Blood Sonata

The girl's eyes fluttered open briefly, only to be shut closed again rather rapidly. Was this it? This was what it was like to die? Death was very bumpy, if she did say so herself. Every rushed step closer made her back scream out in pain, causing her to swivel the defined curves of her hips in such a convulsive way as to look snake-like, her lips parting in the most alienated way upon such a pure, slender face. Pain, pain, so much pain!
In reality she only squirmed slightly, tiny lips twitching ever so often. The pain came like a tornado. She could feel wind blowing back her wavy auburn hair as if she were running...running in the pain...such a real feeling, and yet sluggish. Her body was warm despite being cold. She was running through blood, bumping along, bumping along...
Whenever she opened her eyes there was only blurs of red and blue and green. Closer to death, closer to death....
It hurt so much....

The girl moaned again, wrapping her arms around whoever was carrying her in an effort to press the pain away or to bring death closer. Either one would have the same effect.

Marya had nodded to Alex and dashed off with such incredible speeds, even more fast than she normally ran. Her feet and body were light, and the girl she was carrying was even lighter. Alex was keeping up well; she could hear every light touch of his feet upon the ground as he ran, surely staying aware of all that was around them, but to her, everything was a blur. She dodged around trees and skidded through the leaves before picking up and bounding off again. It didn't take long at all before they reached Alex's car with Alex himself nearly tearing one of the doors off their hinges. There was no doubt in her mind that they weren't normal. She wasn't sure if they had ever been normal. Regardless, she let Alex put the girl in the back seat before sliding over the hood of the car and hopping into the passenger's seat. They were out of there in no time flat, but now there were serious questions that needed to be answered considering what to do next.

"I...I don't think we can just leave her," Marya offered up her opinion on the matter with an exasperated look upon her face. "If they ask questions, we can just lie." She wasn't a liar by nature, but the serious nature of this situation called for the truth to be stretched. They could worry about any repercussions later. "With all the disappearances going down, we can just say we found her near the lake. Make it seem like we don't know what's going on, but throw out theories like maybe she escaped whatever was behind the disappearances?" she suggested. Anything but leaving the girl in front of the hospital like they wanted to be rid of her. If anything, it would make them look that much more suspicious. "The way I see, the cops will come after us if anyone sees us dump her. They'll take note of the car, and then they'll find us. Better just to give them a good impression to start with so they don't immediately think we're guilty." This wasn't exactly strategics here, but something about talking about what they should do gave her more nostalgia--nostalgia of having to take the reigns and come up with ideas for those who...served under her? More dream stuff... she thought as she awaited Alex's response to her ideas.

Alex took a deep breath. "Okay, but we're not letting them know anything about the lake," he said, pulling into the drive that led to the ER. He parked, taking another deep breath to steady himself, and hopped out. He pulled the girl out of the back seat and sprinted in.

They must have made quite the sight, because the desk clerk screamed, several hospital patrons shouted, and in a few seconds nurses were pushing a gurney out into the lobby. Alex couldn't really tell what happened next. It was all a blur, but the next thing he knew, he was sitting in a room while doctors worked to stitch the girl's back.

What only felt like a few minutes must have been around an hour, because the next thing he knew, the doctor pulled him out, wanting to talk. They struck a deal; Alex would pay up front and the doctor would deny them ever being there. "I'll...I'll have to get back to you. I don't have any money..." Alex said. The doctor gave him a strange look.

"Remember our deal," the doctor insisted.

Alex nodded meekly. "I need to make a phone call," the boy mumbled, entering the room. The girl was sleeping still, though much more peacefully than before. A small smile flashed across Alex's features briefly before he fished his phone out of his pocket. He looked at Marya and shook his head. He hadn't even said a word to her since he ran in with the mystery girl in his arms.

"I think we need Sophie's help for once," he sighed, dialing her number. He swallowed hard. Whatever came next...He just hoped she'd do them this one favor.

"S-Sophie? I...I, uh, sort of need a huge favor," he began. Please...

The world came through like syrup through a coffee filter; slow, thick, and terribly blurred. Words…or rather, voices, because the individual words couldn’t be heard, came crawling through Manx’s ears as lazy as fat Ticks, having gorged themselves on blood and now barely able to move. One thing was clear though. Undeniably, amazingly clear.
He was alive.

