Author: TippierCoffee

Disclaimer: I do not own—nor do I claim the rights to—any of the characters from the show Codename: Kids Next Door. All credit goes to rightful owner: Mr. Tom Warburton.

LTLY series: 1. Learning To Love You; 2. Again; 3. Alone; 4. Ever After.

OBS: I gave Wally's parents names. Mum: Kayla Beetles, Dad: Wilbert Beetles.

Enjoy :)

Neighbours.

Rattlings of chains joined in unison with the moaning of decaying people, just waiting to rot up in this place with no air. No one was a person here, not any longer anyways, and the same went for the blond tearing apart on the inside, while being scorched by invisible flames.

-I'm in hell, and my second chance at life is coming soon. I deserve worse. I deserve death. I am guilty…-

Friday August 18th, 4.30pm

With the sun heating her skin, and the air playfully tugging at her now-shoulder-length-hair, Kuki Sanban skipped down the street with a smile upon her face. Her petite frame covered by a green T-shirt and a black knee-length skirt. She hummed a silent melody while her friend—Amber Stanton—just gave her a smile while shaking her head.

Even though both girls were at the age of sixteen, and had just started as freshmen at Garfield Heights, Kuki was one of the most childish people Amber had yet to meet, not that it mattered a lot to her, but it was kind of funny to see a sixteen-year-old girl skip on the streets and hum the Rainbow monkey theme.

Kuki could often not hep but be a bit jealous of Amber's seemingly flawless features. Amber stood about four centimetres taller than herself, and her curves were a lot more visible, because she was more average sized, compared to Kuki who had been picked on throughout middle school, and people had been spreading rumours that she liked to either starve herself or throw up her food after eating; which was not true. Even though Kuki had cut her hair, so it was now only at the middle of her shoulders rather than the middle of her back, her straight-across fringe and round face still made her look childish, and especially when she was next to someone like Amber, who had an oval face and her orange hair cut in layers was framing it and made her actually look her age—even one year older to some guys.

Despite their differences the two girls had developed a pretty close friendship already, mostly because they had almost every class together along with two other girls Kuki had developed strong friendships to as well. One of them—Abigail Lincoln—had however seemed so incredibly familiar from the moment Kuki had seen her, and even though she also felt Rachel McKenzie seemed familiar as well, she didn't seem as familiar as Abby.

Kuki had asked her parents about having friends over for a sleep over last Friday, and when they had said yes she had invited the three girls, though only Amber had been able to go unfortunately. Abby had finally been allowed to come and try her hand at helping her father at the hospital for the weekend, and Rachel, her parents and her brother were going to visit some family who lived elsewhere.

"Seems like it's just you and me tonight." Amber teased, sticking her tongue out while nudging Kuki's shoulder with her own playfully; owning a giggle from Kuki.

"I'm sure it will be loads of fun regardless." Kuki smiled, her angled autumn coloured eyes shimmering in the sun.

"Of course it will, because you and I know how to make a party happen." Amber adjusted the strap of her sports bag, in which she had packed her clothes for the weekend, while speeding up her pace a little to keep up with Kuki's skipping.

Even though their conversations were mostly either about guys or celebrity gossip—which Amber kept up with almost religiously—the two girls did enjoy each other's company. Amber wasn't exactly a horrible girl, but she was a gossiper, and especially when she gossipped about the people from their high school, every thing she said should be taken with a grain of salt. She was just starting one of her other rants about how incredibly hot she though Taylor Lautner was, and why she was convinced she would one day meet him and steal his heart completely, when they reached the front of Kuki's house and a moving truck across the street made Amber stop in her tracks with big eyes, while shutting up immediately. The moving truck held in front of the house, its back open with the two movers tirelessly taking furniture out to the front yard, both the woman and her husband helping them as much as possible. Kuki guessed that they might not be able to afford for the movers to actually put their stuff into their house.

Their ancient car, which was probably a model from the mid ninety's, stood in the driveway, and on the grass field—placed so he wouldn't be in the way—sat a small boy, probably at the age of seven, playing with a toy car; his blond bowl-cut hair teasing the top of his eyes.

"You didn't tell me you were getting new neighbours." Amber stated curiously, while constantly cocking her head to get a better look at the couple.

"I didn't know." Kuki admitted, curiosity settling in her eyes. "Or wait… Actually; yeah that's right. I didn't think they were coming until next week or so."

"Want to go see if they need help with anything?" Amber asked, a mischievous smile working its way to her lips. She was definitely making an excuse to snoop around and find out who Kuki's new neighbours were, but Kuki guessed it couldn't hurt to be friendly and ask anyways. She also couldn't deny that she was a bit curious herself.

"Sure." She smiled after a while. "After we've put your stuff into my room, then we can go and see if they need help."

