24 Waking Up
Green eyes.
That’s what Vik saw when he first opened his eyes.
He had been struggling to open them for some time now. He was also struggling to move. But it felt like he had been forced to sleep inside a trunk that was packed to the brim with stuff that didn’t belong to him.
He remembered bits and pieces of the conversation he had with an unknown entity that seemed all-encompassing. It felt like a long time had passed since he had that unique experience. And yet, it also felt like now that he was at this new place, not much time had passed. As if the passage of time had been skewed when he was having that surreal experience.
Vik was slowly regaining his clarity. And with it came control over his bodily functions.
‘Hmm? My body? Did I manage to log out of Oasis?’
Vik thought to himself as he tried his darndest to at least open his eyes and see the condition he was in. He wanted to prepare himself to flee the scene in case Raquel manages to track their location.
‘Wait. Did Tory survive? Are we still in danger?’
Vik finally managed to snap his eyes open due to his survival instinct kicking in. It was like taking control of something that wasn’t yours originally.
Green eyes. Vik saw green eyes staring at him with surprise and a tinge of embarrassment reflected in them. In addition, he realized that they were too close for him to see anything else.
And then he felt his lips being sealed by something soft and luscious. That proximity to someone scared the man who was already on edge because of the danger that he thought still existed for him.
Push. Slap. Wake up.
A slapping noise was heard in a quiet room. Vik had pushed the girl away who technically was trying to take advantage of him, no matter how innocent her intentions were.
And he also slapped her with the back of his hand while waking up and sitting straight in his position. It was his instincts taking over his body, considering her as an enemy.
Reece Green was pushed back by the slap before she landed on the ground with her plushy butts in front of Vik’s bed. It took a while for her to process what had happened.
First, she was shocked. Then she felt embarrassed. And finally, her eyes started watering as she assumed the worst.
‘He… he doesn’t like me.’
When she thought that, Reece began to cry. Crying without sobs. Crying without making any sound. Crying without any unnecessary tantrums.
She stayed still but her tears didn’t follow her lead. They ran down her cheeks as her green glistened with sadness. She was more hurt mentally than physically.
‘Where… where the fuck am I? Was that all a dream? What was that place?
And am I still dreaming?’
Vik had loads of questions swirling inside his head as he looked around him. But he could confirm by pinching himself hard on his arm that he wasn’t dreaming.
Vik was sure he had never seen this place before. And he was damn sure he hadn’t seen the girl who was supposedly trying to attack him.
‘Never mind that weird dream. Where’s Tory? And most importantly, who can tell me what’s going on?’
Vik questioned himself and his mind came up with a simple answer.
‘That girl!’
Only now did Vik think of checking on the girl he had just slapped. She had almost disappeared from his vision when he had gotten up. That’s because she was sitting down on the ground near his head, by his feet.
Vik dragged his body onto the bed that he had never slept on before, bent himself forward, and stretched his neck to check on something.
‘There she is! And here I was wondering how she pulled a Houdini on me.’
Vik observed the girl with a newfound interest. Reece Green was a beautiful girl.
She had light orange hair that complemented her green eyes well. Rosy skin. Light pink lips and a pretty nose. The lips she had kissed Vik with a few moments ago.
She seemed to be of medium height. Relatively slim build. But she had curves in the right places. She was a girl in her late teens after all. It was just that her cute facial features made her look younger. An energetic girl just like her name suggested.
Vik saw Reece’s condition. Her tears welled up in the corner of her eyes. Then he replayed his memories and found out he was the reason. He had slapped her.
“Errr… I… I’m sorry.”
Vik managed to stutter his apology. However, he saw that the girl was not affected by it.
Vik looked around some more to confirm that he was in no immediate danger. No matter what his current situation was, it was certainly better than what he had assumed.
Vik breathed a sigh of relief. He shook his arms and shook his head to reboot himself. He was completely awake by now.
Vik got up from his bed and approached a girl who was sitting down with her legs crossed awkwardly. He didn’t know what to think at this point. Or what to do. He had so many questions to ask.
For now, he chose to pacify this cute girl.
The first thing Vik noticed after getting up was the fact that he felt a bit different. He also felt that his point of vision had been altered to have a lower altitude than before. As if somehow his stature had been reduced.
Vik didn’t pay much attention to these things. There were cases of people feeling disoriented after staying logged into Oasis for an extended time. The cases were rare. And they were almost all harmless. So he just chucked it under the fact that he must have stayed logged into Oasis for a long time.
Vik sat beside the girl. His eyes looked into hers. A vivacious green hue that was full of life and energy.
“I said I’m sorry, alright? It was an accident.”
Vik wiped her tears with his palms. Her blank expression turned into a sad pout as she felt the young man showing her care he had never shown before. She pursed her lips as she looked at Vik with expressions that screamed “How could you?”
Vik sighed and hugged the girl. He had to adjust his posture as he did that. Her spread legs were making it difficult to maintain the hug.
So he sat properly with his legs folded, pulled her onto him, and patted her back. He had hurt her. So it was only natural that he soothed her. He didn’t care that the girl’s face was turning redder than a tomato.