Ellie's POV

I screamed and sat up, clutching my leg. Chica was nowhere to be found.

"Don't move! I will shoot again if I have to!"

Mark?

Why the hell would Mark shoot me? He knows that I come up here to think. If I've been missing, this would be the first place to look.

I dragged myself over to the edge and looked down. It was dark, but I just barely made out the silhouette of Mark. Holding a pistol.

"Mark! It's me!" I called, and he lowered the gun.

"Eve? Oh my god, I'm so sorry! Let me help you down. If I knew it was you I wouldn't have shot!"

Eve? Mark came climbing up the tree and reached the flat space where I still sat.

"Mark? Where's Chica?" I asked, looking around. Maybe they already found her, and Jack was with her at the house. But Mark's face looked confused.

"Who're Mark and Chica?" He asked.

"Um... you and your dog?"

"No. I'm Nark and I have a dog named Lux."

Okay. This isn't Mark. Well, it is, but at the same time... it... isn't? Also, who was Lux?

"What kind of dog is... Um... Lux?" I asked. "A yellow lab," Nark-Mark replied. I took a deep breath, but all my thoughts left when a lightning bolt of pain shot up my leg. I cried out and clutched it.

"Oh, Eve! We need to get you back. Deb will check out your leg," Mark said, getting up.

Slowly but surely, we made our way down the tree. As we continued through the woods, I held on to Nark's arm and limped. When we reached the edge of the trees, I expected to see Mark's simple two floored house, but nope. A huge gray building stood in front of us, looking to be about four to five stories.

Nark helped me to the building, and as we reached sit, a light came on. A tall slender young woman stood there, wearing what looked like a doctor's coat.

"Eve! I saw you and Nark coming out of the woods from my office window. What happened?" She asked.

Before Nark could speak, I interrupted. "Listen. I just got shot in the leg by some person who looks and sounds exactly like Mark, whose entire fucking house is gone by the way, learned Chica doesn't exist, and everyone calls me 'Eve'! My name is Ellie! Ellie, goddamn it!"

Deb looked at Nark, who looked just as confused as she did. After a moment, the woman came up to me.

"Let me look at your leg, hun," she said, leading me to the back door. "And then we can help you figure out what's going on. Nark, Hack was looking for you. It's something about..."

Nark seemed to understand, for he nodded and went inside. Deb and I followed.

Inside, everything was white. White and bright. White walls, bright lights. White floors, bright equipment. I squinted my eyes against it all.

Nark left us through a door to our left, and a couple minutes later I was led into an office, which was littered with doctor tools.

I sat on a table and propped up my leg. Deb gave me a cup of water and pulled up the leg of my pants.

"Hmm... the bullet grazed your skin, but from experience I know that still hurts."

"How-"

"Trust me, hun, I've been shot many times."

I decided not to ask anymore questions. The answers people gave me never seemed to help.

Deb put some ointment and gauze over the graze, and wrote some stuff down on a clipboard.

"According to your record, you've been shot twice before and stabbed in your left... ergh, I can never read old Autti's handwriting... I think that says 'shoulder'. Is this true?" Deb looked up at me.

"Um, no? I've never been stabbed or shot in my life! Unless you count the time Chica bit me on my ankle. Now that hurt."

Deb looked at me, her eyes narrowed in thought. "Hun, could you tell me the last thing you remember? Before seeing Nark?"

"Last thing I remember... I yelled at Jack, then ran off into the woods to my willow tree. Chica followed me, and we fell asleep. Then I got shot. What the hell does this have to do with my injury?"

"Can you tell me what Jack looks like?"

"Do you always answer with a question?"

"Please just tell me."

"Ugh. Fine. He's small, but super skinny. And Irish. He has the brightest blue eyes, and pale white skin. His hair is a light brown, but he dyed the top neon green." A lump formed in my throat as I described Jack. I miss him so much.

Deb gave a little "huh" and dug around in her desk, finally pulling out a photo.

"Is this him?"

The breath caught in my throat as I looked at the picture. It was Jack and... Nark... smiling and looking into the camera.

"Where... where did you get this? Jack never mentioned a guy named Nark, or someone who looks just like Mark."

"I'm sorry, but I don't know who Jack is. This is Hack. He works down the hall. Him and Nark have been friends since middle school."

I shook my head. "No. No no no no no. There's another Jack too?"

Suddenly, the door burst open, and a young boy who looked about 14 came in.

"Deb, it's Charlie. While on guard, erm... He got out of hand. We've got it under control now, but he's badly hurt."

Deb looked up. "Which 'he'?"

The boy glanced at me and shifted his feet. "Um... Eyeball Dude."

Deb grabbed her things. "Thank you, Doug. Bring Charlie here. Eve, go find Nark. He will help you find your room." I nodded and left behind Doug.

"Heard you got shot," he said. "And that you yelled at Hack. How come?"

"I didn't exactly get shot. The bullet grazed my leg. And I didn't yell at Hack, I yelled at Jack. But I didn't mean to. I'm sure he knows that. I mean, with my autism and all. I wonder if I have that here? I hope not. It sure gave me hell back home. I hated it when I yelled or got too excited and embarrassed myself." I noticed that I was rambling and stopped. Doug gave me a sideways look, but it didn't look like he thought I was weird. As he walked away, I thought for a moment that I swear I saw pity and.... understanding, I think.

But how could some random person from another world understand my life?

I was pulled from my thoughts by a shout that came from behind me.

"Hey! Eve! You're back! I hope that leg healed, 'cause I need you for something."

I turned to see Jack standing behind me, his blue eyes bright, his smile wide.