My mind is so blank as I sit here. He is enjoying this, savoring every moment. I almost don't even notice it's happening, just trying to process the fact that he kissed me. Mathew. The guy who could have anyone he wanted. Kissing me. I think this is either a joke, or I'm dreaming. But why would I dream of this. I feel my face move from a look of confusion to a look of satisfaction. He moves his hand from our knees to my shoulder.

Finally I come to my scenes and pulls away gently. I keep my eyes lightly closed, and I feel him brush my hair. I carefully open my eyes. He is looking at me like that again. Like he, likes me.

“So?”

“Huh? What?” I stutter a bit, confused. I imagine my eyes flared open, and I leaned back a little, because he is smiling, almost laughing at me.

“What do you think? About me?”

“What about you?” I sound like I'm accusing him, but I'm not meaning to.

“All the girls like me. Everyone knows that. No one knows about you. Your the only variable in the whole community!”

“Well, not exactly. There was this male walking into the Grayt...”

“And he was just like the rest of us.” he interrupted. “I promise.” He smiles, trying to convince me that he is right. It is almost working...

“No, he-”

“Is not what you thought. You are the only one like you. Trust me.” I lean back trying to separate us a little, let me think.

As I remember the male, I think of myself. How alike we dressed, how different we dress from everyone else, from Mathew. I suddenly get the feeling I'm being watched, and I turn around both ways to check. I obviously look odd, because Mathew put his hand back on my shoulder. This look, when he looks at me, it makes me sick now. I have to get out of here.

Then I realize his arm, tightly consumed by a thick spandex body suit. It also has stripes on it, like the idiot at the Grayt. Normal stripes, one every here and there. His are... colored. They change with mood, I guess.

I may as well give in before I get mad. Besides, it wasn't that bad...

“Alright... Your right.” I say very innocently to him, half looking down, trying to look cute. He just smiles at me. Next thing I know, we're kissing again.


* * *



After the last kiss, I get up and head home without a word. I'm walking away from him and I can tell that he's watching me leave. So I walk slow. I realize how much grey, black, and grid lines, there are here. Random lights from computers being on, and the buzz, it seems so loud all of a sudden. It's so intense in here now.

I want to look back, I have to look back. But I won't, can't. He is probably back on his whatever game, that means more to him that me. But if it means more than me, what was he doing kissing me? When he could have rolled a mage in the same time, easily? Maybe I reached an equal level in his mind with the little goblins. But I don't hear the keys being pressed, or the mouse in use, so what's he doing?

I confuse myself so much I accidentally look back. He isn't there at all. I look around and see him on the edge of his bed. He has his elbows on his knees, and his face in his hands. He heard me stop walking, so he peered out and I see his watery eyes staring at me in question. Then his eyes darted out the huge, half-tinted window. (He controls the tinted-ness.) I immediately dart my eyes in the same direction. I don't see anything. But I'm 100% confused now. So I hide it and head out the door.


* * *



When I stepped from their deck and onto a deserted street. I notice everything is quiet. The tall building's panels are all off. No hover cars, or people roaming about the streets. I'm pretty sure I know whats going on, but I look around anyway. Somehow, I still feel like I'm on camera somewhere.

I take one careful step, and it hits me like a cold hard slap. The music, the crowds, the spotlights, on random people, all the party food. It's the yearly party. No one knows why anymore. The computers didn't care, so no one did. For that reason. The panels, are blasting now. Live bands, streaming, pumping, swelling, from so much energy is being used for this... guff mess. That's what I call it.

I head to my building, ducking into the crowd, trying not to get noticed. I leap into my deck trying not to drag someone else in with me. On my way up, I strip my sandals, shawl, and necklace. I clutch my accessories in my arms trying not to drop them as I skip across stones above the calm blue water. I feel my necklace slipping in between my shirt and the shawl, messily draped on my arm. I look down to see it fall into the water. I makes no sound as it slips into the water. I don't have time to get it, so I keep going. I'm headed to the rock where I keep my body suit that I only wear on occasions like this. I strip down and slide it on. In just seconds I'm already headed back to my clothes room, where I set down all my clothes, except for my necklace. ( I wonder what's going to happen to it in the water.) I turn to the wall blocking off the kitchen from here, and it turns into a mirror.