He was breathing…yes, he could feel the air circulating through his chest, slowly rising and falling. The bloody cloth against his skin had been removed. He couldn’t see his actual chest; he couldn’t see anything but a dull, nearly divine glow of what was probably a hospital light. But the kiss of air against his skin was unbelievably refreshing, and he could imagine his chest, slightly muscled, rising and falling and clean. He had to be in a hospital. How could he have survived? What happened? Eyes laden with auburn lashes fluttered on his slender, rather lovely face, small pink lips twitching ever so slightly in a drowsy murmur.

“He’s awake!”

Distorted voices came through, and he could see blurry images of white and black and blue, all humanoid, all standing above him. They were peering at his face…he was alive. His living face. He was going to be okay!...he didn’t feel any pain. He couldn’t feel much of anything, actually. A small gasp enticed him to open his eyes and ears, but he couldn’t seem to do so. Suddenly, he was tired…

“WOAH! Would you look at those eyes?””They’re so…what would you even…?””Exotic. I’ve never seen anything like it.””Golden centered fading to green and then to blue…Marcel! And look at those lashes. I could’ve sworn he was a girl….””Nevermind that, just get me some more painkiller…and tell Dorthy to get more gloves and cotton from room 5683”.
The voices were more or less incomprehensible. He was alive though! Who did he owe such?...
A nurse wearing a grey scrubs passed over him now, but all Manx could see was a faded grey blur. Instantly sirens and shrieks of warning machinery sounds ripped, clawed through the air. Doctors swarmed in, shouting at each other frantically. Manx felt like his heart was going to leap out of his chest. The boy’s pretty, feminine face twisted into one of extreme terror. Grey, grey, blood, red, green, grey, blood, red!...he remembered. He remembered the water. Cool, blue, greedy, lapping at his knees. Laughing. Laughter. Then boom! Grey, grey, so much grey….slashing hissing grey! Manx bucked, the doctor’s yelling becoming shrill, the feeling of a thousand needle shooting through his skin. Hissing, shrieking, and then pain! PAIN! He could feel it. Slashing his back open, cold claws through hot flesh, simmering blood, falling on the ground, drop drop drop…hissing, blood, grey, heat, chaos, pain! He wasn’t alive. He wasn’t alive. He was hanging upside down, his blood was falling to the floor. He was fading in and out. He was a corpse. Bloodied, dying, pain.

An inhuman, ghastly roar left Manx’s lips, shredding any feeling of comfort. A storm of pain and fear uttered from the mouth, echoing through the hospital and scaring nature away outside.

Nothing about what they saw at the lake. Would anyone even believe them? Marya had absently nodded in affirmation as they pulled up to the ER section of the nearest hospital. Alex had acted fast forcing Marya to nearly knock the car door off as she struggled to get out and follow him. The both of them were a mess, and Alex was holding a dying girl in his arms. There came screaming from the lady at the front desk. Marya stood tense, closer to the entrance as she watched the events transpire. Nurses rushed out and took the girl into their care, wheeling her away on a gurney. Alex seemed petrified, and she batted away curious hospital staff, warning them to leave him and her alone. They didn't need to be warned twice. She patted Alex on the shoulder and meandered off to find a vending machine. Sticking in a dollar, she managed to get a bottle of root beer. She wasn't sure if Alex was in the mood to drink anything, so she decided to just let him alone for a bit.

Instead, she wandered through the ground floor of the hospital in all the places she was allowed to go, anyway. By the time she got back to the front desk, Alex had vanished. One of the staff members working the front desk told her that he was speaking with the doctor in charge of this particular case. A wave of worry washed over her as she wondered what Alex was telling the doctor, or if the doctor even had good news or not. She stood in place as still as a stone statue. Not it was her turn to be stoic in a spacey sort of way. Every muscle in her body relaxed when she saw Alex return. He didn't say anything, but he shook his head and she thought the worst. However, he mentioned something about Sophie instead.

"After the call, fill me in, all right?" Marya told him quickly before he got too engrossed in the call. She sighed and swigged some more of her root beer, finding a nearby chair in which to crash. She felt oddly tired for some reason, and it only just occurred to her that she had been running ragged pretty much all day with the whole trip to the lake, evasion of the police, fleeing the lake, and rushing to the hospital. She desperately needed a nice little cat nap. Oh, the irony, she thought as she rolled her eyes and gazed vacantly out across the waiting area.

Sophie's phone rang, blaring her ringtone of "Lights" by Ellie Goulding. She dried her hands on her towel, and picked it up to see Alex was calling her. "Hello?" she asked.

Alex hesitated. "Uhm..." he began, trying to think of how to phrase it. "L-like I said...I need some
help. I need, uh...Money for a hospital bill. I'll explain it later, but I need the money first. Please, it's important."

