Well, here's the next chapter :3 I do hope you like it. (And TY for reading Ch. 1, too, and sticking around) 8D

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It was noon now.

There was no clock, and yet, Melody could tell with ease what time it was. By the way the temperature of the sun fell along her skin and how the rays of light would shine onto her face, Melody could tell. She was outside, in the corner of the playground, where she would always stay. She watched the other children, or at least attempted to, as they played. The area was dull, and only had a run-down fence to protect it from the outside. On the outside of the fence, were towering multicolored trees. Trees that were vibrant and lightened the mood, still, they were on the outside, and not a single child could reach them. Inside, however, there was nothing; only the side wall of the Orphanage (a dim color of white), and the gray cement for the ground.

As one could imagine, the children easily got bored with just this wall and floor. They had constantly nagged at Mr. and Mrs. Deli for some form of enjoyment. One time for a playground, another for a ping pong set; each were denied. The Orphanage was run on donations, and this did not occur often and so was handled straight from the Deli's paycheck, which was not at all big. The Who children, however, would not stand for this. And so, as Melody watched with amusement, they had dug through the garbage and pulled together enough materials to form a shabby looking basketball hoop. It now stood in the opposite corner of Melody, watching and mocking her in its derelict composure.

Each child gathered about the hoop, every afternoon, even in the hottest heat, and simply played. Melody did not entirely understand the idiocy of it all, still, she did not question it. She'd merely watched the best she could and be a silent audience. This afternoon, however, the rest of the children were not entirely focused on the game, having stopped every five minutes or so as they brought up that the Mayor would be coming in such and such time. Right now, from what Melody had learned, he was arriving in an hour.

She yawned.

That was random, she believed, and she rubbed her eyes. She never really yawned before. Yes, half the time she couldn't sleep due to her insomnia, but she hardly ever yawned. She shrugged it off, and instead decided to listen intently to the children's conversation as they attempted to play a game of basketball.

"Ya think he'll bwing Jojo wit him?" swooned one little Who girl. She was probably the youngest here at the Orphanage, Lila. She held golden fur, and brown hair atop her head put in pig tails, swinging behind her.

"Pfft. Nah. This is strictly Mayor Business," spoke a dour little Who. He was the rebel in the group, named Joshua. His fur was a night black, and his hair was a startling scarlet that hung long over his shoulders and back. As he spoke, a piercing was visible on his tongue. In comparison to Lila, Joshua had been at the Orphanage longest, and held the most 'rep' here, amongst all the children, despite the fact that he was not the greatest of role models.

Lila bounced up and down in her spot now, her pigtails bouncing along with her body, "You dun know, Joshwa! You dun know!"

Joshua scoffed as she did this, then set his hand atop of her head in order to allow her to come to a halt, "I do too know, runt. Now can it."

Then he shoved her back, and straightened himself up, running a hand through the hair atop his head. He leaned back against the wall, and slumped down along the floor, pulling out something from his pocket and cramming it in his mouth. Lila did not question him, only whimper a bit and pull herself back up, then walk away. She knew better then to pry any further, merely leaving Joshua to himself, as did the other children.

'How sad', thought Melody as she watched the scene before her. How sad that each Who child here at the orphanage listened to someone as dour as Joshua. She sighed, and rested her head back against the wall, and shut her eyes, as she now was engulfed in her own thoughts.

As she did so, the sounds about her were practically gone, all but the faint whistling of the wind against her fur. Despite the fact she was conscious, images flooded into her head without her knowing. Some would consider it dreaming, but those who knew Melody would know that were not possible. For her, it was closer to 'day dreaming'; despite the fact she held no control of it. Perhaps they were closer to visions? She wasn't sure, but every now and then she would have one.

This was one of those moments.

This time, she was standing in nothingness; absolute nothingness. There was neither ground nor sky, only the night. It was the same as the color of the evening sky, a deep blue, with speckles of white for stars. It was as if she was standing in space itself, but she knew better then that. There was a silence, and she glanced around, searching desperately for something, but she did not know what. Then, very faintly, a noise began to grow. A melodic tone that she had recalled from that very day one year ago.

"We are here."

Melody squinted her eyes, trying to desperately to hear as the noise grew louder.

"We are here."

She was able to make it out, but barely, and the melody off instruments barricaded through the emptiness. It was a gorgeous sound in its unique tone and tempo. Melody's eyes widened as she came to a realization what the noise was.

"We are here, we are here, we are here!!"