"Yes!" Amber whispered loudly, bouncing on the spot, before jogging ahead to Kuki's house, so they could get to know her new neighbours as fast as possible.

"What day is it?" I asked with a hoarse voice. A voice that I hardly recognised because it was so tired and so non-caring. A voice that carried the clear trace that I had lost track of how long I had been stuck here, and it had lost all personality; either because I had forgotten who I was, or thought I had forgotten who I was.

Either way it didn't really matter much, I just needed to know which day it was, and that time at least still existed somewhere, even though it was often hard to keep track of it. That might, however, have been mainly because I didn't sleep properly anymore. I had all but forgotten when I last had had a full night's sleep, or even a decent sleep for that matter. My eyes were hurting so much because of the sleepiness and my lids felt too heavy to keep open, though not as heavy as my eyeballs themselves, which I was convinced would fall out anytime soon.

"Don't worry." A deep voice replied, protected by a cage. "You should be getting out in about fourteen days. That's two weeks if you should have forgotten."

Already? That didn't really answer my question though, it just made me a bit more anxious about what would happen when I was out, where my parents were now, and how I would meet up with them. I didn't want to be thinking about that at this current point of time, I wanted to know what day it was. I needed to know because I had totally lost track of time in every way possible; but I guess that's what happens when you end up in hell.

Kuki skipped happily over to the Mrs. of the house with Amber closely behind her, her excitement almost betraying her and giving her away. They stopped in front of the house, making sure to not be in the way of the movers, who were almost done taking out furniture and boxes, then Kuki stepped in front of the woman and changed her attitude completely, not forgetting her manners.

"Hi" She chirped, catching the attention of the woman who had just come out after carrying in one of the many boxes, while in the background she heard how the movers spoke to the husband, got their payment, and took off. "My name is Kuki Sanban and I live in the house across the street. This is my friend Amber." She gestured shortly to Amber, who just gave a wave with a silly grin. "We were just wondering, if maybe you need any help moving your stuff in?"

Kuki couldn't help but notice that the woman wasn't all that tall, probably around one hundred and seventy centimetres just like amber. She had short blond hair, cut in a bob-cut, her thick fringe covering her eyebrows. Freckles were spread across her cheeks and the bridge of her nose, but her eyes were what caught Kuki most off guard. They were a deep emerald green that Kuki could never remember having seeing before, yet it felt like it triggered something within her seeing the woman's eyes. She quickly shook the thought and tried not to stare too much, which would probably make the woman think she was weird or something.

"Why, wouldn't that just be the nicest thing I have ever experienced?" She smiled, talking with a thick accent which Kuki couldn't really determine. It was either Australian or British she thought, not entirely the same accent her friend Nigel Uno had. "If the two of you would just carry it to the living room, that would just be ace. My name is Kayla by the way, Kayla Beetles, and that there is my husband Wilbert Beetles." She nodded her head in the direction of her husband, who gave a short nod and a little smile.

Even though he was probably no more than two centimetres taller than his wife, he seemed like a gentle and handsome man. His hair was cut in a thin bowl cut and he carried a goofy lopsided grin while carrying things inside with a whistle. But unlike his wife his eyes were dark blue, the same eye colour Kuki had skimmed their small boy having.

"That's our son Joey." Kayla continued, nodding at the small boy. "He just turned seven recently."

"He's so adorable!" Kuki squealed, unable to hold it inside her.

She had really tried, but seeing the small boy up front just made her feel fuzzy inside, and she had the strangest urge to just skip right over to him and give him a bone crushing hug—though that urge she would keep restrained. Amber stood giggling at her side, while rubbing her right ear lightly because she had been standing right next to Kuki when she had had her outburst, and Kayla was laughing warmheartedly at her.

"Sorry." Kuki mumbled embarrassed, while shuffling her feet with a small blush upon her face.

"It's okay." Mrs. Beetles laughed, handing out boxes to the two girls. "Just to the living room and we'll handle the rest, yeah?"

"Sure." Amber smiled, shoving Kuki lightly with her box, and the two of them started carrying mostly boxes inside, while letting Mr. and Mrs. Beetles handle the furniture.

6pm

Time had passed and one thing had turned into another. Even though the two girls had only agreed to help carrying in the boxes they had had such a wonderful time—Kuki getting to know the family a bit and Amber gossipping—that they had completely lost track of time. After the last box had been carried inside they had stayed a little longer to help assemble and placing furniture. Every once in a while the couple and the girls would take a break, and even Joey had started joining in moving some of the lighter stiff, or carrying his own things into his room. They would all just sit at the dining table and sip Mrs. Beetles' tasty homemade lemonade, while talking about school and jobs, though Amber was no stranger to gossipping about almost any guy in the school, as well as her so-called future celebrity husband.

There were only a few boxes left at the moment, scattered around the floor in the living room, probably because most of the were labelled Living room and therefore belonged in there; though there were a also few labelled Kitchen and Bedroom, but amongst the mess Kuki spotted a single box with the name Wally written on it.

"Who's Wally?" She asked curiously, putting her attention to Mrs. Beetles who was just finishing setting up the TV table near the couch.

"Oh!" Mrs. Beetles exclaimed, her head popping up while she walked over to Kuki's side. Kuki couldn't help but notice Amber prick up her ears in the background, ready to absorb every single word while pretending not to listen—even though anyone with working eyes could see she was.

"That's my other son." Mrs. Beetles continued, while stroking the surface of the cardboard box affectionately with a longing smile upon her lips. As if she was scared that the box and everything within it would disappear if it didn't get this kind of attention. "He's the same age as the two of you. He's currently attending a boarding school where we just moved from, where he's working with his temper." A few tears strolled effortlessly down the woman's cheeks while she seemed lost in a place Kuki would probably never know of.

"When… When is he coming back?" She asked carefully, hoping she didn't sound too pushy or anything.

"September first. This year of course."

Kuki bit her bottom lip softly while looking at Mrs. Beetles who tried to wipe away her ever pressing tears so she could push them aside and not worry the girls. Kuki sensed the woman kind of didn't want to talk about this, but her own curiosity was so big, and she hated it right now as it kept pressing against her scalp, and sending her tongue over her teeth, while the more compassionate side of her desperately tried to keep her mouth shut. Of course she couldn't.

"How long has he been there?"

"One and a half year." Kayla sighed, her body shaking with hurt. "Excuse me." She concluded, her voice groggy and almost incoherent. Then she walked at a fast pace to the nearest bathroom where she locked herself in and started crying silently.

Kuki looked down to the grey carpet on the floor, and felt her stomach sink deep into a vortex that had opened inside of her, while her heart started getting pulled downward as well. She wished more than anything she had just asked where she should take the box instead of asking about the name, or at least just shut up about her questions of where he was and how long he had been there when it was clear his mother missed him dearly. Why couldn't she just learn to keep her mouth shut and stay out of business that was none of hers?

Behind them footsteps approached and the two girls heard Mr. Beetles clear his throat softly, which caught their attention. Amber with curiosity still visible in her ocean blue eyes, and Kuki with guilt written all over her face.

"We really appreciate all of your hard work and help girls, but I think it's best if you go back home for today. Besides, it's getting quite late." He nodded to the clock near the front door, where the time already read six twenty five pm, and even though he kept on smiling something in his eyes had changed, making it clear that he too, was now deeply lost in his own thoughts.

"As a token of appreciation I can give you this." He sighed, fishing up two five dollar bills. "I'm very sorry I can't give you more than this girls."

"No problem Wilbert." Amber smiled, accepting the money with a hint of triumph in her eyes.

Kuki looked down to the floor yet again, feeling a bit embarrassed on behalf of her friend, who seemed greedy right now, even though she actually wasn't. Then she looked up to Mr. Beetles and shook her head with a little smile on her lips.

"Thanks a lot for the offer Mr. Beetles, but I just felt like helping you out, really. You don't have to pay me."

"I guess that means I owe you one." He then smiled, stuffing the note into his pocket again with a little smile, before showing the two of them out the door.

"That was odd." Amber commented after Mr. Beetles had closed the door.

"What was?" Kuki asked, her head hung low and her insides still being pulled into the vortex inside of her.

"The way they reacted when you started asking about their oldest son."

"I shouldn't have—"

"What do you think they're hiding?" Amber's eyes lit up with excitement as they entered the house. "I bet it's something really juicy."

"Maybe they were just telling the truth." Kuki replied, disbelief sneaking into her voice. How could Amber be so non-caring of this whole situation?

"Maybe." Amber chewed, settling onto Kuki's bed with a little sigh. "Do you think he's hot? I bet he is."

Kuki couldn't help but giggle a little even though part of her felt like scolding Amber for her indifference. She decided it would just make her feel worse with herself though, so she absentmindedly settled for pretending to listen to Amber's gossip and assumptions.

Darkness never felt so suffocating before, and by each passing night it would tighten its killer grip even more around his entire body, denying him everything that life would usually give him on a plastic platter. Mixed with the darkness was helpless moaning and cries, pleas for forgiveness and confessions of guilt. A choir of never ending voices, crying relentlessly into the brutal night, while the last of the lights were turned off and a demonic jingle followed the guard until he was away, and they were all left to the mercy of the devil himself.

-I am rotting up in hell… I am so sorry.-

2013 Rewrite. Originally written between October 21st 2010 - March 31st 2011. I hope you enjoyed this rewrite.

Criticism and/or advices on improvement is/are highly appreciated and welcome :)

~*~TippierCoffee~*~