"A hospital bill? How much are we talking here? I was planning on going shoe shopping today and I need to make sure I have some." answered the girl, rubbing her fingers on one the rose petals she had floating in the water.

Alex stayed silent for a moment. "About a thousand dollars." He bit his lip, and before she could respond, he added, "B-but I'll work it off if you want me to. I can do stuff for your dad or whatever...I just really, really need it...It's important but I don't trust telling you why over the phone. If you can do this for me, I'll explain everything, I promise!"

"A THOUSAND DOLLARS?! Alex, that is three dresses at Macy's! Good God boy, this better as hell be worth
it! Do you want me to drive over and charge it to my card? At which point you'll explain everything?" she asked.

"Yes, please Sophie. I'll explain it to you when you get he-" his voice was blocked by the shouting and screaming of the girl--or rather boy--that he'd brought in. "What the fuck...?" he whispered. He could have sworn it was a girl...
"A-anyways! Yeah, I really need you to do this for me, and like I said, I'll make it up for you!"

"Fine then. I'm on my way. Give me half an hour." she said, and hung up. She stood up and wrapped her naked body in a towel before stepping out of the bath and pulling the plug. Her hair was damp at the tips, but it wasn't a wreck. It was safe to leave it clipped back like this and go out to the hospital. People were in far worse shape.

A denim skirt and white blouse were pulled on, her car keys to the Mercedes and her purse grabbed from her nightstand, and Carlotta wrapped her wrist and ankle up before ordering her to wear flats. Reluctantly, Sophie
agreed, and pulled them on before getting in the car to drive to the hospital. She waltzed into the Emergency Room, and looked at Alex. "Show me the cashier and tell me what it is officially I'm paying for." she demanded.

Alex jumped slightly when Sophie arrived several minutes later. He shot an apologizing look at Marya briefly, before
turning back to the blonde girl. "Okay, please. Not around the nurses, this is some crazy shit that we stumbled into, and the less people that know the better," he whispered. He jerked his head back at the still-writhing feminine boy. "It's her, er, I mean, him, er, whatever gender. I'm still confused," he added. "We'll have to wait on the doctor
to calm the poor kid down, and don't use names. This is...well, I struck a deal with the doctor. We're paying for the medicine, the procedure, and to keep him quiet. I'm just surprised it isn't higher. Regardless, saying our names out loud at this point isn't a great idea."

"My name is on the card, dipshit. They'll know who I am." Sophie frowned.

"Y-yeah, but...It's been worked out. The records will be cleared. Just...I really need the money. I'll explain more as soon as we step out," he explained.

"Alright, fine. Maybe I can charm him into lowering the price a little. I am a master at that." Sophie said with a final sigh. She pulled a small mirror from her bag and checked her makeup, reapplying some lip gloss before flouning towards the clerk with the doctor behind him. Alex observed her bendinga little over the counter to show just enough cleavage to keep them interested, and finally, after several minutes of her smiling and giggling a little, she pulled the American Express from her purse and handed it over. The final arrangements were made, and she
came back to Alex with a satisfied grin. "Done. Managed to bring it down to 900."

Alex grinned. "Thanks, Sophie," he whispered, briefly considering embracing the girl. She'd probably slap him for being too much of a peasant to touch her. He entered the ER room again, glancing again at Marya, then to the mystery person lying on the hospital bed. They pumped her/him full of painkillers and sleep meds. "You can take him as soon
as the fluid bag is empty," the nurse instructed. Alex nodded a thanks at her. When they were alone, Alex looked at Sophie, his expression serious.

"I'm not sure if you remember anything about the lake, but I went back there with Marya. I felt like I wanted to check something," he began. "But we went completely through it, and ended up finding this one room, one that was full of blood, and dead bodies..." Alex trailed off, looking at the ground for a moment before continuing. "We found him there...I-I didn't want to leave him. We decided just to bring him here and...I didn't want anyone knowing who I was, or about Marya, or that we were at the lake. And we weren't going to just leave him to die." He spoke in hushed tones, trying to make sure that any listeners would be foiled. He nodded at her again. "And that's another
favor, you have to keep that secret," he added.

He walked over to the person laying down, watching them. "Wake up soon," he whispered. The sooner he did, the better.

