I'm in pain. I can't speak; my vocal cords are broken. Every bone in my body is twisted, yet I'm here, alive. In a room... I want to cry. Why am I still alive? What did I do? I can't seem to remember what it was.
"What are you looking at?" Kieth asked as he walked through the streets with his younger brother.
"Nnn... I want that puppy," the little kid said, pointing toward a French bulldog.
"That is not a puppy. It's a grown dog, and it has an owner. We can't take it," Kieth replied, looking at the dog, which was on a leash held by a man twice his size.
"Also, we gotta go to Mom and Dad. They might be waiting." Kieth had come out for a walk since his cousin was visiting, so he had brought him to the local park.
"Please... I beg youuuu! It looks cute," Anton said, his eyes mirroring the dog's expression.
"Nope. It's getting late, and it's your 10th birthday in a week. Ask your parents. I don't get it—how is that thing cute? It barely has fur. Well, could be his preference. Looks ugly to me."Let's go home."
"You always say this! All you're gonna do is go home and sit on your phone all day! I don't care. I'm not going home!" Anton yelled and ran away from Kieth.
"HEY! WAIT! STOP RUNNING! What is wrong with him? I don't even use my ph..." Kieth trailed off. "Never mind, I guess I do use it too much."
Kieth ran behind Anton, who surprisingly ran fast. He caught up to him.
"Heh..." Kieth panted. "Anton, you little shit. I run faster. I'll tell this to Uncle, and he'll whoop your ass. Wait and wat—"
Gunshots were heard. Both were startled as they looked across the street. There were cops running after a criminal with a gun, who was firing back in an attempt to escape.
"ANTON! WE GOTTA—" Kieth started, but Anton was nowhere to be seen.
"WHERE THE FUCK—" Kieth looked around frantically. Then, he glanced back at the chase scene, but only for a second before everything went blank.
Did I die? Ah, yeah, the guy shot me. Why?
Still, he had good aim. Pretty sure I was shot in the head since I didn't even have a second to react.
I CAN'T FUCKING MOVE. WHAT IS THIS? THE AFTERLIFE?
He heard whispers through the darkness. Is someone speaking something—
He jolted upright, looking around, his eyes adjusting to his surroundings. He was in a room with a wooden floor.
"He is awake," a girl's voice said, sounding as beautiful as a bird's song.
His vision adjusted to the dim light in the room. He was surrounded by a girl who looked East Asian with dark brown hair and a tall, well-built boy with smooth skin and messy, jet-black hair. The two seemed a bit concerned about him.
"Hey... where am I?" Kieth asked, his throat dry and his voice coarse.
"Uh, hey... well, we don't know much either, but... you died, right?" the boy responded, speaking with an accent.
"Maybe we should give him some water." The girl went to get some water.
Kieth tried standing up, but his legs felt weak. The boy supported him.
"How did you know I died?"
"Well, even we did. It's been a couple of days since I've been here, but you were lying on the floor when we woke up."
The boy helped Kieth sit on a nearby chair as the girl returned with a glass of water and handed it to him. Kieth gulped it down; it felt heavenly, the same feeling as drinking water at 3 a.m. on a hot summer night.
"Oh... much better. Can I have another?"
The girl smiled and went to fetch another glass.
"So, you all died, huh?" Kieth asked the boy.
"Yes. It was pleasant, though. I went away surrounded by my loved ones."
"How did you die?"
"Cancer."
"Damn," Kieth responded instantly without thinking.
Silence.
Fuck, I must have sounded so fucking rude. Why is he silent? It's making this a lot more awkward. Besides, cancer hurts, right?
"So... like... uhhh... it didn't hurt?" Kieth asked, thinking it might break the silence.
"It did."
Silence again.
Just as Kieth was drowning in his thoughts, the girl appeared with the glass of water. For the first time, Kieth, who didn't believe in anything like a angel, thought to himself: An angel in disguise. Thank you so much. Please help me.
"Ah, yeah. Thanks," Kieth said as he drank in silence, then cleared his throat.
"Anyways, what is your name? I didn't quite ask that yet," the girl asked.
The boy said, "Ah, I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself, My name is Vasil," extending his arm for a handshake. Kieth shook it.
"And mine is Yoshinaga Akane," the girl said cheerfully.
"Mine is Kieth Vitus. Pleasure."
"Well, for starters, can you tell me what you know about this place?"
Kieth asked. Even though they'd had a peaceful conversation, he still didn't know where he was or how he had ended up there.
Akane responded, "We don't know much either. I came here around a week ago, and Vasil came four days ago. On the other hand, Rita has been here the longest. She didn't tell me how long ago she came, but she was there when I woke up here."
"Rita? There's another?" Kieth asked, surprised since he hadn't seen another girl.
"Yeah, she's sleeping currently. We didn't want to wake her up since she barely sleeps," Vasil responded. "But yeah, apparently, we've been stuck here. Rita said we need four people to leave this place. Now that we have four, I suppose we can leave."
"Should we wake her up?" Akane asked.
"No need. I heard everything, so no need to explain it to me either," a girl said as she walked out. She looked like a tomboy with a pixie cut and a cold expression as she glanced at Kieth.
Wow, she sure is bold wearing that thin shirt. Then again, not like she has anything to cover.
"Nice to meet you, Rita," Kieth said but was met with a cold glare, as if she had heard his thoughts.
"We will leave within half an hour. Pack anything you might need," Rita commanded the two.
"So soon? Let Kieth rest first," Vasil protested.
"He will get plenty of rest when we figure out how to get out of this place," Rita snapped at Vasil. Vasil didn't argue further, and the three left the room. Before leaving, Akane turned to Kieth.
"Get as much rest as possible."
"Will do," Kieth smiled at Akane as she left. He stood up and looked outside the window.
There was nothing—he couldn't see the sky. Not because it wasn't there, but because it seemed like they were in a cave.
A cabin in a cave?!? And it seems like we're the only ones here.