Chapter 53

Through the complete blackout, I felt something soft and silky touching me. A barely tangible scent teased my nose. It was as if my body knew these sensations. It brought immense pleasure and comfort.

On the border of dreaming and wakefulness, I've felt something warm. Perhaps I was in a deep delirium as I felt this warmth with my body, I wanted to hold it tighter, but unfortunately, I felt a pang of pain stopping me in my tracks.

Though losing it was unpleasant, I soon lost any kind of connection with reality, falling deeper into slumber.

I woke up, and the first thing I saw was a fluffy white blanket.

"Sssph." Hissing from pain as I tried to sit up, I tried to turn the blanket over but failed. Yet, after trying to move, I felt a strong, medical scent assailing my nose.

Feeling zero strength in me, I've abandoned any attempt to move and fell back down, straight into the soft pillow.

"Where am I?" still moving my eyes around, I saw a white ceiling and a window to my left. I tried to look into the landscape behind the window. But this room wasn't on the ground level, and I saw nothing but a greyish sky.

"Hey, is there anyone around here?"

I waited for enough time but didn't hear any answer. Was I in Jessie's house perhaps? I remember something from yesterday, it was a hazy memory, but I tried to message someone, yet I was too beat up to do it properly.

I did manage to message someone, that's the thing I'm sure of. The question is, who is the one answering this call?

I've tried to wait for someone to visit me, but my waiting was fruitless as my fatigue took better of me.

I've fallen asleep again.

This time my sleep was much sounder. The only time I've barely felt anything was when the same scent came to me again.

As I opened up my eyes once more, everything around me was covered in darkness. I couldn't even understand for how much time I was lying around. If I remember correctly, I've earned the money. I must go and pay for my tuition. But as of now, I can barely move, so I left my consciousness drift away.

Through my sleep, I felt the familiar scent that went to the deepest part of my brain. It was a familiar scent I've liked very much. It is associated with warmth and softness, and familial love. As this scent went away, I heard a ringing sound, trying to rend through the obscure state I was in.

It was extremely annoying, and I wanted to turn away from this sound.

I continued this cycle for some time. Opening up my eyes without being able to move my body. I've got annoyed by it and simply tried to sleep through this. The pleasant feeling I felt through the sleep was one of the reasons I wanted to sleep more.

Through my sleep, I was hearing the sound of vibration. Soon, one of my favorite songs started playing.

Turning and tossing in the bed as I tried to hide from it, I was eventually unable to do it anymore. With my eyes still closed, I was feeling the space from where the sound came.

As I finally found the phone, swiping the screen, I barely tore my eyes open as I answered the phone.

"Don't you know that people need…"

"Erlig! You took the phone! Oh my god, finally!"

"Sleep..."

Perhaps I wasn't in my right mind as I heard Elle's voice.

"Erlig, sniff."

Wait, it was her voice! I sat up instantly. My eyes opening up widely.

"Erlig, Jet is… is…" Her voice that sounded boisterous in the beginning now was getting more and more spasmodic as she started sobbing.

"Jet? Hey, what happened? Can you calm down and talk to me? Take a few deep breaths."

I heard how she tried to breathe while having hiccups.

"He-he…hick… is in the hospital."

I had a bad premonition.

"What hospital? What he is doing there?"

"He got…hick…he got…sniff..."

We couldn't talk like this.

"Send me the address. I'm getting ready."

"I...hick…I…sniff…I will…"

Ending the call, I exhaled. What else has happened?

"Isn't it enough?" My question addressed to no one particular was, of course, left unanswered.

As I brooded over this, I got a message with the address. The Medical Center of Mikhail  Rokossovsky.

I should go there.

As I turned to look for my clothes, I finally understood that I can move. I looked around to see where I was. A small room with a few cupboards, and a single bed, that I used as my seat right now.

It was messy as random stuff laid everywhere. Magazines, clothes, books. The windowsill that I couldn't quite see from the bed, as I looked at it from my position, was rather dusty.

Looking around even more there were no hints of other furniture, but I saw a couple of posters hanging on the wall. Was it posters of different boy's bands, probably? Curiously looking around, I've had no idea how the hell did I end up here.

