Liz is sitting on top of the Space Needle, reflecting on the events that have taken place and telling her side of the story,
1. "Isn't life funny? I mean, we never notice what we need to until it's too late. You think we'd learn, but it just keeps happening. But we need to learn lessons the hard way. Otherwise we wouldn't remember them. Some people say that it makes you strong to go through tough times, but I don't feel much stronger. Whatever. All I know is that life was a whole lot easier when I didn't know. But now that I do, it's hard to imagine what my life would be like if I was still living like I used to."
Dream Sequence
I'm having the dream again. I've had it since I can remember. I'm in a depressing blue-gray room, surrounded by other children about four years old, their attention focused on a girl sitting next to me.They all hang on her every word. "Come on Jondy, tell us again." says a young black-haired boy, sitting close to me.
"Well," begin," One day I'm going to get away from Manticore. We all are. We can't stay here. They'll kill us. So, I say that we make a pact. We all have to live normal lives. That's the only way we'll be happy." I feel my stomach fall. I get a feeling of mixed excitement and fear in the pit of my stomach. I voice my concerns, "Manticore will never stop looking for us. Who's going to save us if we need help?"
A blonde boy sitting behind me puts his arm around my shoulder. "I will.Liz. I promise to watch over you." I feel relieved. "Promise,Ben?" I ask, making sure that he'll stay to his promise. He nods and smiles at me, and I grin back.
"Hey. what are you kids doing in there?" a guard asks in a gruff voice. We all run back to our cots and pretend to be asleep. "Goodnight, Liz." says Zach, who sleeps on the cot next to mine. "Goodnight, Zach."
"BEEP BEEP BEEP!" my alarm clock screeches in my ear. Mumbling that I want to dismember whoever invented the alarm clock, I throw the covers off of my bed and get up. I yawn as I stretch, then head to the closet to grab my work clothes-the ever-fashionable, always-ugly two-sizes-too-big shirt with the words "Sandy's Diner" written in large letters on it, and jeans. Well, at least it's comfortable. I tie my hair back into a ponytail, pulling a curl out in front and pinning the back into a messy bun, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in the back of my forehead. God, that was one weird dream. Whatever. How my subconsious comes up with this stuff is a mystery.
I run down the stairs, grab my bike and ride as fast as I can to the diner, my legs pumping as hard as they can. I get there with ten minutes to spare, so I decide to sit on the bench outside instead of go in, where Sandy would give me work, even if I am early. Besides, I need to rest. Usually the two mile bike ride wasn't that bad for me, but today I feel really dizzy. I try to shake it off, but it doesn't work too well. So I headed to the bench, hoping to just have a little time to myself.
The only problem was that there was somebody already on the bench. A girl my age is sitting there, looking anxiously as if she is waiting for someone. Oh,well. Maybe, hopefully, she'll just mind her own business. But, alas, things never seem to go the way I want them to. I guess someone out there just doesn't want me to be happy. I zone out for a few minutes, but then am brought back to earth by sobs being choked out by the girl next to me. Wondering what could get her so worked up, and frankly kind of curious, I ask,"Are you all right?" She nods, and wipes the tears off of her face. Knowing from experience, I offer her some advice,"Do you want to talk about it? If you bottle your feelings up inside it only makes things worse."
"Today I saw my sister for the first time since I was nine, but I can't let her know that I'm watching over her." She says, starting to cry again
"Don't cry. It's okay. Sometimes people can feel connected to people, even if they think that they don't know them." I tell her, and she smiles.
"Really?" she asks.
"Yeah. Now, I have to go to work now, but do you want to come in and have a cup of coffee? I want to hear about this sister of yours." I say, and then grab her arm and walk with her into the once nice looking diner, which is now in shambles.
We walk inside and I show her to one of the stools by the counter. "Oh my god, I haven't even introduced myself. I'm Eliza, but you can call me Liz. And you are?"
"Syl." she says, staring at me like the name should mean something.
"I like that name. I've heard it before, I just can't remember where." I say, knowing that it will bug me for the rest of the day.
I make my rounds, waiting on the four other tables as quickly as I can before I come back to Syl. Setting down the pot of coffee in my hands, I walk over to where she is staring into space, most likely thinking about her sister. "So, tell me about your sister. I'm dying to know"
"Well, she's our age, is beautiful, and is so sweet and nice. I just wish I could talk to her, let her know that I'm here."
"So, why not? I mean, you're already here. Would it really cause that much damage?" I ask, curious as to why she can't tell her.
"We ran away from home when we were little. Family problems. They abused us, and one day she got hurt really bad, and someone who had seen how badly they treated us helped her. Took her away from there. To a nice family. She couldn't remember anything from before we escaped, so they fed her a story about being in an accident. Now, if I tell her the truth, I think that it might be too much for her to handle." she explains slowly, her voice sounding cut off, emotionless.
"Oh my god, that's so sad.I'm sorry, really, I am. Maybe she knows that you're there, like some kind of ESP-thing."
"Maybe. She's grown up to be so beautiful, so...perfect. I'm happy that she's had a normal life. She got what we always wanted." Syl says, a lone tear trickling down her cheek. I wipe it off for her. This girl needs some serious cheering up.
"God, you need to get your mind off of everything. Why don't you and I go out tonight?"
"I don't know if I should." she says, looking apprehensive.