It zooms in on my head, like usual, and I start to think about how I should have my hair. Females and their hair, it's the only thing that we take recklessly, but seriously, too. It’s very important to us, but we do whatever we feel like with it. I look at the mess of black curls tumbling off my shoulders. I run my fingers messily through my hair starting from my temples, one hand goes up the middle and holds what's there, my other hand gets behind one ear and holds, other side, held, left back hold, right back hold, middle back hold. Now I use my fingers to move the bunch to the tip-top of my head. With my hair like this, I see that it's tinted dark brown. I tie it up tight, even though it looks loose. I shake my head, and decide that this is okay, and move on. I grab a techno looking bracelet that doesn't fit, and wrap it around my hair, it's a nice touch.

I look at the built in watch on my shoulder and have a mini panic attack. I quickly grab up my belt and mini pack as I run into my deck.

When I get down, music floods my brain. I have a little relief party with myself that I got dressed in time.

People everywhere I look are enjoying themselves. I guess I'm looking around for Mathew, or the Male from the Grayt. The music was apparently quiet, because it just got a lot louder. My feet feel the pulse, my body becomes
in sync with the beat, and I feel my throat start to yell along with the rest of the people. I move away from my building, still yelling. I feel a dance off coming on.

I clap on the beat, and another other half the crowd claps off the beat. We are all in the spirit now. This party is going to be the best ever!

The music starts slowing down, which is normal for music to randomly have some weird thing happen, like slow down, or have weird vocal slurs. It's just normal. So no one suspects anything when everything turns totally black and quiet. We all just stood here waiting for it to blast back on. Some people lift one person up, and throw them high in the air, right when the music starts. But it never does.

“HEY!!” People start to voice their opinions about the lack of starting the music.

“Yeah! Where's The Music!?!?!?!”

“BOO!!!”

“Come On!?!?!”

The shouts are coming from everywhere now, and it's not quiet between them either. The whole crowd is making some noise. I find myself yelling too, so I don't look out of place at all.

Next thing I know, everyone becomes dead silent.

I feel the rumble about the same time as everyone else, but I don't know where it's coming form. I feel the ground moving like syrup, like it's trying to boil over, but it's to thick, or there are billions of little animals under a thick rug, moving around. I panic once I realize the screams coming from ahead. My feet won't move, no where to go. I feel my face getting hot and my breathing get faster, and louder, as the panic in me rises.

Now, with the party going crazy, I don't know what to do. I look into the sky, as if it has something to tell me. But it is silent. Then, I see out of the corner of my eye, the male from the Grayt. He looks almost as confused as me, as before. I run to him. Whatever is happening, I feel like he may be a good person to be with when it happens.

Right when he sees me, the very instant he knows I'm coming for him, he falls. With the ground. Down they go, into nowhere. I stop my self in my tracks, confused. I look at where his feet were. Where the ground was. I see a deep, black hole. It's cutting through the streets like scissors through paper. The street was falling into the earth as if there was nothing below us. I'm already in shock when I see this much, then i see the gaping hole grow. I force my feet to move me away from it. Hoping to not get sucked into who knows what.

