CHAPTER 17
"Oh... nothing, he just asked me about something since we're working on a project together," I laughed out awkwardly.
"Then why'd he drag you all the way back into the school?" he kept questioning.
"...Just a private matter along with it, I guess." I'm the worst liar, but Nicole seemed to be gullible enough to believe me. But... why is it that I didn't feel guilty for lying to Nicole about this?
I sighed but smiled at Nicole. After eating our food, we left and started walking again. Once I made it home, I realized that no one was home, so that night I left and went to Ruby's for an overnight.
I shook my head. Ah well, that's basically how I met Christian. After that, almost every time we met, we'd get into silly little fights and ignore each other for days after. It's funny how I ended up here with him... Though, I didn't realize I was spaced out thinking about this for a while now. I moved my head over to gaze at the sky, which was now... dark. Stars scattered around, the moon up as high as the stars. I just stayed silent.
I could still hear Christian and Nicole talking, but honestly, I didn't pay much attention to it, as I was lost in my own thoughts. Though, driving around was a little tiring. But I let the thought of pulling over go, as we were still on a mission to find Ruby. Though I had to stop the car dead and stared at the middle of the road for a few seconds, not believing what I saw. Christian, I could see from the corner of my eye, was also staring at it.
A cat. Pretty sure it was identified as the "Turkish Angora" cat breed. It had sparkling blue eyes, soft, white, and a lot of fluffy-looking fur. I think it was a female, considering the shape and stuff. Though, I immediately stopped spacing out and looked at it as it started meowing non-stop. I decided to do what any human would do. Run over it. JOKING, joking. I got out of the car and went to check the trunk. I took out a snack packet of whatever and approached the cat. It took a step back, looking cautious, but I stayed out and poured some on the ground.
I could hear Nicole getting out and looking at me interacting with the cat. I was crouched down and looked at Nicole. "Why don't we settle down here for tonight?" I asked.
He replied, "Yeah, I wanna sleep anyways," he exclaimed.
I nodded, and as I turned back to the cat, it had eaten almost every bit of the snack that was on the ground. It sat up straight looking at me and meowed a few times. I smiled to myself. It was so cute and pure-looking.
I sighed and stood up and walked back to the car, stepping in, but as I did, I immediately felt soft fur near my ankle. I looked down to see the cat curled around my ankle. In this position, I couldn't move, so I lifted my foot and almost fell back before regaining my balance and walking a few steps back to the cat. I pet it over the top once and approached the car again. I opened the car door and grabbed the bag—I think with the clothes—which I honestly forgot about. I took a jacket since it was freezing and put it on. I didn't close the door though; instead, I went inside, and when I checked to close it, the cat was entering.
I honestly didn't know what to do, so I just let it inside and closed the door behind it. I sat down in the back seat at the very left corner, and the cat jumped on the seat as well and elegantly sat up beside me, leaving a respectful distance. I drifted off to my own thoughts, gazing outside the darkly tinted window. Though it was only a minute or two before the cat broke the silence. It meowed a few times before walking slightly closer and letting itself on top of my lap. Totally random, to be honest.
...It was silent, and to add to the peacefulness, the full moon and stars were out, which created a pretty relaxing scenery. Meanwhile, I heard Christian counting. I looked over and saw him counting the Monopoly money...? I was confused, but honestly, I just guessed he was bored. I would do that too, to be honest.
"And... 20,580," Christian counted.
"Is that it?" I asked him.
"Yep. 20,580 money comes with the Monopoly," he answered back.
"Huh." Pretty convenient, for all the 500s and 100s I saw. Anyway, I really hope Ruby's doing fine. I know she's alone, and to be completely honest, I blame myself. But I hope she's handling it alright, at least until we reach her. Christian must be pretty worried—I mean, not that I'm concerned... but after all, they are best friends. Like if I lost Nicole... honestly, I don't know where I'd be without him. So I guess even if Christian's doing a good job at hiding his feelings, there's no way he's not concerned for Ruby. Honestly, I'm not a heartless dumbass. I do feel bad for him.
I leaned my head near behind the window. I could slowly feel my eyelids getting heavier and couldn't resist closing them to rest for a second...