Sleep meds infused with the violent exhaustion that had come after his outburst, chest slowing with the steady breathing of sleep. Now, though, it stirred as did the rest of his body. Manx opened his eyes, the light from above nearly blocked out by the thick auburn lashes that his eyes adorned. Everything felt so hazy now…like he was lying in vat of syrup instead if on a bed. He felt he’d been here before…major de ja vu…was he alive? Yes, he’d survived! He must be in a hospital…that was probably the hospital light glowing above him. He couldn’t feel any pain, but he roughly remembered having been in extreme pain before. Or, he must’ve been. His back ached slightly, like he’d grazed it against concrete; but nothing major. Forcing his eyes open, the boy tried to weakly turn on his side, only to fall back to his former position. A machine protested and then calmed. God he was tired…but he was alive. A small tear rolled down a slender cheek, unable to be brushed away by hands so feeble. From exhaustion, maybe.

“Wake up soon”.

A barely audible voice piqued at his interest, the expression of slight perplexion on his face flaring briefly. Manx turned his head, auburn hair tickling his face in a sort of annoying way as he did so. Its hue was gradient, fading to black and then abruptly rimmed in gold. His face, though exhausted now, was strikingly pretty.

“Do you know…where I am?” he breathed, speaking heavily, slightly slurred. Felt like he was dreaming, he was under so many drugs.

Chase sprang up out of the couch, realizing what day it was. She shuffled upstairs, back up to her room, and peeked outside her window to see if he was there. It was the perfect thing to get her mind off this madness. She pulled the window open, closed her eyes and listened as the young man pull out his cello and quietly plucked, before suddenly playing arco fully and gracefully. She loved listening to him play. The cello was a beautiful instrument, and the man himself had quite the handsome face.
As she began to space out, listening to the wonderful tune he was playing, the man suddenly cursed and dropped his bow and held his wrist as if he was in pain. Chase frowned and she felt a wave of sadness consume her. What if…?
She closed the window and threw herself back on the bed, grabbing her phone and checking her messages. Still none. She scrolled through her contacts, looking for someone to annoy, but alas, she couldn’t find anyone. Well, there was Sophie. Why the hell not.
trolololololololooooo~

"You went back to the lake? Well that was a dumb move." Sophie snapped at Alex. "I understand not wanting to leave Nathan there, but then again, you both could have died. And where would I be without my peasants? At least you saved another peasant. That was kind of you." she said, glancing at the person in the bed.

She pulled out her cell phone as it vibrated in her purse. Chase had texted her something pointless. Rly, peasant? Grow up. she texted rapidly before shoving her phone back in her purse. God she hated Chase sometimes.

Turning her head once after a bit, she had realized that Sophie arrived at the hospital which was something that she was sort of expecting. She hadn't been able to piece together what it was that Alex needed from her. After all, the two had to have had one of the worst rapports in history. Alex hadn't told her anything like she had asked him to, but that didn't matter. He had a lot of shit on his mind, and she actually felt sorry for him despite her apparently having her own demons to deal with. The things she was capable of...in reality. It can't just be another dream--no, just stop. STOP, she thought as she curled up a bit in her chair, a stoic expression on her face, but tears welling up in her eyes. The thoughts of being locked in another nightmare scared her. It wasn't too bad of a nightmare though. She had her actual friends with her, and she was in a truly familiar place. It just went to show her how steeped in reality she actually was. Others would be more skeptical, but this was happening. After everything she had been through, it wasn't difficult to believe. Not anymore.

The chair wasn't really comfortable so she moved over to one of the cushioned benches nearby which was more like two chair shoved together, only without the middle arms so that she could sprawl out a bit more easily. Sleeping within a dream...the thought made her laugh as she closed her eyes, placing her hands together under her face like a pillow. Her breathing slowed a bit, and she was glad that the hospital wasn't too particularly busy today. The waiting room was fairly quiet save for the hush chatter of other waiting patients and their families. She sought solace in the silence and found herself easily drifting off to sleep. It was a light sleep, but any sort of rest was welcome, for she had no idea of what was to come of these most recent events.

Alex shrugged. He'd leave the part about the grey thing out...no need to let Sophie know more than she needed to. Marya would probably agree, but at the moment she was stretching out in a chair, probably trying to take a short nap. "Well, it's the peasants that need you right now," he replied nonchalantly. "But really, thanks Sophie. You don't understand how much it means to me that you did this for us." He smiled briefly at her again, and was going to say something else when he heard another voice, slow and heavy.

Alex turned towards the boy laying on the hospital bed. He took a few steps over so he was standing at their side. "Yeah, you're in the hospital," he explained. "You were in pretty rough shape, you'll want to take it easy for the next few days," he said gently. The fluid bag was almost empty now. "But if you're ready, We can leave."