I notice no other parts of the ground are moving except this street. Not other streets, not the buildings, nothing, but this street, which is odd. Now I'm running for my life, my precious life. I either slowed down, or the hole sped up, because it's biting at my heels now. I gasp from shock and now I'm coughing or something. I would look stupid, if I wasn't about to lose my life. Something hits my head, and I look up to see what it was. Crafter! He let down a rope ladder so I might escape this people eating hole. I see him up in a craft he probably designed, by its sleek design and stylish markings, waving at me to hurry up and get in. I look forward, back, and then up at Crafter again. The rope ladder hits me again and by force of habit, I lift my hand up to my head and slow down drastically. I throw my hand up to the ladder, hoping the worst doesn't happen. I'm out of luck. There is no ground beneath my feet, but just as I lose hope, my hand catches the edge of the growing hole. I'm trying to get my grip, but the edge of broken road is slipping out from under my fingers, falling into the gaping hole. So my hands are flailing upwards, acting like they can't find anything to hold onto, even though they catch something every time. I know for a fact that I'm going to die. So I stop trying to grab something. I let myself fall.

For a moment, I think of Mathew, and our kiss. Next I think about the male from the Grayt. And Crafter, trying to help me, no one else, but me.

Wheres the ground? I'm just sitting here, falling? The last hour has got me so overwhelmed and confused, I just let myself fall out of consciousness and I don't care where I end up.

I wake up, but don't open my eyes. I think about my dream, which is just a memory I rembered while sleeping...


I sit in class, bored out of my mind, waiting for something to happen. The males that always want attention are at it again. Making jokes, for the whole class to hear. I roll my eyes and look out the window, which is right next to me. One of the pack comes over to me and the female in front of me. He says that they are going to pull a trick on the teacher. I honestly don't care because it doesn't concern me whatsoever. I nod my head, hoping he'll just walk away, but he just stares at me. I turn back to him, lift my eye brows, and look away. He makes a noise that means he is like upset or mad at me or something but I don't care.

When they start the trick, I feel something comeover me. Like a wave of energy seeping into my brain, causing me to do things...

I stand up, and because I usually don't sdo anything in school this gets everyones attention at once, and my face is blank. I stand there, motionless, emotionless. Everyone is staring at me, but i can't feel embarrased or anything. I say something I don't even understand.

“Rooooooowwwww” They all stare at me. Their faces slowly, one by one, drain of emotions. I continue.

“Boooottttttt. Ssssssss.” the “S” gets quieter and quieter, and I stop. Then one of the females from the pack, stands slowly.

“Ruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu” She continues.

“Lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllleeeeeeee.” comes from my mouth.

“Llllllllllllliiiiiiiiiifffffffffffeeeeeeeee”We let out in usison, and a few others join us by adding,

“Ffffffffffooooooooooooorrrrrrrrr”And a few more.

“Eeeeeevvvveeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!” The whole class is reciting random, miss matched sylables now. I hear a scream that sounds like:

“Guuuffffff!!!!” So people started stuttering this word as well. People's clothes disintegrated into mist as a body suit appears on their skin. They don't notice, much less mind. They go on chanting, while I come back into self-conciousness. I look around, and start moving my lips, so I don't look different. The floor melted while a new one was apearing, along with the walls. They turn black and grey. With grid lines and random lights that are small. Like on the front of a computer. All this seemed so normal to everyone. Except for me.


I open my eyes, the first thing I see is rocks. They go up in every direction. I sit up, seeing people in simular situations to mine, but some decided that this new “civilization” needs rules just like everwhere else has, and something about an anarc? I look around again, trying to find a familiar face. I see one, the male from the Grayt. He is talking to an old woman. She nods her head no, and he walks up to the next person. Same thing happens. He turns, and sees me. His eyes get wide and he sprints in my direction.

“Are you okay?”He asks. I feel dizzy.

“Who?” I manage. I was trying to say 'Who are you?' I think, but it didn't come out right. I feel my forehead, and he gets this worried look.

“You. Are you okay?”

“What? I'm Verza..?” He laughs at my confusion.

“Okay, and I'm Razz”He says, smiling at me, like Mathew did. I think I want to sleep again, my head hurts.

I wake up sometime later feeling a bit better, and very hungry.

“Razz?” I call out. Hoping to have a tour of this abyss. How did i get to the bottom without feeling the impact? It doesn't matter right now, I need food, it's been so long since I've eaten.


