You wake up, again

{if GameMode == true}

Millions of thoughts swirl through your brain as you regain a grasp on consciousness. The nerves in your fingertips send impulses to your brain, acknowledging the fact that you have a palm full of sand. You can hear the distant crashing of waves and the hot sun beams down, bathing your skin with sunlight and warmth. You can feel the heat on your chest when you realise your shirt has been removed. A tight material is wrapped around your head and you can feel it putting pressure on the wound located just in front of your left ear, around which pulses of pain radiate from.

As you recover your sense of sight, you can see a figure standing above you. Several, actually. Your eyes flicker in an attempt to try and adjust to the sudden brightness but end up closing again. When you reopen them just a single figure is to be seen. Her hair dangles down across her face as she crouches beside you, placing her soft hands on each of your bare shoulders.

“Julian,” says a familiar voice, as she grips tightly and shakes you awake. You focus your eyes on hers to be greeted with a warming smile and the familiar sight of Parisia, a close friend of yours. “Julian?” She asks.

You slowly prop yourself up on your elbows and take a look around. You're much further away from the coast than you thought you were. Behind you are some large palm trees and as the sand merges into dirt, the foliage becomes thicker until a dense jungle forms. Much closer to you is a mediocre fire that looks like it's been going for quite some time now, with several large fallen logs around it in a sort of broken semi-circle. A couple of people sit on them, talking loudly but you can't quite make them out yet as your eyes struggle to focus on them with the sun shining directly onto your face. All the boys are wearing the same clothes as you, black cargo shorts and a tight white t-shirt. The girls' shorts are much shorter and they’re wearing a white crop top. Everyone has a silver chain with a metal tag around their necks too.

As you turn back to face Parisia you start to remember snippets of the events that happened and are reminded of the pain in your ear. “What happened?” You ask Parisia, as you fiddle with the makeshift bandage and presume that the cloth wrapped around your head is actually your white t-shirt that you were previously wearing up until now.

She sits down on the sand beside you and shifts her body to mimic your position, then begins to explain everything from her perspective.

It turns out that she was actually one of the first to wake up, along with Neela and Roman. They all walked across the coast covering a small portion of the seemingly huge island and saw Adam running towards the treeline. They all ran as fast as they could when they realised he was running to try and tackle you to the ground but it was too late and by the time Roman had managed to push Adam away, you were already concussed. Everyone had a massive argument over whether he was intentionally trying to hurt you, or if he didn't know what he was doing, but in the end, Adam managed to convince the majority that he had just woken up and was defending himself. You very much doubt that. More people began to wake up and they started a small fire, pulled a couple of logs together, and as of now, everyone has no idea what to do.

“So, no one knows how we got here?” You ask.

“Well, most of us remember a boat crashing into large rocks but there is no shipwreck on the beach, I don’t actually remember anything though,” says Parisia. “I'm gonna assume you're in the same position?”

“Unfortunately,” you sigh.

You've known Parisia for a while now. The two of you have been mutual friends for a long time but had never really spoken until recently. Only when you formed a strong group of six close friends did you really start to talk to her and she would always be the one you would go to when you had a dilemma or problem. She's a really fun person to be around and makes you feel welcome. She has a curvy figure with big breasts, along with a nice ass. Her silky brown hair hangs neatly to below shoulder length, complementing her equally brown eyes.

“Who patched me up?” You ask Parisia, turning your palm and raising a finger to make reference to the bandage wrapped around your head.

“Make a guess,” she says with a slight smirk, the kind of smirk that says you already know the answer.

“Amber?” You ask, knowing full well you're right.

“Obviously, who else?” Replies Parisia, rolling her eyes and smiling at you.

“What?” You say with a grin.

“Mmm, nothing,” she smirks, giving you a look.

Amber is one of your closest friends and your relationship with her is nothing more than platonic, but that doesn't stop Parisia from teasing you about her. Amber and Parisia are best friends too, the two of them having known each other since high school. Amber is probably one of the smartest people you know and at just over five feet tall, she doesn't take shit from anybody. Her dark brown hair flows to around shoulder length, accentuating her storm blue eyes. She has a petite figure with perky breasts and a tight ass.

“Where is she now anyway?” You ask, looking around and only seeing Roman and Neela engaged in a deep chat on one of the other logs. Everyone else is nowhere to be seen.

“Wouldn't you like to know,” teases Parisia.

“Shut up,” you groan, as you gently shove her and she playfully falls sideways into the sand.

You start to get up and already your head is spinning but by the time you're standing on both feet, you can feel it getting worse. You let out a small groan and start to feel dizzy, eliciting looks of concern from the three friends around you. Roman and Parisia stand up and move towards you, holding out their arms and supporting your own in case you lose balance.

“Amber said you should rest,” says Neela, following suit by standing up and resting an arm on your shoulder.

“I'm fine,” you insist.

“Clearly,” says Roman, sarcastically gesturing to your lack of balance.

“Fuck you,” you retort jokingly, “I'm fine, seriously.”

You put a hand to your head where the makeshift bandage is and pull it away when you feel a sticky residue on your hand. You look at your palm and see a maroon discoloration on the tips of your fingers.

“Let me wash your bandage,” offers Parisia, as she holds out her hand, “get all that dried blood out.”

“No, I can do it.” You say, taking a step back and holding your hands up to cover the bloodstained cloth.

“You can't even take it off, just let me help.” Says Parisia.

“She's right, Julian.” Says Roman.

“Fine,” you mumble, tilting your head forward to allow Parisia to undo the knot from behind and carefully unravel the previously white t-shirt.

She moves closer to you and the both of you realise she can't reach high enough to see the knot, so you move over to stand next to a log while she boosts herself up and reattempts taking the cloth off, this time facing you. The two of you are standing level now and you take a moment to admire her natural beauty. Her eyebrows are perfectly arched, furrowed in concentration as she peels away the stained t-shirt. She then averts her gaze to your own, giving you a smile before hopping off and sitting next to you.

{else}

Please turn on game mode to read the full story. Head to the menu at the top right, then select ‘Start Game’ under the ‘Score’ tab.

{endif}