"Come on, it'll be fun. Just the girls, hanging out, finding some guys. Use 'em and lose 'em. You know you want to." I say, letting out a grin.
"Sure. But I get dibs on the first hot guy I find." Syl says, letting out a small smile.
"I'm off of work at five, but just come over whenever you want to." I tell her and give her my address. She grabs her purse and gets up to leave, waving before she walks out the door, smiling.
I hurry through my shift, excited that I have finally met a new friend with estrogen. Usually I hang out with guys, which is fun, but sometimes a bit revolting. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love hangin' with the boys, but sometimes I need to be comforted, to talk to someone, and most of the guys aren't real good at that. Whatever. Tonight will be really fun. I can't wait.
After work I throw off my apron and walk outside. The sky is blue and clear, but off to the distance dark clouds are gathering. Great, just my luck that it will probably rain tonight. Oh, well, I can still have fun if it's raining. Hell, I might even have more fun, like the time that me and the guys had that mud fight. That was off the hook.
I grab my bike and race home. I walk in and look around, thinking that maybe Syl will be there already cause I'm late. She isn't, so I walk into my room and try to find a cute outfit that isn't brutally dirty. Scanning under my bed and seeing nothing to wear, I open my closet. Rummaging through the various articles of clothing stuffed into the bottom of it, I finally find a black tank top and, after looking for a few more minutes, a pair of low rider jeans.
I change and walk into the bathroom before I hear a knock at the door. "Come on in," I say, and go to greet Syl.
"Hey, chica. What's shaking?" I say, checking out her outfit. A low cut red top and the same pair of jeans that I am. "We're so hot the boys'll fight over who buys our next beer!" she exclaims, laughing.
"Just let me throw myself together and I'll be ready to go. Make yourself at home." I yell through the bathroom. I hear the tv go on, apparently she had no problem with that one.I untangle the hair tie from my ponytail and brush through my hair, making sure not to frizzify the curls.
I walk out of the bathroom to find Syl sitting on the couch watching a news bulletin from that Eyes Only guy. Probably some bored rich kid who doesn't care if he scares people to death.
"Hey, you ready to go?" she asks without looking behind her. How did she know that I was behind her? "Yeah, let's hit it." I say, and we head to the Underground, the only decent club in my slummy neighborhood. Even though L.A. was one of the cities that wasn't hit by the Pulse too hard, it still left the city in shambles. We're still rebuilding it, and when we're finished it will never live up to the splendor that even early Hollywood had.
We reach the Underground and get to cut to the front of the line, the price being that I have to promise the creepy four hundred pound bouncer that I'll save him a dance. Damn, beauty is hell. Once inside, I grab Syl's arm and drag her straight to the bar. If I have to dance with Mr. Let's-eat-everything-I-see, I'm sure as hell going to need some alcohol.
By the time that I've downed two beers, I've danced with seven guys and have met up with Jack, Alli, Sam and Dawson, the only people in this town that I can stand. Syl seems very happy to meet them. I hope she's having a good time. She needs to catch a break. It sounds like she's had it hard.
Ow, my head is throbbing. God, that music is really loud. "I have to go to the bathroom." I tell the guy I'm dancing with and go straight to the bathroom before promptly throwing up. Oh, I haven't felt this sick since I was nine and got in that accident.
I walk out into the crowd after horking two more times, looking for Syl. I find her at the bar, talking to a rather handsome guy. She notices me before I say anything and immediately casts a worried look in my direction. "Are you all right?" She asks, and I shake my head. She walks over and grabs my arm, the guy she was talking to takes my other arm and together they manuever me quickly out through a back door into an alley. My legs feel like jello.
Once we get outside I throw up twice more, and then my legs give out. I'm so cold. I can't stop shaking. Please, please, let me be all right. Don't let me die. Everything's spinning. I'm lying on the dirt now, convulsing. Yeah, this must look sexy. I hear Syl say that someone's in the bar. She sounds scared. I hear the man's voice giving orders to Syl. He sounds so...uncaring, so cold. Don't think of cold, Liz, think of a nice warm summer day. Or a fire...yeah, warm is good.
Syl runs out of the alley, and I'm alone with a total stranger. Great, leave me for dead in the back of an alley with a complete stranger. No wonder I don't have more friends that are girls. The man walks over to me and lifts me up. It must be hard for him, because at this point I'm violently convulsing. Everything hurts. Please, make the pain stop. I try to stop the tears from coming, but they won't.
The man looks down and wipes a tear off of my cheek with his thumb. I close my eyes. Maybe I won't feel so sick if I can't see the world spinning in front of me. My stomach gives a lurch and I try to vomit, but there's nothing left in my stomach. The man brushes his lips against my forehead and says, "Don't worry, Liza. You'll be fine. I'll take care of you. Lydecker won't come near you as long as I'm around."
Just as I'm about to try to ask who the hell this Lydecker guy is, the darkness finally wins and I'm no longer a part of anything but the dream.
DISCLAIMER: not mine, but a girl can wish, right? Right?
Please review me! I really want to see what you guys thought about it. Even if it's just a simple, 'hey, I read it and it didn't make me vomit.', I'd be totally fine with that. In fact, it might just make my day! So please, review!
Oh, and if you like this, read my other fics, Lucy the Mutant; Naturally Dysfunctional; and Well, This is an Interesting Development. All are M/A, and I hope you like!!
Molly jeane