Hey guys... This is my first fanfic for Gone! I'm really excited! So yeah... This takes off where Gone ends, with Caine and the coyotes and things. I made Diana and Drake go along with Caine on his little jaunt to the Darkness, though. Here we go...
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Gone, or the song "Memory", I only own Alex....
Give me a shot to remember
And you can take all the pain away from me
A kiss and I will surrender
The sharpest lives are the deadliest to lead
A light to burn all the empires
So bright the sun is ashamed to rise and be
In love with all of these vampires
So you can leave like the sane abandoned me
-"The Sharpest Lives" by My Chemical Romance
Chapter One: Memory
Caine glanced up at the sky.
Vultures were wheeling overhead, but he paid them no mind. It was the sun that held his attention, a sun that was quickly nearing the horizon. He shouted ahead.
"We have to stop."
Pack Leader turned around slowly. "Need to reach The Darkness tonight, human." Caine looked at the coyote in disgust.
"We can reach The Darkness tomorrow. Right now, most of us are dead on our feet." He took a quick glance at the girl next to him, as if for reassurance. Diana stared defiantly ahead, but her eyes looked weary.
"We're stopping," a voice came from behind them, a gleeful and menacing voice that Caine would recognize anywhere; Drake Merwin's voice. He had been playing with his whip-hand for the duration of the trek, enjoying the sound it made, cracking in the dry desert air. "I'm not walking throughout the night."
Pack Leader growled. "Whatever you say, Whip Hand." He turned to one of the other coyotes. "Cactus. Go find shelter for the humans." The coyote named Cactus raced off into the growing blackness, and was back within minutes. He yipped excitedly at Pack Leader, who in turn, spoke to Caine.
"There's a small cabin," he rasped. "Up that hill. Pack will hunt, humans rest." The group of coyotes wheeled as one and ran into the night; Pack Leader howling. Caine faced Drake and Diana.
"Let's go," he said, moving to grab Diana's arm. But in the end he thought better of it, letting his arm fall awkwardly back at his side.
"Whatever you say, Fearless Leader," she replied, smirking. Drake pushed past them both, going in the direction that Pack Leader had indicated. Diana, still smirking, fell into step behind him. Caine was left standing there.
"Let's get going, Loverboy." You could tell that Drake was sneering without needing to see. Caine growled and almost ran to the front of the line, but not before using his power to trip Drake, causing him to sprawl in the sand. He leapt up, eyeing Caine menacingly, the whip waving by his side.
Diana rolled her eyes at the both of them. "Come on," she said commandingly. "Do you want to get to that cabin before it's pitch black out here, or what?" That subdued the two boys, who had been glaring at each other, on the verge of a fight.
XxXxX
Caine reached the cabin first. He glanced at it warily, then turned to the others.
"There's a light on inside."
Diana sighed. "I'll go first, if you want me to, Fearless Leader." She reached for the doorknob, and the moment she touched it, they heard music coming from the open window. Somebody playing a piano and singing along.
"Memory, all alone in the moonlight, I can smile at the old days, I was beautiful then... I remember a time I knew what happiness was, let the memory live again..."
"What is that?" Drake questioned. The whip twitched at his side.
"It's called music, Drake," Diana answered, smirking. "Probably something that a disturbed boy like yourself would fail to understand, as it's made to make people happy."
"Touch me, it's so easy to leave me all alone with the memory of my days in the sun... If you touch me you'll understand what happiness is, look, a new day has begun..."
Caine had had enough of just standing around, listening to this mystery person singing. His burnt arm ached, and he was tired. He yanked the door open harshly, and the music stopped.
The music maker turned around from her spot at the piano. Her bright green eyes gave the three of them a once-over, only pausing for the briefest of seconds on Drake's whip-arm.
"Why are you in my house?" she asked evenly, staring at Caine. "Shouldn't you be back at Perdido Beach, running things?"
"You're from Perdido Beach?" Diana asked assertively, stepping in front of Caine. The girl nodded. "Well, why aren't you there now?"
"I left right after you Coates Academy kids showed up," she replied with something of a sneer playing around her mouth. "Once he--" she nodded at Caine, "stepped out of that car, I knew that I wouldn't like how things were going to be run." Caine glared at her. "So I've just been living here, by myself." Diana walked over to her.
"Give me your hand." The girl looked taken aback.
"No."
"You'd better give her your hand," Drake said menacingly, advancing on both of the girls, whip-arm outstretched.
It didn't take any more then the blink of an eye. The girl's hand raised, palm-out, and Drake's whip-arm was encased in ice. He howled in pain; apparently the whip still had feeling. Then, as quickly as it came, the ice melted and the water splashed to the floor. The girl lowered her arm.
"She controls water," Caine muttered under his breath, wishing he had Computer Jack's PDA.
"If you tell me to take your hand," the girl said loudly to Diana, while glaring at Drake, "you better tell me why." Diana smiled, a cold smile that didn't reach her eyes.
"I read people's power level," she said, stepping closer to the girl, who inched back instinctively. "It's completely safe. Just give me your hand." The girl held out her hand slowly, palm up. Diana took it roughly. They stood like that for a few seconds, but it felt like forever to Caine.
She can't be a four-bar, he thought almost frantically. It's bad enough that I have to share that with Sam. This girl can't be one, too!
"Three bars," Diana said finally. Caine mentally sighed with relief. The girl still looked wary, but didn't speak. A few awkward seconds passed.
"So... Can we stay here?" Caine asked. The girl turned her gaze on him.
"I guess so. This isn't really even my cabin; I found it after I left Perdido Beach. The owners poofed, I guess." Without any further ado, Drake, Caine and Diana all sat on different chairs.
"We've been walking for a long time," Diana explained as she put her feet up on the armrest of Caine's chair. The girl, seeing that there was no more chairs, simply settled herself on the floor.
