I was really lost.
So many things were unfolding before my eyes and the worst part is that I'm forced to realize I can't do anything. I stared at Alex who laid unconscious with no sign of her waking up anytime soon. Tyler hadn't said a word since, and I found myself not being able to either.
"Did you know about it?" Tyler finally spoke, his voice came out low and hurt.
"About what?" I asked as I couldn't tell if he was asking about the bruises or about the scars on her arm.
Could he have seen it?
Tyler's silence made me uncomfortable as I could surely tell...He was mad.
"Did you know- about her parents?"
He asked and a look of confusion pulled up on my face. I wasn't expecting a talk about her parents.
"Know what?" I asked as I had no clue about what he wanted to talk about. He went silent again as he stared at Alex.
"I guess you didn't," he said and my curiosity perked up, his tired eyes looked up at me. "Her parents are gone."
My head tilted a little as I couldn't make out what he had just said. I was about to ask 'to where' when it finally sunk in. His unwavering look clarified my suspicions and I paused as I felt a part of my heart sink.
"Did she tell you that?" I asked as I was starting to make out why Tyler looked so shaken up, but then his reply caught me off guard.
"I wish she did," He said and his head fell "It's better than having to hear it from the mouth of a monster,"
"What are you talking about?" I asked, as my brain wasn't moving as fast as it could.
"They had spoken about a Gina, I think she's another monster. And this Gina had..." His voice trailed off and for some reason I was scared to hear the rest of his words.
"Tyler?" I said softly and when he raised his head I caught on to his tear filled eyes.
"Gina had killed them...and Alex had probably seen all this, and then..." he choked as his face pulled into a frown as he couldn't hold back his tears. "...she said she wanted...she said she wanted to... Tyson! "
He sobbed and I pulled him in as I held on tight to his head. I wanted to tell him it was okay, but I knew it wouldn't sound convincing when I couldn't even control the tears that formed in my eyes. I took a deep breath as I tried to stay calm, if I don't then Tyler also wouldn't.
It seemed we were in for more than what we thought.
After a while, Tyler finally calmed himself and then he told me everything that happened after I blacked out. I listened carefully and everything started to make sense to me, the scars, my grandpa's words, Alex's reactions to certain things...it all started to fit in, and I was left with a bitter sense of anger towards myself. When I'd found out she had the mark I had acted selfishly and gave little care about her thought. I didn't even try to find out about her or how she'd managed to convince her parents to come with us, my mind wandered back to 10 years ago and I felt if she truly was the one I'd met then, it means I really messed up by bringing her in here with us. I ran my fingers through my hair as the memories flooded back in.
I remember that day at the hospital, I had scraped my knee real bad and Grandpa had taken me to the hospital. I got treated and we were heading back home when we noticed the nurses running around and yelling someone's name, I couldn't remember. A woman dressed casually went around describing and asking around for a blond little girl. The next thing I know, Grandpa suddenly stopped and pulled me back in the direction we'd just come from, except we took a different stairs up and before I knew it we were on the rooftop.
"Why are we here Grandpa?" I asked
"I saw the little girl come this way, not sure if she's up here tho..." He paused and I saw the fear that appeared in his eyes. Following his gaze, I saw her standing at the the end of the roof and I immediately recognized the blonde hair from behind.
"That's Alex,"
"You know her?"
I replied with a nod "she's a friend of Tyler...but I don't like her,"
It's true I didn't like her, I didn't want to admit it but it was my jealousy that got the best of me. I didn't like how she was all Tyler kept talking about, but as much as I didn't like her I also didn't like how she was standing so close to the edge of the building. One more step and down she goes.
I opened my mouth to call out to her bit Grandpa stopped me and said.
"Shh, don't scare her off," he looked back to her and said "You wait here,"
With that, I watched Grandpa walk over to her side as she stood still on the spot looking unfazed. I hadn't heard their conversation as they were too far away. I simply watched them talk it out, grandpa had stretched out his hand to her and she had taken it. I remember being on the roof for close to an hour or more, I hadn't understood what was going on at that time but now I didn't have to be a pessimist to understand... she had tried to take her life.
I didn't know what grandpa had said to her but I know we all walked back down together and she had gone to meet the lady that had been searching, I had assumed that was her mom. What else I hadn't taken note of was her quiet behavior, the usual Alex would've gotten on my nerve the minute she opened her mouth but that day she didn't even spare me a glance.
That was the last time we ever saw her.
"Who knew we would get to meet like this over again?" I muttered as I stared at her body that still laid unconscious and the thought occurred to me. If this was still happening after all these while that could only mean she wasn't over it. I hugged my knees as a wave of worry filled me up and the words left my mouth "You held on for ten years... that's way too tough on you Alex."
The day went by as we anxiously waited for Alex to wake up, but there was still no change. Night came and it took me all I had to make Tyler go to sleep, he looked like a wrecked mess and he needed to get some rest but he was being stubborn about staying up until Alex gets up. I wasn't able to convince him until I promised not to take my eyes off her and to let him know immediately she's up, I could tell he still didn't want to but the moment he laid down, he went off in less than a minute.
I couldn't blame him, I would've been left in shock too if I'd heard my friend say that to me.
I stared at the two of them and let out a sigh, I would be lying if I said I wasn't exhausted. My head had been feeling light since I woke up, I was sure I couldn't put up a fight with any monster at the moment. The night felt chilly and I didn't want either of them catching a cold at this point. Remembering I had a spare cover in my bag I reached for it and brought it forward to pull it open then I paused.
It wasn't my bag.
My eyes widened and I didn't move as I stared in disbelief at the contents in the bag. Confusedly, I tilted my head to stare at the exterior of the bag and the blue color that was the same as mine but with spotted black verified the owner. My head shot back at Alex and back at the bag as other things started to fit in. The whole time I thought her bag was heavy was because her bag still contained cans of food which were still untouched.
What disturbed me at the moment was the fact that we'd been in here for over three months, but she still had enough to keep her going for a month. I would've considered this amazing but I knew better, it was impossible to have this much after three months, and this brought me to one question... Has she been eating at all?
I zipped up her bag and went for mine to take out the cover before covering them up with it. I couldn't get my mind off it, now that everything made sense in my head I knew we couldn't just let her be. I wanted to talk to her, but first I needed her to wake up.
The plan was to stay up until she regained her consciousness...
well, that was the plan.
Until I realized I'd knocked out and woke up to the biggest shock of my life... Alex was gone.
I sat still with my mouth wide open as I tried to process why the space I'd left Alex in was now empty, my head spun around as I scanned the area but there was no one in sight. I got up and searched the area we were settled in.
Was it a monster?
It didn't seem like it, we still had the stone, so she could have walked off. Just when I thought that, I caught sight of footprints on the ground. I let out a sigh and I turned to my side to see Tyler still asleep and my hand fell to the back of my head anxiously. I can't let Tyler wake up to see her gone, and I had to go after her but I couldn't decide if I should leave Tyler alone. My thoughts were all the over the place, then I thought if I could still see her footprints I could still catch up to her.
"I'll be back Tyler." I said and before i could change my mind, I ran off following the the prints on the ground.