I AM DESTINY'S MISTAKE

Chapter 9: Where are we!?

Derek walked into the cafeteria. Aesir and a couple of the usual gang were already at the usual table. It was noisy today like it had always been on any other day. He took his tray to the table and sat closest to his best pal. Preparing his fork to enjoy his bowl of noodles, he looked up to participate in the day's bout of arguments on superhero weaknesses. He frowned. Something was wrong, these were not his friends. No, there were. But yet they were not. Derek fell out of the chair in fear and panic.

These were not the friends he had come to know for years. "Wha... What happened to you guys? Andre, Where is your hand?" A face came closer to him and he backed off some more, "Fred, your eye?"

"Oh! you don't remember? we gave them to you." A face that had one side of its cheeks dripping to the floor like melted butter answered him. It was Aesirs.

He screamed and kept on crawling backwards. His left hand came across an obstacle and he turned his head in reflex to check what it was.

It was Tiny, standing behind him. Blood and gut fell out of her belly. She tried to put the falling intestines back into her body but her actions were fruitless. She looked to him, "help me!" she whispered.

He backed away from her and jumped to his feet, "Just wait, I'll get help. I'll get help for all of you!"

"There is no need child, we gave them to you." Behind him, the remnants of what looked like a face that resembled Mrs Manica answered him.

"Mrs Manica, you too!"

"Yes boy, all for you. Cause we love you so much. We would do anything for you." Another voice that was all the familiar answered him. He turned to his right and saw Mrs Carla crawling on the floor. She had her legs chopped off from the knee down. Bloody trails laid behind her advance.

"This can't be happening. What's going on?" He retreated steadily, "But... I did not do this."

"But you did, you wanted it, So we gave you." Mrs Carla answered, "is it not enough? We can give more if that is what you desire." She reached her hand into her mouth and brought out her tongue, plucking it from her throat like a skilful gardener and presented it to him.

"DESIRE? Why would I want this?" His steps gave way and he fell to the ground. He crawled in a hurry to hide behind a table in fear.

In front of him sat a fridge coated in stainless steel. He looked at it and saw his reflection. He could see blood all over his shirt and hands. He looked at his palms, there were indeed stained with blood. So much of it too. He held his head in between his legs, "Help me please, somebody help me!"

Then it all stopped.

He raised his head from between his legs and looked about him. It was all gone. No broken and blooded friends, no cafeteria, no one. It was just an empty 'dark space'.

"You should be thanking me you know." A childish voice from nowhere echoed all around him.

"Who are you?... Where!?... Where are you!?" panic was relevant in his intonation.

"Well!... if you want to know that bad, I am you. As you are me," the voice replied giggling. "Also, I am here, and there. But mostly everywhere in here."

Derek felt puzzled and confused. "Ehmm! wait a minute. What do you mean 'you are me'? How can you be me?"

"As I have said before, I am you. Or, do you not know who you are!? What you are!?" Another giggle followed. But this time around, it was accompanied by light chimes of a bell that gave the impression that the person was moving.

"Who I am!? What I am!?" Derek looked at his hands, his mind only fell into more confusion. Then a thought hit him and he blurted out without thinking, "I am a Writer."

"Hmmm, you remembered what you are, But Who are you?"

"Who am i?" His confusion set in again.

"I am getting tired and sleepy, I only helped this time cause you asked. You are not strong enough for us to talk yet..." The voice became sluggish and slow and Derek felt a pull. Like the space all around was rejecting him.

"Wait...Wait! I still have questions. What is a Writer?"

"Leave me alone. Am so sleepy...just don't forget, 'No one is as humble and loyal as the 'dark', it only comes when its brother gets tired of being too bright and immediately leaves when he regains his strength..." The voice became fainter and fainter until it was gone.

Derek opened his eyes slowly. He closed them back sluggishly and then opened them back again in full force. He could not believe what he was seeing. Two beautiful moulds of bountiful blossoms laid before his eyes. He could see them, peeping at him from the opening of her shirt. There appeared to jiggle with every slight motion, or that might have just been his eyes playing tricks on him. But who cared?

