was a good sign. My ears are working-barely-but they were still working. The voice running through my ears was smooth and familiar, and the light touch on my arm didn't make me want to flinch away. I figured at first that I was dead, and the peace I was at was just the afterlife, but then I remembered everything. The portal, the landing, and the sharp rock piercing my stomach. A small groan escaped my lips as I tried to sit up, quickly finding myself being gently pushed back down on the rickety bed. "You need to relax," the voice said.

I opened my eyes slowly, wincing at the bright light shining through the window, then bringing my eyes to the face smiling down at me. "Felix?" I asked, my voice scratchy like I just finished screaming with all my strength.

"Hey," he replied. His eyes looked tired and his mouth twitched in the corners. I could tell he was trying to hold back his anxiousness. "How are you?"

I furrowed my brows as I observed the empty room we were in. The stone floor was cracking and the wooden walls were chipping. Above us, a few golden strands of straw fell down every now and then, landing upon the ground. "Where are we?" I asked.

He took in a deep breath, not speaking for a while as if he was in deep thought. "I honestly have no clue anymore. Kat's outside the door with the . . . doctor."

We both looked up when the door creaked open after a light knock, revealing the worried face of Kat. "She awake?" I heard her say.

Felix nodded and stood up, letting Kat walk over to me and begin her questioning. "Holy crap, Tay. Are you Okay? How's your stomach? Do you remember everything? Are you in pain?"

"Now, now. Let's not suffocate the poor girl."

I looked up at the third voice curiously. My breath seemed to struggle to function as I held my head up to watch the man, probably in his fifties, approach the bedside next to Felix. Something was different about this so-called doctor. His clothing really only was a simple cloth, and his voice came out in an accent I have never heard before. "You're companions tell me you are named Taylor, yes?" he asked with an arched eyebrow.

I don't know why or what was causing me to become quiet all of a sudden, but there was something there. Something in the back if my head forcing me to keep quiet. I simply nodded, hoping my nagging feeling was smart.

He smiled. I noticed his teeth were abnormally crooked with a few chips. The dull tint to them didn't help either. I figured it was odd for a doctor to be comfortable showing his awful smile to his patients, but what did I know? Maybe I was just feeling extra queasy. "Tell me, Taylor," he began once more in that funny accent, "where did you and your friend come from?"

I looked at him straight in the eyes, lips sealed right shut. Do not speak. Do not speak. Do not speak. He was too strange. After a minute of him watching me in bone-chilling silence, he finally broke it with a sharp clear of his throat, standing up and giving me his dirty grin. "I'm sure you'll come through. You must rest, for now," he said. I remained quiet, watching him lead Felix and Kat out of the door with him. Before he shut it, however, I saw Felix glance at me. I quickly shook my head, directing the urgency towards the doctor. I couldn't tell if he got the message because he quickly shut the door, leaving me in the surprisingly uncomfortable silence.

To my much disappointment, exhaustion weighed in over my worry towards the doctor, and I quickly found myself drifting off to sleep. No dreams came, just the familiar chill of the room I was in.

I woke up shortly after when I heard a light tap come from the door. It took me a moment to realize the sun had completely gone down to reveal the beaming moon with an impossible amount of stars circling it. I could only awe at its remarkable beauty for two seconds, however, when I felt my face being engulfed with suffocation. A yelp managed to pop out but was quickly covered up by the sheer terror of what was happening. I was going to be killed and nobody would help. I clawed at the arms holding me down, pushed against the pillow on my face, thrashed my legs, but to no avail. I was as good as dead.

"Stop!" someone yelled from the front of the room.

The pillow lifted only about two inches off of my face in shock, still giving me enough room to gasp in a few breaths, before shooting up and watching the scene. Felix stood there, livid, staring across at the doctor who held murder in his eyes. "The bitch needs to die," the doctor hissed through clenched teeth. It was like he had lost all sanity. "Her and the rest of you."

Felix clenched his hands and stared daggers across the room. His words came out in angry whispers. "Get out."

"How dare y—"

"Get out."

Even I was surprised by the venomous tone of his voice. It was almost frightening on my end. Something was up with him, I could tell, and not just because of my current situation. The man holding the pillow let his fingers relax, dropping the cushion to his side, then running out of the room swiftly. I just stared at Felix questioningly. Don't get me wrong, I was more than thankful, but I just couldn't decipher what could be wrong with him.

He ran over to me and began inspecting my face with his eyes, then his hands, then pulling me into a tight hug. "Should I even ask if you're okay?" he wondered.

I shook my head. "No."

Felix pulled back and scanned his amber eyes over my face once more. He looked at me with sadness hanging on his features, which I hated. However, I let the sorrow slide, figuring now wasn't the time to be holding back on feelings. "Does anything hurt-"

"Are you okay?" I jumped in. He seemed taken aback by my words but answered my question anyway.

"Yeah, of course. Why?"

I just observed him. I could tell that there was at least some hint of a lie hiding behind his words. I've known him long enough to notice the twitch in his left eye, his sweaty palms and constant lip-licking, the several times he would roughly run his hand through his hair. "You sure?" I asked again. I didn't want to push him, but then again, I desperately wanted-no, needed-to know what was up with him.

He gave me the most reassuring smile he could manage, clearly forcing it upon his face. "Positive." The concern didn't fade when he pulled me into another hug just as tight as the one before. He parted away, studied me for a moment, then hesitantly stood up and walked over to the door. "I need to go find Kat and make sure she's alright. Call me if you need anything, okay?"

I nodded and watched him leave. After a while of staring blankly at the door in which he left, going over the flashing images of the previous scene, then thinking back to Felix and his odd behavior, I finally decided to stand up. With wobbly knees, I made my way over to the wooden door. The moon was still high in the sky, surrounded by the thousands of stars, the air still thick with chill as I stepped out into the night. Only the sound of chirping crickets could be heard, along with the running stream in the distance. I could, however, hear something that sounded like nervous murmuring coming from behind a house. My curiosity perked up as I slowly edged closer to the sound. Was somebody hurt? It sounded oddly familiar, but I couldn't understand why. My stomach seemed to do about a million somersaults when my eyes met the person before me. "You," I muttered shakily.

The old man from the sidewalk at school popped out of his trance and turned his startled expression towards me. He let out a sharp, quick yelp, causing me to jump back slightly. The longer I stared at him, the more I began to question my sanity. How could he have possibly followed us all the way out here, to what seemed to be the middle of nowhere, considering how old he must be. "How did you—" I began.

"Taylor?"

Both the man and I focused our attention on Felix and Kat behind us, the two of them wearing just as confused looks on their faces as mine. I thought we at least stood there for a good five-more-minutes until one of us finally spoke up; in this case, the old man chose to interrupt the silence. He sighed and fumbled in his pockets for something I was scared to find out about. "Oh, well. Figured it would happen soon, anyway," he said totally nonchalantly. As if it was completely normal, he pulled out a tiny bag, opened it, pinched something in the inside, and sharply blew the substance into the three of our faces. Only darkness followed, along with the simple sound of my steady heartbeat.

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