"Gramps! Gramps, hey, g-get over here! There's a kid out here, and he doesn't look good!"
... Pain. Pain... it hurts. Everything hurts.
Every single part of his body ached, screamed, burned, stung, and painfully twitched in the worst possible way. It was if every type of pain he'd ever felt shot through him all at once, over and over, until he couldn't take it anymore. Quite an interesting development, as, last he'd remembered, there should not have been any parts left of him to feel anything. Yet, here he was, in grueling agony, curled up in what felt like tall grass. If he hadn't been in such pain, he could almost say the feeling of the almost moist, sharp grass on his back was nostalgic.
He'd made the mistake of opening his eyes, in which he was rewarded with a bright sting. He put it aside and dealt with it for the time being. Blurry shapes presented themselves in front of his eyes... he could see? It was nothing but light and dark, back and white, but slowly, color returned to his vision after a few seconds. Blurred factors soon became sharper, clearer. He could make out the untainted blue sky. He felt the grass against his arms, neck, and legs.
He was alive.
"I'm coming, Daisy!"
He could faintly hear the voice of an old man, off in the distance. It sounded as if he was in a hurry. His voice was ragged and breathy. The crook of a smile formed on his lips upon hearing the old man's words, painful as it may be. He tried to raise an arm to cover his eyes from the bright sun, but found he couldn't muster enough strength to even do that much.
He felt... a warm liquid on his back, and his sides. He lay face up in a large field of tall grass, the dirt ground grazing against his back uncomfortably just before he felt someone pick him up. He could realize that he was being carried by someone, but he didn't care to look to see who it was. He had a feeling that moving his head towards his rescuer would do more harm to himself than good. His eyes darted about his surroundings, just after being laid onto the uneven cement ground. In thirty seconds flat, people were on all sides of him, gasping and whispering to one another. All of them, looking at him. All of them... seemed familiar to him.
His thoughts were cut off as he felt that same warm liquid trickle down from his underarm to his side. He knew the feeling, he knew what it was, but he needed to make sure.
He felt his side out of curiosity, nay, of need. He noticed that warm sensation on his sides and back was spreading, really fast. He'd turn his head to see just what it was, to just confirm his suspicion...
... and fainted.
"How much longer do I have to watch this kid, Gramps?"
He heard an adolescent voice off in the distance. He recognized it. The teenager's (he assumed) voice was confident, cocky. It sounded familiar to him. A small groan escaped his lips as he tried to turn over, after discovering he was laid down.
His body felt warm. He felt something fuzzy, something comfortable covering his body. Was he in a bed?
"Until he wakes up, sonny. You should know that by know."
His eyes shot open. He knew that one. He knew that voice.
He sat up immediately, quickly, throwing the covers off of him and onto the foot of the bed. He was in a small bedroom. A computer was off in the corner, on a desk, next to a dresser. All of the basic stuff for a regular bedroom.
It felt familiar to him. The diameters were almost exactly the same as he remembered. He almost would have assumed it was his old bedroom, back at his mother's home, but there were a lot of things off about it. Posters of bikini models on the ceilings and walls. There was a bundle of sports equipment in the corner. Where was he?
A creek of the door whistled through his ears. His head snapped in the direction of the door. His eyes were greeted by another teenager's.
He stared at him for what seemed like the longest time. The other boy seemed to be frozen in fear. His face said it all- he was near terrified.
It wasn't until a pitiful, quiet whimper that was barely heard by him let him know that he was glaring at the other boy. He had scared him. It had been a while since he did that. He'd been told his glare was near terrifying, coupled with his red, seemingly bloodthirsty eyes.
He decided to take advantage of the boy's fear and work some information out of him. He probably didn't need to scare him for it, but it was much more entertaining this way. It would have been boring had he just woke up and asked for information.
"Where am I?" He practically hissed at the other kid.
The moment seemed to hang in the air as the other boy realized that he still had a terrified expression on his face. He almost immediately recomposed himself after being spoken to.
"Cool the 'tude, man. You're at my house."
"Why?"
A click was heard, and a lamp had illuminated the once dark room a little bit. The far end of the room where he had lay on the bed was still in shadows, but he was able to see the stranger in front of him.
At first glance, he seemed like your stereotypical douchebag. That's the kind of vibe he came off with. He had a fairly tanned skin tone. He sported a black V-collar shirt and washed out blue jeans, and some spiky ass brown hair.
"Because my sister, Daisy, found you on the verge of death on the outskirts of town a few days ago." The other kid seemed to retaliate at his guest's attitude, placing emphasis on his condition. "You could at least say thanks before you turn into an ass."
He had frowned partially, but under the shadows of his raven-black hair and dark room, it had gone unnoticed.
"... Fine. Thank you."
"Better. Now you sit tight. My gramps will probably wanna talk to you, since, you know. You kind of showed up here almost dead and everything." The other boy left the room, gently closing the door on his way out. It had still wandered open, slightly, letting a crack of light leak into the dark room, polluting the shadows that concealed him.
He did recall. Showing up here dead, that is. He remembered the pain... laying in the grass, at mercy of the people at the town. He remembered being completely helpless.
He hated the feeling. Something about being at someone else's mercy left a bad taste in his mouth. He hated staring up at someone, completely oblivious to his own fate. He hated having to wait to hear what would happen to it. He hated having to let someone else nurse him back to help.
He hated having to be dependent.
Still, it had happened. Here he was, laying in someone else's bed, depending on someone else to help him recover. The boy sighed in the dark. Just... how did he end up here? At this house?
He tried to remember what had happened before waking up injured in this town. Glimpses of a snowy atmosphere clouded his memory. He remembered staring death right in the face, standing strong and standing proud. Then a white flash, a sharp and sudden pain... and now he's here. Some douche bag's house.
Yeah, no sense at all. Wasn't that wonderful?
The boy fell backwards onto the bed, staring at the barely visible ceiling. He rested his hands on his forehead, noticing the bandages on both his hands and forehead. His eyes wandered around the room for the second time since his stay. This must have been the other boy's room. It kind of fit him.
He wasn't one to judge someone from a first appearance, but from first impressions, this seemed like it would fit this other kid. Stereotypical "bikini babe" posters on the wall, sports crap, things of that nature crowded what little space in the place there was. Not his ideal environment, but he had no choice.
Another sigh left his lips, instead this one being much more frustrated. He didn't like this at all.
"You're awake?" A quiet, delicate, yet somehow, seemingly mature voice was heard from the door the other boy had left cracked. "I didn't leave the door open. You're moving?"
He shifted his head to the side and fixed his gaze on the girl. She looked similar to the other one. Her hair-color and features resembled the boy that walked in the room earlier, though the girl was a much easier sight on the eyes. She seemed a little nicer, not much of an ass. This must be the Daisy the old man and teenaged kid had both mentioned, he thought.
He bit his lip tightly upon laying eyes on her. She was good-looking. She wore some kind of apron... like she was a Nurse's assistant, or something. He cursed his current state. It hugged her curves in all the wrong places, at least, for the situation- she very well rather have been naked. Seemed like it would be less-revealing.
He forced the thoughts out of his mind, mentally scolding himself for letting his mind wander to such a conclusion.
She must be the other kid's sister... the one that found him. He owed her a proper thanks.
"No." He replied simply. He let his response hang in the air for a few moments, noting her confused- almost sarcastic expression. Almost like she didn't believe him for a moment. A crook of a smile formed on his lips, albeit for just a fraction of a second before he continued. "A boy came in to check on me. He left the door open."
"Oh, that must have been Blue..." She looked backwards for a second, opening the door a fraction and looking down the hall. She shrugged to herself and turned back to him. "I'm sorry- would you like it closed?"
"It's fine."
"Oh... okay." With how she responded, he felt almost guilty. She sounded like she was hurt. "How are your injuries treating you?"
His eyes widened a little, in shock. Injuries? He did remember being on the verge of death outside somewhere. He definitely must have been injured. He observed his hand and noted the bandages he discovered a few moments ago- yeah. He couldn't even tell.
"I've hardly noticed..." He saw her expression brighten up a little bit. She was proud of herself, it seemed. "You were the one that nursed me to health?"
"Um, yeah... How did you know?" She looked surprised.
"The guy... 'Blue' told me."
"O-oh. Well, my grandpa helped out a little bit too." She averted her eyes from his gaze, shying away from direct eye contact. He noticed a slight blush appear on her face- even through the dark. It must have been more strong that it came off as.
He gritted his teeth in the dark. He never was the type to rely on others, so this particular kind of thing was a bit hard for him. She did save his life, so a simple "thank you" wouldn't suffice. That would come off as more insulting that anything else he could do. At least, he would feel offended if he was in her shoes in such a scenario.
He'd have to return the favor some other time.
"... Yeah. I guess so. It was... nice of you two to help me." He said, almost having to force himself to say such a thing. Just admitting that he was forced to take someone else's help made him cringe.
"Well, I wasn't just gonna let you die out there!" She smiled at him. "What else could I have done?"
He pondered the question. If she aimed to be a good person, perhaps that was the best course of action for her to take. He only wished that so many people didn't have to see him in such a horrible condition.
"I suppose that was the only ethical thing to do."
"Mhm. You're welcome. Least I could do." She shifted her weight onto one leg and placed a hand on her hip. A small frown played itself on her lips, and he noticed the slight change in attitude. He wondered if how distant he was upset her in some way. Women. The one thing he had trouble understanding. "You think you can walk, then? Blue will probably get mad if you stay in his room any longer."
"Even if I can't, I'd probably go mad if I had to stay in here any longer, too." He wasn't trying to be funny, and there really was a bit of truth to his words, but Daisy couldn't help but to laugh at him a bit. He raised an eyebrow at the girl standing in front of him and let his amusement rise to the surface, smiling a fraction. She tried to compose herself, noticing his change in composure, but failed miserably and laughed even harder.
His grin grew before he tried to stand. A soreness ached throughout his legs, enough to wager them wobbly a moment, He staggered a few times before catching himself, but he grew accustomed quickly. He was able to walk without it being too awkward, or it feeling too bad.
"Do... do you need help?" She offered a hand, extending it to him. "I can help you downstairs, if you don't mind..."
"It's not necessary."
The look of concern on Daisy's face didn't disappear, but she trusted him if he thought he could handle it. She hadn't gotten to know him yet, which she'd hoped to, but even so, she trusted he could handle himself.
He turned the corner and entered the bright hallway, Daisy in pursuit. The sudden sting of light was bearable, but greatly unpleasant after being in the dark for so long. He shielded his eyes for a moment, trying to get adjusted to the sudden change.
"Holy shit, it moves!"
"Blue, watch your mouth."
His attention was turned to an old man and the teenage boy who intruded him earlier. Blue had a sarcastic kind of douche-baggy grin on his face, which oddly seemed to aggravate him.
"So you're well enough to move, are you? Would you mind taking a seat?" The old man sounded kind, gesturing for him to sit down with him on the couch.
He nodded approvingly, taking a seat next to him.
"Would you be kind enough to let us know your name, to start off with? We've hardly got to know you since your visit."
He smiled on the inside. Visit... yeah, sure. Letting them know who he was wouldn't hurt.
"My name... is Red."