“Coming!” It's Razz. He sprints up behind me to my right.

“What.. Uhmm..” I reach out to his shoulder. He looks at where my hand goes before he answers me.

“What? Where are we? That's a long story, but I know one thing. You saw it coming.”

“I...” I did. I know i did. “I'm hungry.” He laughs, and I lay back down and close my eyes. This is still so much to take in.

He touches my shoulder to wake me up and he has food, fresh baked bread. He hands me a chunck and I hold it. Then I take a bite carefully to not drop crumbs. After a minute of endulging myself into the hot bread, I ask, “So where are we?” He is suprised by how strong I sound compaired to when I was half asleep.

He looks into my eyes and smiles. I raise an eyebrow, just in case he thought I was kidding.

“Where do I start?” He asks looking into the sliver of sky above us. I'm expecting an answer, or to have to ask again, but he just stands up and takes my hand. We walk hand in hand away from what I thought was my crash cite and go to a crowd of people.

I'm only excepting us holding hands because I don't know where I am, or who anyone is. I look around, for a hut, or a fire, or anything. But I don't find anything. Razz wispers look to me and points in a general direction. I don't get it, so I look up to him. He has a very eager face. He starts sptinting over to someone. I follow. As I'm running, everything around me goes slowly out of focus, and I stop running. I look around, at the fuzzy people, the fuzzy ground and the fuzzy brown, rock walls. I can't see Razz anymore, or the people, just colors. Bown and black. I look at myself, I'm perfectly in focus, all the way down to my feet. But the ground next to my feet is a blurr. I see on the leg of my suit, there is a gash. I don't know where it came from, and I don't remember the pain of getting cut this deep.

Seeing everything so out of focus next to my body, which I can see just fine, is very hard to understand. I get down on my knees and feel the ground. It feels like it looks. While I'm bent over like this, I remember the belt I'm wearing, and the attached mini pack. I remember what a mini pack has in it. I quickly stand up and pull it off my belt. I reattach my belt and fix my outfit. When I open my mini pack, I fing the ear peice Crafter gave me, with a note that I don't remember:




No matter what I.Q.
Everyone must follow the rules,
Verza.
Even you.
Running will get you nowhere.

Going faster won't work either.
If you try,
Verza,
Even you will fail.

Upside down,
People make sense again.


I don't quite know what to get from this, but i know there is some sort of code. Because Crafter isn't this random. I try every possibility I can think of.

Backwards: 'Niaga esnes ekam elpoep.




Nwod edispu.'

Switched lines: 'Running will get you nowhere. Even you, Verza. Everyone must follow the rules, No matter what I.Q.' That could be it.

Begining letters: 'N.E.V.E.R. G.I.V.E. U.P.' By its self, it doesn't quite make sense. So maybe some of the lines mean something.

No matter what I.Q., meaning, you could be really smart or really stupid.

Going faster won't work either., meaning, you can't out run someone, or something...

Upside down, people make sense again., meaning, I have to find the right vantage piont for things to make sense.

I think I know what this means now. Razz and I were wakling on the bottom of the hole going with it, like walking down a halway instead of across it. So I turn ninty degrees so I can get to a wall as fast as possible. I walk slowly with my hands out so I know it when I get there.

Really smart, or really dumb. My hand feels cold rocks. I put my face really close to the rock to see if I could see it better. But I can't, so I think back to the letter Boss wrote me. 'Running will get you no where .' Meaning there is no way out on foot. So I made my way to the edge of the hole. I can only climb from here.

I feel around with my hands to see if I can get a hold. I find a place for my hand, but my feet have trouble, because the wall goes up at a strange angle, towards me, instead of away, like you would expect. So I take a careful step back and jump at the wall, probably looking pretty stupid, but I don't see anyone watching. I get a bad grip, almost haning upside down. Maybe that's the point.. But I can't ever get a grip, so it won't work. I move over to my right some to see if it's better there. It is. So I get a grip and start climbing. Soon after, I can't get another grip, so I try to move over and have trouble, but I manage.