Alex stepped away to give the boy time to decide what he wanted to do, walking over to where Marya was currently snoozing. He knelt, reaching out and touching her gently on the shoulder. "Hey, I think we're going to leave soon," he said quietly. "He woke up, and the fluid bag's empty." He remained still, trying to gauge what her reaction would be. Alex hoped that she wasn't trying to convince herself it was all another episode of her nightmares...This time it was real, and if she wasn't sane, Alex didn't think he'd be able to get through it. He smiled reassuringly at her.

Manx groaned, making as if he was going to move his arm to brush that pesky auburn hair out of his face. But the effort created a sort of dizzying nausea, bringing attention to the bright light above him and the beginnings of a killer headache. Even as he lay on his side he felt like all of his blood was rushing to and out of his head; as if he were being perpetually held upside down. He could feel it. The sensation was enough to make him want to pass out and have it all done with.

"Funny how you've got years of comfort and then a few days of pain makes you want to give up".
He smiled slightly, laughing, muttering under his breath more to himself than the boy beside him. The boy, he assumed, who had...something with finding him. How had he been found? Where had he been? He could remember hanging upside down, of course, and then the bleeding and the slashing and the grey.....

A machine in the corner started to beep frantically and everybody in the room went ridgid; but just as soon it went back down. Manx steadied his breathing, fighting off the blurs he'd been starting to see at the edges of his vision.
"How.....how, pray, did you find me, Captain?"
He'd never been so confused in his life. No answer. Manx squinted, frowning. He could see everything perfectly clear, but it seemed to take quite a while for his mind to recognize that the boy he was talking to wasn't there, as if his mind were the one that needed glasses. Manx shook it off, muttering something incomprehensible again. He just needed to get up, get his blood flowing again.


He was fine.
He'd been in some sort of freak accident.
Nothing had happened.

It hadn't been long, of this Marya was sure, but her ears twitched in a subtle manner as she picked up the sound of footsteps coming closer and closer. They roused her from her very light slumber, but she kept her eyes closed until she felt a gentle hand touching her shoulder. She already knew it was Alex, so she wasn't surprised when she gazed up at his face. She listened to what he had to say; apparently it wasn't going to be long before they departed the hospital, hopefully to never look back again, but that meant facing the future. "I see. I was prepared for a lengthy stay," Marya replied softly, giving her friend a reassuring smile while moving into a sitting position and taking a deep breath. "I should be glad that the doctors and nurses here were efficient enough to get the job done quickly. It's almost like they know we need to get out of here," she added. That's when something snapped in her mind.

"Wait a minute, did you say 'he'? I thought we brought in a girl," Marya stated, a bit shocked. The apparent male's image flashed through her mind, but she couldn't quite comprehend. His appearance was so feminine that he had them all fooled. Maybe Alex had just experienced a slight slip of the tongue? He couldn't have meant what he said, not like it would matter either way. She just found it personally odd. In truth, it was the last thing she should be curious about. More importantly, she hadn't seen this 'guy' around at all in town. She would remember such a striking figure such as 'him' if she had seen 'him' before. Where had 'he' come from? How had 'he' wound up at the lake? What was 'his' name even? Marya rubbed a temple as she awaited Alex's response to her question.

Alex's smile turned from reassuring to nervous. "Uh, yeah...The doc said it was a male. I was a little shocked too, honestly. I think he was on drugs or something, but there's only one way to find out. And to be honest, I really don't want to." He stood up and turned halfway towards Sophie and the apparent male they'd rescued. "Anyways, I'm going to call a nurse to get the IV taken out so we can take him home or something," he said, turning all the way around before hesitating. He wanted to ask his friend another question, but it wasn't the time to ask, and certainly not the place. He sighed, walking back over to the kid on the hospital bed.

He pressed the call button, and a few seconds later, a nurse walked in and took the IV out. Now to get the boy out. "Come here. I'm going to help you out," Alex said gently, helping the boy slowly to his feet. "Easy now, easy. There. Now just take a step. Good. Just take it easy..." Alex's voice was calm, trying to keep the boy from tearing his stitches or causing any unnecessary pain. "Oh, by the way, I'm Alex. The blond is Sophie, and the girl with the silvery hair is Marya. He saw you at the park, laying down and all bloody, so we rushed you here." A little white lie wouldn't kill Sophie or the boy. What happened at the lake was between him and Marya. The less people that knew, the better, and he was fairly sure his friend would agree with him. He offered another smile to the boy, gradually letting go of him. "Think you can walk on your own?" Alex asked.

