The sun had barely risen over the horizon, but bright fiery lights cast an orange glow around my dark room.
There was a moment of silence before a loud explosion ripped through the peaceful night.
Yes. The same explosion that woke me up over a year ago.
My eyes snapped open at the familiar noise and a ghost pain shot through my arm, but this time I decided to do the smart thing.
'Go back to sleep Cassie. This doesn't concern you.'
BOOM!
"AH!" Someone outside screamed. "HELP! IF ONLY SOMEONE CONCERNED THEMSELVES WITH ME!"
I frowned and burrowed deeper under the thick covers.
There were two more explosions and then a loud crash as a rock crashed through my balcony door and onto my bed. It landed near my face and I decided a peek wouldn't be too bad.
A tiny blimp with a rope attached to it floated through the hole. At the end of the rope was a slowly rising flame. My eyes went wide as I realized what was about to happen.
I scrambled out of bed and onto the balcony. A few seconds went by before there was another bang and a billow of smoke erupted from my room.
Gasping, I pulled my flimsy flannel pjs tightly around me. The air was cold and I was shaking furiously from shock and chill.
From behind and below I heard a 'psst'.
I whipped around and peeked through the balcony railings to see none other than Jack staring up at me. He was dressed in his night boxers.
He gestured to me fervently, and then looked around wildly before ducking behind a tree.
"What? What the hell's going on?" I shouted.
"SSH! Come down! Quickly!" he whispered.
I looked around for a ladder than paused as my thoughts caught up.
"Wait-why? Why is my room destroyed? Damn it Jack, I was sleeping!"
He smacked his forehead before shaking his head fervently and then pointing up. I frowned and then slowly gazed upward.
HOLY SHIT!
There were a bunch of little blimps flying toward me. In the trees, tiny little mechanical figures were sitting and watching me with cocked heads. Their eyes glowed a bright green and glinted off their copper features.
"Ah! W-what are those?!" I screamed and backtracked on my hands and butt.
"SSSHHH!" He hissed and squeezed his head between his hands. "Just jump down, quickly! I'll catch you!"
I looked down and him and then at the approaching balloons and then at the little tree robots then back at him. "But your hands are on the side of your head."
"JUST JUMP DOWN!" He screamed and then immediately covered his mouth. The clockwork creatures twitched their heads in his direction and then jumped down onto him.
I watched in horror as he ran around in a panic trying to rip the things from his body. I don't know what they were doing to him, but it looked painful. In the distance there was another explosion and more agonized screaming
Now, my choices had run out. The blimps were almost upon me and the fuses were shrinking quickly. My only means of escape was currently being attacked by the infinite skeletons of tickle me Elmo.
"Psst!" My eye twitched and I turn to see Emilie hanging on a low branch with her arm held out also dressed in pajamas. "Come with me if you want to live."
I stared at her and considered any and all of my other options.
"Uh, no I think I'll take my chances in my bed."
Unfortunately my opinion does not matter to Emilie. She grabbed me by the arm and flung me over her shoulder."We have to save Jack and then get to the cellar!"
"Cellar? What cellar? Emilie what are those things? Why am I being terrorized? Why-"
She slammed a hand over my mouth and bounded through the trees. "Would you shut up? I tried to tell you about it you ignored me. Remember that? Bet you wish you hadn't ignored me, huh."
"Nuh ah di'int," I murmured through her hand.
"Uh, yeah you did," she said mockingly. We narrowed our eyes at each other.
"Think about it," she said.
Flashback!
"Hey guys. Where have you been? I just got-" Emilie began once we got in the door.
I brushed past her and tried to make it to my room before-
"Cassie, stop running away from me!" Jack yelled. He blocked my path and held my face gently. "Talk to me. Tell me what's wrong."
I was painfully aware of Emilie's presence and I avoided his eyes. "Uh, I think it was the sand. Sand c-can be pretty terrible, you know? Right Emilie? Ha, ha."
Emilie wrinkled her nose and exchanged looks with Jack. "Anyways, listen guys-"
"No thanks," I said. "I'm feeling really tired and-and sandy. I think I'm going to stay in my room."
And that's what I did for two weeks.
Servants brought food to my room and carried bottles of blood out. Several times, Jack and Emilie banged on my doors. Each time I told them I was in the bathroom.
That led to the servants bringing me spinach and Mylanta.
I spent a lot of those three days in bed trying to figure out where it all went wrong.
And then explosions.
Ok, maybe I did ignore her.
We landed downwind from Jack who was still screaming and running. The robots seemed to come in masses.
"What's going on? What are those things?" I shrieked.
"SHUT UP DAMN IT! YOU'RE LIKE A FREAKING PARROT! Welcome to your first game of manhunt. In the forest there are two people trying to capture you. Do not get captured by them? Ok?"
"B-but why now? It's the middle of the night! I'm freezing."
"I tried to tell you about it. If you had listened maybe you would have been better prepared. I mean what's going on with you and Jack? Are you training to be hermits or something? You've both been locked in your room for like a month."
