Rating: T, for some language and violence
Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize
This is my first HM story, so I hope it's not too bad. This is a little different from most other Liley stories I've seen, because I like to write crazy things. This is sort of just a short intro, because I'm not sure if I should even continue this. Give it a try and let me know what you think.
Breakers East
Do you know what's worth fighting for/ When it's not worth dying for? Does it take your breath away/ And you feel yourself suffocating?/ Does the pain weigh out the pride/ And you look for a place to hide?/ Did someone break your heart inside?/ You're in ruins
"Miley!" Lilly could no longer see her best friend among the crowd. She turned, once, twice, nothing. The brunette had just been there moments before, when Lilly had bent down to tie her shoe and now she was just gone.
She turned again and this time something caught her eye. She was a good distance away, dark brown locks and a bright pink shirt, but Lilly was sure it was her friend. Except she was walking funny and there was a large man holding onto her arm. Lilly tried to push through the crowd, but they surrounded her so tightly she could hardly move. She watched the brunette move farther away, the man still holding onto her arm.
"Miley!" she yelled again, but there was no way the other girl would hear her over the cacophony of voices.
Shoving people out of the way, she pushed in the direction Miley had just been, now panicking. What was going on? Where was her best friend? She caught another flash of pink further ahead and pushed harder, faster. Her brain kept up a constant, terrified chant of 'Miley, Miley, Miley'. She couldn't lose her now, not when she was so close. Lilly hit an open area and ran.
The parking lot was packed with cars and buses and trucks and the blonde could not find her friend. Tears burned behind her eyes, but she couldn't give up now. She could have sworn she saw the man and Miley's pink shirt disappear behind a row of buses right when she'd exited the park. Now, nothing. With shaky hands Lilly pulled out her cellphone and dialed the brunette's number, a last ditch effort was all she had. The dial tone rang in her ear and she bit her lower lip. Nothing.
Then she heard it. Miley's ringtone. Lilly dashed between two buses; she was not going to lose Miley again. A man's angry voice cut across the section of the parking lot and she thought she heard something shatter. The dial tone in her ear was replaced by the voicemail picking up. Lilly glanced out from behind the bus and saw three men in dark clothing next to an equally dark SUV. And Miley in between them. Lilly did not hesitate.
"Miley!" she yelled and stepped out from behind the bus. The three men's eyes fell on her and she knew she was in trouble.
They moved faster than she could have anticipated and even though she was rather athletic, she had only taken a few steps before his arm grabbed her around the waist and yanked her back. His hand covered her mouth and suddenly she realized how stupid she had been. She struggled, but he was much stronger and dragged her back to the SUV. One of the other men was holding onto Miley, but the brunette did not look as if she could even run away.
The man holding her shoved her unceremoniously into the SUV's backseat, banging her head on the frame. Lilly saw black spots, and before she could even clear her vision, one of the men had heaved Miley into the SUV, shut the door and suddenly they were moving. Lilly felt panic unlike anything she had before.
"Don't make a sound and neither of you will get hurt," the man in the backseat with them said grimly and Lilly saw the gun in his lap.
Lilly looked at her best friend, worried. Miley was incredibly pale and sweating profusely, her hands shaking and her eyes threatening to roll back several times. She grasped the brunette's hand tightly, partly to reassure herself and partly to let Miley know she was there. It didn't seem the other girl was aware of anything.
"What did you do to her?" Lilly asked, her voice surprisingly steady despite the sheer terror racing through her body and making her dizzy.
The man glared at her, gripping his gun tighter in an obvious attempt to discourage further questions. Then Miley threw up. He looked ready to hit them both and Lilly pulled her disoriented friend as far away from him as possible, when the guy in the passenger seat spoke up.
"Just a little insulin, we had to make her compliant, you understand. Here, this should fix her right up." His voice was soft, yet arrogant, as if he weren't discussing the obviously planned kidnapping of a teenaged girl. He threw something at Lilly and she caught the tube, staring at it. GlucoGel, she read, staring at the instructions.
She glared at the guy in the front, then the one next to Miley. Lilly wasn't sure how she even mustered the courage for that, let alone why she wasn't curled into a little ball crying her eyes out right now. But then again, she admitted to herself, maybe she did know. This was all about Miley, she had to be there for Miley.
"Come on, Miles, eat this, it'll make you feel better," the blonde said softly to her best friend, trying hard to ignore the men's eyes on her, the gun trained on them, the SUV taking them to who knew where. It was all about Miley.
"Lilly," Miley's voice tugged at her, but it didn't sound close at all. Lilly blinked.
"Lilly, come on," the voice came clearer this time and she started.
Her vision blurred and she blinked again, but it only got worse. Then her world started shaking and Lilly woke up. She was still in hell.