As I finally saw my bag, I also saw my clothes lying there, just like that in a big pile. As I moved to take my jeans, I saw my hands for the first time. Or, to be more precise, I've paid attention to the condition of my hands. Up from my palms grew a never-ending whiteness of gauze.

There was no mirror, so I simply looked myself over and felt like a mummy as all of my body was bandaged.

"The hell?" I touched it here and there but ultimately decided to leave it here for now.

Pulling up my jeans, I looked for my t-shirt but didn't quite manage to find it. There was a freshly bought, new t-shirt lying in this pile. Albeit it was all wrinkled just like everything else.

"If it's lying here, it's prepared for me, right?" Putting it on and then putting on my jacket, I started looking for my sneakers. They were standing neatly near the door. Lacing up, I took my bag and checked if everything was there. To my relief, everything did lie there, even the card with the prize money.

Walking out of the room, I saw nothing. Nothing, and no one. The hallway lighted up by a light bulb instead of a chandelier or something similar. Closing the door behind me, I saw a few other doors.

"What should I do?" Opening up one of the doors, I saw something I didn't expect to see. A half-naked woman was lying on a beanbag, her face covered with a book as she snored loudly.

Closing the door behind me, I decided to look for an exit in another place. I've stumbled upon a small kitchen, a bathroom, and a toilet room. Seeing all kinds of embarrassing marks of a woman-only home, I've finally made out where the exit was by a large number of different shoes piled up.

I tried the doorknob, and it gave in without any need to use keys.

"I'm sorry. But if you are lying there like that, with me in your house, you are going to be alright... Probably... Surely..." Giving my apologies to the owner of this flat while closing the door, I've quickly gone away.

For the next half an hour, I was wandering in this housing complex. Finally, making my way towards the closest bus stop, I looked up how to get to the hospital.

"Damn, I've got no charge." as I placed my phone back into my pocket, I've got onto the bus I needed to board. "Please last a little bit more in case anything happens." With thoughts like that, I've paid for the ride.

Taking the standing seat near the exit, I was thinking of where the hell I ended up. The woman didn't look like Jessie. Heck, she didn't look like anyone I knew.

"I should've left the note or something." A spark of inspiration came too late to me. "Well whatever, If anything, she probably has my contact info."

As I tried to remember at least anything out of my slumber, I've reached my station. Leaving the bus behind, I've looked at the map on my phone and started walking in the right direction.

Making my way to the hospital wasn't hard as it was a rather big building. Albeit it was slightly dirty because of all the melted snow and slush.

Trying not to get wet, I walked into the territory of the hospital. I notified Elle that I was already here, so I started looking for her figure. When I was twenty meters from the entrance, I finally saw my old acquaintance.

She was dressed too lightly for the current weather. She wore indoor sleepers, a light t-shirt, and sporty pants.

As soon as I felt her gaze on me, she started running towards me. I've barely managed to catch her without falling as she was now in my chest.

"ERLIG!!!" And then she started crying. The part of my shirt sticking through the unzipped jacket was soon drenched from her tears.

I could only hug her and pat her on her back as she cried her all in my bosom.

After crying her share of tears, still sniffing, she let me go.

"Ohh nooo, Erlig? What…what happened to you? Don't tell me they went after you as well?"

"What happened to me? Who went after whom? Can you explain everything in order?" She usually was boisterous and overly cheerful, so it was troublesome to try and have a conversation with her. This time though, it was troublesome due to different reasons.

Her young, bright face was sullen and pale. Her cheeks that still had some of the baby fat on them were now sunken as she looked tired and sleep-deprived.

"You, weren't attacked?" She carefully took my hand in her.

"Why would I? Who will do it?" Asking these questions was like stepping on the landmine as she almost started sobbing again.

Barely managing to calm her down, she eventually started leading me to Jet.

Entering a quiet hospital room after getting admission from a nurse post, I heard a beeping sound of medical equipment.

There, on a single bed, rested Jet.

His whole face was bandaged as he was lying there, sleeping soundly. Different IV drippers were connected to his arm.

"How…" I have been standing near him before I noticed this. "How did he become…" I turned around to look at Elle. "Who did this?"