Jack screamed and fell to his knees in agony.
"Ok, here's the plan…go help Jack." Emilie pushed me into him. I fell on top and the thingies instantly swarmed over my and left Jack. They weren't heavy, just painful as their mechanical digits clamped my skin and tried to drag me off to the depths of oblivion. My throat burned from screaming bloody murder and I tried to sweep them off of me. Above me, explosions and trees cracking and the earth shook.
"SOMEBODY HELP ME! THEY'RE EATING MY EYES!"
An arm appeared through the swarm and pulled me up by the neck like a cat and slung me over his shoulder. "Jack, I told you not to hold me there! I'm not a freaking cat; that hurts!"
"No time! We have to get out of here!" He said and began running away.
"But my room! What about my room!" I screamed.
The last sight I saw was a hoard of tickle-me-Elmos being crushed by the burning remnants of my room.
The forest was dark and full of branches that existed solely to hit me in the face. The moon was high and filtered through the trees in an eerie way. Cool wind blurred my vision and Jack's cold skin did nothing to help the fever threatening to rise up.
Finally he slowed and stopped in a clearing. A small broken shed stood in the middle surrounded by yellow grass and purple flowers. Emilie caught up to us and pulled me into the shed and Jack followed.
It was a dusty place, stocked with a few broken chairs and chipped bottles, a table, a sink and some shelves.
"Ok, what the hell is happening? Where are we? What were those things? Why is my room-MY ROOM, OH GOD MY ROOM!" I fell to my knees and started banging the floor with my fists.
"Didn't I explain this to you already?" Emilie asked.
Jack leaned against the table and ran a hand through his hair. "Remember when we first met? And there was an explosion and Claire, you remember Claire, right?"
I nodded.
"And Claire said it's because of a game of manhunt that got out of hand? Well, welcome to your first game of Manhunt. Claire called to warn us, because usually the game starts by one team bombing the shit out of the other just out of the blue, right? She just didn't tell us when, hence the pajamas. My room is filled with mustard gas, and Emilie's room is on fire. I tried to tell them that you weren't into this type of stuff, but they didn't listen. I really didn't expect them to bomb you. You don't even know him."
"They really wanted you to play," Emilie interjected.
The air was moldy and clogged my nose and throat. It didn't help that I was about to cry. Am I the only one who thought Claire was supposed to be a good guy?
"B-but I don't want to play. Make it stop. Please," I said.
"Make it stop? Make it stop?" Emilie said and began laughing. She looked at Jack who was suppressing a smile.
"What's so funny?" I whined.
"You think we started this game? You think we enjoy being terrorized while we sleep? We've never initiated it. We never want to play. It's not a fun game. Have you ever seen us planting bombs or making robots?"
"Why were there robots? Why were there robots sitting in trees and watching me sleep?"
"Just another one of Liam's toys. Those and the blimps and bombs and booby traps. It's like a freaking Indiana Jones movie. Why they were watching you and not attacking is beyond me. That's never happened before," Emilie said.
None of this was helping me tighten my hold on reality. I began shaking and fighting the vomit in my throat. It seemed like a lot of things never happened before this night.
"What are we supposed to do now?"
"The object of the game is for them to capture us," Emilie said. "So it can end on three notes: they win or we can avoid them until they get bored, or one of us can get wounded and have to go to the hospital. Like the last time we played."
A loud blast jolted us out of the calm and a few trees were torn down. "This is not good. They've found us. I told you we should've kept going." Emilie said.
"What happens if they capture us?" I rested my heavy head against the dusty ground. A million dust mites flew into my eyes.
"Depends on what kind of sadistic mood Liam is in. He might let us go," Jack said.
"Or he could make us all suck his dick. The rule isn't that whichever team wins gets to boss the other team around. This isn't a real game. The rule is if Liam gets his hands on you, he will own you until adult intervention. The game should really be called Don't-Let-Liam-Get-His-Hands-On-You, because that's what it's about. There's a reason you don't see him around our house."
I gazed around at the three of us dressed in our pajamas and hiding in a decrepit tool shed. It was like something out of a horror film. There was a homicidal maniac in the forest trying to get us, and we could only hide and pray. There was nothing we could do about it because the maniac also happens to be the future king of my country.
"But what about Claire, isn't she in the woods with him? I thought she was supposed to be nice," I said.
They both looked down. "Claire is sort of in love with Liam, so anything involving him…don't expect anything," Jack said.
My body shook my furiously and I realized it was because the ground was quaking. Emilie and Jack didn't look like they had any plans.
"So we're just going to wait to suck his dick?" I asked.
"He's not going to make us suck his dick!" Jack exclaimed and shot a look at Emilie who shrugged. "The last time he found us I had to go the hospital."
"He might make you suck his dick, though, since you're not related to him," Emilie added.
We glared at her and she threw her hands in the air like she was offended.
