So this is the sequel to Accidents Will Happen. It is set around fifteen and a half years afterwards. Yeah, I know, big gap but you'll understand. I needed an older Tommy for the story to work. I'm not use how this first chapter will go. It has taken me ages to get it 'right.' I'm still not sure about it, so please let me know what you think.
The car bounced and skidded across the sun-baked desert. Light was just starting to peak up over the horizon. The five occupants of the car were discussing the upcoming journey and how it would go. For one boy it was his first ever time on a trip like that and he was almost overcome with the joy of not only getting a chance to see more than just the small hideout they lived in, but finally getting a break from the things with his mother.
"You excited, Tommy?" The man, Burns Living Flowers, in the passenger seat asked the boy. He was a kind man, who was almost, but not quite one of a kind. He looked just like each of the other people in the car, except for his eyes which had a glowing ring of silver shining through them and of course his unusual name. He was the greatest asset to the group and could assure much of their survival.
"Of course he is! It's his first time out!" The woman sitting beside Tommy, Rachel, laughed. The two other occupants of the car chortled at Rachel's remark. The driver's name was Nate. He was the leader of their little gang and their small colony back home. The other man who sat on the other side of Rachel was Rob, a cautious man who was and always had been sweet on Rachel.
"We better stop for the day and head off again tonight," Nate told them all. A groan echoed throughout the small space. "I know, I know, you're all eager to get going, but I reckon we'll be safer and better off going to Jeb's for the day."
"Do they know we're coming?" Rob asked.
"No, but someone will see us and they'll send a welcoming committee for us no doubt," Nate chuckled. The car bounced across the desert for a short while longer before Nate veered off towards a large cluster of boulders. He drove around the boulders and an opening appeared in the rocks. The inside was squashed and dark but Nate knew what he was doing. There was already a space waiting for him as usual. He pulled into the space and just as he turned his keys and cut the ignition, the figures appeared in the opening; five to be exact. Their numbers always equalled the number in the car. Nate opened his door and climbed out. He nodded at each of the figures in turn.
"Nate, we weren't expecting you," one of the figures stated. Burns, Rob and Rachel all got out of the car leaving just Tommy still sitting inside unsure of what to do. The five figures moved into the cave out of sight and it was now that Tommy was able to see them properly. The man who had spoken was tall and solidly built. He seemed to be around his mid to late forties and had slightly greying golden brown hair. Beside him was a woman who looked around her late thirties and had long, mahogany hair that blew in her face slightly with the breeze. Just behind them stood a man that looked in his early forties with dark, ink black hair. Even in the dark Tommy could see that the man had the most vivid, beautiful blue coloured eyes he had ever seen. Just behind him was another man that looked much like the one standing in front of him, except slightly older and bulkier. Tommy was sure they must have been brothers. And finally bringing up the rear was an older woman, around her mid-sixties, with a long salt and pepper braid. Tommy couldn't help but be fascinated by the group as he had spent his entire life looking at the same small group of people and, therefore, the new faces were interesting to him.
Tommy realised Nate was chuckling at what the first man had said, "When are you ever expecting us?" Nate chortled; the man laughed and shook Nate's hand in a familiar way. "Do you mind if we pop in for the day? We'll be off again as soon as the sun's down." The man shrugged.
"Sure, better off being safe, right?" The man grimaced and then he sighed, "well come on then." Tommy knew he needed to get out of the car now. Carefully he eased open the door that Rachel had left slightly ajar when she had exited the car and slid out. He walked slowly and cautiously so he was standing beside Rachel. Rachel was like a mum to him and he trusted her more than anyone. He needed to. Without thinking Rachel reached for Tommy's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. She remembered when Tommy and his mother first arrived at the cave. Casey had been a wreck; her moods constantly going up and down, suddenly breaking out into tears. It was like that for years and even after that Casey still had issues with her mental health and depression. In those years Rachel had filled the gaps left in Tommy's life by his mother's health; she had been the one to see him walk first, talk first and was the one he would always come to in his times of need. The only problem had been that Rachel could not fill the gaps in Tommy's past that Casey could. Rachel did not know about Tommy's father or what had happened to him. She always could not help but despair when the boy asked her about his father and she could not supply the answers he needed, even though she knew that was not her fault.
The group from Jeb's cave started to walk out of the space and Nate's group followed. Tommy did not let go of Rachel hand, nor did she drop his. They fell to the back of the group and Tommy watched between the other people curiously. The man who had spoken to Nate and the woman with the long mahogany hair's fingers were entwined together and they both kept bumping into each other slightly as they walked. The two men that looked like brothers were having a conversation, and the older lady was chatting to Nate and to Burns. Rob was walking along by himself just ahead, kicking stones and creating tiny puffs of dust with his feet.
Rachel knocked Tommy in the leg with their hands to get his attention, "The man who spoke to Nate, his name is Jared and the woman he's holding hands with is Melanie, his partner. The brothers are Kyle, the older, bigger one, and Ian, the younger, more pleasant one. The other lady is Trudy. They're all from Jeb's caves; there are more than forty of them living there, including the kids." Tommy nodded slowly. More than forty didn't even seem possible to him, how could they fit more than forty people into one hideout? Rachel knew exactly what Tommy was thinking, "I know it sounds impossible, right? Well there are and the caves are huge! You'll see soon enough for yourself."