"It was Reid's gang!" for the first time, I saw a different emotion in her eyes as they gleamed with anger and hatred. "At first, they were simply bullying him but I managed to chase them away."

"But the next day, they increased the intensity, then a couple of other boys came. They started insulting you. He was arguing with them about something. And the next day. There was a huge crowd, and I saw two guys. They looked beaten up."

Beaten up, guys… Don't tell me...

"He isn't a fighter, you know it…I tried to stop them…" she took a completely soaked handkerchief and wiped her runny nose " Sob…Joanne…she fainted…sob…I couldn’t do a thing." Tears started streaking down her face again.

"When did this…all of this happen…" the voice that came from my throat was quiet. I didn't want her to hear that it was trembling.

"The fifth of December."

The day I went to fight for the money…

"I tried to call you the next day… but you didn't answer…I…when I saw you, I thought you were beaten up as well…" she choked as she tried to stifle her sobs.

Looking around, I saw the mirror. Getting a good look at myself, I've looked gloomy. Much gloomier than I thought I will. My eyes were like that of a dead fish. Short stubble had grown as I couldn't shave. I had baggy eyes, and half of my head was covered in bandages.

"What should I do?"

"Don't worry." my voice was calmer than I thought. "I will take care of everything." I started ripping the gauze off my face.

"Erlig…"

"Don't worry, he won't be bullied again, and rest easy. He will recover."

Throwing all the gauze into the wastebasket, I turned around and looked at stupefied Elle.

"Don't worry. Look." I flashed her a smile. "Don't worry. We should take care of ourselves, so when he wakes up, he won't feel guilty." Now give me a smile."

She opened her mouth once, and after looking at me for quite some time, she smiled through her tears.

"Don't worry, everything is going to be okay." Leaving her with these words I went outside of the building.

"Don't worry…"

"Okay, everything is going to be okay…"

"Don't worry…"

"DON’T WORRY ABOUT WHAT? WHAT THE FUCK DID THEY DO!? WHAT THE FUCK DID I DO?!"

I started smashing the wall with my forehead. "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING YOU PIECE OF SHIT!!!"

"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO ALL THIS TIME!?"

"I'VE SIMPLY WANTED TO BE FREE!!!"

"FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!" I banged my head over the wall trying to either break through the wall or break my forehead.

I've felt my vision turning into the kaleidoscope of colors as my head rang like a church's bell.

"I WANTED TO BE FREE!!! FREE OF THIS SHIT, FREE OF THIS PATHETIC LIFE, FREE OF MYSELF!!!"

"Free myself…"

Looking around, I saw that I was standing in an empty side street. A small trickle of blood went from my forehead down.

Wiping the blood with the back of my hand, I took my phone. With the last few percent of battery, I looked for a single phone number.

If you need to put a collar on yourself to be free, then do it. The intermediate result doesn't matter as long as in the end, I will be free!

Waiting for her to pick up the phone, I went towards the closest bus stop.

"Erlig!"

"Mara!"

"Erlig, what have you done…" She started shouting at me before I cut her off.

"I've got no time for this! You will help me, right!?"

She fell silent for some time.

"What happened?"

"I don’t care what you want. Put a collar on me, make me your slave, trample on my dignity, gouge my eyes, cut my fingers off, sell my organs, I don't care! I want you to help me get REID JONES, AND DRAG HIM TO FUCKING HELL!" as I roared on top of my lungs, a lot of passersby looked at me, but I couldn't care less.

This time the silence wasn't long.

"I will ask my dad."

"NO!!! No dads! No third-party shit! I want to do this with my hands. I want to take everything he loves, everything he holds dear. He must be alive, and live a life full of pain. I WILL BREAK HIM, NOONE ELSE! IT WILL BE ME!!! YOU HEAR ME!? WILL YOU HELP ME!?"

"I…" I heard her breath growing erratic.

" Everything I can give to you is my body. You know it well. You wanted it for whatever reason. I DON'T CARE, I will give it to you. So don't you dare to give me a half-ass answer. It's either I will, or I won't."

"I…"

"WILL YOU!?"

"I will help you!"