Manx moaned instantly, a soft, rather feminine noise; never before had he felt so dizzy. The room spun around him, blood protesting as what he felt (an upside down sensation) directly challenged reality (a right side up sensation). His blood was up, gravity was pulling it down, and he was walking forward. With another moan Manx closed his eyes, pleased to find that without the rightside up images the feeling lessened. When he opened his eyes again, bright blue with tinges of gold at the centers, he felt a lot better. His back tingled and shivered, as if it wanted to hurt but the medications wouldn't let it.

Manx tensed, trying to deal with the aching curvatures of his body and listen to the boy talking to him at the same time. The words confused him, making him dizzy, conflicting thoughts immediately jumping to life. Not the ones about the people; though instinctivly he wanted to brave dizziness and look. The story. As the feeling of supportive hands gradually slipped away, Manx swooned, stumbling awkwardly over to the nearest wall to blink and prop himself up. Soft auburn hair fell around his neck, tinged with black and gold on the ends. Now that it wasn't at all screwed up in pain his pretty face gained an air of elegance, and perhaps even mystique.

"I don't remember laying down".
Manx frowned, his voice almost maybe possibly male but perhaps a chance nearly female. It was a soft, soothing sort of thing, jovial and quite joking at the same time. The room spun slightly and he closed his eyes, trying to hold the image still in his mind.

"I remember...upside down...and...grey...."

Car accident
Grey, slash, slash
Car accident.

"Car accident..."

He frowned, though not about the car accident; he wasn't aware that he'd even said that. No, he was simply focused on getting this image all straight. He could just barely make out a pretty little miss in blonde, though thr background was too blurred for recognition. And then there was a girl curled up in a chair. He smiled slightly at the thought of the position, wishing he could curl up right now...that was all he wanted to do, though he doubted it'd be good for his...stitches? He had gotten stitches, right? Anyhow....the girl. She had silvery hair, kind of reminding him of how moonlight glanced off of grass blades at night. He'd never seen anything of the sort; this wasn't the old-person grey. Curious, curious. He would have thought about it more, at least to distract himself, if thinking so hard didn't make him dizzy. She must be..Marya? Which meant....
Manx tried to recollect the picture of the blonde in his mind, tall and slim with hair...curly on the ends...

After a moment he opened his eyes again, glad to feel no dizziness poking about the sides of his head. With a slightly distant smile he now focused on Alex, blinking rapidly again.

"Less I topple over....walking, I don't think...."

Alex kept a fairly neutral expression as the boy talked. He seemed to be a little confused, perhaps he was one of those people that drugs hit really hard. "You still didn't tell me what your name is," he said lightly, the corners of his lips tugging slightly upward. Grey...He was definitely hit by one of those...things.

Alex's eyes briefly met with Marya's. He remembers, at least slightly. We'll have to keep him close... Alex looked back to the boy that was now leaning against the wall. He was still a little difficult to understand. "I'll just help you to the car then," Alex remarked, one arm circling the boy's waist to help him walk. Good lord, his body is even soft like a girl's, he thought, though his outward expression remained blank.

Alex glanced back at his friends. "Let's meet at my house," he suggested. The nameless boy was drugged out, and Marya rode to the hospital with Alex, so it was directed mostly towards Sophie. "That is, if you want the whole story explained." He smirked at her, then turned away and started walking again, slowly, as not to make the boy stumble any more than he already was.

Hands met eyes as Marya tried to rub the drowsiness from hers, almost as if they truly desired that nap, but things were urgent even now. They had to make their next move. Upon lowering her hands, her gaze met Alex's, and she didn't even flinch. He had been talking to the guy they had found, and it seemed...did he remember all of what had happened? Seems that way, Marya concluded to herself as she stood up, brushing herself off for no reason. It wasn't like she could stay clean between the frequent visits to the lake. She hoped that they wouldn't be going back there for a while, but it wasn't like she was traumatized. The realm of nightmares brought even more horrid terrors upon her than what she had witnessed. Was that not the only reason that she was able to remain sane now?

Stretching a bit, she waited for Alex to lead the boy out of the room before approaching the two of them. Alex was her ride after all, for she had left her bike at his place. She imagined Sophie would take her own car back to Alex's, for she surmised that's where they were meeting up. She definitely wasn't going back home without her bike at the very least. "Do you need any help with him? I think I might be a bit too rough. You know how my strength can get out of hands sometimes," she stated softly, moving towards the hospital entrance with them, the automatic doors not hesitating to slide open. Expressed feats of her strength were quite common when she had first came out of her psychosis. Doors were knocked off their hinges, and handshakes were nearly lethal, sending quite a few to the hospital until everyone grew wiser to the situation. Though she had things under control, she didn't want to risk placing farther harm on this guy who had already been through the utmost hell and back.