They walked in silence and the sun had finally risen over the horizon. Tommy wished it would go right back though because even though it was low, it was already boiling. Just ahead of him the woman, Melanie, turned slightly so her face wasn't getting quite so much glare. That was when she saw Tommy for the first time. She gasped slightly and turned her head quickly away. She moved her head beside Jared's ear and whispered something to him. He whipped his head around to look at Tommy as well. His mouth was slightly open in shock. He came to a dead stop and turned around to face the others, as did Mel. They both just stared at Tommy not knowing what to say. There was no doubting who he was; he looked exactly like Jamie, except for his mother's eyes. Ian and Kyle, Trudy, Burns and Nate, and Rob all began to stop when they noticed Jared and Melanie.
"Something wrong Jared? Melanie?" Nate asked in a confused tone. Ian was the next to realise what they were staring at and was the first to verbally acknowledge who they were seeing with a simple, "shit." Tommy was not sure what to do or why they were staring at him like they were.
"We...we can't…" Melanie whispered, "Jamie." She covered her mouth with her hands and a small strangled sound came out of her.
"What's wrong?" Burns asked her. Melanie just shook her head and Burns turned to look at Jared. Jared turned to face Melanie and wrapped his arms around her. He kissed her head lightly and then looked back up at Burns.
"Have you met Mel's brother Jamie?" Jared asked Burns evenly. "Have you, Nate?"
"Yes, a while ago…" Nate started.
"Do you remember him?"
"Yes, he was much younger when I met him, only about nineteen. Nice boy, he was, though he was quite vacant at times, like something was missing from him."
"Look at Tom."
"How do you know my name?" Tommy demanded. Nothing the people around him were saying made any sense to him and now Nate too was staring at him like the others. Nobody answered his question, so he asked again; "how do you know my name? You knew my name was Tom, how?"
"Tom..." Melanie whispered.
"You can't just tell him!" Ian yelled.
"Why not?" Melanie demanded, "why shouldn't he know who he is, Ian?"
"Who I am?" Tommy stared intently at Melanie.
"What has your mother told you?" Melanie asked Tommy.
"Nothing," Tommy sighed, "she's never been in a good headspace, once I asked and she got really angry at me and then she kept apologising and saying she loved me. After all that she was depressed for ages again. I felt awful because she was just getting back to a good place after so long." Everyone from Jeb's cave exchanged looks. They had seen a depressed Casey and they weren't nice memories.
"How bad does it get?" Ian asked Tommy in a pained voice, "is Casey okay now?"
"You know her?"
"She was my best friend." Ian told Tommy sadly. "Is she any better?"
"It comes in waves," Rachel spoke up. "Sometimes she is fine, and she is such a beautiful person when she is well, but when she's down, she gets way down. We have to watch her all the time when it gets really bad."
"Tell them why we have to watch her," Tommy snapped.
"Tommy, I don't think that's necessary," Rob warned.
Ian walked closer to Tommy and stared into his eyes that were so like his mother's.
"Why do you have to watch her?" Ian asked.
"Because if we don't she'll try to kill herself. Once she slit her wrists; if Rach hadn't of found her and got some Heal onto her wrists, she'd have done it." Tommy told Ian. He looked over Ian's shoulder and saw everyone looking at him. Melanie had a tear running down her cheek and Ian looked like you could push him over with a feather. Tears welled in Tommy's eyes but he didn't want anybody to see so he turned around and faced the way they had walked from.
"You still want to tell him, Mel? After what you just heard do you really want to break his heart even more?" It was Ian that was yelling. Everyone began yelling at each other but Tommy didn't turn around. He knew exactly what he was going to say though and he knew the effect it would have it would have on the group.
"I want to hear the truth."
Everyone stopped mid-sentence, just as Tommy had predicted. They all stopped their arguments and their attention turned back to Tommy.
"Tell me the truth!" He yelled turning back to face them. He was crying but by then he didn't care. He needed the truth more than anything.
"Tom, you were born in Jeb's caves. I'm your aunty, my brother Jamie is your father." Melanie told Tommy.
"No." Tommy whispered, "Mum said she didn't know where he was, she said for all she knew he was dead! She said she didn't know!"
"Tommy, your dad is alive; your mum always knew where he was and that he was alive."
Hmm… a cliffy. I hate cliff hangers. So Casey's depression wasn't a one off thing, it's serious; could it be lack of Ian induced? Yes, probably, I mean who wouldn't be depressed if they didn't have Ian? Um… So as I said I'm not sure about this as a first chapter, it's definitely taking a leap jumping so far ahead but I don't know. Also was the end rushed? I was trying to get across Mel's whole get things over and done with attitude and the whole you're better off knowing.
So please, please review and let me know. Please, I need feedback. It helps me greatly. Also for all of you Hunger Games fans, I have almost finished the first chapter of my very first Hunger Games story. It's mostly about grief and the lifelong scars and nightmares left with the people who were involved with the Hunger Games and the war. Oh and it has Finnick's beautiful son in it and who wouldn't love that? (His name is Caspian.)
TheBlackRosette