* * *
It was raining again, the drops beating out a steady rhythm on the roof. She just hoped it wasn't leaking again. Lilly drew in a deep breath and exhaled slowly, rubbing her hands across her face to force herself to wake up. She was not looking forward to going out in that weather; even though the shack had no windows, she could tell by the way light fell through the slats that it was dark and grey outside despite being early morning. She turned, making the springs of the crappy military-style bed groan in protest. It had never been particularly comfortable, but now the thin mattress was getting lumpier and losing some of its stuffing and she hadn't slept well.
Lilly swung her legs over the side of the bed and frowned. It had been a long time since she had had that dream, years perhaps. She didn't much like to think of the day that had changed her- their lives. The blonde pulled on her boots on and noticed the bottom of her pants were caked in mud. She hadn't even bothered changing last night, too exhausted from fighting through that storm.
She stood to look for her jacket. The shack was not very big at all, just enough space for the crappy single bed against one side, a rickety table with two chairs and a wardrobe against the opposite wall. It was rather depressing really, but Lilly preferred this to the alternative – being dead. She grabbed her camouflage GoreTex jacket off the chair and zipped herself in as best as possible; she knew she was going to get wet anyway. Hanging from a hook by the door was an AR-15 and she quickly checked the chamber, magazine and safety before slinging it over her shoulder.
Lilly didn't like to think about these things. Five years ago she wouldn't have known the difference between a firing pin and the forward assist. Things were different now, though, and she drew the hood over her head before stepping out of the shack. The rain was coming down in sheets, and a fair wind was whipping it into her face. Lowering her head the blonde continued on, trudging through the thick mud that now covered all of the compound. It was several hundred feet to the large and much sturdier building sitting against one side of the compound, which doubled as the dining and meeting hall. Light shone through the windows and Lilly hurried, desperate to be warm and dry again.
A few people greeted her as she passed, but she hardly bothered to return the sentiment. The blonde finally reached the hall and shook the water off her jacket, setting her AR-15 in a rack by the door before proceeding inside. Three long tables were set up inside with benches on either side of them, while the far side of the hall held the food serving line. People sat interspersed among the tables, eating and quietly talking. It was pretty full already and Lilly knew she was late.
The table closest to the entrance was mostly empty, whether because of its close proximity to the beating rain or the girl sitting at it, she couldn't tell. Lilly moved towards the bench and sat abruptly, startling the girl who had been deeply engrossed in her oatmeal.
"Sweet nibblets, Lilly, don't sneak up on me like that," Miley huffed, but was secretly glad to see her friend. These days, even surrounded by hundreds of people she felt utterly alone without Lilly.
Lilly smiled, the only real smile anyone here could get out of her, and stole some toast from the brunette's tray, "Did I miss anything?"
Miley shook her head, stirring her oatmeal halfheartedly, "He hasn't shown up yet; you're lucky, sleepyhead."
The smile the brunette gave her made her feel such a multitude of things it left Lilly feeling confused. Miley didn't smile like she used to anymore, not with the sparkling eyes and widely drawn grin and it made Lilly sad. However, the fact that she could smile at all after what they had been through, it gave Lilly hope. And knowing she was usually the only recipient of any half sincere Miley smiles made Lilly's heart flutter.
"Yeah, well, I came home after a hard night of…work, wanting nothing more than a comfortable rest and there you were, with ALL the blankets," she said dramatically. Miley rolled her eyes at her and Lilly thought that sometimes, when they bantered, it was almost like five years ago. Almost.
Miley gave her another half smile and Lilly couldn't help but tuck a strand of stray hair behind the brunette's ear. She didn't know why, other than it had felt right, and Miley just continued to look at her. It wasn't that it was out of the ordinary, quite the opposite, and it wasn't that it bothered her or that it was something she'd analyze to death. It just was and they just didn't talk about it. Their lives were too fragile for questions.
The blonde thought about saying something else, when a stern voice bellowed across the hall, making all chatter stop instantly, "Disciples of the House of the Emergence, rise to meet your Divine Leader."
They stood automatically, they didn't think or question or defy as they had in the beginning. It was not worth it. A tall, dark-haired man ascended onto a small stage at the far end of the room and Lilly quickly lowered her eyes. Sudden anger flooded through her, at everything, at everyone around her, at the unfairness of it all, at what they had lost, at where they were at and why. At that moment, Lilly hated the world. Miley grasped her hand and squeezed. Lilly exhaled. Despite all the anger bubbling inside of her, she knew she could still love. She knew because she loved Miley and that, at least, they could not take away.
When it's time to live and let die/ And you can't get another try/ Something inside this heart has died/ You're in ruins/ One, 21 guns/ Lay down your arms/ Give up the fight -Green Day