"I think I'm going to vomit. I don't feel too good," I held my stomach and tried to shake the fuzzy feeling clouding my head.
"Aw, I'm not that bad," A silky voice purred from behind.
Our eyes snapped to the door and there was Prince Liam leaning against the door, smiling.
Emilie screamed and Jack scrambled towards the window behind me. My first thought was that they were going to leave me, and I was right. I guess the prospect of sucking dick proved too much for my kind and loyal friends. Unfortunately, Emilie was standing in front of me and when she coward-ed away using her special vampire speed she stepped on my knee.
There was a wet crack and mind numbing pain shot through my leg and electrocuted my brain.
In a flurry of pain and panicked screaming I let spill the gunk in my stomach and then blacked out.
At least there was an upside: "The object of the game is for them to capture us," Emilie said. "So it can end on three notes: they capture us, we avoid them until they get bored, or one of us can get wounded and have to go to the hospital. Like the last time we played."
Sneezes wracked my body and I woke up spasmodically. Where in the hell was I? Black obsidian walls with silver stripes surrounded me. Fluorescent lights from the high ceiling filled the room with an annoying buzzing sound. I was in a huge bed with black sheets, but my leg, which was currently encased in a cast, was sticking out at an odd angle. Chrome furniture was placed around the room, giving it a futuristic feel.
"Feeling ok?"
I screamed and almost catapulted myself out of the bed. Jack was sitting next to me and was giving me his concerned look. "J-jack?! What happened? Where are we? W-why – my stomach hurts."
I searched for a place to vomit without messing up the bed. The floor was silver and shiny and reflected my distorted face.
"We're in the royal palace. We lost the game, thanks to you," he said bitterly.
I tried to ignore the angry rumba of my heart, a vision of a fat Cassie flashed in front of my eyes. My stomach grumbled most unpleasantly and I closed my eyes to try and lower my stress levels.
"Cassie, you can't avoid me forever," He said and directed my face to his.
Watch me.
"I don't know what you're talking about," I said and tried to avoid looking directly into his eyes.
"Really? You don't know what I'm talking about? Is that the best you've got?"
"I'm going to vomit."
He frowned and let go of my face. "Cassie, please. You've been locked in your room for two weeks! What are you hiding from? Me?"
My stomach felt like it was being twisted in half and I looked away guiltily. "No, it's not you it's-it's…why are we in the same bed? Why can't we go home? Am I going to have to-to…where's Liam? Were you serious about that dick sucking business?" I asked quickly.
I was getting way too used to waking up I weird places and being put in weird and mostly terrible situations. And I was getting way too used to waking up with Jack next to me.
And I was definitely getting too used to saying 'sucking dick'.
His eyebrows shot up and he blew out his cheeks like he didn't want to talk about it.
Really not good.
"Jack!"
"I don't know! He's the future heir to the throne. He's probably not going to need you to do that. He has servants for that sort of stuff," he said in a rush. "And stop avoiding the subject! Why have you been sending me bottles of blood like the freaking milkman? Aren't we supposed to be friends? You're supposed to be able to tell me everything especially if it's a life changing epiphany that might potentially change our friendship and our lives in the long run."
Right. Because that is totally not what happened.
"So what if I've been locked in my room for three days and haven't had any contact with my friends or family, and I haven't personally fed you, why are you being so clingy? I have a lot of things on my mind right now! My leg is broken! My leg- oh my god my leg."
I let the fact that my leg was mangled and useless sink in. The meat felt loose and broken in my skin like marbles in a bag. I couldn't even see it, it was too plastered up, but I knew that I was going to be in a lot of pain if I moved. "Where's Emilie anyways? Why did she step on my leg? There wasn't anywhere else to run? What kind of dumbass move was that? It hurts so badly."
Jack looked away and made a face, "Emilie…she escaped."
"WHAT? NO FUCKING WAY! Oh my- my leg! She mutilated my leg and then she ran away?" My breaths came in short gasps. I was either having a mental breakdown, a panic attack or an orgasm. Maybe all three at once.
"Calm down, there's nothing we can do about it now. It's just me and you here and –HEY! Stop changing the subject! Tell me what's going on!"
"Just like a married couple."
Jack and I both screamed and clutched each other. Prince Liam was leaning against the door and staring at us. Again.
"Please don't make me suck your dick!" I cried suddenly. I needed to get the important things out of the way first.
Liam's smiled disappeared and he gave Jack a confused look. Jack shrugged but wrapped an arm around me. I wasn't sure if I should huddle closer or crawl away.
"I won't make any promises about that yet, but I just wanted to welcome you to my home first of all. I've wanted to have you over for quite some time, but Jack's just so clingy. Like a puppy dog. So I did the only thing I could do. Fun game, right?"
I shook my head, but he ignored me.
"So basically, if Jack just let you come over earlier, your leg would still be intact. Like everything else wrong in this world, you can blame him," Liam said.
I stared at him and then leaned into Jack and whispered, "This guy is a major dick."