I reach over to grab a rock that looks like it would have a good grip on it and right when i put my weight on it so I can find a close foot spot, the rock comes loose and I fall. 15 feet. For about ten miutes, I just lay here. If I'm going to try again, I need to be rested if I'm going to get to the top. Which I need to. Or at least to that vantage point that I got from Crafters letter. The letter that was with the ear/brain thing. The ear/brain thing I got before the party, before the street colapsed. He... knew. He knew, he knew. He knew. Who else knew? Did Mathew? Is that why he was crying?

Crafter knew I would be in this position. Because of that letter. How did he know? Why did he let it happen? He let it happen because he needs me to be down here in this hole. To.. give him time. Them, to get them time. Who is them? Why do they need time. 'Running will get you nowhere.' Because everyone can run, everyone can see you when you run.

I lay here thinking about all this and the posibilities.I decide to try again, and with one faulty roc out of the way, how many more can there be? Not enough to stop me. I start back up and make it twice as far as I did before which gets me really nervous because if I fall from here, I won't die, but I'll break my legs and not be able to move to get food, then I'll die.

About five minutes of climbing, the rock starts coimng toward me, so I make my way over to the right of the odd spot in the rock, so it's easier to climb. But I stay close, just in case it means something.A little while later, I look to my left, to see what has become of the weird rock.To my left is the same as to my right, and above me, and the same as below me. I lok down to my left and see a platform. Where the rock had been coming toward me, before I moved over,had stopped coming out. The platform looks big enough for a few people to sleep on. I think for a second and decide to see if it can hold my weight.

When I set my foot gently onto the edge, it feels pretty sturdy, So I slowly put more weight onto it. When my left foot gets about to the middle, I think its probably safe, so I slowly allow myselfto stand completely on the platform and I take my hands from the rocks in front of me.


I turn around and put my hands on the rock behind me.I look at the fuzzieness forty feet below me, and the fuzzieness by my feet. Each fuzzieness is different from eachother. It's clearer the further away it is, but still ery out of focus. Ilook up and see a streak of blue above me. That's the sky. What else could it be. I lie down on the rock platform and remember how hungry I am. I have no food. Just rocks. Thats all that's in this stupid hole. Except for what fell in.I remember what i had when I fell in.The small bracelet in my hair, my mini pouch, and my belt. I reach up to feel my hair, it's not how I had it at the party. Its down, flowing all over the dusty rock.

After I wake up from a short nap I remember part of the note, 'Upside down, people make sense again.' I put my feet flat against the rock wall and let my head carefully slide to the edge of the platform. When my neck reaches the edge, I let my head slowly swing down. When I see the ground, and the tiny people, it's clear. I can actually see them. I sit up quickly and stare at all the fuzz on the wall. I look down at the rock between my fingers. Then I fling my head back down to the ground far below me, crystal clear. I stand up and twist upside down so i see the wall as clear as the ground was. I wonder why this works like this.

I pull out the ear peice/brain surgery thing and remember another line, 'No matter what I.Q.,'. And it hits me. You don't need surgery, this is just an ear peice! He gave this to me, and only me, so that we can talk, only us, or him and others talking to just me.

I quickly get my hair out of the way and put in the ear peice. I think Hello. Hello? Hello-o!?

“Hello?” It probably can only hear me, because it doesn't require brain surgery.

“Verza?”

“Who is this?!” I was expecting Crafter. It's obviously not him.

“Where are you? Did you fall in? Did you get my note?”

“Your note?! Who are you?!!” I'm almost yelling because it was Crafter's note. Wasn't it?

“Yes, my note. It's Mathew! Hello? Verza? Are you there?”

Mathew's note? How did he know about all this when Crafter gave me the ear piece? How would Crafter have known? Was this whole thing on purpose? Was I meant to fall in? Why?