Manx smiled in apology, though it was rather unclear who he was apologizing to. Focusing on any one thing for long was whacking him out, and so his eyes wandered as they moved; to the window, to the wall, to Marya, the blonde, to the hand around his waist and then to the wavy locks of hair which whisked about atop his visage. The tunnel of his throat felt smooth, a relief next to the thirsty burning that had once dominated the area. Every now and then his back would tingle, dully aching from the suppressed pain or shuddering from tensed muscles. God his shoulders hurt. His shoulders hadn't even been touched.
In an effort to stretch them and his neck he laid his head against the shoulder beside him, whispering back, loud noise threatening to induce headache.

"Manx. Manx Roux, though Manx le'roux is how one would...usually". He held back and disposed of the plethora of questions floating about in his mind, slender, delicate looking face instead lighting into an appreciative smile. Had they been wanting to harm him surely they wouldn't have spent all that money in the hospital. They could be..trusted, yes? He had nobody else to trust but himself, and what with the funny feelings in his head he now doubted even that.
Whatever their intents, he doubted their ability to put him into more pain than he'd already been in.
Just...one little thing...

"Do you have a cow or something on you by chance? I'm starved..."

A small pink blush spread across his cheeks at the odd way he couldn't seem to help wording things and then at his pushiness, but his belly felt more than empty, and he'd be mortified if it started growling.

Alex chuckled at Manx's choice of words. "A cow, eh?" he joked. "I don't have a tendency to keep large livestock at my house, but I'm fairly sure I can find something for you to eat. However, most of my provisions consist of cereal and ramen noodles. I think I have some chicken noodle soup, if you want that." Alex continued walking, though he looked a little uncomfortable with the other boy's head on his shoulder. He hesitated for a moment, glancing between Sophie and Marya before starting back towards his car.

It was a short, silent ride back to Alex's house, with Manx in the passenger, more or less flopping around like a fish every time Alex stopped or turned the vehicle. He dragged the redhead boy the couch as soon as the group stepped inside. "I can check and see if we have any lunch meat in the fridge, or I can make some soup. It's up to you," Alex said to Manx. He glanced at Marya, strangely finding a small amount of reassurance just by looking at her.

Memories from earlier that day flashed through his head again. Neither of them were normal, possibly not even human. It was a strange idea to consider, and one that even scared the boy somewhat, though having his friend share the same situation as himself made him feel stronger. He slight smile touched his lips before fading away as he heard a car door slam.

He opened the door, just as Sophie came walking up the stairs to the porch. "I'm assuming you'll want an explanation now," he remarked nonchalantly.

Manx was smiling despite the pain and the situation, so radiant that one would think he'd never been in any sort of trouble at all. He was still wearing those weird blue hospital things since his old clothes had been soaked in blood, but he didn't seem to notice, or to care much about anything but food. That and figuring out what' happened. That and he didn't remember much about himself, which was quite scary.
Ah, well. He could deal with that later. It was probably just the drugs. For the moment the boy was just glad he was alive.

A small purr of anticipation from his stomach sent a blush across his otherwise fair skin. He really did look like a girl, and a pretty one at that. The curves of his waist and the flatness of his stomach almost made up for the lack of boobs had he actually been one. Normally he was a tad self-conscious about his appearance, but the latest had obviously blown that out of the window.

"I swear, you could go to school and tell the teacher that Manx ate your homework . I'll take anything you have".

Manx smiled, laying down on the couch the boy had led him to, though instinct kept him from taking up the whole thing. What if somebody else wanted to sit there? Godammit he couldn't believe his luck.

The boy's eyes watered, and her wiped them with the back of his hand. There would be no crying in front of the ladies. Or the guy. He couldn't tell which would be worse.

"Thank you all, so much..."

He nodded at Marya, a sort of inquisitive emotion there, though it was hard to tell exactly what it was, and then he nodded at Alex, hair falling around his shoulders as he took them in. They'd both carried him. He could tell. He remembered what they smelt like.
But perhaps they didn't want to know that...

Sophie watched the boy wake up but said nothing the entire time. This boy really was strange, and something about what Alex was saying made it seem like he was lying about something. Like there was a piece of information he was leaving out. They said they would meet at Alex's house, so she figured she'd corner him and get the truth out of him.

