Welcome to Paradise Chapter Three- Rest

Derek slowly handed Trey a small glass of water, kneeling down next to him once more. I watched silently, not saying a word. I wasn't so sure my voice was strong; I didn't trust it. Trey sighed and slowly raised his head, sipping the water and then resting his head back on the ground once he'd had his fill. I was worried about the blood on his clothes, but I didn't dare ask just yet. Trey needed to rest for now; the questions could come later. "Where can we put him?" Derek asked quietly, looking at me. I paused and then pointed to the door to my room. He nodded and slowly hauled Trey to his feet. "C'mon buddy," he murmured, leading the way to my room, his hand on Trey's shoulder, keeping him steady. My roomate was slow to start walking, and walked as if he were drunk and had had one too many. I frowned and followed after the two of them, and shut the door behind me as we entered my room. "Lie down," said Derek, gesturing at the bed. Trey stared at it for a moment, and then shook his head. "Trey, lie down." Trey mumbled something inaudible under his breath, and Derek rolled his eyes. I frowned at the two of them, unsure of what was going on. Trey glanced around the room and huffed out a breath, leaning against the wall for support. Derek frowned in concern and moved toward him, but Trey held up a hand, stopping him in his tracks. I watched from the sidelines, confused and worried. "Trey...you need to lie down. You're about to fall over." Trey, once again, shook his head, leaning his head against the wall, his eyes slipping closed. I frowned again and moved forward a little, but then stopped. I needed to let them talk. I shouldn't interfere. "C'mon Trey...you're exhausted...you're hurt...lie down." Derek reached out and grabbed Trey's arm, pulling him toward the bed. Trey sighed and didn't resist, sitting down on the bed with a heavy breath. I looked at him for a moment. His face was pale, which was unlike him, or at least how I was used to him. He had been tan...now he was pale. His hair was disheveled and he had a streak of dried blood on the side of his face, coming from his head, and I winced as I looked at it. Soot and dirt and ash covered his face and clothes, and he looked especially tired. "You need to rest," Derek insisted, but Trey shook his head and gently shoved him away.

"I'm fine," he said quietly. Derek scoffed and Trey rolled his eyes. "Really, I'm fine. I'm tired and I have a headache, but other than that I'm fine. I swear." Derek looked at Trey, unbelieving, and Trey sighed under his breath as I came over to the bed. "What?" he asked with a weak laugh. "Don't I look okay?" Derek paused for a moment.

"Do you really want me to answer that?" he asked, and Trey let out a small breathless laugh beneath his breath. Derek smirked and bent down on the floor in front of Trey, looking him over. "How hurt are you?" he questioned, his expression pensive. Trey didn't answer, and I let out a breath as I bent down next to Derek. "Where is this blood coming from?" as if to make a point, he gently jabbed at a blood splotch on Trey's gray shirt. Trey winced slightly, but still didn't answer. "Trey?" Derek's voice had gone worried. "Are you going to answer me, or do we have to do this the hard way?" I looked at him for a moment, and then turned my attention back to Trey, waiting for him to answer.

Trey took a breath and I knew he was about to speak. "I'm fine," he insisted, and Derek sighed. "Really. Okay, so I have a few injuries. Big deal. All in all, I'm fine. I'll live. I got there in time; we all made it out okay. I was hit in the head by the rubble from the wall on my way back. I think I blacked out for a minute. It gave me a damn good headache, too. But other than that, I'm fine. I swear." Derek looked at him for a moment, his expression pensive as he chewed on his lower lip, as if debating on whether or not Trey was telling the truth. Then he sighed and slowly nodded his head. I sighed under my breath, gazing at the ground.

"Okay," Derek said softly. "I believe you. But I want you to rest for now." Trey started to argue, but Derek cut him off. "Don't argue with me." his voice was stern. "I don't want to hear it. You're exhausted. And if you want my opinion, you look like hell. Lie down and get some rest, and then I'll stop bothering you. Get some sleep and we'll talk when you stop looking like a walking corpse." and then he got to his feet and left the room, shutting the door behind him. I stared after him, and then turned my attention to Trey when I heard him sigh. He lay back on the bed and rested his head on one of the pillows, gazing up at the ceiling for a moment before he closed his eyes.

"...I'm sorry..." he murmured suddenly when I got to my feet to leave the room. I turned back to face him, my expression puzzled.

"What for?" I asked, confused. "What are you sorry for?" I dind't understand; what did he have to be sorry about? As far as I was concerned, he hadn't done anything wrong.

"I got you involved...I'm sorry..." he turned his head away and closed his eyes, going silent. His breathing was shallow and didn't make a sound, and I frowned at him for a moment, before I turned and opened the door.

"...You don't have anything to be sorry about," I whispered as I turned the light off and shut the door, entering the common room. It made me feel guilty that he was sorry. I still didn't understand; why was he sorry? What had he gotten me involved in? Why was he hurt? What had happened? Once again, so many questions, so few answers. I sighed and placed myself on the small couch that was seated toward the back of the common room. The other person that Derek had been carrying had been moved; he was probably in Trey's room now. Sure enough, Derek left Trey's room and joined me on the couch, and silence took over. Normally I didn't mind the silence; it was peaceful and relaxed me. But now...it just made me feel uneasy. It was awkward and I desperately wanted it to end.

Luckily, Derek was the one that broke the silence. "Trey lie down?" he asked quietly, and I knew he was worried about my roomate. I slowly nodded, but then noticed that his eyes were closed and that he couldn't see me.

"Yeah..." I replied. "He did."

Derek breathed a sigh of relief. "Good," he murmured. "He takes it too far sometimes..."

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

"He won't rest. He'll keep going and then he'll just collapse. I was afraid he wouldn't rest..." he sighed. "But he's resting now. He must be feeling worse than he's letting on, if he's doing what I say." he laughed quietly at himself at a memory. "Like I said, we didn't mean to get you involved."

My frown deepened. "Involved in what?" I asked. "You've mentioned it, Trey's mentioned it...what's going on? What am I suddenly involved in?"

He sighed heavily and shook his head before he opened his eyes and glared at the ground. "You don't understand..." he whispered. "And if we tell you...well...then you'll really be involved, Shadow. And we don't want that. We don't want to involve anyone, but sometimes it's a necessity...I'm sorry that we came here tonight, but we had nowhere else to go. Nowhere else was open...but Trey always lets us in. I suggest you get a different room."

I looked at him, perplexed. "What?" I asked. "Why?" Why did he want me to get a different room? I liked this room; I liked rooming with Trey. Sure he was gone a lot, but he was still a nice guy and fun to be around when he was here.

"So you're not involved anymore," he said. "If you stay here, you're going to be involved, you're going to have to learn things...and we don't want that, none of us do, particularly Trey. He doesn't want you involved."

"...But..." I trailed off, frowning.

He sighed and got to his feet. "They call this place paradise," he said, turning to head toward Trey's room. "but it's really just a living nightmare. Welcome to paradise kid..." he entered Trey's room and shut the door behind him. I frowned after him, confused. What did he mean? Trey had said that when I had met him too...what did it mean? Welcome to paradise? What was going on around here? I sighed. I wasn't sure what was going on, or what was happening around me, but there was one thing I was sure of...there was something going on at this school...

And I was right in the middle of it.