“Verza? Did you die or go def?” This would make me laugh, but I'm actually very confused and almost mad. I decide to see what he says next before I talk again. But he doesn't say anything for a bit.

“So, since you're probably not listening, I was wondering if you wanted to
like, go get something to eat sometime? Don't answer.” He laughs. “Your not even listening! Verza!!”

“What?” Not like 'What do you want', but like, 'What do you mean'. He knows I mean this.

“Uh... Good, your there.” He chokes a little, like he is, embarrassed? And I thought I was weird.

“Go out to eat sometime? What happened to you!?!?!” I laugh. “Of course I'm here, now what's going on? How did the street cave in?”

“I'm sure, you uh, don't want to know..” He mumbles, making it hard to hear, as well as my impaired vision.

“Say Mathew,” I lay back down and bend my knees so they make a square hole with the rock, and put my right ankle on top of my left ankle, I cross my arms behind my head and put a smile on my face. This is going to be fun. “what would you say if, if I said I would love to go out with you sometime?”

“W-what? But, you..” This is a pleasant surprise to him. The smile on my face grows.

“B-b-but, I think it would be fun. But I just can't.” I say.

“Oh, that's uhm..” he continues but I can't hear him. Why is he being so pathetic?!

“Oh..” What am I supposed to say to the manliest, toughest, doesn't-take-no-for-an-answer, guy I know being a totally baby? Ugh.

“What?” Oh my god!

“I just, have never heard of you giving up so easily. That's all.” Oh, my. This boy, and me.. What's his problem anyway?

“Well, you said you were busy!” Oh wow, now he's like wining at me! I almost laugh. What happened to him?

“No, I said I couldn't. There's a difference.” Obviously, I'm stuck in a stupid hole! “You can help me if you wan--” I hear a grumble before I finish, then, as I listen, I hear someone else say,

“Don't do it..” Then a cold hard slap, to the face, a scream, from a male, a middle age male, and Mathew get's a hushed, sexy tone.

“I'm on my way.” I'm so confused. What just happened..


* * *

I hear my name. Again. Over and over. It it takes me about half an instant to get out of my train of confusion, and I shake my head to clear it and I turn around and look over the edge. The moment my hair tumbles over and frames my vision, I roll over so my vision is clear. When I gt steady, I notice Razz walking around looking for me, walking the length of the cut in the street, looking for me. My head begins to hurt, Razz, Mathew, Razz, Mathew. Their both looking for me. Flashbacks of Mathew kissing me and Razz saving me when I fell get me all confused. I shake my head and yell.

“Razz!! I'm up here!!” I hope he can hear me. “Razz!!!”

“Verza?!” He either can't hear me or can't tell where my voice is coming from, but he sopped walking.

“RAZZ!” I scream as hard as I can considering I'm upside down and the blood is already rushing to my head.

“Verza?” I can't hear him, but I know he said, because he is looking around in my general direction, if I was on the ground.

“Up here!!” Maybe if I show him I'm up here..

“Where are you, Verza?!” This endless game of Marco-Polo is pointless. I sit up and lean over the edge, make a fist and slam it on the edge of the platform. Small chunk of rock fall off and hurtle to the ground. He notices the sound but turns and sees nothing. I hit harder and grunt, forcing more, bigger chunks, to fall. Because he is already looking, he sees them hit the ground. “Verza?” He says quietly.

I slam my sore fist once more against the ground and a huge rock chips off and fly’s down.

Razz is under me, directly under me. Where a huge rock is headed, to Razz. I scream at him at the top of my lungs, but it's too late. The rock hits him and he falls into a pool of his own blood. My mouth falls open, and I sit here and think for about five minutes straight.



It's my fault. All my fault. Is he dead? Should I risk falling to see if he is dead? And if he is, I'll have to just climb up again. Right? What else would I d?Can I climb up to the top before he dies if he isn't? I don't think I could make it to the top without another ledge! Do I get him, or keep going up?!