All through the emptiness, the sounds spilled out. The sounds of drums, flutes, bells… they all charged to Melody's ears in a melodic voice. The sound kept on growing, climaxing to its highest point. Her eyes widened a bit as the music engulfed her. Somehow, she found it comforting. Somehow, she was at ease in the moment as she stood in silence. Then she had done something she had never quite expected of herself, she opened her mouth and followed their cue.

"…We are here," she murmured, in the smallest of voices, and her body tensed along her own words. She was looking to the emptiness where her feet stood, then bit her lip, before whispering again, but this time in a partially louder voice, "We are here."

Then she glanced upward to the sky overhead and yelled it, "We are here!!"

Then all was silent, and it was only Melody's voice that had ringed out into the emptiness. And frankly, that frightened her in someway. She was alone in the darkness, and it was only her voice that echoed. It was only her standing here, and it was only her voice that was speaking… alone in this void with nothing to support her.

"Ah. So you are here."

Melody suddenly swung around. She knew that voice. It was not of her own, but she heard it every Saturday. She was correct. There he stood, in his doctor attire as per usual; the same way she saw him each appointment. There was Dr. Kazoo Who, looming over Melody and watching with a grin…

"But I think you should change the 'we' to an 'I'," Kazoo had suggested, with a voice that did not seem entirely his.

Melody watched him – no…she watched his smile carefully. It was manic, not sincere and warm as it used to be. It was… demonic and insane, and Melody did not like those words.

He snatched her wrist, and Melody's eyes snapped open. His touch was…cold. As if his skin had been dipped in ice water and had died there. She shuddered, and glanced up to him. He was holding a scalpel now. Had he had that the entire time? She did not know. Still, her eyes were focused upon it now, and she was…frightened. She did not remember the last time she felt this emotion, yet, it was flooding through her body now and she could not control it.

Dr. Kazoo looked at her, and his eyes were empty, yet his grin spread along his face from cheek to cheek, "What a lovely voice you have… what a shame it's going to waste."

He held up the scalpel a bit higher now, and pulled her close to his body. He then laughed along her timid composure, "You're quite a cutie, aren't you?"

She didn't answer, only shake.

"But a little too quiet for my taste," he noted, and he brought the scalpel close to her neck. He loomed over her now, his hot breath falling on her skin, "…But, y'see… that's the main difference between you and the rest of the Whos, here…"

He brought the device closer, until it just barely touched her skin. Melody quivered in his grasp, her eyes wide and overwhelmed with fear.

"We, our voices, are here. Yours, dear Melody, is not."

And the scalpel gashed through her neck…

…Just as her eyes shot open.

Melody wasn't sure how long she had been like this, sitting on the ground with her eyes shut. She rubbed her eyes, and whined lightly. Desperately, she reached for her throat, and a sigh of relief escaped her lips as she came to a realization that it was still in tact. There was no blood, no gash, just the creamy colored fur lying on her flesh. Her posture and mood lightened as she discovered this, so that she now realized the commotion occurring about her. The Who children were rushing in, climbing atop of one another in order to do so. Melody glanced upwards to the immense clock that hung along the side wall of the building.

One o'clock.

Then she realized why there was a sudden rush. The mayor was probably just arriving. That had to be the explanation. Melody leaned over, as she watched each child cram into the building.

This was her first mistake.

Some child, most likely Joshua, had stumbled over the poor Who. Melody, on the other hand, had not quite expected it. She found herself tripping over, and rolling over forward, twice, on the cement. She blinked and now barricaded her head under her arms as if something dangerous was raining from the sky. She gritted her teeth and waited for the stampede of Who kids to be over. She could hear the gentle footsteps surround her, though; to her they were anything but gentle. She counted the seconds in her head; she was up to forty by the time the last child had jumped over her. Despite the fact it was now clear, she continued to debate whether or not it was safe to lift her head…

And her second mistake? Well, this was simply to get up and attempt to follow the crowd… when her vision could only show her blurry blobs. Still, she had pulled herself up, once the majority of the Whos were indoors, leaving her to trail behind them. She groped for the doorframe, and squinted her eyes as she now watched the crowd of Whos wander down the corridor. They weren't exactly 'quiet' as they did so either. Half of the time, they were stumbling upon each other, just to make it to the end of hallway. Melody rolled her white eyes, and crossed her arms, taking her time to wander scarlet rug. She held no rush, but merely strolled casually down the corridor, following the sounds that emitted from the main lobby.

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Yes - considerably shorter then the first chapter. XD But I thought this was an appropriate place to stop. And yes, not as much of the actual HHAW characters in this one, but that's comin up real soon. Dontcha worry. 8D