The faint smell of lady perfume drifted into his nose. Derek inhaled out of 'male' reflexes, trying not to shake for fear of waking this damsel. It would be such a shame to lose sight of such endowment. But his scheme was found out before it could even be implemented.

"You are awake," an all too familiar voice roused him from his presence.

"Are you alright? we found you fainted on the ground after going through that gate thingy." Tiny stroked his hair in care. Her eyes were a bit misty. Apparently, she had been tearing in worry.

Tiny sat upright. Derek was dishearted, the cinematic view was over.

He tried to sit up too but a splinting headache stole his attention. He held his head in pain. He could feel bandages around his head. "What happened to me!?"

"It was me. Am sorry." She whispered in a little pitiful voice.

Tiny had pushed Derek through the gate in their hurry for their lives. When the others went through and appeared where they did, they found him bleeding from the head. He had hit his head on the hard ground from the push.

Remembering a little of the nightmare he just had, he jumped on Tiny and gave her an embrace.

A high pitch yelp of surprise escaped her mouth.

"You... You are not angry?" Her voice had suddenly become whimpering.

"Of cause, I am not angry. I wouldn't get angry even if you kicked me out a window." He enjoyed the warmth of the petite figure for a few seconds before his eyes shot open in the realization of his inappropriate behaviour and he immediately backed off. Nearly falling off the makeshift bed.

Tiny looked away from him, covering her mouth in bashed embarrassment. She could feel her heartbeat race.

An awkward silence permitted through the room. He scratched his head nervously, feeling the bandage around it.

Looking all around him, he noticed there were in a small room with worn-out walls. The only bed in the room was small and squeaked at the slightest movement. There was a small television straight out of a 90's movie. And on the table, Derek saw something he could have sworn was dried moss. There was a small window that had its blinds made out of wood. "Where are we?" He stood from the bed to remove the blinds from the window. His eyes met a busy city.

"Okay now, listen to me, Derek. Please don't panic," she held his shoulder to bring him away from the window.

"Where are we!?" His hands squeezed the wooden blinds.

"We are in Eygpt."

"Huh!?" He turned to look at her, with his eyebrows expressing his confusion, "Eygpt?" He smiled sachastically. "You are trying to mess with me right?"

She had a serious expression on her face.

"You are not joking are you?"

"Nope!"

"The gate took us to eygpt?"

Tiny nodded.

"Oh!... Oh heavens!" He sat back down on the bed. "What of Aesir and Madeline? Where are they?.... Did there make it?... Did does women get them!?" He stood up again in worry.

"Relax, relax, there are fine. One question at a time." Holding his hands, she comforted him. "Everybody is fine, there just went out to get some food and more bandages. We were runing low on supplies. So don't worry, you were the only one that got hurt."

"Okay." A wave of relief washed over him, calming his rush of adrenaline. And with it came the peeping of pain in his head. Derek felt like he just got hit by a bus.

Tiny noticed the discomfort on his face."You should rest some more. Here, it's your aspirin. You should take some." She handed him a cup of water with two capsules from the bunch.

"Thank you."

But before he put the capsules in his mouth, He heard a low voice whisper weakly, "Don't take them."

He paused. He looked to Tiny, "Why?"

"Why, what?" Tiny raised a brow.

"Why shouldn't i take them?"

"Why shouldn't you take THEM!?"

"Yes, you just said I shouldn't take them."

"No, I didn't. I handed you the capsules for you to take them."

"Oh! right, you did."

He proceeded to take the capsules again but still heard the whisper insisting. He looked to her again, "What did you say?"

"I didn't say anything." She shook her head. "Derek are you alright?"

"Yeah! am fine. I think." He put the capsules down on the table in the surprise of his own actions.

Just then, a boy ran into the room panting for breathing, "Augustina... Aesir and Madeline are in trouble."