My breathing gets faster, louder, noticeable. I get hot and nervous. I stand up and pace my little platform until I'm sure I've worn it away. I face the wall of rock behind me and place my hands shakily onto it, as if its comforting me. I'm crying. At the party I didn't even know him, and now I may have killed him!I throw myself down to the edge of the platform and look down. My hair surrounds my vision, my blurry vision, and I start to make sobbing sounds when I see a smudge in my vision. A red and black, a sad looking smudge; Razz. I let my tears drip down my red, hot face and fall silently to the crumpled body below.

I feel my eye lids press lightly against my stinging eyes. Each have the impression of a thousand pounds, but I ignore the pain and drift away.

I lean over the edge to watch my glistening tear fall so gracefully to the ground. I am as happy as I could be. I smile, allowing the flood water to pour into my soul. The feeling makes me smile brighter.

My teardrop looks as if its reached Razz's bent, broken body. Golden light shoots up in every direction. The golden happiness filling every crack and crevice with life, light and hope. The light is warm and fuzzy, filling me with overwhelming joy. As the golden light rises up to me, I lean forward fighting the urge to jump into the golden bits of fuzz lost in the mess of love and blessed air. I see a handsome figure rising up towards me from where the sweet light started spewing. The hair is thick and full of light, little soft spots of warm, golden love sprinkled throughout the perfectly laid, soft-looking head of hair. Laying lightly, airy, beautiful. The body rises up getting higher and higher, closer and closer to me. He is an angel sent from heaven below. He gets to my height and I reach out to him and he takes my hands.

His face is clear and warm-looking. So pure, golden, delightful. He leans in to me. I gently close my eyes, waiting for the magical moment when our lips meet.



Hard rock scrapes my face as I crumble to the ground of the platform. I roll over and feel a wet spot on the ground. I sit up slowly and notice the red liquid, blood, is in my hair and all over my shirt too. I raise a shaky hand to my bleeding face and my mouth hangs open so long that I snap it shut in fear of catching a fly. I'm bleeding, bad. Good, I hurt Razz, and now I'm hurt. Karma at work.

I wonder where Mathew is at now. . . Is he wondering about me? What about the rest of the body? Are Theresa and John okay? Why wouldn't they? If they were in the untouched buildings, they couldn't have been hurt, but what if they were at the party?

I lay here until I'm sure I've thought of every possibility of what happened. I look around at the fuzzy-looking, bloody rock and try to find where my earpiece went. I pick it up and smile; its dry. I shove it into my head and tap it as if I'm testing a microphone.

“Mathew?” I say in a ninja voice, hushed and secretive. I feel so sly.

“Yeah?” He says in the same sexy tone he left me with, who knows how long ago. Why is he talking like that anyway?

“Where are you?” I do my best to match his tone, but the pain hits and I sound more awkward than anything else.

“On my way,” I can tell he's smiling.”Like I told you before.” He continues, almost laughing.

“And where would that be?” I try to sound as zealous as he does, but my effort is wasted.

“We'll find out soon, won't we?” He says. “Look down.”

“What?” I don't want to look at Razz's body.

“Look. Down. You know, like at your feet, but further.” He laughs.

“I know where down is.” I lay down and let my head hang down and I look at Razz's body. “What?”

“You don't see me? Where are you?”

“Where are you?!” I yell.

“You don't need to yell. I promise, its not helping anyone.” He says quietly.

I grunt quietly and sit up. Where does he think I am? And why?

“So are you going to be a good little knight-in-shining-armor, and come save me? Or are you going to be a bum and just, not.” I say.

“Well, I don't exactly know where you are. So how could I come--”

“Where do you think I am?!” I burst out. I stand up and cross my arm angrily. “Just,” I grunt, he should be figuring this out. “Find me.” I pull out my earpiece and throw it down. It hits the ground next to my feet. I turn my back to the wall and slump down, frustrated and confused. I think I'll go get Razz now.