"What are your names?" she asked bluntly. "Sorry, I didn't really pay any attention to your speech back in Perdido Beach." This last statement was directed at Caine, who looked a little taken aback, but answered her question.
"My name's Caine Soren, this is Diana Ladris, and the cheerful one is Drake Merwin." Drake glanced up from looking at his whip-arm, smiled sarcastically, and looked back down. "And who are you?"
"My name's Alex Lucine," she said. "The 'Alex' is short for something, but you're not learning what."
"Fair enough," Caine said without cracking a smile, and suddenly felt his stomach contract with pain. He hadn't had anything to eat since before the battle at Perdido Beach, and he didn't think now was the time to be polite. So he said, "is there any food in this cabin of yours?"
"Down the hall, the kitchen is the first door to your left."
Caine stood up and exited, noticing that Diana and Drake were quick to follow him. The kitchen was spacious, filled with cabinets, racks of spices, and a large table surrounded by five chairs. They immediately began looking for food; Drake using his whip-arm to search the higher cabinets. The sound of piano music soon reached their ears; Alex had resumed playing.
"What do you think?" Diana asked over the sound of Alex's music and the microwave whirring.
"Of this ice cream? That it's the best thing I've eaten in a long time," Caine replied, dipping a spoon back into the ice cream carton.
"Ha ha, very funny," she said contemptuously. "Of this girl, Alex Lucine. Is a three bar. Controls water. Froze Drake's, um, arm with just the barest amount of moisture that's in this desert air. What do you think about that, Fearless Leader?"
"One, I wish you'd stop calling me that. Two, the girl's powerful, and power is the one thing that we need when we go back to Perdido Beach to fight Sam." Diana wasn't surprised by this announcement. Caine would never be satisfied until his brother was beaten.
"So we get her to join our side, then?" Drake asked.
"Naturally," Caine responded, "but first--" At that moment, Alex herself walked into the room.
She raised an eyebrow at their huddle. "Talking about me?"
"Naturally," Drake shot back in an accurate impression of Caine. She laughed.
"I'd be surprised if you weren't," she replied. "You don't strike me as a very trusting group." She walked over to the refrigerator and yanked it open. A blast of cold air suddenly went to the room. "D'you want anything else to eat? We've got Hot Pockets, wings, sandwitch stuff... I see you already found the ice cream." This was directed at Caine, who had just thrown the carton in the trash and the spoon in the sink.
"It's okay," Diana said, pulling the pizza out of the microwave, trying to mask the fact that she was dying to bite into it, "we already made this. You can have some, if you want." It was actually Alex's pizza, after all. The girl in question took a slice, then sat at the table next to Drake and across from Caine. Diana sat next to her.
Through bites of cheese and pepperoni, she asked Drake; "What is that thing on your arm, anyway?" He uncoiled his whip from his side and held it out for Alex to inspect. She touched it, and felt that although it was living, it was snakelike, scaly and tough.
"This guy named Sam Temple; he's like you, with powers; he burned my real arm, and they-" he gestured to Caine and Diana, "had to cut it off. Then, this other girl with powers, Lana, tried to heal the stump, and this grew from it." He waved the whip and it grazed the ceiling, and he didn't say anything more, nothing about The Darkness' involvement in all of this.
"Who is that kid, Sam?" she asked. "I heard you say his name when you were talking about me."
"He's Caine's brother," Diana interjected hastily. Alex's head turned towards Caine, who was busy glaring at Diana. "We don't like Sam Temple very much," she finished.
"If it means anything, I hate his guts," Drake supplied. "Schoolbus Sam is going to save the day." Something in Alex's brain suddenly clicked at Drake's words.
"Schoolbus Sam!" she exclaimed. "He was in my Lit and Social Studies classes at school! And he did this to you?" She eyed Drake's whip-arm. "I don't think that Sam would do that."
"Well sorry to crush your expectations for high-and-mighty Sam Temple," Drake said with a sneer, "but he was the one who burned my arm so badly that it needed to be amputated. He's done a lot of things."
"So have you, Drake," Caine said quietly, trying to remind him without Alex hearing.
"So WHAT, Caine?" Drake rounded on him, and he barely suppressed his instinct to flinch. "We ALL have! You, me, Diana, Sam, even the genius girl with the retard brother, we all have done something!" He sat back down, breathing heavily.
"Sorry," Caine said quickly to Alex, trying to smooth the whole situation over. "We're not the most popular people down in Perdido Beach."
"Some would even go so far as to call us the villains," Diana said, "but enough about us. What about you?"
"Well," Alex began, searching for the words. "My mom died when I was four. My dad was under the firm belief that it was my fault, so he abused me. So whatever caused this, whatever caused the FAYZ, it can have him. I'm just happy to be free for once.
"And how old are you?"
"I poof in exactly a month."
Caine kept his mouth shut, and his expression warned Drake and Diana to do the same. Sure, Alex could be an asset to their group, and she could help them, but there was no way he was telling her that he knew how to beat the poof this early in the game. Not until he was completely sure that she wouldn't go to Sam's side.
"How about you guys?" Alex was asking.
"Yeah, we poof soon, too." Caine's answer was vague, but it seemed to placate Alex. No more words were spoken, but they set about to devour the slices of pizza that were left. Drake remained slumped in his chair, the earlier emotional outburst clearly taking its toll on him.
Out in the darkness a coyote howled, and the hairs on the nape of Alex's neck stood on end.
So there it was, the first chapter! :) It gets better as we go on, and the stuff from "Hunger" begins to come into play... And don't worry, Alex, Drake and Diana aren't going to actually GO with Caine to The Darkness, so it's all good.
Review and remember, it's just a FAYZ. :D
:Hyperactive Lioness: