Stranded in the Cold

by: Terrell James

Chiro was tossing and turning in his bed, looking a little scared that he couldn't sleep. Antauri came in and decided to check on Chiro and see what's wrong. He asked, "Is there something wrong?"

Chiro sighs and said, "Nothing's wrong, Antauri. Just can't sleep."

"Okay, but if it was, you would tell me, right?" asked Antauri.

"I guess." answered Chiro.

"Okay, I'm just checking." said Antauri.

He walked out and Chiro tried to go back to sleep until Antauri came back and said, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine. I'll see you tomorrow." said Chiro.

"Okay. Good night."

"Night."

He got back to sleep when he heard the echoes of his screaming from his past. His nightmare started in a hard, snowy night in Shuggazoom City. Chiro was walking around in the snow alone until some stranger followed him and he stopped walking and the sound behind him stopped also. He looked behind and there was nothing there. Then, he started walking again and the sound was following him again. He stopped and it stopped too. Then, he started walking again and the sound followed him and he started running. He thought he lost him, but the stranger caught up to him and caught him.

Chiro was unconscious and then, he was taken away by a stranger's car. He was tied up and had a scarf tied up on his mouth. When he woke up, the stranger was gone. He tore off the ropes and removed the scarf on his mouth, got out of the car and ran away.

He was feeling a little scared and wanted to get back home. When he got there, there was nobody there. He checked the entire city to see if anyone was there, but all around the city, there was nobody there. He was alone. Nobody in the entire city was there. He felt like he was left behind by everyone. He walked around the stranded city in the cold and he sat down and started to cry with his head down.

The stranger's car came back for Chiro, but he started to run away. He was really scared at that moment. He ran as fast as he could and he started to lose the car. He stopped and panted for a second.

The stranger caught to Chiro and grabbed him to the car. He was screaming out of control and he wanted to escape, but the starnger already tied him up and drove away in his car. As he was driving, he lost control of the car and Chiro got away from the car safely. The car was falling down on the cliff and exploded.

Chiro turned away and kept walking on a cold, snowy night. He was cold and alone. Then, the song plays in the distance, which adds to the nightmare.

Lithium, don't want to lock me up inside

Lithium, don't want to forget how it feels without...

Lithium, I want to stay in love with sorrow

Oh, but man, I want to let it go

Come to bed, don't make me sleep alone

Couldn't hide the emptiness, you let it show

Never wanted it to be so cold

Just didn't drink enough to say you love me

I can't hold on to me

Wonder what's wrong with me

Lithium, don't want to lock me up inside

Lithium, don't want to forget how it feels without...

Lithium, I want to stay in love with my sorrow

Don't want to let it lay me down this time

Drown my will to fly

Here in the darkness I know myself

Can't break free unti I let it go

Let me go

Darling, I forgive you all

Anything is better than to be alone

And in the end, I guess I had to fall

Always find my place among the ashes

I can't hold on to me

Wonder what's wrong with me

The snow blew stronger and Chiro felt really scared and wanted a place that was safe and warm, but no one was there. He got down on his knees and started to cry. He was alone and afraid in the snow in Shuggazoom City.

Lithium, don't want to lock me up inside

Lithium, don't want to forget how it feels without...

Lithium, ...stay in love with you

Oh, I wanna let it go

The song ended and Chiro was screaming, "WHY AM I HERE ALONE?! WHY ISN'T ANYONE COMING TO FIND ME?!"

Slam back into reality, Chiro woke up screaming loudly and panting heavily. He was still in his bed, sweat dripping from his head. He sighed softly and felt a little scared. Antauri, Sprx, Gibson, Otto and Nova came in the room to check on Chiro.

"Chiro, are you okay?" asked Antauri.

"Yeah, it was just a bad dream." said Chiro.

"Come on, kid. Is it about your past again?" asked Sprx.

"I guess. Maybe. I don't know." said Chiro.

"You can't keep things bottled up inside. As you keep everything bottled up, it starts growing and growing and growing until you can't keep it hidden anymore. And then, you're gonna end up saying many things that you don't mean. It's not very good, really." explained Gibson.

"Zip it, Gibson. If he isn't bottling things up now, it's probably because of your scientific crap that you keep yapping about." said Sprx.

"Shut up, Sprx. Can't you see Chiro's having a hard time?" said Nova.

"Yes, Nova. I can see that." said Sprx.

"Tell us." said Antauri.

Chiro sighed nervously and said, "Okay. On my dream, no one was there in Shuggazoom City and it was just me and I was walking around in the snow. It was so cold and I was alone. Then, somebody tried to kill me and I escaped twice. There was nobody there to take me in and you guys weren't there, either."

"I always thought there was something wrong with you. Why couldn't you just tell us?" said Antauri.

"I couldn't talk about it. I was just too angry and scared to even think about it." said Chiro.

"We've been through this before. Everytime you have a problem, you should come tell us about it and we're always here to listen to you. You should know that." said Nova.

Chiro sighed and whispered, "I know."

"Was it scary?" asked Otto.

"Otto..." said Nova.

"Sorry."

"It's okay, Otto. Yeah, it was scary. I'm just afraid that it may come true." said Chiro.

"It's not gonna come true because you have us here." said Nova.

"Just remember, kid. We're always here no matter what." said Sprx.

"Thanks, guys. I don't know what I'd do without you." said Chiro.

"We're a team and we always have each other. We've got your back." said Otto.


I made my version of "Lithium" from Evanescence. It's my second fanfic that I've done that's about Chiro's past. Hopefully, this will give a lot of good reviews. Please be gentile on this!