KEEFER
My throat was raw from screaming. I was in so much pain I just wanted to die so it would stop. I tried to fight the pain, to think of the people who were important to me, but I couldn't see their faces anymore.
"Sir, should we be doing this to him? It could--"
"He can take it. If he doesn't, oh well. I want him to suffer."
Serums, injections, shocks, punches, each time a new kind of pain. My body was shutting down. It couldn't take anymore.
"Sir, we're going to lose him!"
"No. Get him back."
Please, just let this nightmare end....
Gasping for breath, I sat up. Sunlight was trying to fight its way through the curtains. Thank goodness it hadn't. My head felt like it was going to explode. I was ready to roll over and go back to sleep when my stomach growled. Really loud, like I hadn't eaten in days. So I wandered downstairs. The really hyper girl Violett, the vampire, and the cat guy were making something, and everybody else was wandering in. Don't know why, but I felt like helping to set the table, so I went to the fridge.
"What are you DOING? What in the name of all flowers and pumpkin butter are you DOING?!"
"What?" I blinked at Violett. "What am I doing?"
"Stop! Stop it!" She tried to hit me (not that it did much) and I didn't really know what else to do, so I just stood there. "I'm the chef! Go! Go, do work, son!"
I hid a growl. "I was just getting some whipped cream and butter to set on the table..."
"Oh, yeah. I guess maybe I should have done that since I was up first...." The vampire looked up, then went back to whatever she was doing with her phone. "Whatever."
I grabbed what I needed and got out of there. Hate people sometimes. Well....okay, not hate. But seriously, what was with her?
Everybody was joking around during the meal. A few people smiled at me, including Kateri. She tried to talk to me, but every time she did, I kept flashing back to the weird mightmares I'd been having. Finally I just took my plate to the kitchen and ducked outside. Aaaah fresh air......my mind was clear almost instantly. Something about fall just made me smile. Unless too many people were looking, of course.
"Keefer? You okay?"
"I'm fine, Akira. Just needed some fresh air."
"Okay...you've been acting weird lately."
"Thought I always acted weird," I mumbled.
"You held the door open for Karin yesterday."
"So? I can't be polite?"
"You are so bi-polar!"
I smiled a little. "Yeah, it's fun too."
Akira just stared at me for a minute. "You dog....you're actually happy."
"Yup. As long as people quit waking me up in the morning."
She laughed and headed back inside as I smiled again. It wasn't a lie this time. I was happy here.