As Alex dragged the boy out to his car, Sophie went to her own car and followed him over to his house. She followed like a lost puppy, unsure what to do. As the owner of the home retrieved food for this new boy, Manx was his name, she took a seat on the opposite couch. She wasn't a hundred percent sure what she was doing here anyway. "I should take you shopping. Your clothes are filthy." she told the boy. A shopping spree was something she needed. She let down her flowing blonde hair, as her slight ADD made it so it was impossible to keep her hair up for too long, and twirled it around her finger mindlessly.

"And Alex, could you grab me some food too? I didn't get a chance to get some before I ran out to help you." she called out, looking down at her bad ankle. It ached from putting weight on it, but it was bearable. Not nearly as bad as yesterday.

Winding up helping out anyway without a solid response, Marya aided Manx to the car with Alex and hopped in the back, taking care not to break anything she touched. She gazed vacantly outside the windows, her cocoa brown eyes blinking every so often, but for now they seemed so devoid of life. Flashbacks of the happenings of the last couple of days plagued her mind. Images of the death, the blood, the place under the lake, the dangling corpses, her leaping out of the hole which wasn't humanly possible. Everything seemed so surreal, but she knew it wasn't a dream. It wasn't a dream. Marya lightly tapped her head against the car window; she couldn't wait to be out of it. It only took a matter of minutes to reach Alex's place, luckily, and Manx was aided to the house. She took note that her bike was still there, not that she had to worry about it. Crime wasn't too big of an issue around those parts. I'm so tired for some reason... Marya mentally sighed as she found herself leaning against a wall in Alex's living room. Sophie had come in shortly after them; she must have been following close behind. The other girl had taken a seat on the couch and taken up Alex's offer for food. The thought of eating made Marya a bit sick to her stomach for some reason. She decided not to speak up about that particular offer, and instead she spoke up about something that she noticed was missing.

"Alex, you can get them some food, but save the explanation for when Chase gets here," she interjected quickly, reaching a hand into her pocket to retrieve her phone. Chase was a good friend of theirs, not to mention she had come with them to the lake the day before and witnessed everything. It was only right that she be there to hear about everything. Sifting through her contacts, she found Chase's number and dialed it, listening as it rung. She wasn't quite sure what she was going to say to the girl exactly yet, but her mind would supply the answer surely. It's not that difficult, she reassured herself.

Chase scoured around the kitchen, trying to find stuff that’ll make a quick lunch. Her brother was just lounging in the living room, mindlessly watching TV and inhaling a bag of chips. She eventually came across a cup of instant ramen, the classic college kid’s food. Well, it was better than nothing.

As she prepared the water, she could hear her phone ringing in the living room. She really paid no attention to it until she heard her brother answer it in the most hilariously serious tone he could do. “‘ello, Chase is busy stalking the shit out of a cello player, would you like to leave a mess-”

“Shut the fuck up, you bloody asshole!” Chase screamed as she stormed into the living room with cup of hot water. She snatched the phone from her brother and dumped the water on his head. He jumped up with a yelp and Chase kicked him in the back, pushing him towards the stairs. Chase quickly checked who was calling her before answering. “Sorry ‘bout that, Marya. What’s up?”

Marya's eyebrow raised slightly as she heard a voice that definitely wasn't Chase on the other line which could no doubt have been the girl's brother. A look of great displeasure on her face, Marya waited calmly for the shout that signified that Chase had become aware of the call, and she looked somewhat comforted when she heard the yelping of her friend's brother through the phone. "No worries, Chase," Marya said lightly, a nervous smile forming on her face where there had been indifference moments prior. She just needed something other to do than think about shit. It wasn't helping. "Are you busy right now? I was wondering if you could come over to Alex's. Sophie is here. We...have some things to discuss." She sighed and shuffled her feet, suddenly feeling the urge to run around.

"Important things." Those two words were stated such that the dire nature surrounding them was amplified. Marya was a fairly serious teenager at times, at least after her psychosis, but this was about as serious as she ever sounded. "So can you make it?" she asked again, expecting a clear and hopefully affirmative answer.

Chase was a bit taken back by Marya’s tone. She knew that Marya was always too fucking serious, but she really meant it now, and it kinda made her nervous. She could see her brother watching her from the top of the staircase, and, judging by the questionable look on his face, she must’ve looked pretty damn nervous. She recalled the dream she had last night and shuddered. “Yeah. I’ll be there in five minutes, tops. Seeya.”

She pulled herself off of the couch and dug through the hallway closet, grabbing a jacket and her skateboard. She glared at her brother, who was still dripping wet on the wooden stairs. There was a trail of water from the couch leading all the way upstairs into her brother’s bedroom. “This place better be dry by the time I get back,” she hissed before heading out.