A few minutes later, I felt myself open my eyes, though... it was a beautiful, yet not a familiar scenery. It was flat ground and a few hills around. It's almost like a flower garden with the number of flowers covering the area. I took a step, only to be splashed with water. I looked down, and it seemed I was standing in a small puddle. I stepped out and started walking around. After slowly walking around and observing my surroundings, I was about to go downhill back to where the flower garden ended. Though in the process I managed to trip over... a rock. But I swear I checked the path? It was smooth, with absolutely no rocks or anything I could have fallen over.
Though, what surprised me most? I fell, and when I did, it felt like falling into the ocean. I felt the cold water against my face, drowning my whole body inside, slowly but surely. It was like a thin layer of grass on the top, and if you fall, the layer rips and you descend into the ocean. That's what it felt like. I shut my eyes out of instinct and didn't open them until I heard what sounded like Ruby's voice. Surprisingly, my eyes didn't burn, and I felt like I could hold my breath for eternity. I looked around, but she wasn't in sight. I turned around and saw her. She was alright. I blinked. She was gone. I turned around to her muffled voice once again, and this time she was tied up on a chair struggling, with a cloth around her mouth. I tried swimming my way to her, but nothing worked... it felt as if the water to her path was infinite—it didn't end. I tried screaming her name... but I didn't have my voice. My mouth was just wide open as if just mouthing her name.
This all felt creepily real. If only someone would wake me up, tell me Ruby is fine... with a concerned expression, I watched the scene unfold. With another blink of an eye, the scenery changed to a pitch-black room. Next thing I knew, a murk was in front of Ruby. Its claws were pointed only centimeters away from her neck, like it was threatening her.
"RUBY!!" I tried to shout. It hurt. It hurt so much knowing she might get hurt just because I couldn't be her savior. I watched, and within a few blinks, the scenery changed. It was like an animation playing based on my blinking.
Though, this one scenery caught my attention. It was an abandoned-looking hospital room. She was locked in there with Nicole. We weren't there. We, as in me and Christian... did something happen? Did we get separated? What the hell, man... I blinked once more, not knowing what would be next. But to my surprise, I was teleported back to that flat land place with the hills and flowers. I was a bit confused, but let it go. I was about to blink, but then remembered. I stopped in my tracks and slowly closed my eyes and opened them again. Nothing.
Feeling like this is a trap, I started blinking rapidly until my eyelashes started to hurt from the force of being clashed together. This was all pretty weird, honestly. I started walking forward, not really expecting much considering this was all pretty ethereal to me. I walked for not too long, only around 5 minutes, before seeing a road. I saw... a pretty familiar van.
Wait, what? It was our van. And I hope my eyes aren't deceiving me because I'm seeing Ruby. Everyone but me was there. I started running, hoping they heard me... oh wait. I don't have my voice. Damn it. I started running, but it seemed like only a few meters—but it never ended. The distance kept enlarging until I couldn't run anymore. What is this? A vision? Are they forgetting about me? Did I die? What the hell is going on!? My mind kept racing, and I couldn't stop. All these thoughts kept popping up in my head, and it was an everlasting function of thoughts.
Although, I managed to calm down and catch my breath. I turned my gaze back to the van. They weren't outside the van anymore, and I saw Ruby getting in, so they were probably going... but without me. Did they really forget about me? I sighed. I watched the van take off and disappear into the distance after a minute or two. I felt... useless, unneeded, and forgotten. I tried, at least.
I sighed and sat myself down on the soft grass, but something was bothering me. The sky was slowly turning slightly dark, and I could feel rain. I don't really mind or care about getting wet in the rain. But something else was bothering me. I felt a presence in which... I couldn't see. It had a dark, pressuring feeling. It was like having a rope tighten around your heart. I've never felt like this—it felt like my heart was cramped inside my body.
I felt it get stronger and stronger. My breathing got heavier with the elevating pressure, yet I couldn't see this person. I turned around when I felt like I'd had enough. I wanted to run away from it. It's pathetic, but what am I supposed to be doing? I turned around, but something blocked my way... there was a pitch-black, around 7-foot-tall figure there, taking slow steps toward me. Each step I saw it take, my breathing became heavier. I could feel me and my surroundings around me shake, and could hear Nicole's voice... I looked around, but no Nicole.
I gasped, sweating and panting, looking around.