Present the Past- Chapter Four
Sorry- I know this one took especially long to get up. My life has suddenly become a lot busier lately.
Check out the disclaimer at chapter two. :P
Enjoy. :)
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When I came to, Christopher, David, and Jalil were hovering above me. I had been moved up onto my bed. My parents weren't home yet, thank God. There was no more Jormungand, either. But there was a huge hole in my bathroom door. And my bedroom window was broken. Glass was scattered on the floor, and I had cuts and bruises all over myself.
"Erugh..." I moaned groggily, sitting up.
"Hey, take it easy. You had a pretty bad slip-up back there," David said.
"Did I, now?" I grumbled.
"That cut on your arm looks pretty bad. I'm gonna go see if you have any band-aids in your bathroom," Jalil said, inspecting my arm before he took off.
"What happened? I mean, after I blacked out," I questioned. I still had a sharp headache, and I called after Jalil, "Find me some Tylenol, too... please?"
I heard a muffled "Sure" from Jalil.
"Well, after Jormun-freaking-gand attacked you, Davideus pushed me out of the way and smashed open your window," Christopher explained. "But as soon as we finished breaking and entering, King Snake disappeared just like the rest of the Everworld locale does."
I nodded slowly. Made sense.
David looked around my room. "Jeez, April, what're your parents going to think?" Obviously he was talking about the mess. What could I tell my parents? That someone had broken in? It *was* partially true...
But right now my headache prevented me from thinking about anything- let alone some sort of explanation about why my room looked worse than the city dump. "I'll think of something later," I said.
Just then Jalil entered my room again, carrying a couple band-aids, a small bottle of Tylenol, and a Dixie cup filled with water.
I smiled. "Thanks," I was able to murmur before downing a Tylenol.
Everyone was silent for a bit while the cut on my arm was cleaned up and bandaged. I thanked them again, and then stood up. My back was a bit sore, but I could handle it.
"We really need to figure out what's going on here," Jalil said.
"Thanks for pointing out the obvious, Jalil. We can always count on you for that," Christopher slapped Jalil on the back.
"You know what this whole situation reminds me of, don't you?" David asked.
No one said anything at first, but then Christopher spoke up. "That movie where four kids are transported into some made-up world by people who had just a *little* too much to smoke? Wait... no, that's our lives."
"Not anymore, Christopher. If anything, these guys are coming here. Not the other way around," I said.
"Right," David replied.
"And...?" Christopher asked.
"Come on, just guess. What does all of this remind me of?" David said.
"Listen, we're tired of playing Who Wants to Be a Freaking Millionaire here, David. Just tell us whatever the hell you're thinking," Christopher steamed.
"Well, obviously, seeing these Everworld gods coming to the real world doesn't count as a hallucination," hinted David.
Jalil suddenly caught on to what David was saying. "There's got to be another gateway open somewhere."
"Right. The tables have turned- it used to be us travelling back to the real world when we were asleep," David said. "Now, it's the Everworld guys visiting Chicago for just a little while. But remember, time shifts in Everworld. They could be asleep for a couple hours, which could be a few minutes in real time."
What David was saying suddenly became clear to me, although I couldn't help this little feeling that just something was wrong with his theory.
But David grinned, glad that he had figured everything out.
Jalil nodded, processing all of this information.
Christopher stared off into space, wishing to be anywhere but here.
And I shrugged the feeling off.
"So what do we do to get rid of these guys coming to the real world? Someone besides us is going to see them real soon. It just keeps getting worse every time they visit," I said. I couldn't help but glance around my completely trashed room.
"We'll think of something," David said, not wanting to admit that none of them had come up with a solution. Sure, they could figure out what the problem was. There always seemed to be a problem anyhow. But no one ever came up with a solution. "I mean, April's right. We can't just have these Gods come barging in expecting a fight, and us without a plan."
"Oh, General Davideus, please, keep us safe," Christopher mocked.
"Shut up, Christopher," David said.
Christopher put on a hurt face, which was soon replaced by a taunting grin. I threw a pillow at him. David pushed the pillow into Christopher's face, trying to smother whatever crude remark Christopher was trying to make.
I laughed. David grinned. Jalil smirked. It was like we weren't even trying to figure out how to stay alive until at least next week.
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Kind of a catch-up chapter, I know. Nothing real exciting. Have you noticed the pattern? First chapter- exciting. Second chapter- not. Third chapter- exciting. Fourth chapter- not. Fifth chapter- guess you'll just have to wait and see.