Page 37 of Hunters and Prey

"They actually can."

"No, they can't."

"There's magic in the world and you're trying to tell me pigs can't grow wings and fly? There are farms for that."

"Can you all shut up?"

I caught onto Aaron’s voice, which sounded annoyed. To be fair, whoever was talking about flying pigs and crazy stuff was rather annoying. And intriguing.

The room was silent for a few minutes, which was really helpful. It made my head pound less and I was able to center my mind on trying to wake up.

It took a few more attempts, but I finally opened my eyes. Squinting them to adjust to the bright lights, I noticed I was in my room; the decorated ceiling filled with glow-in-the-dark stickers came into view when my blurred vision corrected itself.

Aaron's head popped into my vision, those green eyes filled with relief as he sighed. "Thank goodness, Alice. You're okay. How are you feeling?"

I needed a second or two before I was able to answer. "My head is killing me," I croaked.

"Told you," a voice announced.

Aaron moved back to glance at my door and I took the chance to see where the other voices were coming from.

Four unfamiliar men stood near my door, two of them standing on the left side and the other two on the right.

The guy on the far right was 6'4" and the tallest of the group. He had long red hair almost giving me Axel vibes from Kingdom Hearts and bright red eyes. He was pale skinned and his expression alone told me he didn't really want to be here. He wore all black, from his simple t-shirt to his faded jeans.

The 6'2" guy next to him had short black hair that was spiked up. His eyes were gold with hints of brown, almost like a hazelnut color. It could have been the dark rays of the sun peeking through the window that made them look that way, but they stood out more thanks to his mocha skin. He wore a white shirt and dark blue jeans.

On the far left stood a 6'2" guy with navy blue shoulder-length hair. It was the first time I'd seen an Asian individual with that type of coloring. To be honest, it was the first time ever, since our town was pretty much a mix of Africans and Caucasians. He wore a red shirt, a leather jacket, and black jeans.

The guy standing next to him was 6'3 with long blond hair that must have reached his lower back. He had stunning blue eyes and wore black glasses. He wore a blue t-shirt with PEACE on it in white and white joggers. He wasn't as pale as the redhead, but I assumed he was Caucasian like me.

The guy with blond hair shrugged. "What? I was right."

"I'm sure you feel proud of yourself, Rome." Red hair sighed.

"Should we introduce ourselves now or later?" Navy hair questioned.

"If we introduce ourselves, is that more of a surprise or less?" The black-haired guy questioned.

"I don't know, Alec," red hair noted. "Ask the male ginger."

"It's Aaron," Aaron grumbled.

Rome grinned. "Sorry. Roxas sucks at names. He's better with hair color."

"Remember he called me Compass for the longest time," blue hair reminded.

"It's because your name is a direction," Roxas argued. "Much easier to remember than West."

"How is Compass easier than West, which IS my name," West argued, shaking his head. "Just admit you're weird."

"Remember he kept comparing me to that guy from that show? The shadow whatever one?" black hair pointed out.

"You mean the Alec guy from Shadowhunters?" Rome clarified.

"Ya!" Alec replied. "I didn't even watch the damn show. I'm sure Roxas hasn't."

"I'm here and I did watch it," Roxas grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. "How did we end up talking about this?"