Gifted

Chapter Twenty - Sage

"Sage, wake up."

My head wobbled as I was being shaken awake. Pearl?

Attempting to open my eyes, they remained shut as if pinned down.

The rest of my body felt strange too—I could hardly move. My limbs were heavy, sluggish as if I had run a marathon.

Every muscle in my body ached.

"Sage!" Pearl flicked the end of my nose with her finger.

That spurred me into action as my eyes sprang open. "Ouch, that hurt Pearl." I rubbed the end of my nose with my eyes watering

"What time is it?" I tried to focus, turning my head.

"Little after ten," she tsked.

Ten? I never slept in late and why was I so sore?

Pearl was sitting on my bed as she bounced once. "You're killing me, Sage. Tell me, what happened! With the ol' man. You didn't come back before I left for work, and then you weren't here when I got back either. I thought you might have gone to Hunters. But here you are!" She looked disappointed in me.

Why would I go to Hunters?

What the hell was she talking about?

And last night...of course, she had seen me last night. Hadn't she? I pushed myself up and leaned against the headboard, ignoring the aches and moans or trying to.

Last night...

I tried to piece together my thoughts. I remembered going to visit my grandfather. But it all seemed a little hazy.

"Are you sure you didn't see me last night?" I asked her.

She looked at me like I was stupid. "Duh! Don't you think I would have remembered if I had seen you last night? I'm dying to know what happened. What did he say, when you told him you wanted to be with Hunter? I bet he shit a brick... I'm right, yeah?" She stared at me with her eyes wide and a daft lopsided grin.

I shook my head, wincing as my neck ached. I rubbed the palm of my hand over it, to soothe it.

The conversation slowly came back to me, oui, yes, I remembered arriving and I'm sure I remembered talking to him about Hunter. But the conversation was confusing and the more I tried to think about it—The more my head felt woolly like it had been stuffed full of candy floss.

Why was nothing clear?

A sinking dread washed over me, and my stomach roiled.

This wasn't the first time this had happened—this feeling. I had the same experience at the beginning of last week and two weeks before.

Mon Dieu, what was wrong with me?

Ignoring the heaviness in my arms, I threw back my bed covers and gasped. I was not expecting to see dirty feet and my bedsheets muddied. My toenails were black and...

Was that a leaf wedged in my toes?

There were scrapes and scratches on my ankles too.

What the hell?

"Look, Pearl." I pointed down to my feet.

"What?" she followed my gaze and leaning over she plucked the offending item. "It's just a leaf, Sage."

"Oui, but look, my feet are dirty and I don't remember being outside barefoot and you said I wasn't here last night?" I could almost taste my panic. "Where the hell was I?"