Prank

ALICE POV:

I walked into mine and Fay's room to see how Grim was doing, but as soon as he saw me, he yelled at me, "Hey what the fuck happened? What did you guys do to me!"

What is he talking about?

I wanted to say something to him, but I couldn't; it just didn't feel right. Grim is acting differently. I know he got run over by a carriage, but isn't he acting a bit too mean? What does he even mean by what we did to him?

Fay carried Grim back to the orphanage and immediately asked me to go get Ms. Shiva. I went and brought her to where Fay and Grim were and Ms. Shiva immediately carried him into Fay's and mine room and put him on my bed.

My bed!

He's making me mad, him and Fay usually argue, from time to time, but this is too much. I wanted to say something to him, but before I could, he asked me, "Aren't you going to say something?"

Grim made me realize that I hadn't said anything to him and I had been in my thoughts that entire time. I looked at his face and he looked creeped out. I didn't want to linger here any longer and left into the hallway.

I could feel my face getting heated, and my body felt itchy all around, "Damn anxiety."

I scratched all around where I felt the prickly sensation, yet it was still there. I went down the stairs slowly to reduce the effect movement had on the pricky sensation invading my body.

As I made it down the steps, I went past the living room, where my brother was reading a book about mana links in one of the ten chairs scattered within it. I entered the kitchen where Ms. Shiva was cooking pasta with meatballs. The aroma of the dish caught my nose's attention and I allowed myself to be distracted. I appreciated the smell of the sauce, differentiating the different spices used along with the raw tomato sauce.

I was lost in bliss until Ms. Shiva's voice snapped me out of it, "What are you doing standing there?"

"Was just appreciating the pasta you were cooking," I replied back to her and asked her, "How serious is Grim's injury?"

She stopped stirring the pasta in the huge pot and looked down to meet my eyes. She gave me a light smile and said, "He's going to need a lot of rest, even crutches, but he will be fine."

"I thought his injury was way worse since he yelled at me a few minutes ago." Ms. Shiva asked me with a questioning look, "Why did he yell at you?"

"I don't know, all I know is he cursed at me. I wanted to say something after he yelled at me, but he asked me what I was doing. I realized I was in my thoughts that entire time and his creeped-out look triggered my anxiety."

Thump!

The sound of a book snapping closed caught me off guard. I looked toward the source of the noise to see my brother, Fay, looking at me. The book in his hands was no longer open, and he looked mad.

"Don't worry Fay, I'll go take care of Grim, you go back to reading." I turned back to see Ms. Shiva heading toward the stairs. Realizing she was going to have a "chat" with Grim, I walked towards my brother and took a sit on one of the chairs next to him.

Fay looked at me and asked me, "He didn't say anything hurtful to you, did he?"

"No, he just said something weird, as if he didn't know who I was." I met Fay's eyes to see him looking at him with confusion written on his face.

"Ali, what are you talking about?" I huffed in annoyance and stated, "I know what I heard Fay, he looked angry and confused. I swear it's true."

Fay's unsure look lingered out to me for a few seconds until he opened back his book and responded, "Whatever you say I guess."

I got off the chair while trying not to show Fay my visible frustration and went back up the stairs. Since Grim was recovering in my bed, for the time being, I went into the spare room the orphanage had. As soon as I was at a safe launching distance away from the bed, I threw myself on it.

I put my face on the pillow and sighed. I wasn't too sure if I heard correctly as I was venting, but I'm pretty sure Ms. Shiva just yelled Fay's name. Regardless, I didn't care enough to be bothered and see what Fay got himself into.

It's just not fair. Why does Fay question things that are involved with my experiences? He always does this. Just because our parents are gone doesn't mean he's my superior now. Oh, I did it again.

Sad memories resurfaced as I accidentally ended up reminding myself of the atrocities my hometown faced against the enemy continent's forces. The memories and emotions that came with them that I had buried had been dug out. Slowly everything became black as my eyes became watery

***

My eyes opened to see the ceiling no longer being lit up by the sun. I looked out the window to my right to see it was nighttime. Knowing I was going to have to reheat the pasta Ms. Shiva cooked made me mad.

It's all Grim's fault. Had he not said anything in the first place, then I would have not cried myself to sleep.

I got out of bed and stormed into my room. I opened the door with anger fueling my movements. Inside I found Grim lying in my bed, asleep. I walked over to him to wake him up and give him a piece of my mind until I noticed sweat all over his face.

He looked like he was in pain but with no injuries. After a few seconds, I decided to put my anger aside and fetch a small towel from the bathroom. As I returned from the bathroom, I noticed that Grim had started talking.

I walked over to get a closer look and see if he was awake, so I could yell at him. It wasn't the case. His eyes were still closed, but he was mumbling something. I leaned down and put my ear closer to Grim's face.

"I need to win... I need to win... I ne-"

What is he saying? Is it a nightmare he's having? I thought back to when he cursed at me. The way he looked at me angrily. As if he didn't understand what was happening.

Did something happen to Grim?

Before I could try to answer that question in my head, Grim suddenly yelled, "Just die already! I need to win!" I backed off, startled to see him struggle in his sleep just like before.

Now I was curious. What was Grim dreaming about to cause him to talk in his sleep? Should I wake him up and ask? And why does this seem so familiar to me?

I tried to think of how this could be familiar. Nothing came to me within the first minute, so I tried to think harder. Was it something I saw or read?

Read.....

The reason it had felt so familiar finally came to me. My brother had read one of the first chapters of a fantasy book he was reading to me. In it, the main character, Ike, I think that was his name, was a reincarnated duke in his past life.

He was starting to regain the memories of his past life and was being given them through his sleep. It wasn't just through sleep now that I think back to it. It was flashbacks that were caused by experiences similar to his past life. I looked back at Grim and wondered if that was what was happening here.

Nah, there's no way. If he even were to be a reincarnated hero, there's no way it would be through this life. Isn't another chance at life supposed to be better than the last?

Unless he lived in a cave previously, I don't see how reincarnating into another world at an orphanage is reincarnation material. It would be funny, though, to play a prank on him.

I looked back at Grim to see no change from before, only this time he was sweating less. Regardless, I didn't feel sad or pity for him for enduring the nightmare he was under. I was actually quite thrilled.

Maybe I should play a prank on him. Yeah, I think I'll do just that. Before I woke up Grim, I got myself into character and mimicked the same expression I had earlier. After making sure I was ready, it was time to wake Grim up.

I brought the towel to his forehead and wiped off the sweat. Grim sat up on the bed, catching his breath as he used his hand to wipe the rest of his sweat off.

This is it, now's my line, I thought to myself. Grim looked up and met my eyes. I looked into his eyes with a blank expression and asked him, "You're not Grim, are you?"

Realizing that I might be met with either a question or an insult made me realize this wasn't a good prank. As I looked at Grim, I was not met with any of those results. Instead, I was met with a look that expressed dread.