I don't own the Chronicles of Narnia
OK, so this is based on the movies, and in the story, Lucy is 14, Edmund is 16, Susan is 18, Peter is 19, and Caspian is 20. I couldn't find any of the characters actual ages, so that's an estimate of how old they are after Voyage of the Dawn Treader. And the title is based on the song The Call by Regina Spektor, which I also don't own.
"Susan!"
"Lucy!"
Lucy Pevensie dropped her bag and ran to hug her older sister. "I've missed you!" The younger girl hugged her sister tightly, not wanting to let go, afraid it might be a dream.
"Welcome to America, Lucy." Susan told her sister, laughing softly. Lucy disentangled herself to throw herself at her mother.
"Mom!" She hugged her mom, who wrapped her arms around her too, holding her gently. Lucy let go and went back to grab her overstuffed bag. She watched, somewhat impatiently, as her two brothers greeted the rest of the family too. Peter had joined them too when their parents had sent word that they could all finally come to America.
"Where do we get to stay?" Lucy asked looking around the house, wanting to go explore every inch of it. Susan smiled and gestured to follow her. The house was big, all wooden floors and soaring ceilings. There were windows in every room, showing the trees and gardens outside the house. Lucy, Edmund, and Peter trailed after Susan as she showed them around, where the kitchen was, and the dining room, where Mom's bedroom was.
"Here's your bedroom, Lu. You're right next to me, and the boys are across the hall. The bathroom is right down the hall, next to Peter's room." Susan opened the door for Lucy, who immediately ran in, dropping her bag onto the bed. The walls were a light blue, like the color of a robin's egg. White furniture stood around the room and a clock hung above the bed, showing it was two pm. Darker blue sheets were on the bed, with white pillows.
"I love it!" Lucy said decisively, still looking around the room. Susan smiled and closed the door quietly, going to make sure their other siblings were doing ok. Lucy sighed and sat down on the chair that was meant to be for the desk. Pulling it over to the tall windows, she looked outside, watching the gardens and trees blow gently in the wind. Resting her elbows on the window sill, she wished not for the first time that in her world, the trees would dance and talk, that dryads would emerge from the rough bark.
She got up, knowing she should unpack some, but not wanting to. Deciding to do it later, she walked to her bed and dumped out everything from the bag, searching the mess for what she wanted. Grinning, she grabbed the book that was hiding under a blouse and sat back down on the chair. Stroking the spine, she looked out the window again, and then opened the book. Finding her bookmark, she started reading, getting absorbed in the story. A few hours later, she finished the book to hear someone impatiently knocking on the door, the strikes getting harder and louder. Setting the book down gently, she ran to the door and pulled it open to find Edmund waiting.
"I've been waiting for ages! What were you doing in there?" Edmund demanded, staring down at her.
"Reading," she replied simply. "Why are you here?"
"Of course you were," he said, rolling his eyes. "Can you go one day without a book?" Lucy shrugged, curious about why he was there. "Mom wanted me to tell you that dinner was in ten minutes. Although," he glanced at the clock above her head, "It's more like five minutes now."
Lucy nodded, closing the door behind her, and followed Edmund to the dining room. Susan was already at the table, and Peter was helping their mother bring out food. Sliding into the seat next to Susan, Lucy looked around the chamber. Windows let streams of light in, illuminating the room with natural light. A door on the far end led to the kitchen, where she could see Peter trying to balance dishes to take to the table. An oak table was covered in a white tablecloth, which had plates and silverware spread on it.
"What's for dinner? I'm starving." Edmund sat down in the chair opposite Susan, eagerly looking towards the open kitchen door. Susan rolled her eyes at his expression.
"We're having soup, Mother will bring it out in a minute." Right on cue, Peter and Mrs. Pevensie walked in, setting the dishes in the middle of the table. Peter sat next to Edmund, as Mrs. Pevensie sat at the head.
"Go ahead and eat," Mrs. Pevensie told her children, smiling slightly as the two boys attack the food. Peter sloshed the red soup into his bowl, grabbing a piece of bread at the same time. The girls waited patiently for the boys to finish getting their food before they collected theirs. Gently ladling some soup into her bowl, Lucy passed the serving utensil to Susan, before starting to eat. Lucy looked out the window, which was conveniently behind Edmund and in front of her. Rain had started to fall gently, hitting the tall windows before sliding to the ground. The trees swayed with the wind, swinging back and forth.
"Lucy? Lucy, are you listening?" Peter's voice broke her out of her thoughts. She focused on Peter, who was looking at her exasperatedly. She looked at him questioningly until he repeated his question.
"We wanted to know what you thought of America so far?" Lucy thought for a moment before answering.
"It's brighter than London is. And the cities seem more rushed. But out here it's nicer, more peaceful." Lucy shrugged, going back to her food.
"London does seem gloomier than America," Edmund said thoughtfully, before quickly finishing his second bowl of soup. Susan rolled her eyes at him and then daintily lifting her spoon to her lips, quickly swallowing the red mixture. Lucy finished, then waited patiently for the rest of her family to finish. When the family was excused, she ran to her room, slipping into the blue room. Staring at the mess on her bed, she sighed, knowing she had to clean it to be able to sleep. Walking over to the bed, she collected all the books in the pile and stumbled over to the small bookcase, setting down the swaying tower of books and starting to organize them onto the shelves.
Once her books were on the bookcase, she got back up and walked over to bed, sitting down gently on the edge. She became aware to a small ache in her chest. Frowning slightly, she ignored it, starting to fold the crumbled shirts. Once those were down, she put them in her dresser and went to do her skirts. The ache stayed, persistent and annoying, slowly getting bigger. Hoping it would go away, she finished unpacking, getting everything off her bed and into the proper place in her new room.
The ache had only gotten bigger, feeling as if she had lost something big, but she wasn't sure what she had lost. Rubbing the spot over her heart, she walked to her door, opening it quietly, looking down the hall. No one was in it, but Edmund's door was open slightly, and she could hear him muttering. Leaving her door open, she crossed the corridor and knocked on his door.
"Come in!" he called, so Lucy pushed the door open. Edmund was lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He turned his head to look at his younger sister. His room was all green, with dark brown furniture placed around the room.
"What do you want, Lu?" he asked, going back to staring at the ceiling. Lucy walked over to his bed and sat down gently on the edge of his bed.
"Are you feeling, ok?" she asked cautiously, feeling self conscious. Edmund looked at her curiously.
"What do you mean?" he asked idly. Lucy wondered what was so interesting about the blank ceiling.
"Does your chest hurt? Do you have an ache that won't go away?" She looked out his window to see the rain beating into the ground, bursting like flowers when they hit the ground. Edmund was looking confused now.
"Now that you mention it, yes, I do. And it's really uncomfortable," he sat up, leaning against the gleaming headboard. Crossing his arms over his chest, he swung his legs over the side of the green bedding and started to pace, rubbing his chest absently. "It's weird, why would we both have it?"
"I don't know, do you think Susan or Peter has it too?" Lucy sat up straighter as the idea hit her. "Let's go see!" Jumping up, she beat Edmund to the door and ran diagonally to Susan's room. Knocking impatiently, she shifted from foot to foot as Edmund came up behind her. He was much taller than her, almost as tall as Peter. Susan opened the door, slight annoyance evident on her face.
"Yes, what do you want?" She said, using the same words Edmund had earlier.
"Do you feel alright?" Lucy replied immediately, watching her older sister closely. Susan looked confused.
"Do you mean do I feel sick?" Susan clarified. "I have a sort of ache, but other than that, I feel fine." Lucy felt like frost had suddenly covered her body, making her cold.
"Well, this probably isn't good." Edmund stated behind her. "Considering that all three of us have the same problem." Susan raised her eyebrows, but was interrupted by Peter coming out of his room.
"You guys are loud, what are you talking about?" Peter left his door open, as he leaned in the doorway, examining the small group.
"Do you have a sort of ache? In your chest?" Lucy rushed to say, hoping Peter would say no and it was all just a coincidence.
"How did you know? I've had it for the past half hour. What?" he looked around at his sibling's faces. "Do you have it too?" Lucy watched as shock flashed across his face. "Why would we all have it?"
"We don't know, Pete. That's what we want o figure out." Susan opened her door wider and let everyone into her room. He bed side table's lamp was on, giving off a soft glow. The pink walls had shadows thrown across them as the sun went down.
"Maybe-" Lucy started, but the ache in her chest suddenly intensified, going from small to large and making her gasp. It was like she was between to unyielding walls, slowly coming together and crushing her. The pain grew stronger and stronger, until it suddenly dissipated, going back to the quiet ache it had been before. The rest of her siblings were gasping and struggling to breathe too; obviously having gone through what she had.
"What the heck was that?" Edmund panted, sitting down on the floor and leaning against the closed door. "That was painful."
"I have no idea," Susan answered, breathless. "I've never felt anything like it before."
"Do you think-" but Lucy didn't get to finish her thought again as the pain suddenly returned, stronger than before. Lucy collapsed onto Susan's bed, trying to pull air into her lungs. Every movement hurt, and she almost cried out in pain. This time, the pain slowly ebbed away, until it returned to the original ache.
"Do you think it could have anything to do with Narnia?" Lucy finished her thought, her eyes lighting up as she thought of the other world.
"Why would it? We were all told we couldn't return." Edmund said bitterly, rubbing his chest.
"And entering Narnia has never been painful before." Peter added, leaning back in his chair.
"Maybe Aslan changed his mind?" Lucy asked excitedly, a smile forming on her lips. She was about to elaborate when the pain hit again. This time, it was like a train had come and run her over. It was indescribable, like white hot fire being shot into her veins and running through her body, getting hotter and hotter each time her heart beat. Lucy gritted her teeth and curled up into a ball, her fingernails digging into her knees as she gripped them tightly. She was about to scream when the earth seemed to fall away, leaving her hanging in midair and in the dark. She stayed suspended for a moment, a moment that seemed to distort time and stretch it as long as possible. The moment ended and she started to fall, a kaleidoscope of colors coming into existence. This time she did scream, colors and wind rushing past her. And the last thing she heard before she hit hard earth was a single note, floating through the air before settling around her like a blanket. And then darkness overcame her and she succumbed to it.
What did you think? Review!